Deakin U VC Iain Martin and UoW VC Patricia Davidson have banked big PR gains this week, with a ringing endorsement from Education Minister Jason Clare for creating another outstanding offshore photo opportunity in Gujarat yesterday.
Construction of the two offshore campuses in the GIFT City zone is underway and while hardhats and high vis appear to not be part of the wardrobe requirements on the Indian building sites, there were still opportunities for some pointing, smiling and sage nodding in a construction zone atmosphere.
Mr Clare’s social team gave a shout out to the respective institutions on various platforms and no doubt will be enthusiastically preparing for ribbon cutting and hopefully a Bollywood-style dance number when campuses open for business next year.
Presenting the government with a gift wrapped opportunity to show off glittering new offshore campuses to demonstrate the depth of burgeoning education ties with India can do universities no harm as they nervously await to hear more about the Government’s wider plans for reimagining the sector through the Accord.
A reader points Future Campus to draft guidelines from India’s Universities Grants Commission on recognition of qualifications from foreign universities in India. 3.1.2 states, recognition will be granted if “the student has pursued the program through regular, in-person instruction (and not through on-line or distance learning).” That looks in-line with the Aus-India Mutual Recognitional of Qualifications agreement, signed in March. Certainly the agreement states, “qualifications delivered on-line will be considered for comparability by designated authorities of the Government of India” and AQF quals “awarded through transnational education arrangements outside Australia will be considered comparable.” But, and it is a big but indeed – only when force majeure applies.
Which is probably why 29 Australian universities have permission to follow Deakin U and Uni Wollongong, which are building campuses in Gujurat. But hold not your breath, as Uni Melbourne’s Hiya Harinandini and Haripriya Rangan, warn, “while Indian bureaucracy is an intimidating nexus to navigate, Australia’s top-down approach to decision making also limits accessibility. Opportunities to ‘skip the queue’ are scarce, in contrast to India where informal connections go a long way in ameliorating delays. Our discussions with education collaborators from both countries indicated that regulatory challenges create a negative residual impact, reducing enthusiasm for future collaboration. This pattern is reflected in MOUs that may reflect as active on paper but remain stalled.”
James Cook U reports “a rare lizard that has eluded scientists for more than 40 years has been found living in north-east Queensland.” Did they not take the hint and realise this is a reptile that prefers its own company.
Turns out talk of the end of Arts at Federation U was premature. In August ’22 the university said it would can its’ Bachelor of Arts, due to “an ongoing and steady decline in student numbers.” It seemed no surprise at the time, as a year earlier the university had announced a restructure to “respond to employer and innovation demand” including ending organisational structures, “which are designed around historically inward-facing models of academia.” And It appeared part of the plan for the new “cooperative education model” to “bridge campus-based learning with learning in the workplace so when our students graduate, they have real work experience.”
Which has never gone down well with the campus branch of the National Tertiary Education, “It’s a high-risk strategy that could do irreparable damage to education in the regions” branch president Mathew Abbott said.
But things changed. After a review, a “revitalised course” is now announced for next year, with a history and heritage studies major and a “strengthened” Indigenous Studies. And there’s more to come, “to get students work and world-ready through direct connection to employers.” To which Dr Abbott responds, “this is a positive first step toward creating a distinctive Bachelor of Arts which will stand out in the market and serve the needs of students and regional communities.” It’s a win for teaching the humanities at a time when they are few.
A learned reader points to UK research that argues, “the appointment of a highly narcissistic VC leads to a substantial deterioration in research and teaching performance and concomitantly league table performance.” Richard Watermeyer (Uni Bristol) and colleagues “measure narcissism based on the size of the signature of the VC, an approach that has been widely used in recent research in accounting, finance and management.”
But what if VC’s with discrete and flourish-free signatures are humble-bragging?
