Deloitte deal under wraps integrating two South Australian Universities

ABC NEWS (Australia)

After long-running pressure, the new Adelaide University has indicated it may release details of a payment made to a major player in its merger. Deloitte has been involved in several aspects of the merger including integrating the technology systems of the University of Adelaide and the University of South Australia. But to date what Deloitte has earned in the deal has been kept under wraps.

Transcript

00:00It's the tale of two universities becoming one.

00:05It's the creation of a contemporary and accessible education ecosystem.

00:10A new ecosystem with 70,000 students and 11,000 staff.

00:15Nothing like this has been attempted in Australia before.

00:17To say it's complicated would be an understatement.

00:20Deloitte has been contracted to assist, including integrating 500 IT systems

00:25and handling acquisitions and project management.

00:28The cost to hire Deloitte has been withheld due to confidentiality,

00:32even under recent Senate scrutiny.

00:35Which is why I'm asking whether I'm being required to release it now.

00:38And that's why I'll take that on notice.

00:41But there are new signs the cost will be released.

00:44We're reflecting on that and we might well do that.

00:47We've just got to make sure that we're able to do that responsibly.

00:53For many of the 56,000 continuing students,

00:56their sights are set elsewhere.

00:59Not only me, but I know a lot of people just have no idea

01:02what's going on and what to expect next year.

01:05Some confusion caused by a delay to course outlines,

01:08known as study plans.

01:10That just makes it really difficult if you're trying to plan out work

01:13or other commitments next year.

01:15The delay, relative to when it would normally happen,

01:18is due to us creating a new curriculum.

01:22The release of study plans has gone from 23,000 on October 31st

01:27to 40,000 a fortnight later.

01:30The uni says all plans will be out before December 1st

01:33when enrolment begins.

01:35The last thing we wanted to do was provide information that wasn't accurate.

01:38Some students wish there was more time to merge.

01:41It feels like we've been bombarded with,

01:43yeah, you're starting a new degree,

01:45but now it's just all going to change,

01:47rather than maybe doing it over five or even more years.

01:50The VCs acknowledge there have been challenges,

01:52but they're not convinced more time would have helped.

01:55We probably could have spent the more time,

01:57but whether we would have got a return on that time investment,

02:00I guess it's questionable.

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