“Predicting the future is fraught with difficulty and the review did not have access to a crystal ball,” Steven Schwartz in his review of nursing education (scroll down).  Bloody government never funds infrastructure properly.

In Features, today the give and get of working with international alumni donors – the final part in Gretchen Dobson and Dirk Mulder’s series.

Kylie Colvin on improving international rankings.

And on Monday Amanda Henderson (CQU) on empowering students in work placement programmes. It’s a new essay in Commissioning Editor Sally Kift’s series on learning and teaching

Monash U keeps up with popular culture

In the Herald Sun, Claire Harvey reports Monash U is sending Victorian VCE students a bamboo cutlery set to encourage them to consider enrolling. (Sorry, no idea). The campaign # is “monash gives a fork”. Sound like Eleanor in https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QPXsYOPex4s

The Good Place ? Too forking right.

Steven Schwartz has delivered his review

The thrice former VC (Murdoch, Brunel, Macquarie) presents a comprehensive review of nursing education  perhaps because it is the first for nearly 20 years, perhaps because that’s the sort of bloke he is.  CMM suspects it is also probably the first Australian professional education review to quote Walt Whitman, poet (and American Civil War military hospital) carer.

Notable recommendations for the nursing education community include;

* all candidates for nurse registration undergo “independent assessment” of literacy and numeracy

* the Australian Nursing and Midwifery Accreditation Council to “make accreditation and monitoring reports public” with a database of accredited courses

* “Department of Education should review the costs and funding of undergraduate nursing education to ensure it is adequate to provide high-quality theoretical and clinical education.”

* “increase the minimum number of placement hours” for nursing bachelor courses

* “explore” extending degrees for registered nurses to four years

* attract “under-represented groups” to nursing, with particular programmes to attract Indigenous students

* determine “the ideal mix of on-line and face to face teaching”

She moves to ANU at end December to become interim dean of the College of Asia and the Pacific

She moves from Western Sydney U, where she is DVC for strategy and planning. It’s the second recent senior departure at WSU. The university is recruiting a new senior DVC to replace Scott Holmes, (CMM November 28).   

The NSW state government has given three universities $10m to “undertake research on the pressing public policy issues facing NSW”

It’s new news: “Stuff,” you say (and quite possibly “nonsense”) – “CMM you are only now catching-up with the 2017 creation of the Newcastle, UNSW and Wollongong universities NUW partnership, launched with much fanfare by Premier Gladys Berejiklian,” (CMM July 17 2017).

Um no, this is a new alliance of universities in the Waratah State. The University of Sydney, UTS and Western Sydney University combine to establish a research institute working in three broad areas; “healthy and connected,” “smart and working” and “sustainable and prosperous.”

Apparently, “the institute will transform the relationship between the university and government sectors, policymakers, industry and community, generating rigorous public policy research to achieve far-reaching benefits for the people of NSW.”

So, what’s the news about NUW?: In August NUW Impact announced 540 000 in seed funding for five projects involving staff from all three unis on cyber security, cancer outcomes in rural areas, diet in metabolic disease, antimicrobial research, academic performance of children with hearing loss.

Research in, and/or for: So, it seems the two will not get in each other’s way, with NUW (which is now old) supporting research at universities in NSW while the new alliance works on research specifically to assist the state.

Which rather sounds like what NUW originally had in mind, “similar alliances internationally have delivered significant value for their communities through independent, research-intensive universities that are co-located in a geographic region, leveraging complementary strengths for public benefit,” (CMM May 31 2017).

Of the day

 Bran Black is leaving UNSW to return to state government. Mr Black was the founding director of the NUW alliance (above) and has spent this year as the university’s “chief of strategic initiatives”.

 Andrew Vincent joins Australian Catholic U as director, digital education. He moves from Swinburne U.

The Australasian Society for Computers in Learning in Tertiary Education announces its 2019 awards

Distinguished reviewer: Rachael Adlington, UNE

Community fellow: Colin Simpson, Monash U

Emerging scholar: Kwong Nui Sim, Victoria U of Wellington

Emerging scholar: Carol Johnson, Uni Melbourne

Innovation award: * Christian Morrow, Bond U * Shamim Joarder, Macquarie U * Brent Gregory, Lisa Harris, Uni New England

Of the week

Flinders U announces Gary Stewart joins as professor of creative arts and promotes Sarah Harmer-Bassell, to become its first woman professor of physics.

 David Harvey (UNSW) wins the Australian Mathematical Society medal for 2019. Belinda Spratt (QUT) was honoured for early career teaching. The Gavin Brown Prize for published work went to Zdravko Botev, Joseph Grotowski and Dirk Kroese, all Uni Queensland.

Melitta Hogarth (QUT) and Sally Patfield (Uni Newcastle) are joint winners of the Australian Association for Research in Education’s Ray Debus award for doctoral research.

Julie Jomeen will join Southern Cross U as head of the School of Health and Human Sciences. She moves from the University of Hull.

Fiona Kelly is new dean of the La Trobe University law school. She has been with LT U’s law school since 2013. She replaces Patrick Keyzer who now holds a research chair at LT U law (CMM May 23).

Aileen Moreton-Robinson moves to RMIT in the new year to become a professor of Indigenous research. She leaves QUT, which will honour her as an emeritus professor at a graduation ceremony today.

Shane Murray (Monash U dean of art, design and architecture) is appointed a life fellow of the Australian Institute of Architects.

Monash U announces its professional staff awards,  here.  And the VC’s awards for education and research are  here.

Swinburne U’s VC awards are here.