Combattingthe DegreeFactory: Whyyoushouldjoin theNoCuts Campaign

glossy marketing brochures like to portray a progressive institution at the forefront of “making history”

The reality is very different Student activists often describe universities as degree factories The term evokes a machine churning out graduates useful to the capitalist economy while charging students a premium to do so To operate at a profit, the factory managers must squeeze out every single dollar; invariably at the expense of staff and students

Enter Peter Høj, your Vice Chancellor Høj is the Jeff Bezos of university management He enjoys a near million-dollar salary while overseeing staff sackings, increasingly crowded classrooms, and the university’s lucrative corporate partnerships with climate criminals like Santos Høj’s degree factory is up for sale to the highest bidder; meaning that fossil fuel and military companies often shape teaching and research.

In 2022, under the cloak of the pandemic, Høj cut almost 100 staff jobs in the process of merging the five university faculties into three This has significantly reduced our quality of education.

No wonder that Høj has championed a proposed merger between UniSA and Adelaide University The state Labor government’s socalled “university of the future” is bad news for students The University of Manchester merger, praised as a model for South Australia to follow, saw 400 staff lose their jobs Closer to home, history demonstrates that mergers and restructures are code for “cuts” A megauniversity threatens to repeat faculty mergers on a larger scale Faculty mergers deem lowattendance courses and professional staff " unnecessary " expenses, meaning reduced choice and essential services for students as well as increased workloads for tutors and lecturers All of this is done with little to no consultation with staff or students

If ordinary students and staff are allowed a vote on mergers, the outcome may be quite different So, if students and staff didn’t push for this, why was a university merger proposed?

A mega-uni promises to boost UoA's place in world university rankings. Despite management’s claims, this has nothing to do with improving education outcomes

Rankings are anchored by the crude metric of research output, giving no consideration to the quality of education, student welfare, or staff conditions In other words, rankings play the sole role of boosting the university’s image

The university merger is motivated solely by profit The higher the rankings, the more research grants awarded to the university Attracting international students, who are already subject to exorbitant fees up to three times more expensive than those of domestic students, offers another avenue for money-making

The No Adelaide Uni Cuts Group (NAUC) was formed in 2016 by left-wing student activists to combat attacks on staff and students by university management and fight for an education system that puts people before profit

In 2016, we leafleted, petitioned, and protested against cuts and department mergers--and won. When the Maths Learning Centre was threatened with major cuts, our campaign saved not only the centre but dozens of staff in other crucial services

NAUC protested the cuts in 2021, organising a Student General Meeting with the SRC, where students voted unanimously to oppose all cuts and mergers

Without fighting against management, we allow the gears of the degree factory to keep grinding, to put our education second and profits first The only way to resist the degree factory is to, yourself, become an activist on campus To get involved in the struggle find us on Facebook at No Adelaide University Cuts by scanning the QR code below:

The Voice to Parliament is a proposal for a representative body composed of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in Federal Parliament. The idea of a Voice to Parliament is based on the principle of self-determination for Indigenous Australians. This body would give Indigenous Australians greater discretion over the laws and policies which affect their communities.

Consider how Indigenous Australians have been, and continue to be, marginalised and underrepresented in the political process. Indigenous activists believe a representative body would help to address this imbalance.

The notion of an Indigenous Voice to Parliament originated in the Uluru Statement from the Heart; a joint statement released by 250 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander leaders in 2017. In addition to the Voice to Parliament, the Uluru Statement urges for a Makaratta Commission to oversee a process of agreement-making and truth-telling between governments and Indigenous peoples.

Australians will decide in a referendum to be held in late 2023 if the country's Constitution will be changed to have Indigenous people permanently represented in government. A referendum is a vote used to approve a change to the Constitution; a referendum is only passed if it is approved by a majority of voters across the country and a majority of voters in a majority of states.

Voice, Treaty, Truth

After a long time studying, try walking in the rose garden next to the Urrbrae House; smelling flowers is an excellent stress-reliever!