Editing University of Sydney (section)

=== 2010s ===
At the start of 2010, the University of Sydney controversially adopted a new logo. It retains the same arms, but they take on a more modern look. There have been stylistic changes, the main one being the coat of arm's [[mantling]], the shape of the [[escutcheon (heraldry)|escutcheon]] (shield), the removal of the motto scroll, and also others more subtle within the arms itself, such as the mane and fur of the lion, the number of lines in the open book and the colouration.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://sydney.edu.au/news/84.html?newscategoryid=9&newsstoryid=4371 |title=New decade, new dynamic &#124; The University of Sydney |website=University of Sydney |date=8 January 2010 |access-date=22 February 2010 |archive-date=16 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210116001650/https://www.sydney.edu.au/news/84.html?newscategoryid=9&newsstoryid=4371 |url-status=live}}</ref> The original Coat of Arms from 1857 continues to be used for ceremonial and other formal purposes, such as on testamurs.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://sydney.edu.au/ab/about/2009/VC_Rpt_to_Senate_0609.pdf |title=Report of the Vice-Chancellor and Principal |publisher=University of Sydney |date=15 June 2009 |access-date=12 June 2011 |archive-date=16 January 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130116094742/http://sydney.edu.au/ab/about/2009/VC_Rpt_to_Senate_0609.pdf |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://sydney.edu.au/alumni/sam/archive/SAM_March10.pdf |title=Sydney Alumni Magazine |website=University of Sydney |date=March 2010 |access-date=12 June 2011 |archive-date=7 May 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160507022635/http://sydney.edu.au/alumni/sam/archive/SAM_March10.pdf |url-status=live}}</ref>

In 2010, the university received a [[Pablo Picasso]] painting from the private collection of an anonymous donor. The painting, ''[[Jeune Fille Endormie]]'', which had not been publicly seen since 1939, depicts the artist's lover, [[Marie-Thérèse Walter]] and was donated on the strict understanding that it would be sold and the proceeds directed to medical research.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://sydney.edu.au/perkins/partners/picasso.shtml |title=Donate |website=University of Sydney |access-date=23 July 2018 |archive-date=22 August 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220822060426/https://www.sydney.edu.au/charles-perkins-centre/donate.html |url-status=live}}</ref> The painting was auctioned at [[Christie's]] in London and sold for £13.5&nbsp;million ($20.6&nbsp;million AUD). The proceeds of the sale funded the establishment of many endowed professorial chairs at the [[Charles Perkins Centre]], where a room dedicated to the painting, now exists.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://sydney.edu.au/news/84.html?newscategoryid=11&newsstoryid=7151 |title=Picasso masterpiece raises A$20.6 million to fund Sydney research |website=University of Sydney |access-date=23 July 2018 |archive-date=5 December 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201205230855/https://www.sydney.edu.au/news/84.html?newscategoryid=11&newsstoryid=7151 |url-status=live}}</ref>

Action initiated by then-Vice Chancellor [[Michael Spence (legal scholar)|Michael Spence]] to improve the financial sustainability of the university caused controversy among some students and staff.<ref name="The man, the myth, the manager">Max Chalmers (10 March 2014). "[http://honisoit.com/2014/03/the-man-the-myth-the-manager/ The man, the myth, the manager] {{Webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150714094252/http://honisoit.com/2014/03/the-man-the-myth-the-manager/ |date=14 July 2015}}". Retrieved 10 March 2014.</ref> In 2012, Spence led efforts to cut the university's expenditure to address the financial impact of a slowdown in international student enrolments across Australia. This included redundancies of a number of university staff and faculty, though some at the university argued that the institution should have cut back on building programs instead.<ref>{{cite web |author=Stephen Matchett |date=12 March 2012 |title=Academics argue VC has not made his case |url=http://www.theaustralian.com.au/higher-education/academics-argue-vc-has-not-made-his-case/story-e6frgcjx-1226296360644 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120319142924/http://www.theaustralian.com.au/higher-education/academics-argue-vc-has-not-made-his-case/story-e6frgcjx-1226296360644 |archive-date=19 March 2012 |access-date=12 February 2013 |work=The Australian}}</ref> Critics argued the push for savings was driven by managerial incompetence and indifference, fuelling industrial action during a round of enterprise bargaining in 2013 that also reflected widespread concerns about public funding for higher education.<ref name="The man, the myth, the manager" /><ref>{{cite web |last=Barnsley |first=Kate |date=22 March 2013 |title=FAQs for Strike Day – March 26 and March 27 |url=http://www.nteu.org.au/sydney/article/FAQs-for-Strike-Day---March-26-and-March-27-14288 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150214003029/http://www.nteu.org.au/sydney/article/FAQs-for-Strike-Day---March-26-and-March-27-14288 |archive-date=14 February 2015 |access-date=24 March 2013}}</ref>

