STUDENTS fear the college system of the University of New England could be threatened after receiving mixed messages about the future of Robb and Drummond and Smith colleges.
The issue arose with the Heritage Council of NSW considering heritage listing Robb College.
As a result the university was forced to halt refurbishments of the building, including fire safety upgrades, and decided to close the college at the end of the trimester.
The university had planned to move next year’s Robb residents into the Drummond and Smith building, effectively closing the latter.
But UNE executive director of operations Rob Irving said after a meeting with students on Friday the decision was made to retain both colleges.
“The decision to temporarily close Drummond and Smith was a difficult one and did not sit comfortably with the vice-chancellor or myself,” Mr Irving said yesterday.
“Having met with students on Friday and listened to their concerns, it became clear that a better option was to co-locate the colleges.
“This information has been communicated with students through the UNE blog and work is now underway to ensure both colleges can operate next year from the current Drummond and Smith College building.”
But students have criticised the way in which they have been informed throughout the process, with both colleges expressing their frustration with how the issue has been communicated.
President of Drummond and Smith College Jaimee Lindley said there had been a lot of confusion, especially on the blog.
She said the students discovered anyone could post under the UNE name and were not sure what information was right.
Ms Lindley said the college residents had originally been told in an email sent two hours before the meeting they could live in the “interim Robb College” or live in Duval College.
Robb’s junior common room president Emma Bowman said both colleges would be detrimentally affected in their fresher intakes next year because of the decision.
“There's a lot of ambiguity about what’s going to happen. By not having a normal fresher in-take there will be a domino effect on the university, the community and the sporting clubs and their rivalries with the colleges,” Ms Bowman said.
President of the UNE student association David Mailler said he understood the university was “between a rock and a hard place” because of the Heritage Council’s process, but perceptions had been shattered.
“If UNE continues with what we understand is happening at the moment, it will kill one college and damage two more,” Mr Mailler said.
Mr Irving said Drummond and Smith would retain its name and identity through the co-location process, with the university now working out the logistical details about how it would be managed.
