The initiatives include acce-lerating the pace of transformation into a more agile and self-reliant campus, the introduction of new academic programmes, an increased focus on long-term programmes that would be attractive to international students, and a focus on units that are capable of generating income. Administrative reform was also high on the agenda of the campus.

Transformation measures

The measures were announced by Pro-Vice-Chancellor and Principal, Professor Gordon Shirley, at a town-hall meeting held on the campus last Friday. He pointed out that because the campus had anticipated the budget cut, it had already begun a programme to aggressively transform itself into an institution capable of greater self-sufficiency.

Among the initiatives high-lighted by Shirley with respect to the administration of the campus were:

A freeze on vacancies and a more cost-effective manner of handling replacement of staff on leave.

Elimination of overtime.

Elimination of sale of leave.

Reduction in security and utility costs.

A review of the expenditure on overseas travel with a view to reducing this.

New academic programmes

Shirley told the gathering that there were already several projects under way to address some of these proposals.

The principal told staff that the Mona campus would also be introducing new academic pro-grammes in dentistry and agricul-ture, as well as an expanded programme in law.

He pointed out that not only were these programmes highly supportive of national develop-ment, but that there was also a strong unfilled demand for them. These programmes were to be offered in combination with a number of existing areas of academic focus to enhance the relevance of existing programme offerings.

Shirley said he was confident that the campus could successfully transform itself while improving its capacity to contribute to national and regional develop-ment. He also committed to maintaining dialogue with staff using the town-hall approach.