Ellie Stephenson reports.

Around 120 students and staff met outside the Anderson Stuart building this afternoon to continue the fight against the planned cuts to Medical Sciences, which will see all staff in Pathology and Physiology sacked and forced to reapply for significantly fewer jobs. In recent weeks, several jobs have been saved, with campaigners hoping to continue the momentum to halt the Revised Change Proposal (RCP) as a whole.

The protest was joined by a march from UTS which was opposing stuff cuts there. Once at USyd, protestors marched from Anderson Stuart to F23 and back. While tens of police surrounded the action, there were no clashes between police and protestors.

Students unfurled a 20 metre long banner reading ‘Defend Medical Science Education’ to an extended chant of ‘Who is Michael Spence? Michael Spence is the 1%. What about Stephen Garton? Stephen Garton gets no pardon. What about Robyn Ward? We will not be ignored! Sarah Young, stop your lies, save the jobs and save MedSci!”

Professor Rebecca Mason, who has taught physiology at USyd for over 30 years, thoroughly criticised the administration of the School of Medical Sciences for their lack of transparency and the sketchy date of the Revised Change Proposal. She told the crowd that “the last couple of years have resulted in basically the entire morale and our capacity to do work being shut down.”

She pointed to the inaccurate estimates of staff hours contained in the RCP, saying that “most of those hours, many of those hours, were ignored. Even with repeated submissions… those hours have not been adequately described.” This was despite significant staff effort in recording hours worked. In addition, she pointed to a number of inconsistencies in the School’s rationale: for example, the RCP would supposedly allow new courses to be developed, but staff have been told that “no curriculum will need to be developed in the next three years”.

Dr Meloni Muir, an academic in Physiology, read a statement from Professor Emeritus John Hearn, who is the Executive Director of the Worldwide Universities Network. The statement described management’s policies over the last two years as “disgraceful destruction” perpetrated by “mercenaries who care nothing for the University, history, team or achievements”. It also described the approach as “cynically sexist, ageist and racist” along with lack consultation.

“A brutal, managerialist takeover of academic success”, Hearn’s statement concluded.

Kurt Iveson, the Sydney Branch President of the NTEU, described the cuts occuring across the campus as “diabolical” and “deliberate and calculated and coordinated”. He criticised management for the poor quality of the evidence they provided to back up the Proposal: “it’s full of holes. It’s absolutely been manipulated to justify a decision that was made ages before.”

He also noted that the University’s claims that cuts constitute good financial management were undermined by the revelation that USyd is actually in surplus. He said staff constantly deal with management ignoring the best interests of the University and “managerial agendas to try to make the workforce less secure”, constrasting the staff’s scientific work with the lack of credibility of management’s decision-making processes. He praised student and staff organising on the issue for bringing the mistreatment of staff to light.

Oscar Chaffey, a third year Medical Sciences student, told the rally that “it’s my absolute conviction that my degree has been made worth while by these people and their work, which is all too often far beyond what they are paid to do.”

He also reflected on the consequences of the Proposal for Medical Sciences students, both past and present, exclaiming: “I worry a lot, as I start medicine next year, that my Faculty will have so fully frothed at the mouth at the altar of austerity that I will simply be a shit doctor!” He argued that the fight to save Medical Sciences will set a precedent for campaigns against future cuts, making it particularly important to defeat the changes.

Dr Helen Drury, an academic at the Learning Centre, spoke about the University’s plans to shut down the Learning Centre and the Maths Learning Centre and replace them with student volunteers. She described those planned changes as particularly problematic for disadvantaged students, like Indigenous students and international students, as well as overburdening staff.

“So the question is, is this University really interested in equity and diversity, as it claims to be? Well, you know the answer: No. And is it really interested in international students? Is it really just taking their money and not providing the support that they need? Yes.”

She also pointed to the fact that both Learning Centres have received extremely high satisfaction levels, arguing that replacing experts with untrained students would vastly reduce the quality of the student experience.

Robert Boncardo from the USyd Casuals Network spoke about the role of strikes in the education movement, saying that they proved the superfluity of management and the essential role academic staff play in the University. He also suggested strikes provided an opportunity for staff to reflect on better models for how the University should operate.

“Management’s job here is not necessarily to manage, it is in fact to destroy and parasite upon this institution,” he argued.

Staff Speak Out About Cuts to MedSci, Learning Centre

Ellie Stephenson reports.