Jason Clare’s university governance advisors did not deliver on a key union demand in their report released Saturday and yet the comrades are not complaining – perhaps because they have bigger wins.
Victorian Skills Minster Gayle Tierney says a State Parliament inquiry will focus on “putting students and staff at the centre of university decision-making, ensuring Victorian universities reflect the communities they serve.”
The yet-to-convene inquiry will do this by “elevating staff and student representation on councils.”
The National Tertiary Education Union has long campaigned for university governing bodies to have 50% elected members and that those appointed “should have public sector experience.”
However, Mr Clare’s Expert Council on University Governance only recommended that councils must “reflect the diversity of the Australian community, and the specific characteristics of the university community they serve” and for them to have “one or more” staff and student members. And while State and Territory ministers are supportive, it will take time for recommendations (Future Campus Monday) to become provincial parliamentary priorities.
In contrast, the Victorian Government can deliver on whatever new membership for councils the Committee recommends – all the State’s public universities exist according to State acts of Parliament.
There is also the prospect of changes to council memberships in NSW, where Labor Member of the Legislative Council Sarah Kaine (ex UTS) has established an inquiry, with terms of reference including, “accountability of university councils, in particular … the qualifications, experience and appointment processes for council members, including elected staff, student and graduate representatives.”
There are hearings scheduled for next month.