The Scan Main Edition 14 June 2013 # 123

14/06/2013 by
Conor King2

_____________________________________________________________________________________________ Sydney sets research priorities Following an extensive independent review, Sydney University is set to focus its health and medical research on four priority health and medical priority areas -  obesity, diabetes and cardiovascular disease, cancer, mental health and neuroscience and infectious diseases.   The Health and Medical Research Strategic Review, chaired by  Peter Wills AC, was commissioned by vice-chancellor Michael Spence to assist the university "to strategically position itself over the next decade amidst changes to the health and medical research sector in Australia and … [Read more...]

Filed Under: ALP policies, Budget, Campus Review, Commonwealth policies, Government, Higher education policy, Industrial relations, Innovative Research Universities, International, IRU, LH Martin Institute, Monash, National Tertiary Education Union, NCVER, Regional, Research, RMIT, Scan Main Edition, Swinburne University, TAFE, Uncategorized, University of Sydney, VET, Vocational education & training Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Sydney sets research priorities

14/06/2013 by
Uni Syd pic

University of Sydney News    |      14 June 2013 Following an extensive independent review, Sydney University is set to focus its health and medical research on four priority health and medical priority areas -  obesity, diabetes and cardiovascular disease, cancer, mental health and neuroscience and infectious diseases. The Health and Medical Research Strategic Review, chaired by  Peter Wills AC, was commissioned by vice-chancellor Michael Spence to assist the university "to strategically position itself over the next decade amidst changes to the health and medical research sector in Australia and globally". The university says that while it has a proud tradition of health and … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Higher education policy, Research, University of Sydney Tagged With: , ,

RMIT sets up in Barcelona

14/06/2013 by
RMIT Barcelona

RMIT News     |      11 June 2013 RMIT University is expanding its presence to Europe by establishing a site in Barcelona, Spain, to build its European education, research and student mobility activities. RMIT Vice-Chancellor and President, Professor Margaret Gardner AO, said the decision to establish a centre in Barcelona was to extend and deepen RMIT's collaborative partnerships in Europe and to strengthen the global orientation and reach of RMIT's education and research. "The excellence of Barcelona in design and technology was very significant in our choice to deepen our partnerships there; and indeed, the high quality of technology and design in Europe has led RMIT to seek … [Read more...]

Filed Under: International, RMIT Tagged With: ,

Bans extended to Monash

14/06/2013 by

The Age    |    12 June 2013 Monash University staff will push ahead with plans to withhold students' results, prompting university management to withdraw from negotiations over pay and conditions. The National Tertiary Education Union has notified Monash management that it would implement a series of bans, including processing results, overtime and participation in events such as open days. The union's industrial organiser for Monash, Stan Rosenthal, said the university would not discuss pay increases for staff. He said the university had refused to negotiate while there were bans on recording or transmitting students' results.   But he said the ban had not affected negotiations … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Monash, National Tertiary Education Union Tagged With: , , ,

Shift to VET licensing system

14/06/2013 by
NSSC

The Australian    |     13 June 2013 Registered Training Organisations face tougher regulation after tertiary education ministers approved a shift from registration to licensing. Under the change, the right to issue qualifications – now an automatic entitlement for registered colleges – will require a licence.  Licensed providers will need to meet tougher corporate benchmarks, and individual staff known as “accountable education officers” will be made responsible for the quality of training. Providers unwilling or unable to meet the new requirements will have the option of selling up or delivering other colleges’ qualifications under franchising arrangements. The new framework … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Qualifications, VET, Vocational education & training Tagged With: , ,

Impact of cuts ‘not properly analysed’

14/06/2013 by

Campus Review    |      12 June 2013 The impact of the $2.3 billion cut from the university sector to fund schools funding reform  appear not have been properly analysed, it has emerged at a Senate estimates committee hearing. Nationals Senator Fiona Nash asked education officials for any analysis done to determine how the cuts will affect regional universities. Robert Griew from the Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations responded: … there was a great deal of information provided in consideration of all those savings measures and I can’t recall in all honesty that we provided information that went to individual universities in any group. Nash asked about … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Budget, Campus Review, Commonwealth policies, Higher education policy, Regional Tagged With: , , ,

RMIT reinstates professor

14/06/2013 by
RMIT

The Australian     |      14 June 2013 RMIT University has reinstated a professor, in line with a Federal Court order, after deciding not to appeal a judgement upholding claims she had been unfairly dismissed. Judith Bessant, professor of sociology and youth studies, had been dismissed after raising various complaints against her supervisor, including bullying allegations. She was reinstated last Friday. In a judgment last month, Federal Court Justice Peter Gray had warned that Professor Bessant could have been entitled to compensation of up to almost $2 million if she wasn't reinstated after finding the university had breached the Fair Work Act.    RMIT chief operating officer … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Industrial relations, RMIT Tagged With:

Council plan to “anchor” Lilydale campus

14/06/2013 by
Swineburne2

TAFE in Victoria     |       12 June 2013 Yarra Ranges Council will attempt to buy part of the Swinburne University Lilydale campus in a bold attempt to maintain the site as an education centre. The council plans to build its new $14 million offices on the site, a strategic move it claims is the only way post-secondary education will remain in Lilydale. Mayor Jim Child said that after nine months of discussions with different education providers, there was "very little serious interest in acquiring the site for education" and something needed to happen. "In light of the lack of interest in the site from the education sector, we believe council ownership would give us the … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Deakin, National Tertiary Education Union, Swinburne University, TAFE, Uncategorized Tagged With: , ,

Should we copy Gonski in higher education funding?

14/06/2013 by

The Conversation     |     12 June 2013 The Australian Education Bill, introduced to the parliament last week, sets out the government’s Gonski reforms to school funding. One of the reform’s key tenets is that extra money should go to schools with the greater number of disadvantaged students, including Indigenous students, those with a disability, and those from poor backgrounds. But why should this funding principle only serve students in primary and high schools? How it works now At the moment, university base funding is driven by the disciplines students choose to do. This means some disciplines attract around A$11,000 while others get nearly $31,000. Under the school … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Budget, Commonwealth policies, Government, Higher education policy, Innovative Research Universities, Uncategorized Tagged With: , ,

You’ve had an out-of-body experience, but what kind?

14/06/2013 by
OBE2

Have you ever felt as though your sense of awareness was outside of your physical body? That you were looking back at yourself from another place in the same room? If so, you’ve probably had an out-of-body experience (OBE). But not all OBEs are the same. Research suggests OBEs are more common than one might think, with around 10% of the population having reported at least one such experience in their lifetime. Some people experience their usual physical surroundings from a different spatial perspective; others report travelling out of their body to imaginary dream realms. A sense of leaving one’s body My colleagues and I last year conducted a study examining the potential differences … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Uncategorized