Just in at the Optimism is Always Punished desk, research by Nihar B Shah (Carnegie Mellon U) and colleagues. They surveyed 23,000 authors of 9000 papers submitted to a computer science conference on chance of acceptance. The median prediction was 70 per cent while actual acceptance was around 25 per cent.
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Annual reports of Queensland and WA universities (FC today, HERE and HERE) are canaries in campus coalmines and they might develop nasty coughs. Domestic student demand is not booming and growing international fees will be important while locals stay away. But, if international ed lobbies, and their mates in the media are right the feds are working to reduce the revenue stream. If so, how long until other universities follow Federation U in announcing staff cuts?
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Uni Wollongong had a big day for VCs last Friday
In the morning former VC Ken McKinnon and wife Suzanne Walker kicked the tin with a $5m gift to support higher degree research fellowships. They are repeat donors, stumping up $1.3m in 2016 for an innovation fund to assist “innovative programmes, activities and ideas” from staff and students (Campus Morning Mail February 10 ’16).
And in the afternoon present VC Patricia Davidson announced her exit. Apparently, it is time for new leadership, which seems hasty – she only started in May ’21. And last May-June, she and colleagues wrote a series for Campus Morning Mail on a new admin structure for the university – it read like the work of a team just getting started.
UoW is now light on for experienced leadership —- former chancellor Christine McLoughlin left late last year, after three years.
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Applications are open for Round 16 of Cooperative Research Centre Projects, “short-term research collaborations … to develop a new technology, product or service.” Bids for this round must be led by a small or medium enterprise. This might out some university noses out of joint, but it is line with Reserve Bank Assistant Governor Brad Jones’ suggestion that SMEs, notably in professional, scientific and technical services are taking the “innovation baton” including early-stage R&D and Research IP.
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Has it occurred to anyone that media in India are following stories about education visa cuts? Philip Green, Australia’s High Commissioner to the Republic, certainly appears to be on to it. In an interview with The Economic Times newspaper he says there is no “surge” in visa rejections, that the selection process is about high standards and Australia has not capped foreign student numbers.
The Times is not entirely convinced, reporting, “a notable surge in visa rejections.” As for caps Mr Green could have added there is not one – yet. If Indian media starts reporting the Australian Government wants fewer students from India it may not be necessary. 15 years back Indian media ran hard with stories on exploitation and assault of Indian students in Australia, which did not do anything to increase demand.
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Universities copped a reputational walloping last year for the way they investigated sexual violence on campus. A Senate Committee inquiry reporting on what it heard stated that it, “cannot over-emphasise how troubled it is by these outcomes, nor over-state how disappointed it is in the university sector’s overall response,” (Future Campus, September 15). And now universities are now subject to investigation by the newly adopted National Student Ombudsman, who will hear student complaints about sexual assault, harassment and violence at their institutions. Uni Melbourne appears keen not to attract the Ombudsman’s attention, releasing its 2023 report on sexual misconduct and what the university does about it, both investigations and staff training. Uni Melbourne reports that of 23 complaints last year, 17 were in the university’s ambit eight of which were substantiated, four weren’t, two were withdrawn and three investigations continued into this year. Five staff were terminated in ’23 for sexual misconduct, three of them over complaints starting in ’22.
The report states Uni Melbourne, “is resolute that lawful decisions to remove an employee from the workplace … will not be overturned or lead to the payment of compensation.”
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Australian Catholic U COO Stephen Weller gives it away after 11 years. “Time for a break and then on to my next career adventure.”
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“Closing loopholes” changes to the Fair Work Act apply as of August, including casuals being employed on fixed term contracts – but not in universities and higher education institutions, where academics and teaching staff, plus anybody else covered by the HE Academic and General Staff Awards are explicitly excluded.
This appears to be because managements and union representatives are deep in the weeds on how contracts for casuals will apply and it is taking time to work through the complexities of university and research institute practice and the byzantine complexity of their enterprise agreements. Last November, the government gave parties six months to sort out an agreed approach and word is they are talking to, as opposed to at, each other.
The system’s dependence on casuals makes getting contracts right especially important for managements – terms of employment could well attract the attention of the Fair Work Ombudsman, when, or if, it decides university managements have finally worked out how to pay people what they are legally owed. And managers really need to not underpay anybody. As of January there are two penalties for individuals, up to ten years in prison a $1.565m fine. That’s individuals, and don’t think the FWO would not go after people personally. Earlier this month the Federal Court imposed $4m in penalties on a restaurant chain that had a, “ calculated scheme to rob employees of their hard-earned wage.” Two managers were slugged with fines of around $100 000 each.
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There is a day-long event next month for My eQuals users and developers which is long up and successfully running, with 87 ANZ institutions participating and 2.5m accounts created. This contrasts with the long (and still) awaited proposal for a Commonwealth “skills passport.” Submissions to a Department of Education discussion paper closed in February since which digital silence has continued. DoE’s paper did not mention My eQuals, which seems strange, given it is actually long up and running.
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Regulator TEQSA is consulting on proposed changes to its “fit and proper person” test, including “whether the public is unlikely to have confidence in a relevant person’s suitability to be a person who makes or participates in making decisions that affect the whole, or a substantial part, of a registered higher education provider’s affairs.” Depends on the definition of “public,” but FC suspects few, if any present VCs would have statistically significant name recognition in a random sample poll.
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The Commonwealth’s Australian Renewable Energy Agency announces $59m for 21 research projects on renewable hydrogen and low emission iron and steel manufacture. Most grants are for universities, but two Cooperative Research Centres and five companies are funded.
