The National Tertiary Education Union launched the campaign this week demanding "fair funding" from governments for the university.

Branch president Gabriel Donleavy condemned "decades of Federal government policy" for funding cuts which he said had forced the university sector into a "permanently deteriorating crisis".

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The union has asked staff and students of the university and members of the Armidale community to sign an open letter to UNE Vice Chancellor and local politicians, asking for change.

They want the university to "carefully reconsider alternatives" to the plan announced last month to slash $20 million in staff costs, initially through voluntary redundancies.

Mr Donleavy said the union "stands ready to do everything in its power to protect members' jobs, rights and conditions against forced redundancies".

"We would love to see our Vice Chancellor taking the courageous step publicly to demand fair funding for UNE," he said.

"We also wish to urge very strongly that our representatives, particularly Adam Marshall and Barnaby Joyce, fight within the Coalition Government to defeat Dan Tehan's plan and to demand that UNE receives the funding it needs to continue to be a key public institution and employer in our region."

UNE Vice-Chancellor and CEO Professor Brigid Heywood said the university is committed to seeking new investment "in research and entrepreneurship activities".

"We are petitioning Government at all levels for support for all our educational offerings, for research and for regional outreach," she said.

She said "reforms" proposed by Federal Education Minister Dan Tehan actually lift the nominal Commonwealth Grant Scheme funding cap and create opportunities for UNE to recruit more students.

The UNE has been one of the least affected by the COVID-19 crisis that has decimated Australia's tertiary education sector, providing most of its classes online even before the crisis.

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