What the VC’s “realignment” could mean for staff
On Monday, the Vice-Chancellor announced new reporting line changes at the top of the University. While these look like simple shifts on paper, they could have big implications for how our work is managed and valued.
HR moves under Finance and Administration
The Chief People Officer (HR) will now report directly to the Chief Operating Officer (COO) – the portfolio that already oversees finance, infrastructure, and administration. This raises real questions:
Will workload, wellbeing, and conditions be seen primarily as cost issues rather than core to the University’s mission?
Will decisions about pay, progression, and support be driven more by financial bottom lines than by staff needs?
Does this weaken the link between academic leadership and the lived experience of staff?
The Provost’s role shrinks
The Provost’s portfolio has been slimmed down, losing the Indigenous, People and Education portfolios. Their role is now seems mostly to manage the Deans. That could mean:
More power concentrated at the very top, with fewer checks and balances.
Less attention at the senior academic level to the conditions and voices of staff.
What might this mean for the rest of us?
On the surface, these changes might look like “business as usual”. But they also could be setting the stage for:
Restructuring pressures – reporting line changes often pave the way for cuts or reorganisations.
Centralised decision-making – strategies decided above, with staff expected to simply “fall in to line”.
People’s issues pushed aside in favour of financial or strategic targets.
These are big shifts, and they deserve discussion. What do you think—how will these changes play out in your part of the University?
