Down slightly on 2015 18 January 2016 ……………………………………………………………………………………………………… Some 57,208 Victorian Tertiary Admission Centre (VTAC) applicants received main round offers on 18 January 2016 for undergraduate courses in 2016. Since December 2015, VTAC has also issued 2,047 offers to international Year 12 students and 8,393 early offers. As a result, over 63,163 individuals have received at least one offer at this point, with several more offer rounds to come over the next month. Overall, this is a slight decrease from 2015 of 2.3%. …………………………………………………………………………………….......…… Universities issued 47,944 main round offers, 615 (1.3%) fewer than in 2015. TAFE institutes issued 7,080 main round … [Read more...]
Offer stuff up at VU
06/01/2016 by
6 January 2016 ……………………………………………………………………………………………………… Up to 14,500 university applicants told before Christmas that they had won a place at Victoria University (VU) have now been told it was a “system” error. …………………………………………………………………………………….......…… VU sent out emails on Christmas Eve, informing applicants they could enrol in their preferred course. The emails congratulated recipients on being “accepted to study” at the university. But on Monday 4 January, those same students received another email, headed “Recall of Enrol to study at Victoria University”, in which the university’s general manager of student administration wrote: We regret to advise that this email was … [Read more...]
The Scan’s year
29/12/2015 by
Summer edition 2016 __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ The Scan in 2015 This year’s top ten reads were heavily skewed towards the “VET crisis” and attempts by authorities (rather belatedly in our view) to stamp out the obvious rorting, particularly in VET FEE-HELP funding, which has been truly scandalous. In fact, the number one post this year on The Scan is also the number one post of all time and by quite a bit. If you enter “rorting” in the search … [Read more...]
The Scan in 2015
26/12/2015 by
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...]
50 Future Fellowships announced
17/12/2015 by
17 December 2015 ……………………………………………………………………………………………………… The Australian Research Council has announced grants of $38.6 million to support 50 Future Fellows at 17 universities. The Future Fellowship scheme provides four-year fellowships to outstanding Australian mid-career researchers. The aim of Future Fellowships is to attract and retain the best and brightest mid-career researchers in Australia rather than head off overseas to advance their careers. Details of the approved projects are HERE. …………………………………………………………………………………….......…… Future Fellowships 2015 funding outcomes—Snapshot by State and Organisation Administering Organisation Total number of projects Total … [Read more...]
The Scan #176 16 December 2015
16/12/2015 by
News __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Rebalancing Victorian VET 16 December 2015 | The Victorian government has released the Final Report of The VET Funding Review (Mackenzie Report). It’s a weighty document, both literally and figuratively, running to 173 pages and 109 recommendations. Skills minister Steve Herbert says the government accepts the “general thrust” of the report and its recommendations. It will take the next year to work through design and implementation issues and to consult with stakeholders ahead of the introduction of a new funding model in 2017. … [Read more...]
Job axe to fall at UWA
14/12/2015 by
ABC NEWS | 11 December 2015 ……………………………………………………………………………………………………… The University of Western Australia (UWA) will lay off 300 staff as part of sweeping cuts aimed at reducing costs. The university will slash 100 academic positions and 200 professional positions early next year. Fifty new academic positions will be created to enhance the university's "capability and impact in areas of comparative advantage". …………………………………………………………………………………….......…… UWA Vice Chancellor Professor Paul Johnson said in a statement that 2015 had been a challenging year for the Australian higher education sector: UWA, like many universities, has a budget challenge. As highlighted during the … [Read more...]
The Scan #175 11 December 2015
11/12/2015 by
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ News __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ VET FEE-HELP skewering system 11 December 2015 | Explosive growth in the VET FEE-HELP scheme has masked massive direct public disinvestment in vocational education and training. While a report by NCVER shows a notional growth of 1.7% in 2014 over 2013 (plus $141.0 million, from $8512.4 million to $8653.4 million), it’s all in VET-FEE Help payments: actual direct expenditure by governments, … [Read more...]
Australian university research quality soars
08/12/2015 by
Universities Australia | 4 December 2015 ……………………………………………………………………………………………………… The inaugural State of Australian University Research 2015–16: Volume 1 ERA National Report comprehensively details the quality of Australian university research benchmarked against world standards. It identifies the excellence in research across a broad range of universities and the outstanding performances in areas of specialisation. Overall the quality of Australian university research continues to improve. …………………………………………………………………………………….......…… The report confirms Australia's university research performance is amongst the best in the world. In 2015, 89% of the assessed research areas in … [Read more...]
Innovating an “Ideas Boom”
07/12/2015 by
7 December 2015 ……………………………………………………………………………………………………… Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull unveiled his much-anticipated Innovation Statement, saying he wanted to drive an "ideas boom". The statement allocates almost $1.1 billion over the next four years to promote business-based research, development and innovation. …………………………………………………………………………………….......…… Key measures A key focus of the plan revolves around strengthening ties between the business community, universities and scientific institutions. A $200 million innovation fund will co-invest in businesses that develop technology from the CSIRO and Australian universities. CSIRO will also get an extra $20 million to help … [Read more...]