The Maths Learning Centre (MLC) is facing cuts to staffing and services as part of the Vice Chancellor Peter Høj’s faculty mergers, staff sackings and course cuts.

Under Høj’s ‘Draft Change Proposal’, the two current permanent staff at the MLC will be replaced with just one position. The remaining staff member’s position will be downgraded from an academic position to a professional role, making their job more precarious and workload higher. Forcing just one staff member to do all the timetabling, rostering, student support etc. will inevitably lead to a decrease in service quality. The shortfall caused by firing one permanent staff member will likely be filled by hiring more precariously employed casual staff on top of years of casualisation. There is no substitute though for well-experienced and properly resourced permanent staff.
 
The MLC’s staff are already overworked and lack the support needed to meet massive student demand so more cuts will only be devastating. UofA students cannot afford any cuts to the MLC, a crucial service for students not just in the ECMS faculty but everywhere from Psychology to Biology to Economics.  Many students whose course contact hours are already limited depend on the expert staff of the MLC to be able to digest and understand their course content. The No Adelaide University Cuts campaign has received countless testimonies from students stating that they simply would not have passed their courses without support from the amazing MLC staff. The MLC also provides services beyond its one-to-one drop-in support including revision sessions during exam time and in class tuition. The future of these is in doubt if the MLC faces cuts to its staffing and resources.
 
We, the undersigned, demand that the university commit to:
 
-Retaining the current positions of all the MLC staff, including both the permanent staff
 
-Increasing resourcing to the MLC so that they can provide a full range of services
 
-Secure contracts for current long-term casual stuff