This week in Campus Review

campusReview

Campus Review   4 June 2012 Aust unis rank highly in "young unis" list  Australia has once again shown it can perform on the international stage, with 14 universities in the Times Higher Education 100 Under 50 List (under 50 years old), released last week, being beaten only by the UK, which has 20.  Macquarie University and the University of Wollongong were ranked equal 33rd on the list, with the Queensland University of Technology coming in at 40, the University of Newcastle at 45, Charles Darwin University 48, the University of South Australia 65, Curtin University 75, Deakin University and Flinders University at 78, Griffith and La Trobe universities at 81, the University of … [Read more...]

The Scan 10 May 2012

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Control and click headlines and highlights to link to articles Links may not work unless you or your organisation is a paid subscriber to the originating media outlet.  Check with your communications people about subscriptions. ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Budget relief but pain lies ahead Anxiety gave way to relief across universities after Labor handed down a higher education budget [on 8 May] that maintained indexation and delivered a $120 million increase to the overall research budget, lifting it to $1.72 billion.  University chiefs expressed delight at the announcement by Tertiary Education … [Read more...]

Vic to take razor to VET funding

Perhaps not...

The Australian    28 April 2012 Victorian TAFEs will be stripped of preferential funding arrangements and government support for many courses will be slashed to less than $2 an hour, under an overhaul of the open training market to be announced as part of the state budget on 1 May. The Australian reports that funding rates will rise for about 20% of courses, including apprenticeships and other high-cost training, which will assist TAFEs which dominate such training. The government will also introduce a 5% loading for regional training, scrap maximum and minimum caps on tuition fees and halve the funding most providers get for merely assessing students. TAFEs will be … [Read more...]

Vic TAFEs slide $100m

Box Hill Institute

The Australian    20 April 2012 Annual reports tabled in Parliament show that Victoria's struggling TAFEs lost ground in 2011, with the combined surplus of the 14 standalone TAFEs almost halving from $192m in 2010 to $98m.  Just three of the 14 TAFEs ended up in better financial shape last year, after 11 suffered net operating losses averaging $6m each.  While much of the shortfall in the combined surplus was due to declining government capital grants, which fell by almost $70m, the 14 TAFEs also lost more than $40m from their operations. The state budget is due to be handed down on 1 May, with the government flagging new measures to reinforce quality in government-funded training. … [Read more...]

The Scan 4 April 2012

Uni Adelaide

Control and click headlines and highlights to link to articles Links may not work unless you or your organisation is a paid subscriber to the originating media outlet.  Check with your communications people about subscriptions. ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ SA unis explore merger options The chancellors of University of Adelaide and University of South Australia actively explored a merger earlier this year only to decide the costs risked outweighing the benefits.  However, UniSA vice-chancellor Peter Hoj described the talks as only being "on hold". He said the economies of scale and the state's … [Read more...]

VET report reveals increased skills training

Media release   23 March 2012 The Commonwealth Government's “record $11.1 billion investment in vocational education and training between the 2008 and 2010 financial years is paying dividends with more students getting a training qualification and a ticket to a rewarding working future”,  according to Chris Evans (Minister for Tertiary Education and Skills).  The Annual National Report 2010 on Australia's VET system confirms strong growth in the total number of VET students.  The Annual National Report of the Australian VET System, tabled in Parliament on 22 March, shows there were 1.8 million VET students in 2010, an increase of 5.4% on the previous year.  Evans said the … [Read more...]

“Rip off college” cornered market

The Australian   22 March 2012 A now deregistered training college was the top provider of courses preparing people for education and training careers, according to an unpublished report on the performance of Victoria's training market last year.  Vocational Training Group attracted over 1400 enrolments in education and training, even though it was under administration for much of the year.  It pipped the top-placed TAFE, Box Hill, which had 1275 education and training-related enrolments. And it almost quadrupled the enrolments with the next-placed private college, SELMAR Institute, which had just 365.  VTG was deregistered in February over financial viability issues. It had been … [Read more...]

Action doesn’t match reality in VET

The Australian   21 March 2012 John Ross comments that, for a sector that attracts precious little interest, vocational education and training sure draws an awful lot of rhetoric.  And he obviously thinks a lot of it’s empty.  Much of the commentary on the Commonwealth's 84-page skills statement was on how much of it said nothing - the 25 pages mostly dedicated to photos and coloured space.  Of the things it did say, many had been said before - some several times since 2010.  And commentators ask whether even these recycled announcements mean much, saying the central proposal - a training entitlement - already exists in state-funded TAFEs.  The government's rhetoric goes into … [Read more...]

The Scan – 16 February 2012

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Control and click headlines and highlights to link to articles, Links may not work unless you or your organisation is a paid subscriber to the originating media outlet.  Check with your communications people about subscriptions. _______________________________________________________________________________________________________ Research block funding announced Research block indexed grant funding is up by more than $100 million this year across universities, with the Group of Eight maintaining the lion's share, at 64.8%, up slightly from  last year's 64.5%.  Tertiary Education, Skills, Science and Research Minister Chris Evans has confirmed a total of $1.63 billion for … [Read more...]

“Rorting” RTO deregistered

The Australian 10 February 2012 A private training company at the centre of 'rip-off' allegations involving kickbacks to sporting clubs has been deregistered by the Victorian government – but for financial instability rather than the kickback scheme.   Melbourne-based Vocational Training Group had its registration cancelled by the Victorian Registration and Qualifications Authority, effective 10 February 2012.  Skills Minister Peter Hall told parliament that nine other organisations were being investigated over “reports of misuse and abuse”, including one which claimed over $10 million of government training funds last year.  Payments to all nine have been suspended or withheld … [Read more...]

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