La Trobe University plans to accept 25 per cent more students a year as part of a radical overhaul of its operating plan that will also involve shedding 350 jobs.
Staff cuts, an increasing emphasis on research and more partnerships with businesses and community groups are also part of the bold five-year plan to attract “creative and independent thinkers”.
The plan was announced in September last year but details have emerged only recently: the university will grow from 26,000 students annually to the equivalent of 33,000 full-time students. It will shed 350 full-time staff positions.
It is not yet known which campuses will be most affected by the staff cuts.
The university’s five faculties will be merged into two colleges – the College of the Arts, Social Sciences and Commerce, and the College of Science, Health and Engineering.
Vice-chancellor John Dewar said the university was aiming to be in the top three tertiary institutions in Victoria, the top 12 in Australia and the top 300 internationally.
It is the latest announcement in a long list of restructures made over the past few years in an attempt to make the university more competitive for the international student dollar and prestige.
In February, a prominent La Trobe academic quit in protest over the university’s $15-million, six-year deal with vitamin company Swisse to research its products.
Dr Ken Harvey, a public health and consumer advocate, claimed the deal threatened independent research, despite denials by Professor Dewar.
In 2009, the university became an official partner of soccer club Melbourne Heart, which trains at its Bundoora campus.
