The provost of Trinity College Dublin, Dr John Hegarty, is moving to shore up support for his radical restructuring plans which have provoked a furious reaction in the college.
The proposals would see the number of individual departments reduced from 81 to 18. Critics say they would undermine scholarship in TCD, and are part of a new "pro-business" agenda for the third-level sector.
The provost is to hold a series of consultations with staff in the coming weeks.
Yesterday, sources close to him stressed that the proposed restructuring plan represented only a possible agenda for change. He said the provost would "listen carefully" to the response from colleagues, and that "no decisions" had been taken.
The plans were recently rejected by Trinity's senior academics. Several high-profile academics are known to strongly oppose the plans.
Dr Hegarty hopes the meetings with staff will help build support for the proposals, which would also see the number of faculties reduced from six to three and open competition for all faculty deans.
The restructuring proposals, and the response from staff, will be considered by the college's board in mid-July.
However, no final decision is likely until the autumn.
A senior college source said a comprehensive rejection of the plans would be a "very serious matter" for the provost. He expressed confidence, however, that the thrust of the proposals would be adopted.
The provost believes radical restructuring is required as the college struggles to cope with reduced State funding.
Trinity and other third-level colleges have suffered an effective 10 per cent cut in funding in the past year as part of a process whereby the Minister for Education and Science, Mr Dempsey, has been shifting more resources to the primary sector.
The restructuring proposals come at a time when staff are angry about the college's decision to use, as it sees fit, any surplus funds held in reserve by various departments.
There is also residual anger among lecturers about the relatively small increase (3 per cent) they received under benchmarking.
Dr Hegarty's supporters say he is preparing the college for the forthcoming OECD review of third-level education in the Republic, which is expected to propose rationalisation across the sector.
