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Just like the real thing
A learned reader points to the University of Nevada, Las Vegas which has created an “AI-native being” of President Keith Whitfield. The on-line AI answers real-time questions from students on academic programmes and sundry feel-goodery. Get the AI into a humanoid version of a chancellor and graduations will only look the same.
There’s more in the Mail
In Features this morning
Frank Larkins (Melbourne Centre for the Study of Higher Education) sets out 2019-21 FTE job losses for casuals and total staff at hardest-hit institutions. But cuts in multiple universities were not necessarily caused by the pandemic.
“There is almost no correlation between the total staff losses shown in the figures and the percentage reduction in overseas student enrolments. Some universities have used additional opportunistic strategies to determine their staff reduction policies within the pandemic environment,” he writes
The scholarship of learning and teaching too often rates behind research and the demands of the working. It shouldn’t and it needed. Shannon Johnston and Michelle Picard (Murdoch U) suggests ways it can be incorporated in the work of the “everyday scholar”. This week’ selection by Commissioning Editor Sally Kift for her series, Needed now in teaching and learning.
Maree Meredith (Flinders U’s Poche Centre) proposes new approached on closing the gap in health for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.
Inflation will be back in bargaining
2 per cent pay offers will start looking small
Enterprise bargaining is sufficiently stalled at Western Sydney U for union members to consider industrial action. The National Tertiary Education Union will ask the Fair Work Commission to authorise a vote on protected industrial action. Issues are job security, workloads and a pay-rise.
WSU Management is offering 1.6 per cent a year over the agreement – which all of a sudden does not seem like much, what with inflation back.
The Reserve Bank predicts a CPI increase of 3.75 per cent in the June quarter dropping to 2.75 per cent by mid 2024.
Universities still fail victims of sexual assault
Victims/survivors of sexual assault/harassment report university policies, “were inaccurate” and “reporting mechanisms” slow
The findings are from the qualitative report in the new National Student Safety Survey, released by Universities Australia, yesterday.
The report, based on individual reports from 1835 people is part of the survey of 43 000 students at all UA members.
On the basis of individual responses, the Report, created by the well-regarded Social Research Centre states, “for many, the trauma of the original incident of sexual harassment and/or sexual assault was compounded by their university’s mishandling of their report, discouraging victims/survivors from pursuing the reporting process to it its conclusion.”
The statistical component of the survey includes statistics on sexual harassment/ assault “in a university context.” It reports that over their entire enrolments,
* 16 per cent of students were harassed
* 4.5 per cent were assaulted
* 16.8 per cent of students sexually harassed sought “support or assistance” increasing to 25.5 per cent of sexual assault victims
Methodology changes prevent comparisons with the previous national survey.
However the SRC reports “overall trends” across both are consistent and that the “risk of assault among Australian university students is broadly consistent with national data.”
The national report was followed yesterday by individual universities releasing their specific stats, accompanied by statements that the results are unacceptable but that they have and are working hard and will work harder to stop assaults and harassment.
Which is pretty much what university leaders said when the first report was released (CMM August 2 2017).
Too close to call
Contract cheating article generators are out there
TEQSA Chief Commissioner Peter Coaldrake warns HE providers that contract cheating services are selling content created by AI (CMM March 14).
Which is hard to identify, as El-Sayed Abd-Elaal, Sithara H. P. W. Gamage and Julie E Mills warn in a new paper for the European Journal of Engineering Education.
Copy created by an automatic article generator, “cannot be easily detected and even if they are detected, can be hard to prove.”
However they find that training can help with identification with artificial student work.
Looks worth reading, by those who can – it’s behind the publisher’s paywall.
More power to ASQA
The Australian Skills Quality Authority is pleased indeed that it will oversight training packages, from January
“We will leverage our deep understanding of Australia’s national training system and draw on our extensive regulatory skill set and capability to inform the training package assurance function,” CEO Saxon Rice modestly mentions.
The learned Claire Field was quick to notice the change, set out in a legislative instrument made last week.
The change is part of broader training reforms that include “Industry Clusters” replacing the Australian Industry and Skills Committee structure.
The new model is in-line with Joyce Review recommendations, which warned that the existing system for training package development, approval and amendment can “take several years.”
“This lengthy process means that training packages can be out of date before they even start to be taught,” Mr Joyce warned.
Shadow skills minister Richard Marles says that the proposed industry cluster model would continue under a Labor Government, although unions as well as industry and government would be included (CMM yesterday).
Appointments, achievements
Viv Ellis (Monash U) is appointed to the board of the Victorian Government’s Vic Academy of Teaching and School Leadership.
Robert Fitzgerald is inaugural head of UNSW Canberra’s School of Professional Studies. He moves from PVC for education strategy at Charles Darwin U.
Jennifer Howell becomes PVC Global Engagement at UWA next month. She moves from Curtin University.
Mark von Itzstein (Griffith U) wins the Antonín Holý award for innovation from the International Society for Antiviral Research.
Alexander Kalloniatis (Defence Science and Technology) receives the Defence Minister’s 2021 Award for science/tech achievement. He works on R&D for command and control.