Google anticipates critics getting in the way of the motza to be made using AI in education with complaints that it will destroy teaching jobs and means disadvantaged students are taught by a bot not a person. There’s s category in its new Academic Research Awards (US$150,000) for AI in education, “with a focus on equity, inclusivity and research on AI-powered learning systems, teacher empowerment and accessibility.” Ah altruism, ain’t it grand!
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The SA Government is ticking the scatola with $1m over three years so Flinders U and Uni SA can keep teaching Italian and running study tours. Back in 2021 Flinders U wanted to drop the language because of a shortage of students. It gave up in the face of truly creative outrage, notably a petition claiming that cancelling the course in the 700th anniversary year of Dante Alighieri’s death would demonstrate, “a profound lack of respect for the Italian community.” But there still are not enough students and so the government has stepped in to “support Italian language initiatives that deliver a positive impact and value to South Australia.” Cynics suggest there are 117,000 people in SA of Italian birth or family origin, a handy bloc in an election – but what can you expect from cynics?
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The Australian Skills Quality Authority reports receiving 1,800 VET tip-offs leading to “actionable intelligence.” “More than half”, “relate directly” to CRICOS providers, which FC suspects is ASQSA-speak for just about all of them.
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Another university lobby opposes education ministers sticking bibs into the number of international students at each university, certainly at the course level. But Innovative Research Universities is happy for the all-but-universally-expected Australian Tertiary Education Commission to set international enrolments, as part of compact negotiations. Did it not occur to anybody that ministerial power to set numbers may have been floated so ATEC oversight appeared reasonable in comparison?
That Education Minister Jason Clare has already described ministerial intervention on course numbers a “reserve power” suggests that this is what the government had in mind. If so, it worked.
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There are about to be more journals on the public payroll. Cosmos science magazine is taken over by CSIRO Publishing, with additional funding from the Commonwealth and SA governments. There is no word why, although CSIRO states it will “be exploring options for Cosmos with the aim of identifying a long-term sustainable business model that maximises the impact of the publication”
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If there is any new research spending (on which the previous State Government was keen) in the NSW budget, FC can’t find it.
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The end of days appear imminent for Uni Tasmania’s plan to move just about everything into Hobart’s CBD, by selling the existing Sandy Bay campus for housing. The State Government has tabled a bill requiring Parliament’s approval for this to happen. “This land was originally gifted to Tasmanians for the purpose of education in 1951 and we are committed to ensuring the community has a voice in its future,” says Minister for a bunch of stuff, not including education, Madeleine Ogilvie – who sits for the division of Clark, which includes Sandy Bay. The university plan has been long and bitterly opposed by Sandy Bay locals and members of the university community.
There is a consolation prize for university management, just not much of one – the State Government working with it, “to secure federal funding for much-needed STEM upgrades.” These could be in the CBD where the university already has a substantial presence but more likely back at the Bay. If the upgrades occur at all – the Commonwealth may not be inclined to do anybody a favour to end a local brawl. Whatever happens, the university has an expensive potential problem – how to fund the city expansion without the Sandy Bay sale.
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The Department of Education has a recruiter looking for a TEQSA chief commissioner, replacing Peter Coaldrake, whose departure was briefly, to the point of appearing churlish, announced last month by Education Minister Jason Clare. Adrienne Nieuwenhuis is acting. The recruiter is also advertising for TEQSA commissioners (plural). One commission position might be that now filled by Joan Cooper, whose five year term ended in April but who is staying on for up to a year, “to ensure the continuity of the Commission while recruitment for a new Chief Commissioner takes place.” Another Commissioner would be needed if Ms Nieuwenhuis is confirmed in the chair.
Who knows if applicants will be put off by ambiguity about what TEQSA will do next, what with the imminence of the Australian Tertiary Education Commission. The job advert does not ask for “demonstrable skills in bureaucratic border wars” but having them won’t hurt.
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Universities came in useful on Monday when the government needed an announcement about the PM’s meeting with Chinese premier Li Qiang, when there was nothing much to announce. And so an MOU in Education and Research Cooperation, sufficed. It will, “encourage further cooperation in areas such as quality assurance, online education, and qualification recognition.” Details of the MOU did not make the cut for the two joint statements from the PM and premier.
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Swinburne U renews its partnership with Richmond Football Club, until 2028 (“at least”). The university announcement details research and student placements as examples of why the formal partnership, now in place since 2017, is good for the university. But as to what it costs, Swinburne is silent. Perhaps the sponsorship is included in the $9.9m listed in the university’s 2023 consolidated accounts for “advertising, marketing and promotional expenses.” Or perhaps not.
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RMIT leads the new Australian Internet Observatory, which will “analyse on-line user experience data, algorithms, and interactions.” It’s a project from the ARC Centre of Excellence for Automated Decision-Making and Society and will examine platforms and content people consume on-line. “Key deliverables” include; data governance, generative AI models and test/simulation tools.
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The book closes on Uni Melbourne’s Brownless Biomedical Library at Uni Melbourne, which shuts, forever, tonight. It’s resources go to other libraries. Surgeon Jason Chuen farewells it HERE.
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Prospective students are passionate about study, when they aren’t being pragmatic. The 2024 student survey from the (NSW and ACT) Universities Admissions Centre found the subject they are interested in matters most to 80 per cent. However 64 per cent rate graduate jobs, up 20 per cent on 2022. And nobody much (21 per cent) cares about “world university rankings.” Not that they aren’t interested in institutional reputations, they are just pragmatic about them – it rates just about equal fourth on campus selection, with “transport and commute times”.
As to what they expect on campus, free WiFi is first (84 per cent), followed by 24/seven facilities, free/low cost food, cheap gyms, communal space and low-cost parking.
Pragmatic with bells-on, are the young.
And for universities that tick all those boxes, on-line is the way to reach young people in the market for a campus. Instagram, YouTube and TikTok are the preferred platforms.
As for pitching universities being the places to learn how to change the world – just a third look at news sites. A vox pop in the report states, “I don’t watch the news. I don’t need to hear about the negativity in the world.”