An internal staff survey in 2012/13, which found widespread dissatisfaction with how the university was being managed.<ref>Kirsty Needham (9 June 2013). "[http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/sydney-uni-staff-rank-as-most-dissatisfied-20130608-2nwrt.html Sydney Uni staff rank as most dissatisfied] {{Webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924215217/http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/sydney-uni-staff-rank-as-most-dissatisfied-20130608-2nwrt.html |date=24 September 2015}}"</ref> Asked to rate their level of agreement with a series of statements about the university, 19 per cent of those surveyed believed "change and innovation" were handled well by the university. In the survey, 75 per cent of university staff indicated senior executives were not listening to them, while only 22 per cent said change was handled well and 33 per cent said senior executives were good role models.<ref>{{cite web |author=Max Chalmers |date=14 January 2014 |title=Staff Give Sydney Uni A Poor Grade |url=https://newmatilda.com/2014/01/14/staff-give-sydney-uni-poor-grade/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160815013023/https://newmatilda.com/2014/01/14/staff-give-sydney-uni-poor-grade/ |archive-date=15 August 2016 |access-date=14 January 2014}}</ref>

During Spence's term, the university community was divided over allowing students from an elite private school, [[Scots College (Sydney)|Scots College]], to enter university via a "pathway of privilege" by means of enrolling in a Diploma of Tertiary Preparation rather than meeting HSC entry requirements.<ref>{{cite news |author=Rick Feneley |date=5 April 2015 |title=Scots boys got into Sydney University without HSC |url=http://www.smh.com.au/national/scots-boys-got-into-sydney-university-without-hsc-20150405-1medae.html |newspaper=The Sydney Morning Herald |access-date=16 July 2015 |language=en-AU |archive-date=9 July 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150709134111/http://www.smh.com.au/national/scots-boys-got-into-sydney-university-without-hsc-20150405-1medae.html |url-status=live}}</ref> The university charged students $12,000 to take the course and have since successfully admitted a number of students to degree courses. An exposé by Fairfax which turned out to be based on a misunderstanding as to VET and UAC matriculation standards, the scheme has been criticised by Phillip Heath, the national chairman of the Association of Heads of Independent Schools of Australia.<ref>{{cite news |author=Rick Feneley |date=10 April 2015 |title=Scots scandal: We don't want elitist, sweetheart deals with universities, says independent school principals chairman Phillip Heath |url=http://www.smh.com.au/national/scots-scandal-we-dont-want-elitist-sweetheart-deals-with-universities-says-independent-school-principals-chairman-phillip-heath-20150410-1mi2xb.html |newspaper=The Sydney Morning Herald |access-date=16 July 2015 |language=en-AU |archive-date=21 July 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150721113027/http://www.smh.com.au/national/scots-scandal-we-dont-want-elitist-sweetheart-deals-with-universities-says-independent-school-principals-chairman-phillip-heath-20150410-1mi2xb.html |url-status=live}}</ref>

