Dr Gregson blamed government under-funding."If staff and students were properly supported to learn,teach and research,the business model that trimesterisation embodies could rightly be discarded,"she said.
UNSW Professor Merlin Crossley,the deputy vice-chancellor (academic),said the new system gave students greater flexibility. For example,a part-time workload would now be one subject per trimester,while students who took three subjects per term would have one trimester free.
It had also resulted in fewer timetable clashes,fewer scheduled classes,and a reduced exam load."It's reduced the pressure on campus,and allowed us to reduce the number of early morning and evening lectures,"he said.
However,there were teething problems,such as some students being given too much work."We are looking to see whether we haven't been a bit enthusiastic about giving students more material and more assessments,"he said.
Pre-exam study periods - known as stu-vac - have also been reduced."I think the intensity of the pace of learning[means] we need to make sure we have a consolidation time before the assessments,I think that's a challenge,"Professor Crossley said.
"We've had to change so many things. It would be wrong for me to underestimate what a monumental change it is,but it's basically worked."
First-year students were less worried than those who had experienced the previous system,said one,an engineering undergraduate who wanted to be known only as Luke."Going from four subjects at school compared with three seems to reduce the workload,"he said.
"I know a few others who feel the same way,but they are not as vocal as those who have been here a bit longer."
There were similar tensions when the University of Technology adopted a trimester timetable in 2016. In the transition year,student satisfaction plunged to the lowest of any university in Australia,but has since recovered.