Academics have accused Macquarie University of “hollowing out” the humanities after the institution announced a restructure that would halve some arts faculties and drastically reduce course offerings for some degrees.

Under the proposed changes, seen by Guardian Australia, 42 full-time equivalent academic roles in the faculty of arts and 33 in the faculty of science and engineering would be cut, making about $15m in net savings. Curriculum changes would be made in 2026 and 2027, with mergers and reductions largely attributed to low enrolment figures.

The proposal, released to staff on 3 June, said the prospect of international student caps and “uncertainty” in domestic student growth meant Australian universities could no longer rely on boosting enrolments to ensure financial sustainability.

“The objective of the changes … is to resize the workforce in areas where current staff profile and capacity is not aligned to student demand.”