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There’s more in the Mail
Last week Erica Wilson and Thomas Roche (Southern Cross U) set out their university’s revolution in learning and teaching. Is it working? It is, they, with colleague Liz Goode, explain HERE. New in Commissioning Editor Sally Kift’s celebrated series, Needed Now .
plus, Merlin Crossley (UNSW) makes the case for invigilated exams – they are to assessment what the Erg is to rowing.
and in Expert Opinion Samantha Hall (Campus Intuition) on students returning to campus, what they want, what they will do and why the UK does it different, HERE
Uni New England to ask community what they really think
Interim VC Simon Evans invites members of Convocation to meet and “enrich” communication between the UNE community and Council
why?: There’s a bunch to discuss, including long running disputes over academic and professional staff workloads. There is also disquiet on campus over Chancellor James Harris continuing commitment to former vice chancellor Brigid Heywood’s “Future Fit” strategy for the university and unhappiness that Acting VC Simon Evans has backed it (CMM August 8, 15).
The university’s professoriate and the campus branch of the National Tertiary Education Union both have proposals for the meeting to discuss, which are expected to call for a halt to existing plans.
Professor Evans will chair the meeting, for which university management appears to be preparing with trepidation, stating anybody who persists with comments that are unlawful, defamatory, disparaging (for starters) “will be removed.” Plus, the chair can move to end the meeting if protocols are not followed.
when and who gets to go: Convocation includes graduates, past and present FT academics and other staff, “as the by-laws may prescribe”. Quorum is 100 and there’s a Zoom link. It’s on 9.30 Friday and members have to register
and who finds out what was agreed: it won’t be recorded, with minutes going to members who register
Industry and Science Minister Husic gives equal billing for both parts of his portfolio
In a speech to the National Press Club yesterday Mr Husic talked-up discovery research and tech driven manufacturing
“ We want Australia to be a country that makes things again,” the released text of his address states.
“Working with our partners around the world, we want to see Australia once more at the forefront of technological innovation and advanced manufacturing,” he added.
Mr Husic also spoke up for discovery research, “some of the greatest breakthroughs in science have come from happy accidents, or repeated failures. Today, we are benefiting from years of basic research in areas that are now poised for commercialisation. Areas like quantum technologies through to synthetic biology.”
Which cheered up the Academy of Science, “we welcome Minister Husic’s recognition of the value of basic & fundamental research in his speech today. Reducing support for fundamental research is like taking books from the library and never replacing them. Sooner or later, there are no books,” the academy tweeted.
Mr Husic also expanded on the government’s support for science and manufacturing and there was one bit where his admirers will have wanted even more.
“It has been a longstanding Labor ambition to move investment in research & development in this country.
“One of my predecessors Kim Carr was a tireless advocate to achieve change, and I am picking up that torch,” Mr Husic’s text states.
This followed a speech text from earlier this month in which Mr Husic mentioned the need to move research and development from 1.79 per cent of GDP towards 3 per cent.
But yesterday’s speech made no mention of how government could make it happen.
Claire Field on big ideas she heard at TEQSA
by CLAIRE FIELD
The Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency conference was on last week
Braden Hill, DVC at ECU, gave a stunning address to close the conference – challenging the sector to think differently about equity, noting that the disadvantage faced by First Nations’ students starts in school, and arguing passionately and persuasively that equity is not an endpoint but “a journey towards a fairer future.”
TAFE SA CEO, David Coltman, was equally passionate and persuasive as he outlined how he and his team rebuilt TAFE SA’s reputation by focussing on educational excellence, including:
* requiring trainers and assessors to hold additional credentials
* introducing a staff capability framework (based on the Innovation Business Skills Australia VET Practitioner Capability Framework)
* reviewing 100 of their 400 courses every year, and
* introducing controls so that courses cannot be offered if staff lack appropriate qualifications or assessment tasks are not available.
Putting those controls in place in a large organisation, in the media spotlight, during two changes of government at the state-level in four years, makes TAFE SA’s achievements even more noteworthy.