Concerns about public funding for higher education were reflected again in 2014 following the federal government's [[Abbott Government#University and TAFE deregulation|proposal to deregulate student fees]]. The university held a wide-ranging consultation process, which included a "town hall meeting" at the university's Great Hall on 25 August 2014, where an audience of students, staff and alumni expressed deep concern about the government's plans and called on university leadership to lobby against the proposals.<ref>{{cite news |author=Alexandra Back |date=25 August 2014 |title=Overwhelming opposition to fee deregulation at historic University of Sydney town hall meeting |url=http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/overwhelming-opposition-to-fee-deregulation-at-historic-university-of-sydney-town-hall-meeting-20140826-108btl.html |newspaper=The Sydney Morning Herald |access-date=16 July 2015 |language=en-AU |archive-date=18 November 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141118021233/http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/overwhelming-opposition-to-fee-deregulation-at-historic-university-of-sydney-town-hall-meeting-20140826-108btl.html |url-status=live}}</ref> Throughout 2014, Spence took a leading position among Australian vice-chancellors in repeatedly calling for any change to funding to not undermine equitable access to university while arguing for fee deregulation to raise course costs for the majority of higher education students.<ref>{{cite news |author=Michael Spence |date=28 May 2014 |title=Middle income families the losers in race to university |url=http://www.smh.com.au/comment/middle-income-families-the-losers-in-race-to-university-20140528-zrqgy.html |newspaper=The Sydney Morning Herald |access-date=16 July 2015 |language=en-AU |archive-date=24 September 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924152829/http://www.smh.com.au/comment/middle-income-families-the-losers-in-race-to-university-20140528-zrqgy.html |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Alberici |first=Emma |title=Universities too reliant on international student fees |work=[[ABC News (Australia)|ABC News]] |date=26 August 2014 |url=http://www.abc.net.au/lateline/content/2014/s4075107.htm |access-date=16 July 2015 |language=en-AU |archive-date=14 July 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150714075729/http://www.abc.net.au/lateline/content/2014/s4075107.htm |url-status=live}}</ref>

An investigation by Fairfax in 2015 revealed widespread cheating at universities across NSW, including the University of Sydney.<ref>{{cite web |author=Alexandra Smith |date=11 August 2015 |title=The lengths university students will go to cheat |url=http://www.smh.com.au/national/education/the-lengths-university-students-will-go-to-cheat-20150811-giwjog.html |newspaper=The Sydney Morning Herald |access-date=11 August 2015 |archive-date=12 August 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150812143947/http://www.smh.com.au/national/education/the-lengths-university-students-will-go-to-cheat-20150811-giwjog.html |url-status=live}}</ref> The university later established a taskforce on academic misconduct to reduce cheating and academic misconduct.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://sydney.edu.au/news/84.html?newscategoryid=8&newsstoryid=14810 |title=News – The University of Sydney. |access-date=30 January 2022 |archive-date=5 December 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201205230648/https://www.sydney.edu.au/news/84.html?newscategoryid=8&newsstoryid=14810 |url-status=live}}</ref>

In 2016, the university introduced plans to consolidate existing degrees to reduce the overall number of programs it offered.<ref>{{cite news |last=Bagshaw |first=Eryk |date=2016-03-31 |title=University of Sydney to cut 100 degrees and triple research investment |url=https://www.smh.com.au/education/university-of-sydney-to-cut-100-degrees-and-triple-research-investment-20160331-gnv1fc.html |newspaper=The Sydney Morning Herald |access-date=2018-03-22 |language=en-AU |archive-date=22 March 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180322204929/https://www.smh.com.au/education/university-of-sydney-to-cut-100-degrees-and-triple-research-investment-20160331-gnv1fc.html |url-status=live}}</ref> In the 2019 Student Experience Survey, the University of Sydney recorded the second lowest student satisfaction rating out of all Australian universities, and the second lowest student satisfaction rating out of all New South Wales universities, with an overall satisfaction rating of 74.2; this was lower than the national average rating of 78.4.<ref>{{cite web |title=2019 Student Experience Survey |url=https://www.qilt.edu.au/docs/default-source/ses/ses-2019/2019-ses-national-report.pdf?sfvrsn=6486ec3c_10 |access-date=19 June 2020 |archive-date=18 April 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200418184719/https://www.qilt.edu.au/docs/default-source/ses/ses-2019/2019-ses-national-report.pdf?sfvrsn=6486ec3c_10 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Baker |first1=Jordan |date=10 March 2020 |title=UNSW students least satisfied in the country, survey shows |url=https://www.smh.com.au/national/unsw-students-least-satisfied-in-the-country-due-to-trimesters-20200310-p548t0.html |newspaper=The Sydney Morning Herald |access-date=19 June 2020 |language=en-AU |archive-date=22 June 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200622070448/https://www.smh.com.au/national/unsw-students-least-satisfied-in-the-country-due-to-trimesters-20200310-p548t0.html |url-status=live}}</ref>