2013 Tertiary Education Policy Seminars

07/06/2013 by
LH Martin &CSHE

Since 2007, the University of Melbourne has conducted a series of highly successful public seminars focussed on policy for tertiary education.  These high-level seminars have been presented by leading researchers, commentators and policy-makers and have attracted audiences of 100-150 people, including many senior people from the higher education and VET sectors across Australia. With the Federal Election in September 2013 these seminars will attract significant media attention again this year as well as have the potential to influence debate around key issues affecting the sector. Below are details for the four seminars for 2013, which commenced with "Students and Money" on  Monday night, … [Read more...]

Filed Under: ALP policies, Budget, Coalition policies, Commonwealth policies, Conferences, Higher education policy, LH Martin Institute, Notices Tagged With: , ,

The Scan Main Edition 7 June 2013

07/06/2013 by
lh-martin2

#121 ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________ TEQSA hits back Following growing criticism of heavy handed regulation of the university sector and the announcement of a review of red tape, directed at reducing the “dead weight” of over-regulation , the chief of the Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency (TEQSA)  Carol Nicoll has challenged critics to sheet that home to TEQSA.  She told a Senate Estimates Committee that TEQSA  requires institutions to report annually on only six items not already collected by the education department, which accounts for  about 1% of what universities had to report via the Higher … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Uncategorized

Lilydale to be “sold off for council offices” – NTEU

07/06/2013 by
swinburne

NTEU News     |       June 2013 A rally to save Swinburne’s Lilydale Campus from being allegedly sold off to become council offices has been called by the National Tertiary Education Union (NTEU) for 2pm next Friday (14 June).  The campus is scheduled for closure on 1 July as a result of the Victorian Government’s $300 million cut to TAFE funding last year. The NTEU says that in the past week it had made two startling discoveries.  According to NTEU’s Josh Cullinan: At the Yarra Valley Educational Precinct meeting last week the Yarra Ranges Council CEO announced he had been secretly negotiating with Swinburne and local Liberal politicians to shut the campus. In an astounding … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Industrial relations, National Tertiary Education Union, Scan Main Edition, Swinburne University, TAFE Tagged With: , ,

No choice over embracing online education

07/06/2013 by

Australian Financial Review    |    3 June 2013 University of Queensland vice-chancellor Peter Hoj is preparing his institution for massive change in higher education, warning that it needs to build its reputation as a global university.  In an address to university staff on 31 May, Hoj said if change in higher education are“as large scale as some envisage, then it will be unsettling for most of us”.  A focus of his speech was the rapid growth in online education and he warned the advent of massive open online courses, or MOOCs, “could fundamentally change the way we need to operate”. Last month the University of Queensland joined the edX MOOC consortium, led by Harvard and MIT, with … [Read more...]

Filed Under: MOOCs, Queensland University, Scan Main Edition, Uncategorized, University of Queensland Tagged With: , , , ,

Priority to TAFEs in QLD plan to outsource and privatise

07/06/2013 by

The Australian    |     6 June 2013 TAFE centres could lead an outsourcing drive in Queensland, with the Newman government pitting the private and public sectors against each other in delivering training services.  Just a day after delivering the Liberal National Party government's second budget, Treasurer Tim Nicholls said TAFE centres were a priority for "contestability" reforms, which are likely to include other parts of the education and health departments. The government has previously flagged outsourcing in its drive to save money as it grapples with falling state revenues and spiralling debt, with Peter Costello's Commission of Audit into Queensland's finances warning that … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Scan Main Edition, TAFE, VET, Vocational education & training Tagged With: , ,

University building crisis

07/06/2013 by
UNSW building

Australian Financial Review    |    3 June 2013 According to Geoff Hanmer, university building stock is in a parlous state:  "the current valuation of assets is around $23 billion less than it should be, which is, conservatively speaking, the amount of money the sector will have to spend to get its building stock back to par."  And the injection of capital funding through the Education Investment Fund was inadequate and poorly targeted.  Of the $1.7 billion spent on higher education and research in the first three rounds of EIF, nearly $1 billion went to just nine universities out of 39: the Group of Eight plus Macquarie University.   Hanmer is a director of ARINA Hayball, an architectural … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Budget, Commonwealth policies, Deakin, Government, Group of 8, Higher education policy, Macquarie University, Scan Main Edition Tagged With: , ,

UNSW to borrow for capital works

07/06/2013 by

Australian Financial Review    |    3 June 2013 University of NSW vice-chancellor Fred Hilmer says the university will borrow money to fund capital works in the face of government funding cuts that equal a $30 million annual hit to the budget.  The university is investigating options for borrowing  at least$150 million  more.  The life of the loan would likely be 10 to 15 years. “We expect a future government would come up with a funding model that will resource universities properly and allow us to repay the loan,”  Hilmer said, adding that the university’s priority was to continue with capital works already in the pipeline, including new buildings for biosciences and mechanical … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Budget, Commonwealth policies, Government, Higher education policy, Scan Main Edition, University of NSW, UNSW Tagged With: , ,

TEQSA hits back

07/06/2013 by

The Australian    |     5 June 2013 Following growing criticism of heavy handed regulation of the university sector and the announcement of a review of red tape, directed at reducing the “dead weight” of over-regulation , the chief of the Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency (TEQSA)  Carol Nicoll has challenged critics to sheet that home to TEQSA.  She told a Senate Estimates Committee that TEQSA  requires institutions to report annually on only six items not already collected by the education department, which accounts for  about 1% of what universities had to report via the Higher Education Information Management System. She said a proposed review of the agency's risk … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Commonwealth policies, Higher education policy, Quality audits, Scan Main Edition, TEQSA Tagged With: ,