Glyn Davis’ keynote address was a show stopper as he argued persuasively for greater institutional diversity in the public university sector. He pointed out Australia’s public universities are some of the largest in the OECD and argued against adding more students. Instead, he contended Australia should look at new models including teaching-only universities, graduate-only universities, and other models. Given his previous university leadership roles and his current position as the head of the public service, his words carry enormous weight. His speech was clearly intended to lay the groundwork for the kind of substantial reform the government expects to see the higher education Accord tackle.
Finally, Peter Hendy from Independent Higher Education Australia reminded the sector of two outstanding recommendations from the Bradley Review which he argued should be progressed in the Accord deliberations:
* a single national tertiary education regulator, and
* student-centred funding i.e. Commonwealth Supported Places funding and HECS loans for students irrespective of the higher education provider they study with.
He also made the case for mutual recognition – whereby all dual-sector providers registered by TEQSA should not need a separate registration process through ASQA!
In the context of these looming changes within the sector I was pleased to interview Wendy Palmer, Director Global Studio at Deakin University, on the podcast, about the innovations they have introduced for both domestic and TNE students.
Claire Field is an advisor to the tertiary education sector and host of the ‘What now? What next?’ podcast.
Griffith University deals union out on pay offer
Management will put enterprise agreement offers to staff without NTEU endorsement
In a message to staff yesterday Vice Chancellor Carolyn Evans stated that an agreement with the National Tertiary Education Union has not been reached and that, “we have heard from many of you that you would like to finalise the enterprise agreements sooner rather than later in order to provide certainty.”
Professor Evans pointed to the university’s offer of a total 12 per cent wage increase by the end of the proposed agreement at end ‘24 , plus one-off cash-payments if staff agree to the offer.
However, the NTEU says a deal cannot yet be done because details on academic workloads are not set out in detail, including what payments for casuals will cover.
Management is clearly confident that it can win the vote, which runs Friday December 9 and Monday the 12th.
“We are also conscious that the NTEU only represents a minority of our staff, and it is important to give an opportunity to all staff to have their say about the university’s offer,” the VC states.
She’s right on union membership – although the common experience at universities across the country is for people who are not members to listen closely to the comrades on wage and conditions. In 2018-19 then management at Victoria U put enterprise agreements the union opposed to staff and lost two votes (CMM February 6 and Feb 20 2019).
Which is probably why the NTEU was quick to warn yesterday, “this deal is not good enough. Staff at Griffith University deserve better. They deserve a real pay rise, secure jobs, and safe workloads.”
While the NTEU has lost recent votes on management proposed enterprise agreements at Charles Darwin U and Southern Cross U, that at Griffith U will be the first test in the present bargaining round of whose advice staff at major metro university will take.
The outcome will be considered very closely by union leaders and university managements across the country.
Appointments, achievements
Macquarie U VC awards for professional staff go to (academic awards were in CMM yesterday)
* outstanding service: Angela Chow (Business School)
* collaboration: Professional Services Transformation team: Gemma Bennett, Fiona Cross, Amanda Holden, Claudia Huang, Carina Jarman, Rachael Kane, Sally Langford, Sumiit Mathur, Sanyu Mugambwa, Joanna Penney, Jim Phaboutdy, Fiona Reyerink, Bradley Windon
* innovation: Results Integration Project team, Hayley Harris (Medicine, Health, Human Sciences), Michael Herbert, (Planning, Performance), Medicine, Health, Human Sciences ( Michael Bogle, Kerri Mackenzie, Rachael Rotton), Matthew Robson (Science and Engineering)
* leadership: Robyn Westcott (DVC portfolio)
* diversity: Katrina Sealey (Science, Engineering)
pandemic response: International team: Stephen Fan, Qiubeu Fu, Timothy Hyde, Jason Ray, Tanveer Shaheed
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Geoff McColl (Uni Queensland ) becomes president of the Australian Medical Council
The NSW Environment Protection Authority announces two board appointment, Bradley Moggridge (AsPro, indigenous water science, Uni Canberra) and Chris Turney (professor earth sciences, UTS)
Bruce Watson will act as DVC Equity Diversity at UNSW, following Eileen Baldry’s departure next month.