This post has been removed at the request of Campus Review … [Read more...]
TDA Newsletter
13/11/2012 by
TDA Newsroom | 12 November 2012 Tertiary leaders counsel Victorian Government against amendments to TAFE and university governance The Australian Financial Review has reported on high-level concerns regarding legislation proposed by the Baillieu Government, scheduled to be debated in Victoria’s lower house this week. Executive Director of the Victorian TAFE Association (VTA), David Williams, and National Tertiary Education Union (NTEU) President, Jeannie Rae, expressed their concern regarding the practical effects of the proposed Bill on the autonomy of university and TAFE governing councils. The AFR reported today that Chairs of university councils are divided on the … [Read more...]
Academics demand Baillieu abandon council changes
13/11/2012 by
NTEU Newsroom | 12 November 2012 An open letter advertisement in The Age newspaper signed by 225 of Victoria’s academic leaders calls for the Baillieu Government to abandon its Education Legislation Amendment (Governance) Bill which goes before Parliament this week. The Bill will strip staff and student representatives of guaranteed seats on university councils. The signatories say that the Bill “is a fundamental threat to the autonomy of universities and will destroy, overnight, the centuries-old constitutional tradition that protects universities from direction by the state and interference from commercial and sectional interests”: The term university derives from the Latin … [Read more...]
Demand driven system wreaking havoc
13/11/2012 by
The Australian | 12 November 2012 All economics study at the University of Western Sydney next year will be dumped except for one introductory course for first-year business students, and those enrolling in Islamic studies won't be able to learn Arabic after cutbacks forced by a lack of demand. UWS will also cut Spanish, Italian and financial planning, blaming falling demand for these subjects over the past four years. But critics say it's an "act of academic vandalism" and "a knee-jerk reaction" to changing preferences among school-leavers. Steve Keen, an economist who is among more than 30 staff destined to lose their jobs, says the federal government's demand-driven system, … [Read more...]
Academics working hard but staying put
13/11/2012 by
The Australian | 12 November 2012 More than half of academics working full-time put in at least 50 hours a week, according to a new survey. A further 39% work between 40 and 49 hours. The statistics emerged from analysis of 8393 responses by academics to a Work & Careers in Australian Universities employee survey, which revealed 83% of them work full-time. Slightly more than half (51%) of the sample were women. The research was part of a three-year study into gender and employment equity in Australian universities, part funded by a $350,000 ARC Linkage grant and led by Griffith University professor Glenda Strachan. The study surveyed separately the three workforces in … [Read more...]
It was time
13/11/2012 by
13 November 2012 Most readers of The Scan - and indeed the parents of some readers - are too young to remember the balmy evening of 13 November 1972 when Gough Whitlam declared at the Blacktown Civic Centre, before 1500 supporters and a television audience of millions, that "It's time": Men and Women of Australia! The decision we will make for our country on 2 December is a choice between the past and the future, between the habits and fears of the past, and the demands and opportunities of the future. There are moments in history when the whole fate and future of nations can be decided by a single decision. For Australia, this is such a time. It’s time for a new team, a new … [Read more...]
