We the undersigned, oppose the job cuts, course cuts, and restructures that have been announced at ANU.

We oppose the:

- 47 Jobs have been cut in the college of Arts and Social Sciences
- 3 positions cut in the Arabic School (out of a total of 4 within the school) with only one replacement
- 35 Jobs have been cut in the College of Asia and Pacific
- Disestablishment of the College of Diplomacy within CAPS
- 16 Jobs have been cut in the College of Business and Economics
- 21 Jobs have been cut in the College of Engineering and Computer Science
- 7 schools have been merged into 3 in CECS, which has resulted in 3 degrees and 6 majors and minors cut
- 33 Jobs have been cut in the College of Health and Medicine
- 9 Jobs have been cut in Law
- 103 Jobs in total will be cut across the science schools

The university justifies this as necessary by arguing that the budget situation is so severe due to the COVID crisis. However, ANU is in one of the best financial positions of any Australian university. The ANU Recovery documents make it clear that the university administration has wanted to make some of these cuts for years prior to this crisis. These cuts are not just to make do in the crisis, they represent a restructure that attempts to make ANU a more profitable as well as a more elite institution.

These job cuts will mean all of these staff will face losing their job in the midst of an economic crisis and will face difficulties finding a new job. They will also hugely increase workloads for the remaining staff who will have to take on the work of multiple people to make up for the job losses.

These cuts will also lead to a decrease in the quality of students' education. Tutors will have less time and ability to spend on each student providing feedback and planning lessons. Research staff have been cut as well creating difficulties for students conducting masters or Ph.D. research. Students and staff should be the ones to determine what our education looks like. We reject these cuts and call on the ANU to stop carrying out measures that push the cost of this crisis onto staff and students.

Signatories

Wren Somerville, Convener of the ANU Education Activism Network
Grace Carter
Grace Hill, ANUSA Environment Officer 2020
Edward Lawrie
Luca Corby, ANUSA Environment Officer 2021
Maximilian Lechner-Scott
Grace King
Layla Steed, Teaching Staff Member at ANU
Ashley Thompson, NTEU and CUPUW Member
Bianca Hennessy
Hayley Garcia
Siang Jin Law, ANUSA Treasurer 2021
Lachlan Wallace
Niam Foxcroft
Pieta Sparrow
Sai Campbell, ANUSA JCOS Rep 2020/2021
Joshuah Yeend
Paul Kelloway, public sector worker, CPSU and HSU member
Sarah Cameron
Alexandra Wilbur
Ruby Nelson-Lee
Kat Babushkina
Stephanie Vieceli
Paris Scharkie
Rania Teguh, ANUSA General Representative 2021
Johann Wagner
John Dove
Olivia Wallace-Smith
Imogen Oros
Ciara Thompson
Su-En
Ben Yates, ANUSA Gen Rep (2020), LSS VP (education) (2020)
Phoebe Tulk
Avan Daruwalla, ANUSA Women's Officer 2021
Katchmirr Russell, ANUSA Indigenous Officer 2021
Ben Wicks, ANUSA Gen Rep 2020
Aveline Yang
Mitch Craighead
Lindsay Downe
Oscar Kaspi-Crutchet
Mia Rashid
Thomas Redmayne
Francine Henderson
Lewis Golding
Isha Singhal, ANUSA Gen Rep 2021
Bridie Milthorpe
Sarah Fowler
Daisy Norfolk
Anna Dennis
Aryanne Caminschi, ANUSA Gen Rep 2020 & CASS Rep 2021, ANU PPE Society President
Clancy Gundrum
Clare Taylor
Joshua Viljoen
Catherine Still
Chris Guerin
Joey Mann
Madeleine Watson
Lauren Grant
Kiran Phillips
Manar Arabani
Sayuru Sanjula Abeysundera
Caitlin Kenyon
Dr Diane Fields, BA (Hons) ANU 1976
Juliet Taylor
Runa Ebihara
Liam Fardy
Hassan Khan
Nihal Abdul Hameed
Jacob McMullen
Waka Okumura
Hector Warren Fraser
Benjamin Chesler, NUTS Treasurer 2020
Robyn Lewis
Zoe Cheong, ANU PhD Candidate and Casual Staff Member
Emily Sheridan
Samantha Willis
Simon Copland, NTEU ACT Branch President