2019: What the Hell Just Happened

The future of the University of Tasmania has been shaped by the past, and in 2019, major decisions were made that will change our campuses forever. Many of us may not be here to see out the developments, but current students were catapulted into the hot seat of these initiatives.

JANUARY

Third year arts/law student Ella Hilder was named as the 2019 student member on the UTAS University Council. The announcement came after an online election was held in late 2018. The breakdown of the results were never released to students, despite requests from Togatus.

FEBRUARY

The TUU launched a new campaign promoting a safe, fair and well university community. The ‘Find the Right Blend’ campaign was focused on creating “sustainable cultural change” across UTAS campuses, with the aim to combat instances of sexual assault as well as to encourage students to seek support when in a state of crisis.

MARCH

The UTAS community was rocked by the death of lecturer Dr Stewart William, who died after an alleged one-punch attack at a Hobart nightclub. The Tasmanian University Geography Society said the loss was “tragic and senseless,” and that “Stewart was a widely loved teacher and colleague, who brought passion, intelligence and warmth to all aspects of his life as a scholar. He is and will continue to be sorely missed by our Discipline and by many across the university and the wider community.”

APRIL

In April, the most significant decision in the recent history of UTAS was made. Following consultation with students and staff, the University Council decided to move away from the Sandy Bay campus and consolidate courses and facilities in Hobart’s CBD.

The decision will change the future of the institution, the city and the state, with the city-centric campus to be developed in Hobart over the next 10 to 15 years. The campus will be anchored with a central library and public square on the corner of Argyle and Melville Streets, with the relocation expected to cost about $600 million.

Shortly after the decision was announced, UTAS confirmed it had purchased the K&D Warehouse site in Melville Street as part of the move, with the site set to become the third student accommodation site in the street and the sixth in the city.

MAY

UTAS announced an external review of international student recruitment and admission practices would be conducted ahead of a Four Corners investigation that aired on the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Four Corners contained allegations Australian universities had been waiving their English entry standards in a bid to attract more high-paying international students.

Also in May, UTAS Vice-Chancellor Rufus Black apologised in a visit to the Fine Arts School in Hobart following a year of unrest on the campus in 2018. Professor Black addressed student concerns in a Q&A meeting about the restructuring of technicians’ employment, and the loss of two essential teaching staff. In the meeting, Professor Black gave an official apology.

“I would personally like to apologise for the experience that you had… We have a lot to do to put things right, and that we will absolutely do,” he said.

“In addition to sorry, I wanted to talk about the university’s absolute commitment to the art school. Rumours fly around that somehow we don’t value it, or it doesn’t have a strong future, or we don’t have a commitment to it… those things could not be further from the truth.”

JUNE

Expanded plans for the new UTAS campus in Inveresk were revealed in June.

The move of the Launceston campus from Newnham to Inveresk is now worth $350 million, up from the original figure of $260 million. Courses and facilities will be progressively moved to Inveresk over the next five years.

JULY

In July, UTAS released the findings of an independent review into sexual assault and harassment in university accommodation. The report was delivered in December 2018 but was not released to residents until July. The University accepted the report’s recommendations, which included increasing counselling capacity.

UTAS released the findings of the external review of international student recruitment and admission practices. The review found the University has made a strategic shift from rapid to sustainable growth in international student numbers, which “will have financial and organisational implications.”

Several recommendations were made to improve academic governance oversight, with the review calling the existing oversight “weak”. 26 per cent of the university’s total student demographic were international students in 2018, with the report revealing 919 international students were admitted to UTAS through an informal method of demonstrating English proficiency that the University is no longer accepting. The review also found students entering through informal entry points have a higher than average failure rate. UTAS accepted all 19 recommendations the report made.

The Law Faculty and its students were left in the dust in the wake of late notice budget cuts stemming from the UTAS College of Arts and Law at the start of Semester 2.

In an email sent to international students, the Faculty of Law’s Acting Dean, Professor Gino Dal Point, reported CALE had forced the Law Faculty to “regrettably” restrict the budget of the International Students Support Program (ISSP). The ISSP is part of a suite of services designed to support international students as they progress through their law degree. The budget cuts resulted in the cancellation of half of the foundational ISSP tutorials on offer, a decision that left international students stunned and confused.

The ABC reported the University’s accommodation complex on the corner of Melville and Elizabeth streets was included in a leaked list of Tasmanian buildings potentially containing combustible aluminium cladding. The complex as well as the unfinished UTAS Hedberg building were included in the list as high-risk structures.

AUGUST

A wall of pro-democracy posters were torn down at the University of Tasmania, following growing tensions between Hong Kong and China. The ‘Lennon Wall’ display in the Student Lounge at Sandy Bay campus, which featured messages for “peace” and “freedom” after widespread protests in Hong Kong against mainland Chinese influence, was taken down by one student.

A University spokesperson said that the “protection of freedom of speech on university campuses is paramount.”

Less than a week after the wall was torn down, staff and security intervened to stop the removal of replacement displays. Just hours later, more displays were ripped down in the early hours of August 7, and so the normally 24-hour access lounge became closed between 10pm and 7am everyday in an effort to protect the posters.

SEPTEMBER

Annual TUU elections were held in September, with Braydon Broad elected as 2020 President.

1590 students voted in the annual elections, 6.3 per cent of the total number of eligible students. The turnout was the highest for a TUU election for at least eight years and almost doubles last year’s number of 823 voters.