#121
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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 Education Information Management System…..[READ MORE]…..
UNSW to borrow for buildings
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……[READ MORE]…..
TAFEs on Qld privatisation agenda
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…..[READ MORE]…..
Rally as Lilydale campus slated for council offices
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…..[READ MORE]…..
No choice over online education
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”…..[READ MORE]…..
….the introduction of the printing press did not kill scholarship and the need for discovery.
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Polytec network set up
4 June 2013 | An Australian Polytechnic Network (APN) is being founded by the University of Canberra, Melbourne’s Holmesglen Institute, Northern Sydney Institute, South Western Sydney Institute and Brisbane’s Metropolitan South Institute of TAFE. The formation of the new grouping follows a decision of the now minister for tertiary education, Craig Emerson, to reverse a decision of former minister Chris Evans to now Commonwealth Supported Places (CSPs) for delivery of University of Canberra degrees at the network member campuses from 2014
Swinburne goes smokefree
4 June 2013 | Swinburne University of Technology’s Australian campuses will become smoke free, with smoking banned indoors and outdoors, from 12 August this year. In making the announcement, Swinburne vice-chancellor, Professor Linda Kristjanson, said going smoke free will help improve the health and wellbeing of all members of the Swinburne community and protect them from environmental tobacco smoke…..[READ MORE]…..
Vic TAFEs bleed
4 June 2013 | Half of a government rescue package of $200 million (over 4 years) for Victorian TAFEs has been purloined from earlier allocations, despite new figures showing the embattled system has moved closer to the wall. Victoria’s 14 standalone TAFEs managed a combined operating surplus of just $58.5 million last year, down from $98m in 2011 and $192m in 2010…..[READ MORE]…..
Enrolments down, commencements up
4 June 2013 | In the year to date (YTD) to April 2013 , there were 356,993 enrolments by full-fee paying international students in Australia on a student visa. This represents a 2.9% decline on YTD April 2012 and contrasts with the average YTD April growth rate for enrolments of 5.8% per year in the preceding ten years. There were 134,855 commencements in YTD April 2013, representing a 2.9% increase over the same period in 2012. This compares with the average YTD April growth rate for commencements of 4.8% per year in the preceding ten years……[READ MORE]…..
UA intensifies campaign
4 June 2013 | Up to one third of voters are likely to change their voting intentions as a result of the cuts to universities in the recent budget, 
a survey by Universities Australia (UA) has found. The survey of 800 voters found shows that 87% of respondents supported an increase in funding for universities. Among Coalition voters, 81% said the cuts “threaten Australia’s future” while 64 per cent of all voters agreed with the proposition. UA proposes to launch a regional and suburban advertising blitz later this week targeting 80 electorates with a strong university presence…..[READ MORE]…..
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ATN in Profile June 2013
Newsletter of the Australian Technology Network
Perhaps the greatest impact of the recent budget cuts will be the yet-to-be seen blow felt by disadvantaged students. For those students who face a number of challenges beyond that of academic achievement, the transition from the start-up scholarship to income contingent loans could be one hurdle too many, according to ATN chair Peter Coaldrake.
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Insights June 2013
The LH Martin Institute at The University of Melbourne undertakes research into and analysis of tertiary education and training sector issues, it provides policy advice to institutions and organisations and it conducts professional development programs for people working in the tertiary sector. Insights is the institute’s monthly newsletter.
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Comment & analysis
University building crisis
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 practice that provides universities with design, master planning and facilities planning services, and strategic advice.
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The key defect of the EIF program is that it ignored a problem which higher education has yet to confront. Over half of the floor area at Australian campuses is still provided in “legacy” buildings built during the Menzies era university boom from the the 1950s to the early 1970s. Much of the accommodation provided by these buildings was rather ordinary at the time they were built and it has not got any better since. Nearly all of these buildings don’t comply with current building standards and some of them are actively hazardous.
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Edition #8 June 2013
edXpress is the subscription based monthly e-bulletin from the National Tertiary Education Union (NTEU) with news and views on what’s happening on campuses around the country.
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Life & stuff
City library
This post first appeared in April 2012. A lot of the putting together of The Scan goes on at City Library which is a congenial environment, with any number of coffee shops near by, piano playing, exhibitions and performances, and great staff. The Wi-Fi however is crap – we bring our own.
City Library 253 Flinders Lane Melbourne
City Library, in the New York sector of Flinders Lane near The Scan’s GHQ , has become a firmly established institution for Melbourne city workers, students and residents over the 8 years of its existence. With a cafe (Journal) at the entrance, in the main areas it’s all buzz and go. Up on the mezzanine, there’s a piano and oft times someone playing (there is a sign that you do need to be competent!). If you’re really lucky, you’ll get a recital from a little old lady, whose playing sounds not dissimilar to Keith Jarrett (she is truly remarkable). There’s usually some kind of art exhibition hanging in the mezzanine and regular late afternoon performances (music & poetry). You can speak at normal levels without a librarian shushing you. But if you’re there to work, there are a variety of spaces where the normal library quiet prevails. And of course there are books, newspapers magazines, CDs and videos available to browse, listen to, view and borrow and banks of public access computers.
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Festival of Other Lives is the second Melbourne Library Service staff exhibition showcasing and exhibiting the hidden arts and talents of staff. There will be music, readings and exhibitions in the gallery and projection spaces at City Library, with performances across the City and North Melbourne branches. Take time to check out what library staff produce in their other lives.
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Notices & events
22 – 23 July 2013 | Melbourne Marriott Hotel
The creation of MOOCs opens up many questions both in the short term future with regard to the viability of the current MOOCs model, as well as in the long term with reference to the democratisation of education and what it means for the future of universities. Such complex and far reaching consequences raise significant questions for Australian universities across a spectrum of issues.
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It’s free….no hidden costs… absolutely gratis
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