La Trobe University has moved to quell fears that the financial fallout from the coronavirus pandemic will lead to more job losses than it had forecasted.
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La Trobe University deputy vice chancellor global and regional Richard Speed said the university held a staff briefing last Wednesday, where it reiterated that it believed the impact of the pandemic on university operations would be the equivalent of about 800 jobs.
Through two rounds of voluntary redundancies, La Trobe has shed about 300 staff, including 25 staff from the Bendigo campus in August 2020 and a further 11 staff in February 2021.
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A Job Protection Framework, agreed by the university and the National Tertiary Education Union, has led to lower salaries and saved hundreds of jobs, with about 250 to 300 more positions set to be made redundant in 2021.
"This is a very challenging circumstance for La Trobe staff to deal with, as it is genuine uncertainty," Mr Speed said.
"We don't want to make hasty decisions that we have to reverse and the Job Protection Framework has given us a period of time to reset our strategy and do our planning properly."
Mr Speed said the university remains committed to its Bendigo campus and the wider community.
"Bendigo is somewhere that makes La Trobe distinctive and we commit to that," he said.
"Student enrolments in Bendigo are 10 per cent higher in 2021 than last year because students have been attracted by our program innovations and it's also harder to take a traditional gap year."
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As the university seeks to make up for a shortfall in international student enrolments and the revenue they generate, Mr Speed said program innovations ensure as many students as possible can continue their studies online.
"In 2020, we had more international students commence in Bendigo than anytime in at least the past five years," he said.
"We launched new courses that appealed to international students and people wanted to study at the Bendigo campus."
"We have said to students if they have to study online, if we can deliver that subject online, we will, but there are aspects to some courses, such as teaching placements, which can't be virtual."
Bendigo MP Lisa Chesters has once again called on the government to assist the tertiary education sector.
"It's disappointing that with no additional support from the government, 2021 is shaping up to be just as bad as 2020 for the sector," Ms Chesters said.
"How many jobs do we have to lose before this crisis is taken seriously?
"Enough is enough."
La Trobe University students commenced semester one classes this week, either online or in-person at the university's campuses, including Bendigo.
