Plus ARC toughens up on open access, but still leaves publishers a cash-making 12 month monopoly

And a rails run for Western Sydney U

No need a bigger trough

A “pipeline of products” in the pork industry is on the way but neither MPs nor barrel manufacturing researchers should get excited. The news comes from the Pork, (as in piggies not pelf), Cooperative Research Centre, which is optimistic about vaccines for sows.

Black hole in a galaxy of experts

The education feds have announced a $3m career education strategy to “support students to be prepared for life beyond school, including the jobs of today and into the future.” Perhaps they should tell the employment feds, who have one too – demonstrated by the Career Quiz app (CMM yesterday) which has all the appeal for 18 year olds of an evening of ABC TV. But don’t look for a product from the education feds just yet. Assistant voc ed minister Karen Andrews says a working group has commissioned research, “to build a comprehensive understanding of the career education landscape.” Once they have that the WG will recommend “how to support and facilitate the delivery of high-quality career education,” by July. What do you reckon they will suggest for an app?
The ed feds’ experts make up more a galaxy than a group, including state school officials, reps from Catholic and independent schools, peak parent and industry groups, plus careers organisations, somebody from the secondary principals association and from the Foundation for Young Australians. That’s everybody interested then, except that is, for the universities and VET systems who do the career preparing for young people. This seems a black hole of an absence. Stellar universities, like Deakin and Swinburne are investing in career advice and job search and would surely shed lots of light.

Silent on sponsorship

Victoria U has extended its sponsorship of the Western Bulldogs Football Club, to include its team in the new AFL Women’s competition. Hard to see how they could not have. But at what cost? CMM asked and Victoria U did not answer, stating it is unable to disclose the financial value of its support. No CMM does not understand why either, if it is money well-spent why not announce it?

Not any more

The University of Queensland has created an online guide for students looking for quite places where they can study. Apparently “little-known study spots are barely used while other areas face huge demand.” Won’t the people who already know the quiet places be pleased!

Not on her watch

The Australian National University cites research that finds an estimated three-quarters of medicine students across the country being humiliated during training and so ANU dean of medicine Imogen Mitchell has called time on unacceptable behaviour, with the university launching a guide for students on how to respond to bullying and sexual harassment. “We make it very clear that bullying, sexual harassment and discrimination have no place in the medical profession, and won’t be tolerated at the ANU Medical School,” she says.

The guide sets out what unacceptable behaviour is, and is not, what individuals can do about it and how the university will deliver on its obligations to protect them from thuggery. Most important, it assures students that standing-up will not harm their professional futures. “This is a common fear for both victims and their trusted friends or family, and can discourage reporting, but is rarely true. Bullying behaviour is often associated with an overinflated belief of the bully’s own self-importance.”
This is a brave bit of work – a demonstration that ANU is determined to deliver and will not ignore any incidents of bullying in the school. Lord help anybody found to have bullied a student from now on and any manager who did not deal with the bully. And lord help ANU if a med school bully goes unpunished.

Hon doc for Graeme Turner

Cultural studies scholar Graeme Turner will receive an hon doc from Curtin University. The University of Queensland emeritus professor was at Curtin’s predecessor institution, the WA Institute of Technology, where he did “much of his foundation work.”

ARC opens access

The Australian Research Council is working on an update to its 2013 policy, revised in 2015, on open access to publication of research it funds. A draft is with DVCs Research. Key differences in the proposal are that all research outputs, not just journal articles, have to be openly accessible within a 12-month period from the date of publication and they don’t have to be deposited solely in a university repository. The proposed policy is also tough on what actually constitutes a publication for OA purposes; “versions of a manuscript, journal article or conference paper that have not been refereed or peer reviewed, also sometimes referred to as the ‘submitted manuscript’ or ‘preprint’ versions, are not acceptable for the purposes of this policy as significant changes may be introduced to an article as a result of the peer review process.”
But yes, the 12-month restricted access still applies. This upsets OA advocates who call for a cut to six months. There is no date for release.

Rails run for WSU

Western Sydney U is very pleased with the route for the new Parramatta light rail, which will serve three of its campuses, at Westmead, in the Parramatta CBD and a Rydalmere. In contrast the University of Sydney did not get the station it sought on the new under the harbour metro line now being built and the nearest railway station is a 15-minute walk from campus. With a new light-rail being built past UNSW just about all university students in the greater Sydney region, barring those at two WSU campus can get to lectures on public transport.

Educ exports

It’s all go in Dubai. The University of Wollongong has announced an expansion of its campus there. UoW says the new centre has the capacity to teach up to 6,000 undergraduate and postgraduate students. UOW Dubai now teaches 35 degree programs, with courses in health and education planned to take advantage of the potential of the new campus.

South Australian TAFE has won a “multi-million dollar contract” to develop curriculum and train trainers for the Dubai College of Tourism. Good-oh, but on the subject of exports how is TAFE’s plan to expand into India? It was announced in 2015 but since then, not a sausage, or samosa, on progress.

Less fun more games

Colleen Stieler-Hunt has funding from the International Game Developers Association to attend its conference in San Francisco next week. Dr Stieler Hunt researchers video game use in the classroom.