A “final decision document” sent to Flinders University staff yesterday and seen by InDaily confirms five of eight professors and associate professors working within the Government Discipline will lose their jobs at the beginning of next year.

The document states the senior academics will be replaced with lower-level staff to “support the strategic directives of the college and the sustainability of the Government Discipline”.

Flinders University’s Government Discipline is considered South Australia’s leading political science institution, with many of its graduates finding employment in the public sector.

It currently employs about 13 staff – eight of whom are senior professors and associate professions researching political science, public policy and international relations.

Under the confirmed changes, just three senior positions would remain, with an “expression of interest” process opening today for those who want to apply for the roles.

Promotion now seems to come with a potential job loss attached to it if you dare climb the tree and succeed

It follows a month-long consultation with staff and their union, who told InDaily last week that the changes could result in the loss of some of South Australia’s only state politics experts.

But the university argued the Government Discipline had experienced declining domestic enrolments and needed to become more financially sustainable.

It also claimed that a previous 2018 restructure created a “disproportionate reliance upon a small cohort of relatively junior teaching specialist academics and casuals to meet its teaching load”.

“The aim of this change is to create a workforce structure that facilitates teaching innovation directed towards making our Government courses more attractive to students, and thereby financial sustainable for the discipline in terms of both education and research,” the final decision document states.

“In doing so, it will ensure effective mentorship, career progression, succession planning, student experience, research concentration, and common purpose.

“It will also reduce reliance on casual staff and contribute more effectively towards the University’s 2025 agenda.”

The university says it will hire an extra 2.2 full-time-equivalent staff for the Government Discipline from next year, increasing its workforce to 16.

But National Tertiary Education Union SA president Dr Andrew Miller said the university “once again failed to listen to staff expertise and wisdom”.

He said Flinders did not consider the impact the changes could have on senior staff who mentor students and junior workers, nor the message the change would send to staff who want to work their way up the academic career ladder.

“They’ve ignored staff criticisms and critiques of the proposal, they’ve ignored staff concerns about what this really does for mentoring, what it really does for continuity of expertise and research outputs, what it really does for PhD students and continuity of their studies, what it does for the broader student population and the loss of expertise,” he said.

“Promotion now seems to come with a potential job loss attached to it if you dare climb the tree and succeed.”

Miller warned that the university would be forced to pay out a “huge sum” in redundancy payments, describing those affected as some of South Australia’s leading politics and international relations experts.

“Given that universities are public entities there to serve the public good, then as soon as you deplete the reservoir of experience and expertise and achievement of such high-profile and successful academic staff then you’re also depleting the public knowledge base,” he said.

“It’s a loss for everyone in that context.”

In a statement, Flinders University’s vice president and executive dean of the College of Business, Government and Law Professor Michael Gilding thanked staff for their “open and constructive feedback”.

He said the university was increasing its overall investment in the Government Discipline, with the workforce growing from 13.8 continuing staff to 16 continuing staff.

“Staff consideration and input has enabled the college to arrive at an outcome that will enhance our curriculum and the experience our students receive, while at the same time improve mentoring and career progression opportunities for our staff,” he said.