Radio New Zealand - Te Reo Irirangi o Aotearoa

Union hopes job cuts won't affect course range

Updated at 9:45 am on 3 December 2011

The union representing university staff says it hopes redundancies at the University of Canterbury do not result in entire academic departments being cut.

The university has forecast a budget deficit of more than $17 million next year because of spiralling insurance costs and a decline in student enrolments.

It says 50 jobs will go as a result and 24 staff have already opted for voluntary redundancy.

Tertiary Education Union president Sandra Grey says it is hard to tell whether more jobs will be cut, or whether the university will redefine what subjects it teaches.

"I think it would be a real pity if we saw Canterbury University lose its very broad approach to university education which covers everything from engineering through to the humanities and social sciences," she says.

Dr Grey says there is a real place in New Zealand for such broad-based education and Canterbury is one place that delivers it well.

University vice-chancellor Rod Carr says it may take five years before the institution returns to pre-earthquake staffing, funding and student levels.

He told Morning Report the university expects to have 90% to 95% of the number of students it would normally have next year but wants to retain its teaching numbers and rebuild its student intake as quickly as it can.

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