There will be no more forced job cuts at the Australian National University, its interim vice-chancellor has announced, however, Julie Bishop will continue in her leadership role and a restructure at the embattled institution will continue.

Addressing an all-staff town hall on Thursday morning, the interim vice-chancellor, Prof Rebekah Brown, became visibly emotional and held back tears before confirming there would no more involuntary redundancies as part of the restructure process, named Renew ANU.

She said the university would still need to make realignments in colleges flagged for restructure, as well as being “really mindful” of expenditure, but a higher than expected uptake in voluntary redundancies had saved about 100 jobs that were facing the axe.

At least 399 redundancies have been taken since the restructure began 12 months ago.

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The news came just a week after the former vice-chancellor, Prof Genevieve Bell, tendered her resignation, ending a tumultuous two years at the institution marked by redundancies, proposed course closures and allegations of a toxic work culture.

Brown said it was “her job” to take responsibility for the harm caused by the restructure and said management would “be better going forward”.

“We are going to be having a different type of communication,” she said. “At least under my interim leadership, we will do better. I’ll expect better.”

Brown also said an “anonymous donor” had offered a generous philanthropic gift in order to continue the Australian National Dictionary Centre, which had been flagged for closure, for the next two years, and the university had “identified funds” to support the Australian Dictionary of Biography.

It was unclear whether the centre for European studies, the humanities research centre and the ANU school of music, flagged to be rested under the current proposal, would be saved in their current forms.

Jimmy Barnes was among about three dozen high-profile musicians who signed an open letter urging ANU to save the music school on Wednesday.

Under a draft plan released in July, ANU revealed plans to absorb the six-decade-old institution into the school of creative and cultural practice and axe one-on-one instrumental lessons as part of the university’s restructure to cut $250m in costs.

But Brown said performance in some form would return to the music school after committing to conversations with the Canberra Symphony Orchestra.

No Cuts at ANU, a grassroots group of academics opposed to the restructure, said Brown’s statements did not address the “root of the anger” at the university, including the cuts that had already occurred.

“She said the school of music has been saved – but for the students who have already seen their courses cut, their tutorial sizes increased, staff sacked, and their performance subjects axed, how is this saved?” they said.

“Many students in the school of music have already left due to these attacks. What is a ‘saved’ school of music where students and staff have already abandoned ship?”

Since Bell’s resignation, Bishop, the university’s chancellor, and members of the council have faced pressure over their own roles in ANU’s financial management and associated transparency and governance concerns.

The National Tertiary Education Union (NTEU), sectors of the academic community and some politicians, including the Greens and the ACT senator David Pocock, have repeatedly called Bishop’s leadership into question.

Asked at the town hall whether Brown would ask Bishop to stand down if the university was “serious about rebuilding trust”, she replied: “The short answer is no.”

“It’s not the interim or vice-chancellor’s prerogative to ask a chancellor or any member of council to step down,” she said. “I have no aspirations [or] intentions to change the existing leadership team.”

Last week, Bishop said there were “no grounds” for her to stand aside and the university’s financial situation “began a very long time ago”.

The ACT division secretary of the NTEU, Dr Lachlan Clohesy, said “every university staff member” facing job cuts around the nation could “take heart” from ANU’s decision.

He said Brown deserved credit for “reading the room accurately” on the issue but the university’s restructure process had “broken the university” and “damaged” its people.

Almost 30 staff at the ANU’s humanities school had stopped work after an internal report warned of psychological hazards in their workplace related to the restructure.