“Science is one of the keys to Australia’s future. We need to compete in the fastest growing region in the world where we are in human history on the basis of how smart we are. And part of that is making sure that we value science, we value research. And that’s why I’m here, not just to give moral support, but also to continue to give the support that’s needed from the Government to institutes like this that play such an important role in improving the lives of not just Australians today, but Australians and indeed, global sentence well into the future, “ Prime Minister Albanese, at the MRI formerly known as Walter and Eliza Hall Institute, yesterday.

But if they do slip Mr Albanese’s mind science lobbyists will remind him

In Features this morning

Angel Calderon (RMIT) on the new Shanghai research ranking of 54 disciplines (plus, scroll down for news)

and Frank Larkins (Uni Melbourne) explains how some Vic uni 21 financials are better than they look – accounting practise is the reason. But the better than apparent numbers were a one-off.

plus Trudy Ambler (Macquarie U), Jayde Cahir, (Macquarie U) and Anna Rowe (UNSW on the benefits of academic mentoring. New in Commissioning Editor Sally Kift’s celebrated series, Needed now in learning and teaching.

with James Guthrie is making a submission to the Tasmanian Legislative Council’s inquiry into the state university’s Act. With the uni’s 2021 annual report not out until next month he researched what is – here’s what he found.

not forgetting  Merlin Crossley who went to the Universities Australia conference. He liked what he learned.

Federation U is set to charge full-fees for students who miss 50 per cent subject completions

VC Duncan Bentley laments this, saying “it has been thrust upon us by the previous government’s Job Ready Graduates package.”

“This approach to managing so-called underperforming students further entrenches social inequity, particularly in remote and regional areas.”

He calls on Prime Minister Albanese to end the policy. “By tweaking the JRG Package we can ensure that students from low socioeconomic backgrounds get the financial support they need to succeed – even when it take them a bit longer to complete their degrees.”

The government also faces demands from humanities lobbies to stop their students being charged maximum fees set by JRG. Doing this and increasing federal funding to make up the difference for universities would cost way more money than ending full-fee penalty for slow completions, potentially making the latter a low-cost way for the government to be able to add to its equity credentials.

There’s support for people who fear being on campus

Chief Medical Officer Paul Kelly  issued a statement Monday including, “employers should review their occupational health and safety risks and mitigations, and their business continuity plans. They should consider the feasibility of some employees working from home, wearing masks in the workplace and support employees to take leave when sick.”

Which is pretty much what union official David Gonzalez wants Uni Melbourne to do (CMM Tuesday).

Or as Health Minister Mark Butler put it yesterday, “employers should be engaging with their employees … and together coming to a view of about the extent to which working from home arrangements, on a very temporary basis, could be put in place.”

National Tertiary Education Union members have voted to take protected industrial action over enterprise bargaining

The margin in favour was 90 per cent plus.

The union claims bargaining has been underway for ten months with notable issues unresolved including pay, regulation of workloads and casual staff being paid for all hours worked.

The vote, “should send a strong message to Uni Newcastle Uni (that) It is time to invest in staff, starting with a proper pay rise that reflects rising costs of living and the sacrifices staff have made to keep the institution operational during the pandemic,” NTEU state secretary Damien Cahill says.

However Uni Newcastle DVC Global, Kent Anderson responds, the university has been working with both the NTEU and the other campus union, the CPSU, with “significant progress in strengthening benefits and conditions that work for our staff, while ensuring our University remains financially sustainable for the long-term.

“We will of course do our best to inform students and colleagues with early notice of any proposed NTEU action to minimise the impact on their education and work.”

by CLAIRE FIELD

Data demonstrates why the former federal government struggled to impose a more nationally consistent approach to VET funding

Last week the National Centre VER released the latest government-funded VET statistics, which showed a total of 1.25m students enrolled in government-funded VET in 2021, a 5 per cent increase on 2020.

While there has been a 12 per cent increase in government-funded TAFE students between 2017 and 2021, there was a modest decline (-2 per cent) between 2020 and 2021. During the five years to 2021 there was a 19 per cent increase in government-funded students studying with private VET providers and a 20 per cent decline in government-funded students at community providers.

The data provides some of the reason why the former federal government struggled to impose a more nationally consistent approach to VET funding.

Looking beneath the national figures, government-funded students in TAFE declined between 2017 and 2021 in South Australia (-16 per cent), Tasmania (-6 per cent), Western Australia (-5 per cent) and the ACT and NSW (by just -1 per cent in each jurisdiction). Queensland however has the lowest proportion of government-funded students enrolled in TAFE – with just 39 per cent of all government-funded Queensland VET students studying at TAFE, compared with 56 per cent enrolled at private providers (albeit TAFE’s share has increased from 34 per cent in 2017).

Also of note is the change in the number of government-funded VET students in each jurisdiction between 2017 and 2021. On this measure the Northern Territory is the outlier – with government-funded students dropping from 21 905 to 16 625. Victoria also saw a decline (-1 per cent) in government-funded places, due in part to the higher costs involved in funding its Free TAFE commitments. All other jurisdictions increased the number of VET students they funded over the five years to 2021, some by a considerable amount.

The proportion of their working age populations that state and territory governments funded to undertake a VET course in 2021 ranged from a high of 11 per cent of the working age population in South Australia to a low of just 4 per cent in Western Australia.

There are also interesting differences at the state and territory level in the types of courses which governments fund and, as the estimable Gerald Burke’s research identifies, these are not driven by political ideologies. For example, the NSW and Western Australian governments have strong similarities in the types of courses they fund, as did the (former) South Australian and the Queensland governments.

There is more detailed analysis on my website.

 Claire Field is an advisor to the tertiary education sector

Six universities will track nurses and other health professionals over ten years to identify grad outcomes

Part of the purpose is to identify where they work and changes needed to address shortages in regional communities.

Monash U and Uni Newcastle started the project in 2017 and are now joined by Deakin U, Uni Queensland, Uni South Australia and Uni Southern Queensland.

The project will use practice-location from the Commonwealth regulator, university records, and data from the excellent QILT surveys.

The move leads to another restructure  

DVC Speed will leave the university when his contract expires at year end but until then he will be PVC Regional, an area in his portfolio one way or another since 2013

Professor Speed and his existing portfolio, Global and Regional, will be replaced by a to be recruited DVC Futures.

The new role will have charge of global partnerships and operations, overall student recruitment, engagement and marketing-comms.

PVC Recruitment and International Operations Stacey Farraway will manage international recruitment and university marketing in the meantime.

Last year the university abolished its college structure and centralised admin and teaching support functions.

The Australian Society of Microbiology’s Distinguished Service Awards go to Sarah Foster (Launceston General Hospital), Ulrike Kappler (Uni Queensland), Renato Morona (Uni Adelaide) and Lisa Shepherd (South Australia Pathology)

Renee Fry‑McKibbin (ANU) is one of the three-person panel appointed to review the Reserve Bank.

Jennifer Leigh Campbell (Griffith U) wins the Breaking Barriers Award at the 2022 Queensland Women in STEM prizes. Katrina Wruck (QUT) wins the Judges’ Award.

The short list for South Australia’s Scientist of the Year is, Corey Bradshaw (Flinders U) Maria Makrides (SA Health and Medical Research Institute), Peter Veitch (Uni Adelaide)

Studiosity’s Tracey Bretag Prize for Academic Integrity for 2022 goes to the UPASS team, from QUT and Swinburne U, Caslon Chua, Sam Cunningham, Sarah Dart, Edmund Pickering, Rick Somers, Sheona Thomson