What we need to know abot the MM

The circumstance in Arts clearly are now associated with the Melbourne Model and its abandonment as an important part of the future of the University of Melbourne.

The question of whether the the university is committed to an international recognised, highly ranked Arts Faculty seems largely answered by the detail in the document recommending that the Faculty sack 95 academics and 25 non academic staff? This is one third of the academic staff and the two figures together are one quarter of all staff in the Faculty.

Maybe there still are questions that might usefully be pursued to jolt the University back into the realisation of what it is doing here.

Has the Arts Faculty been abandoned by the university because its role is less significant in the bigger picture of gaining full fee paying students who are likely to be much more attracted to specialist studies that lead on to professional careers where the renumeration might justify the expense and possibly allow for a more rapid payout of the large personal debt that will have been accumulated even if the student was able to attract some commonwealth support funding?

Is it the case that shifts in budget arrangements including payments for space and sick leave entitlements were the cause of the blow outs of budgets that have occurred in many faculties but paticularly in Arts.

Is it the case that a case was put to PBC that the crosssubsidy for Arts would be withdrawn at the end of 2010 to make additional monies available to MDHS when they entered the melbourne model and took a hit after losing their undergraduates?

Does this not mean that the Melbourne model is about cost cutting even if it is cost cutting over a 3 year cycle?