As of this morning the ABC needs a chair accustomed to overseeing billion dollar budgets, who is politically astute, a policy visionary and an inspiring leader. How fortunate Glyn Davis is available.

CMM is taking off Monday’s most-state public holiday. Back on Tuesday.

Now here’s an idea that will never catch on – university advertising that sells what the institution can do for students, not how great it is. The University of Southern Queensland has a new campaign pitching distance delivery, “become more from more places.” Bang on. It’s another example of USQ understanding its market, like last year’s pitch to woman frightened of returning to study, “Katie you’ve got this”, (CMM November 17).

“UNSW has finished 2018 ranked 81st on average, across three main global league tables – up seven places from last year!” the university, via Twitter yesterday.

“Our exec is getting a behind the scenes tour of the palaeontology collection (at the Australian Museum) – what a treat to see rare and ancient fossils.” Science and Technology Australia, via Twitter, yesterday. Was STA’s tweeter describing any particular members of the executive?

When the government abolished demand driven funding then education minister Simon Birmingham said there would be growth places in 2020, allocated on the basis of to-be-developed performance metrics. These could include, student experience, attrition and completion rates and graduate outcomes. “We have two years to get this right … there is ample time to consult” Senator Birmingham said, (CMM December 19 2017).

Perhaps then but now, not so much. If work on developing the metrics is underway it is being done discretely, very discretely, with no one talking about what the feds will propose for consultation, or when. This seems strange, given Senator Birmingham mentioned performance measures in what sounded like an informal transition brief for successor Dan Tehan (CMM August 28).

UWA management wants a Christmas gift from staff – a Santa-season shut-down without people being paid when they aren’t at work or using their leave.

At UWA convention is staff work three state public holidays, Labour Day, WA Day, and Queens Birthday and take leave in-lieu days over the Christmas shut-down. But senior DVC Simon Briggs says this “impacts work-life balance and the opportunity to take regular breaks throughout the year, along with the challenges of public transport options and childcare accessibility.” He proposes staff have the public holidays off and use leave for working-days over Christmas. Staff would continue to get a day off for working the Tuesday after Easter and January 2 is a university holiday.

That this is even up for discussion demonstrates UWA’s enterprise agreement is a gift that gives for management. As a learned reader suggests there are vice chancellors who would think their Christmases had all come at once if their enterprise agreements even allowed discussing this. At ANU last year a suggestion that staff take Christmas close-down days as leave became an industrial issue (CMM July 13 2017)

QANTAS will build a pilot academy at Wellcamp Airport, at Toowoomba – which has to be good news for the neighbouring (20 mins away) University of Southern Queensland. USQ already participates in the QF Future Pilot Programme, which hires selected USQ aviation graduates to become Qantas Link first officers.  The university also has a flight simulator based on a Boeing 737. Problem is that the USQ aviation programme is 120kms from Wellcamp, at the Springfield campus. “We are working on a project that will offer aviation programs at Toowoomba, as well as Springfield,” USQ says.

Michelle Gillespie and Tony Davies’s presentation on how Swinburne U used the library to extend student service availability is on October 25 at L H Martin’s service improvement conference.

The new dean of humanities and social sciences at the University of Queensland starts Tuesday. Heather Zwicker joins from the University of Alberta, where she was vice provost and dean of graduate studies and research.

The Australian Society for Parasitology has elected Alex Maier from ANU a fellow.

The Australian Council for Education Leaders has named Martin Westwell from Finders U its gold medallist for the study and practise of educational administration and leadership.

Iain Martin will be the next vice chancellor of Deakin University. Professor Martin was DVC A at UNSW, before he moved to become vice chancellor of Anglia Ruskin University in 2016.

John Pluske from Murdoch U is the new CEO of the Australasian Pork Research Institute Ltd.

Brent Moyle is University of the Sunshine Coast’s associate dean research. He joins from Griffith U where he was a researcher in the Institute for Tourism.

Glyn Davis (yes that one) will join ANU’s Crawford School of Public Policy as a distinguished professor.

Dennis McDermott is La Trobe U’s inaugural PVC Indigenous. He joins from Flinders Uwhere he is director of the two Poche Centre’s for Indigenous Health and Wellbeing.

The University of Sydney has announced the 2018 Payne Scott professorial distinction for leaders and mentors, Carol Armour (pharmacology) physicist Tim Bedding, Patrick Brennan from health sciences and Kate Joliffe, in chemistry. The award is named for pioneer radio astronomer and UniSydney graduate Ruby Payne Scott.

University of Canberra honours one of its own with an hon doc to emeritus professor Meredith Edwards. Professor Edwards is a mandarin’s mandarin an economist and public policy researcher of decades standing.

Karen Quinlan is the incoming director of the National Portrait Gallery of Australia. Ms Quinlan is now director of the Bendigo Art Gallery and director and professor of practice at La Trobe U’s art institute.

A full list of the Academy of Social Sciences in Australia’s 2018 fellows is in  CMM’s Thursday issue.