Diversity – The Scan

The Scan # 177 17 March 2016

17/03/2016 by intermediatescan

News ______________________________________________________ Fed takeover of VET unlikely 14 March 2016 | The newly-minted Commonwealth minister for skills, Scott Ryan, has poured cold water on a proposed Commonwealth takeover of vocational education and training set out in a draft of a paper to go to the next meeting of the Council of Australian Governments (COAG). Under the proposal, TAFE fees would be deregulated and TAFEs would receive the same funding. While education Simon Birmingham has strongly advocated a Commonwealth takeover, Ryan says there are strong arguments to maintain the current system. Ryan said redesigning the troubled VET FEE-HELP scheme - which has blown … [Read more...]

Filed Under: ABC, ACCI, ALP policies, ASQA, COAG, Coalition policies, Commonwealth policies, Deakin, Education policy, Federation University, Government, Higher education policy, LH Martin Institute, Mitchell Institute, Schools, TAFE, universities, Universities Australia, VET, Victoria University, Vocational education & training Tagged With: Diversity, Election 2016, Equity, Fees, Funding, Research, Tertiary education news, VET FEE-HELP, VET funding, VET regulation

Collaboration and the case for certainty

17/03/2016 by intermediatescan

University Australia's election agenda 17 March 2016 ……………………………………………………………………………………………………… In this extract from his speech to the recent Universities Australia Conference (which was mainly about research, innovation and collaboration), Universities Australia's chair Barney Glover sets out in broad terms the university sector’s policy agenda for this election year. He prefaced his comments with the observation that the sector has been subject almost 2 years of policy insecurity and uncertainty which has taken a toll on the ability of universities to plan and allocate resources (it’s actually more like 4 years, taking into account the churn that was going on in the latter days of the … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Coalition policies, Education policy, Government, Higher education policy, Research, The Scan, universities, Universities Australia, University budgets Tagged With: Diversity, Election 2016, Equity, Fee deregulation, Funding, Research funding, Tertiary education news, Tertiary participation, University news

The year to date

11/03/2016 by intermediatescan

11 March 2016 There’s a lot to catch up with but, as they say, plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose (which is, according to the estimable Wiktionary, an epigram by Jean-Baptiste Alphonse Karr in the January 1849 issue of his journal Les Guêpes (“The Wasps”), meaning “the more it changes, the more it’s the same thing.”) VET FEE-HELP As previously reported, changes to the VET FEE-HELP (VFH) scheme legislated late last year provides some better protection of students from the carpetbaggers who have looted the scheme and dudded the students. The government proposes to spend this year look at ways to rort-proof it from the likes of Phoenix. But as so many people have asked: how … [Read more...]

Filed Under: ACCC, ALP, ASQA, Budget, Canberra Institute of Technology, Coalition policies, Commonwealth policies, Conferences, Education policy, Grattan Institute, Higher education policy, Productivity Commission, Public funding, Qualifications, Rankings, Research, TAFE, The Scan, universities, Universities Australia, VET, Vocational education & training Tagged With: Appointments, Diversity, Equity, Fee deregulation, Research, TAFE appointments, TAFE funding, Tertiary education news and headlines, Tertiary participation, university admission

Monash to pull out of Berwick

08/03/2016 by intermediatescan

Cites "lack of demand" ABC News | 8 March 2016 ……………………………………………………………………………………………………… Monash University says it will close its Berwick campus in Melbourne's outer south-east unless it can partner with another university on the site. …………………………………………………………………………………….......…… The university said it will stop teaching at Berwick by the end of 2018 after a deal with Victoria University (VU) to use the campus fell through. Monash University's pro vice-chancellor Professor Leon Piterman said negotiations with VU to use the site had gone on for some time. "With students with lower ATARs achieving entry into VU, they would potentially meet the needs of the region better than what … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Monash Tagged With: Diversity, Equity, Tertiary education news and headlines, Tertiary participation, University consolidation, University news

The Scan in 2015

26/12/2015 by intermediatescan

26 December 2015 ……………………………………………………………………………………………………… On account of other pressing matters in 2015 published editions of The Scan, with a completely refreshed front page heralded to subscribers by an e-newsletter, were down quite a bit – just 21 in 2015 compared to 40 in in 2014. Nevertheless, some 350 items were posted, which is about 8 a week in The Scan’s year, a little down on the 10 items posted a week last year. Traffic to the Scan website remained strong, down about 20% on last year’s figures. The Scan’s now extensive archive of nearly 3000 posts creates “organic” traffic: over one third of all Scan traffic now flows from search engines and referrals. Regular readers will have … [Read more...]