There’s a new free test that measures how people would go as teachers. Aptitude for Teaching Assessment is from a La Trobe U team led by Melissa Barnes and Kate Lafferty and gives aspiring education students a sense of their suitability for teaching. The test assesses communication, self-regulated learning, teamwork, professionalism and problem-solving skills. It is an alternative to mandatory tests for applicants, such as the Computer-Based Assessment for Sampling Personal Characteristics, which is widely used in Victoria and costs $80 to sit. However, the new test is only for people applying to La Trobe. Monash U has an equivalent, which is also free.
The SA Government announces Australia’s first “genuine degree apprenticeship,” with the state’s Skills Commission declaring Uni SA’s Bachelor of Software Engineering a trade. The university is partnering with the Australian Industry Group. The first intake of 30 apprentices for the five-year course will be next year, with the “work-ready graduates” receiving a degree and a trade certificate. Degree apprenticeships in electrical and mechanical engineering could follow. Last month, the Employment White Paper suggested “higher apprenticeships” could lead to degree-level qualifications and Universities Australia responded that it was “seeking clarification.” Things already look pretty clear in SA.
Margaret Sheil (QUT VC) has long argued careers are made of more than metrics.
“Talent is broadly distributed; opportunity is not. So whether we are selecting for admission to our universities or recruiting staff, we must not start with the assumption that each has the same opportunity to develop or demonstrate their ability,” she recently wrote (Future Campus, September 27). Professor Sheil is speaking on how talent can be assessed in hiring at a webinar for the Council of Australasian University Directors of IT – so are representatives of Elsevier (see separate story).
The Commonwealth Government launches its promised teacher education scholarships; $40,000 over four years available to school leavers and $20,000 for ITE postgrads. Recipients will have to teach in public schools for the equivalent of their scholarship years.
The NSW Ombudsman reports 334 actional complaints against universities were finalised in 2022-23. This is nearly twice the issues involving TAFE – whatever that may mean, (nothing is reported).
This year’s edition of the less data-rich than opulent Global Innovation Index is out – with, as usual, more rankings than you can poke a regression at. Criticisms of the Index range from it undervaluing the global south to methodological disputes deep in the statistical weeds but as a comprehensive comparator there is not much to match it. Australia’s performance is, as ever, ok, two-thirds or so down the OECD list, at 24th overall. Worst is “knowledge and technology outputs” (30th in world) and best is “human capital and research” (seventh). The top five on everything are Switzerland, Sweden, US, UK and Singapore.
The National Centre for Student Equity in Higher Education is on a mission from the Minister. Last year Jason Clare gave the Curtin U based centre a new brief and ($20m over four years to fulfill it). “The centre has been around for a while. And it does good research. But I want to see a step change. I want to see real results.” And so he instructed NCSEHE to work with universities and other education institutions to evaluate and improve their equity programs, (Campus Morning Mail, July 11 2022). Which it is on to – “undertaking a major pivot towards a greater focus on research and evaluation of equity initiatives by building the evidence base and leadership capability of universities,” the NCSEHE states. Last month it reported changes in equity enrolments across the system, not all the results were great) and now it is staffing-up to evaluate individual universities participation and partnership programs . Along with the Department of Education monitoring support for students at risk of failure, this is another government-mandated oversight that universities may not enthusiastically embrace.
Big TAFE sees an opportunity in the Accord Interim Report suggestion that VET self-accreditation of curriculum could be possible. In the AFR Monday, NSW TAFE MD Stephen Brady suggested such could enable “innovative and agile curriculum development to better meet the evolving skills needs of industry. Last month the Victorian Skills Authority suggested the Victorian Registration and Qualifications Authority could accredit TAFE courses, or perhaps TAFE could self-accredit.
Uni Newcastle announces Hanson Yuncken will build its $63m Gosford CBD campus, with local federal member, Labor’s Gordon Reid (Robertson) celebrating the Commonwealth’s $18m commitment, “to ensure future generations can learn and study closer to home.” Which was pretty much the message from the Coalition when it announced support before the election. In April last year, then Liberal member for Robertson Lucy Wicks was doing the celebrating while Emma McBride, Labor member for the adjacent electorate of Dobell was not invited. To the victor, the spoils.
