New education minister Jason Clare was tweeting in Cairns yesterday, doing a media-op at the most photographed vacant lot in FNQ – the site of CQU’s proposed new campus, with VC Nick Klomp and local Labor senator Nita Green.
Labor committed to fund the project during the campaign – as did the coalition. So, “well done that minister!” for including local MP and long-time CQU supporter Warren Entsch (LNP).

And undoubtedly ensuring all noses stayed in joint Mr Clare also met with James Cook U VC Simon Biggs and colleagues, who were in town.

In Features this morning

We need a curated open access repository of learning and teaching research. How fortunate there is a pilot, report Tracy Creagh (QUT) and Pru Mitchell (Australian Council for Educational) Research). New in Commissioning Editor Sally Kift’s celebrated series, Needed now in learning and teaching.

plus Merlin Crossley on building a community of teaching-focused academics. UNSW’s visiting teaching fellowship is part of it.

And listen to

CMM’s new Expert Opinion, where Frank Larkins and Ian Marshman discuss the previous government’s Job Ready Graduates model, why it’s cleverer than it looks and changing it will be hard, HERE .

March international student data include improvements after the borders opened – but as Dirk Mulder demonstrates, uniform it isn’t

In CMM yesterday he set out the national situational. And in Features this morning he breaks down the data, by state and sector.

And interesting indeed it is too – including for Victorian providers.

Higher education commencers there were 59.8 percent of March 2019 and overall enrolments were 66 per cent of March ’19.

But the situation is sunnier to the north. Commencers in NSW were 78 per cent of the 2019 state figure and total enrolments were 82 per cent.

As for VET in the bjg markets – pandemic? What pandemic?

The learned Mr Mulder’s full report is in CMM,  HERE

And look out for his report on country-markets, in CMM tomorrow.

Its move into the Hobart CBD has a crucifixion of critics – but architects like a show-piece part of it

The Tasmanian Architecture Award for 2022 goes to the Hedberg Performing Arts Precinct in Hobart city. It’s a JV of the state and federal governments, the Theatre Royal and Uni Tasmania, for its performing arts community.

The university’s Cradle Coast campus (at Burnie) is joint winner of the education category.

By CLAIRE FIELD

It’s not only HE where there are big issues to address

As the dust settles on the election a number of sector leaders have started articulating what they think (or would like) the new government’s policies to deliver, particularly in higher education. Much less has been said in VET where Labor’s election policies were more detailed.

It was against this background that I spoke recently with Erica Smith and Andrew Norton.

Professor Norton unpacked the three key weaknesses of the Job-Ready Graduates reforms:

* the size of the debt some students will incur and the length of time they will carry the debt

* the costs to government of running the HELP scheme, and

* the economics of over-enrolment, which is likely to become a significant issue as the “Costello baby boom” prepares for university.

He also raised significant questions about research funding and argued eloquently that “there needs to be more ‘normal’ jobs in higher education” i.e. far fewer short-term contracts and much wider use of standard employment practices.

Professor Smith argued that beyond the establishment of Jobs and Skills Australia and the planned shift of government funding from private providers to TAFE, a number of other VET reforms are needed. One which was not on my radar is the need to address the growing lack of full-time VET places in regional areas. She makes the case that TAFE cutbacks in the regions combined with the emphasis on traditional “male” trades has left some regional students, who in previous years would have gone to study at TAFE, now with university as their only post-school option.

She also pointed out some of the potential challenges with “fee-free TAFE” including:

* the impact on student decision making (will students choose courses simply because they are fee-free, not because they have a passion for the occupation they lead to?), and

* the marginal costs involved, particularly when additional students may come with much higher support needs than traditional TAFE students.

With education minister Jason Clare set to establish an Australian Universities Accord and skills and training minister Brendan O’Connor promising a “shift away from “ ‘hard-hat’ rhetoric” and committing to a white paper reform process in VET, it is to be expected that Professor Smith and Professor Norton’s ideas will be part of the mix.

Claire Field spoke with Andrew Norton and Erica Prof. Smith on the latest episode of the ‘What now? What next?’ podcast. Listen for free online. 

Murdoch U freshwater ecologist Robyn Paice is the new chair of the Busselton Water Board.

Neal Menzies will be PVC Sciences at Griffith U, moving from Uni Queensland.