School Manager's Report
Published in the RSAA Lunations
Vol1 Issue5 1–30 June 2020
2020 will be a year that will remembered by all of us for the remainder of our lives. Fire, storm and pandemic dominated the airwaves and changed the way we live and work. RSAA staff have worked together in not only making our campuses (SSO and MSO) virtual, but have also worked behind the scenes to ensure that both campuses are safe for staff to return to work. Last week, ANU audited all the work we have done at MSO and we had zero non-conformances. I would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who worked hard to ensure we achieve this milestone. If we encounter a second wave, the University would like us to follow this Covid-19 notification protocol and we would revert to working from home until it is deemed safe to come back to campus again.
Coming out of the health crisis, we find ourselves engulfed in one of worst economic crises that Australia, and the Australian higher education sector, have faced. The Australian economy is in recession and the stimulus packages offered by the government do not go far enough - not to mention the absence of a stimulus package for the Australian universities. In response, ANU executives have asked all Schools and Divisions to cut expenditure to the tune of $100M in 2020. RSAA, with its unique funding profile and an annual economy of about $25.5M (excluding InSpace), has been asked to save $1.833M. At the recent staff forum we tried to explain the gravity of the situation, given we only have 6 months to achieve this saving.
I am overwhelmed by the emails many of you have sent me, providing ideas and offering to help the School achieve this expenditure cut, including personal sacrifices that you are willing to make. I am truly honoured to be part of a community like RSAA where selfless acts are a common occurrence. Rest assured we are looking at all your ideas and trying to ensure that RSAA achieves the target as far as it can without making any painful cuts. Our revenue streams (student revenue, research and non-research contract revenue) remain stronger than the other Schools at ANU and we had already implemented several cost-cutting measures before the ECF was rolled out. We will continue to be transparent and consultative as we develop the macro policies for RSAA. Lastly, please continue to send Matthew or me your ideas for helping us achieve our expenditure savings - many of them have been extremely helpful. Our main intent will be to save jobs for all areas of RSAA.
Rafat
