Email update from Vice-Chancellor: 1 May

Dear Colleagues

I am sure that all of you are pleased to be reading the recent reports concerning the lack of new cases of COVID-19 here in South Australia and the Northern Territory. If this continues then the restrictions we have all endured will have succeeded and we can all begin to expect their progressive lifting over the coming weeks.

The Government has also launched the COVIDSafe app that provides for rapid contact tracing designed to protect the community from further outbreaks. If you are one of the 3 million Australians to have already downloaded the app then well done. If not, then I’d encourage you to consider downloading it as its effectiveness will increase with the number of users. Some of you may have security concerns but, for me at least, these are outweighed by the benefits of reducing the likelihood of a return to lockdown restrictions in the future. It is free and easy to install and you can find it here https://www.covidsafe.gov.au.

As you know, our campuses remain open and some staff have been working on-site regularly throughout these past few weeks to maintain essential operations including research. With an easing of restrictions expected later this month, the University is now preparing plans for the safe return of all staff and students to campus subject to prevailing health advice. The return is likely to be phased and so please keep an eye out for information coming from your College or Portfolio and I offer my thanks in advance to all of your for working together on the staff return to campus.

More details on arrangements for students will follow in due course from the Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Students), Clare Pollock. Please also watch out for updates on matters specific to your College from your Vice-President & Executive Dean. 

In some breaking news, last night our Chief Information Officer, Ms. Kerrie Campbell, was announced as Telstra’s South Australian Business Woman of the Year. This is a marvelous recognition of the leadership Kerrie has brought to Flinders where the IDS team have been transforming our systems and digital infrastructure at a cracking pace. Congratulations and well done, Kerrie.

Student Hardship Support Fund Update

Our Student Hardship Support Fund has been extremely well received. The immediate Hardship fund, managed through FUSA, has directly benefitted almost 2,000 students who have already received support grants. The first round of Matthew Flinders Scholarships has also just closed with over 1,500 applicants which are currently being reviewed. The first payments under this scheme are expected to be made very soon.

I was pleased to receive a positive response from the Treasurer to a request for State Government support for international students, who have been left out of all other safety-net payment schemes. The State Government will contribute $3 million to the Matthew Flinders Scholarship Scheme.

I had originally announced an $8.5 million dollar fund with an aspiration to raise a further $4 million to give a total of $12.5 million. With State Government assistance and your generous support, we are already over $12 million. While the Government support is specific to international students, the rest of the fund is open to all eligible students.

Graduations

The restrictions on public gatherings meant we had to cancel April graduations and so we all missed the opportunity to celebrate with our newest class of Flinders graduates. Our creative staff in digital media decided we could still offer some virtual handshakes and fist-bumps so I spent yesterday afternoon locked-down in front of a greenscreen ‘meeting’ all of those who’d sent in a photo. It was a lot of fun and thank you to the team who made it all happen so quickly.

I’m sure you would all join me in offering our congratulations to all of our newest graduates and wishing them well for the future.

Universities and eligibility for JobKeeper

Several universities applied last week for the Federal Government’s JobKeeper scheme. This scheme is designed to support businesses that have lost at least 30% of revenue, or at least 50% for those organisations with a turnover in excess of $1 billion.

However, while the universities in question clearly believed they met the requirements of the scheme, the Treasurer later announced a clarification that disqualified them.

Flinders University was not among those who applied and I would remind staff that our current modelling suggests that we are facing a $54 million revenue shortfall in 2020, representing just over 10% of total revenue.

Of course, our financial position could yet worsen and we will continue to monitor this closely. However, for the moment, we believe that the savings required in 2020 are manageable given the measures already announced. That said, we must all recognise that significant uncertainties remain for the 2021 budget year and beyond.

Universities Australia dialogue with the NTEU

A small group of VCs are presently in discussion with the NTEU’s national executive to develop a plan designed to help institutions navigate this crisis. The intention is to develop an agreed wording for a new clause that could be added to existing enterprise agreements to enable various cost-management measures during these difficult times.

For clarity, any amendment to our agreement would require a staff vote with a majority in favour before it could be enacted.

If and when any wording for a clause is agreed through this process, then I would expect that each individual University would carefully consider whether or not the proposed clause was appropriate or necessary to their specific circumstances. I would reiterate that some of the cost-saving measures being mooted would not be required at Flinders given our relative financial position.

Upcoming College and Portfolio staff briefings

Finally, I am planning a series of College and Portfolio briefings that will start later this month. They will be planned as virtual sessions but, subject to prevailing health advice on social distancing and group gatherings, we might find that some may have limited capacity for attendance in person.

I look forward to having the opportunity to brief you all in more detail about how we are responding to this crisis as an institution. It will also be an opportunity to answer your questions and to hear your comments and ideas on what more we might do in your area to ensure that we emerge from this in the strongest possible position.

We have been living though an historic period that will change lives and directions around the entire world.  We will be required to think in new ways about many aspects of our future and I look forward to working with the Flinders community to learn from this difficult time and shape our future together.

Best wishes and stay safe,

Colin