Big Mullet could start watching you. “AI to revolutionise recreational fishing,” is the headline on a Uni Wollongong research-puff. It proposes surveillance of fish-cleaning tables at public boat ramps for, “improving recreational fisheries management and ensuring that resources are exploited responsibly and sustainably” Presumably 1984’s O’Brien will come around for a chat and the kneecaps of irresponsible fishers.
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Universities Australia’s Luke Sheehy says there is “a strong feeling” the imminent election will deliver a hung parliament and so UA “will be engaging equally across the full political spectrum.” He mentioned the Greens already supporting its call for higher PhD stipends and the comrades may be UA’s best hope. Labor will point to Accord commitments, given the Coalition’s undisguised antipathy for the Group of Eight it will probably promise nothing new in the way of money, unless it commits to less. But the Greens could extract commitments from a minority Labor Government.
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They dither-not at the Senate Standing Committee on Education and Employment. It is just days since Labor senator for NSW Tony Sheldon proposed an inquiry into the “quality of governance at Australian higher education providers” to himself, as Committee Chair – and already submissions are open. They close March 3 with the Committee due to report on April 4. Election permitting.
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Did Ed Husic leave his reminder to announce the new Chief Scientist in his beach bag? The Industry and Science Minister announced the appointment Wednesday, despite Tony Haymet’s acceptance statement being dated the prior Thursday.
Professor Haymet got off to a standard start, “kilo for kilo, Australian scientists match it with the very best in the world,” plus there was the now all but obligatory reference to the importance of applied research, “we have got to continue to grow the ways we turn Australia’s bright ideas into companies and jobs.”
Which came to standard end when hacks trawled through his old tweets to find one for July 13 2022, where he commented that “CSIRO crushes nuclear fantasy.” “Slow expensive and no good for 1.5° target: Nuclear has 10 per cent share of global generation in the ‘current policies’ scenario to 2030 but diminishes out to 2050 in all three scenarios, particularly those that minimise global warming.”
He followed up at his appointment presser where he was asked about small modular reactors and replied, “I was quoted as saying I would like to go and see one. I mean, the fact that I cannot means that they do not exist yet. Look, you know that I used to work for CSIRO, and so you may not be surprised to hear that I think the CSIRO report is a very fine piece of work. I don’t know of any mistakes in it. And if you do, please let me know.”
Of course the Chief Scientist must report the science, as Professor Haymet will undoubtedly tell the new Science Minister if the Coalition wins the election.
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The Department of Education promotes on X “Fee Free Uni Ready courses” to help people who are not sure they are ready to study. There is a link to a standard DoE announcement and a static brochure image, which will not be a bunch of help to anybody who does not speak fluent bureaucrat and fears they may not have the skills they need for HE. There must be days when Jason Clare wonders why he bothers.
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Some vice chancellors have made a mess of responding to allegations that their universities are soft on antisemitism, (morning Professor Scott, hello Professor Bell) – but not Western Sydney U’s leadership.
Chancellor Jennifer Westacott spoke out against “hate speech and antisemitism” on university campuses in May and again last week, in The Australian, “we cannot be the institutions that give legitimacy to antisemitism,” she wrote.
VC George Williams backed her in a statement to the Joint Parliamentary Inquiry into Antisemitism at Universities. He focused on work to build cohesion at multicultural WSU campuses and specified outcomes of complaints relating to antisemitism, Islamaphobia, hate speech and intimidation, including expulsions, “I have kept a close eye on those processes, and they work,” he said.
Its comms 101 innit – state your position and stick to it. Way better than weasel words.
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Liberal Party Senator for WA Matt O’Sullivan is promoted to Shadow Assistant Minister for Education. Sarah Henderson keeps the top job. They will “work closely … at a time when the government is presiding over a continued decline in school education standards.” HE lobbies take note that they are not a priority.
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The NZ Government continues reshaping research into industry policy. Science, Innovation and Tech minister Judith Collins says funding must be “spent in the best way possible to grow the economy, because innovation and technology are the future.” Which humanities aren’t in – last month she banned HASS from the government’s Marsden research fund. Uni Auckland VC Dawn Freshwater (yes the former UWA boss) applauds the inevitable, “universities are committed to a future-focused, relevant and impactful role as part of a recharged and reformed research and science ecosystem,” while mentioning the research importance of HASS in “enhancing and advancing societies and creating social cohesion.
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Good news among the mayhem of proposed cuts at ANU. In December management mentioned the university press, a pioneer of publishing digital texts, was in the frame for a review, to “put it on a more sustainable footing going forward.” That will still happen, but observers suggest the press will roll on.
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Prime Minister Albanese announces a $10,000 incentive for housing trades apprentices who complete, which gets a tick from TAFE Directors Australia’s Jenny Dodd, who calls it “a welcomed policy direction” It follows Iain Ross and Lisa Paul’s “strategic review” of the apprentice incentive system, which finds incentives are, “not in alignment with Australia’s economic priorities and social equity objectives.” They don’t say! Back in 2017 a report from the Mitchell Institute at Victoria U found, “if we have learned anything about the VET system in recent years it is that government incentives should only be provided where there is a demonstrable public benefit.”
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Jason Clare is pleased indeed with applications (up 4% on last year) and offers (up 14%) for teaching degrees logged by tertiary admission centres. It will be interesting to see how enrolments pan out. Mr Clare announced the top-of-funnel growth and also had a crack at the Coalition, stating, “under them the teacher shortage crisis got worse.” It wasn’t for want of the previous government trying to make teaching degrees attractive. Under the still-in-place Jobs Ready Graduates program – this year learning to teach attracts a study debt of $4000 a year – less than a quarter of the arts, business and law price.
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The AI publicity product pile-on continues. Lifesciences service provider AINGENS (“easy-to-deploy, fit-for-purpose AI software solutions”) announces “a medical writing and research assistant” that “supports all phases of the scientific content creation process.” One specific claim is that it can halve the time to write a clinical study report.
It follows Google’s Illuminate, which converts journal articles into audio, with an AI using a male voice to ask a woman’s voice about a paper. Can university research publicity podcasts be far away?
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The estimable National Centre for Vocational Education Research has a submission to the Senate Committee Inquiry into the government’s Fee Free TAFE funding bill. The NCVER explains that it is the national voced data repository and just the place to collect stats on the program, if only its existing systems were adapted to the task. But why explain to Senators when the centre’s owners can sort this out – the Commonwealth and State Voced Ministers? Unless the NCVER hopes a recommendation from the former will convince the latter.
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