Filed Under: ACCC, ACPET, ASQA, Budget, Canberra University, Commonwealth policies, Education policy, Higher education policy, Qualifications, Quality audits, TAFE, The Scan, universities, University budgets, University of Canberra, University reform, VET, Vocation Pty Ltd, Vocational education & training Tagged With: Academic awards, Budget 2014-15, Diversity, Equity, Fee deregulation, Higher Education and Research Reform Amendment Bill 2014, Mackenzie Review, Rorting, Tertiary education news and headlines, Uni fee deregulation, VET FEE-HELP, VET funding, VET news, Victorian skills reform

Australia’s first accredited Buddhist college

04/03/2015 by intermediatescan

4 March 2015 ……………………………………………………………………………………………………… Australia’s first government accredited Buddhist tertiary education provider, the Nan Tien Institute (NTI), officially opened its doors on Sunday 1 March 2015, at its newly constructed Wollongong Campus. ……………………………………………………………………………………………….......…… NTI describes itself as a secular tertiary Institute and says its purpose is to educate students in a context informed by Buddhist wisdom and values. It aims to facilitate cultural understanding and appreciation through the academic study of the arts, education, human welfare, religions and other disciplines. NTI currently offers six post graduate courses through its Faculty of … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Higher education providers Tagged With: Diversity, Nan Tien Institute, non-university higher education

The Scan | Edition #161 | 29 August 2014

30/08/2014 by intermediatescan

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Pyne introduces reform bill 28 August 2014 | The government introduced its higher education reform legislation into Parliament – the Higher Education and Research Reform Amendment Bill 2014. As anticipated, the legislation closely mirrors the announcement on budget night. There is to be fee deregulation with a requirement that 20% of net additional revenue from fee increases be set aside for equity scholarships. Students’ loans through the HELP scheme will be indexed at the 10-year bond rate … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Australian Technology Network, Budget, Coalition policies, Government, Group of 8, Higher education policy, LH Martin Institute, Life & stuff, Notices, Policy, Research, Scan Main Edition, Swinburne University, TAFE, TAFE Directors Australia, universities, Universities Australia, University budgets, University reform, VET, Vocational education & training Tagged With: Budget 2014-15, Budget cuts, Diversity, Equity, Fee deregulation, Fees, HECS-HELP, public universities, Research funding, TAFE, University funding, VET regulation

Higher education: a “public good” or “pernicious welfare” ?

19/06/2014 by intermediatescan

20 June 2014 ……………………………………………………………………………………………………… In this op-ed piece originally published in The Australian, Ben Etherington (Univeristy of Western Sydney) takes issue with John Roskam's proposition that "taxpayer-subsidised higher education is one of the more pernicious forms of welfare". Among other things, Roskam queried the relevance of studying the “emergence of poetry in various Caribbean Creoles”, Etherington's current project. ……………………………………………………………………………………………….......…… “In an era of busy government and constant change, it’s insufficiently recognised how often masterly inactivity can be the best contribution that government can make to a particular sector. A period … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Budget, Coalition policies, Government, Higher education policy, Scan Main Edition, Society, The Scan, University of Western Sydney Tagged With: Diversity, Fee deregulation, non-university higher education, public universities, University funding, university futures

Quelle surprise: student fees to rise, in a big way

01/06/2014 by intermediatescan

Fairfax Media | 1 June 2014 ……………………………………………………………………………………………………… Student fees at Melbourne University will need to rise by up to 61% in some courses to manage federal budget cuts and the government's increasingly controversial overhaul of higher education. Price hikes of a similar scale are predicted for Sydney University. In an email sent to staff members on Friday 30 May, Melbourne University Vice-Chancellor Glyn Davis estimated fees across the university would soar, as he outlined the university's plan to work through the budget. ……………………………………………………………………………………………….......…… Davis says initial analysis shows the gap caused by reduced public funding .....is momentous … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Budget, Coalition policies, Commonwealth policies, Government, Group of 8, Higher education policy, University of Melbourne, University of Sydney, Update Tagged With: Diversity, Equity, Fee deregulation, Fees, University participation

Vann’s stand

29/05/2014 by intermediatescan

CSU | 28 May 2014 ……………………………………………………………………………………………………… In this forensic analysis, Charles Sturt University vice-chancellor Andrew Vann demolishes what he describes as the "pretexts" of the recent budget with respect to higher education. Vann rejects the idea that deregulation is required to create diversity: “Charles Sturt University is nothing like the University of Sydney, nor does it wish to be anything like it.” Neither does he think that fee deregulation will enable Australian universities to climb up the global university rankings: for an Australian university to make it into the Top 20, for example, “I have previously suggested we might be able to pull this off by … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Budget, Charles Sturt University, Coalition policies, Government, Group of 8, Higher education policy, Rankings, Regional, Research, Scan Main Edition, The Scan, universities Tagged With: Diversity, Equity, Fee deregulation, Fees, International rankings, Regional delivery, Regional universities, University funding