The Canberra Institute of Technology (CIT) will need to trim at least 10 per cent from its budget to become financially sustainable but courses will not be cut as part of the cost-cutting program, the board chair says.
Board chair Tom Rogers said the organisation needed to reduce its expenses to get out of a cycle of deficits.
"The budget's been out of whack, I think, over the last three cycles thereabouts, and this last financial year we had to go and get another Treasurer's advance of several million dollars," he told The Canberra Times before University of Canberra vice-chancellor Bill Shorten signalled his interest in a merger.
"That's not sustainable at all, and there's no bag of gold that we can just reach into."
It comes as CIT faces yet another leadership controversy which culminated in the former chief executive Dr Margot McNeill handing in her resignation with a $445,000 payout after weeks of unexplained absence.
When asked if there was a falling out between the board and Dr McNeill, Mr Rogers was tight-lipped.
"There was a process that played out, culminating yesterday evening in Dr McNeill's resignation and the board accepting her resignation. I don't want to go into any more detail than that.
"It's an individual employment matter in any case, but the end result is the important thing, which is... that Dr McNeill resigned, and the board's accepted that resignation."
Mr Rogers acknowledged the "ongoing series of issues" at the CIT in recent years and the big task ahead to provide stability and leadership to the institution.
Dr McNeill's departure was part of moving forward, he said.
"We're very conscious of demonstrating to staff, students, industry, and the Canberra community that the CIT is an asset, which it is, and that we intend to use good leadership, communication, and trust to rebuild our reputation."
The CIT spent $165.1 million on operational expenses in 2025, which was $10.1 million over budget. A higher wages bill accounted for a large part of the overspend.
It has started a voluntary redundancy program as part of cost-cutting measures, but it has no plan for its new organisational structure.
Mr Rogers said he does not have a fixed number of staff who will be accepted for voluntary redundancy.
"We don't have an end state in mind because we're still consulting with staff as part of that process, and the staff consultation will be a critical part of where we end up."
The savings won't just be coming from salaries. Every part of the organisation will be scrutinised but CIT will not be looking to cut courses as part of the savings program.
"We've got I think 17,000 enrolments. We've got hundreds of staff. We've got campuses all over Canberra.
"It's a modern, big learning business that we're involved in, and it's expensive to run. But we need to make sure it's sustainable, and we'll be looking at every aspect of that."
He said the number one thing that people have told him since he arrived in the role in March was that the institution was top-heavy with senior executive roles.
"There's a kind of a view among some people that unless you are directly involved in teaching, that you're not supporting the learning outcomes. But as you know, even getting teachers and students in the classroom requires a huge amount of logistics in any case," he said.
"It's a really sensitive issue because I know some staff feel this very deeply, and they may well be right .... We're looking at rebalancing. But I just there's some facts here that are important as well."
A 2023 review found CIT didn't have enough executive oversight over some areas and led to more roles being created.
"We've already reduced some of those executives. There's plans to do more of that," Mr Rogers said.
"I'm conscious government has also announced a governance review. There's terms of reference that's already been issued. I don't know where that'll end up, and where the board will have a very close look at that as well."
CIT missed its subject enrolment target by 11 per cent in 2025. Subject enrolments dropped by 28 per cent in the past five years from 111,464 in 2021 to 80,187 in 2025.
However, Mr Rogers said enrolments were dropping in line with national trends and they had seen 6 per cent enrolment growth in the past year.
"Don't get me wrong. We need more, and we need to work on this enrolment issue, which we're doing. But it's not as dire as has been painted, and it's Canberra not just a standout. This is across the sector, and the last 12 months there are some green shoots there as well."
The former Australian electoral commissioner said he was still excited by his role as CIT board chair despite the complex challenges it faces.
"I know it sounds a bit hokey, but I love public service, and so for me this looked like a perfect fit. I've got a history in adult learning. In any case, leading public sector agencies, this looked like a challenge and ... I haven't been disappointed in that.
"I'm really keen on the whole thing. I'm excited to be here and looking forward to the future."
