A union survey of staff-elected members of university governing bodies finds that “governance boards rubber-stamp decisions that have harmed the people who make education and research possible.”
According to the National Tertiary Education Union, the survey shows, “many of these boards have become far removed from the university community they oversight.” The union reports that 71% of the sample said they were not permitted to report to staff, “despite being elected to represent them.”
It is part of a long-standing campaign by the National Tertiary Education Union for half of council members to be elected and for a majority of them to, “have experience in the public sector, not the private boardroom.” The Union’s case is focused on State Governments, which have legislative authority over universities, (ex ANU) stacking councils with people from business.
And it is also pitched to Greens and Labor members of the Senate committee inquiry into university governance which lapsed at the end of the last Parliament, but is expected to start again when the new Parliament sits.
Education Minister Jason Clare has also established an “expert council on university governance,” charged with recommendations on “accountability, transparency, engagement and representation of university governing bodies.”
The proposals for change follow years of criticism of university councils not holding managements to account over operational failures, notably staff underpayment and the NTEU sees a chance to catchup on a generation of change.
Back in 2003, then Federal Education Minister Brendon Nelson started the push for more outsiders on councils, “universities are not businesses but nevertheless manage multi-million dollar budgets. As such they need to be run in a business-like fashion,” he said.