It’s HE Day in Senate Estimates, but ATEC is not invited on its own – it’s included in the Department of Education’s sessions. It appears another example of ATEC officers as Schrodinger’s’ public servants, both inside and outside DoE, as department secretary Tony Cook explained in Estimates, last December.
Another double act was scheduled yesterday, for this afternoon – with TEQSA and ANU appearing together. So convenient for Senators with questions about the former’s governance inquiry into the latter and progress on the TEQSA oversighted selection of ANU’s next Chancellor. That is if they can drag themselves away from the Australian National Audit Office report in ANU, released last night, (see separate story).
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Alison Barnes has a third term as national president of the National Tertiary Education Union. She is joined by new general secretary Sarah Roberts, (previous Vic state secretary) and assistant secretary Lachlan Clohesy (moving from the ACT division). They were all elected unopposed and start in October.
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There was a media shockathon Monday when Aus universities dropped down the Centre for World University Ranking’s global 2000. The top end of the local list was pretty much as per all-rankings normal, where annualised anomalies account for ups and downs in the also-rans, although UNSW will be pleased that it knocked off Uni Melbourne for top spot.
There will be more ranking declines to come, as government caps on international student numbers will reduce the research budgets their fees paid for. A decade back, this would have been a biggish-deal, but not now, given the only political issue on international student numbers is how big the cuts should be.
There was also a ranking that actually matters last week, the Red Cross score for university blood donations. UoM (fourth) was ahead of UNSW (8th) on that one. Monash U was first with ANU second.
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Adelaide U is down $90m on international student revenue – not a great start for Semester One, Year One. So much for Premier Malinauskas’ original idea that merging Uni Adelaide and Uni SA would attract more internationals. Management will be hoping sales pick up, because there are no significant costs to be cut – part of the merger deal was a guarantee of no job losses before June 2027.
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The NSW Independent Commission Against Corruption announces hearings as part of an investigation of Uni Wollongong staff, including;
- Whether Chief Governance Officer Alyssa White or any other staff member intentionally subverted recruitment processes to “benefit persons” associated with her
- Whether Chancellor Michael Still, Ms White or other staff/contractors improperly awarded or influenced work going to Aspirall Consulting
- Whether Mr Still or other staff/contactor failed to manage conflicts of interest in the employment of John Dewar (ex La Trobe U VC) as Interim VC and the university engaging consultants Korda Mentha.
This is the third ICAC inquiry into a university FC knows of and the first involving staff at such senior levels.
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Uni Newcastle has always been big on equity programs and leads this year for Fee Free Uni Ready enrolments, according to a list tabled in Senate Estimates, with 1,294 students out of a national 9,252. – way more than the Group of Eight, with 915. Make that the Group of Six. ANU and Uni Sydney aren’t on the list.
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The Property Council of Australia reports there are 47,000 student accommodation beds in planning, approval or construction, up 7,000 on last year. But Sydney lags, with the Council claiming the law on rentals limits cost recovery when students exit early, “creating uncertainty around forward booking and project viability.” And land tax in Victoria is slowing construction starts. Perth “with clearer policy settings” leads for new beds underway.
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The International Mathematics Union endorse the new Leiden Declaration on AI and Mathematics, which sets out standards and requirements, including, disclosure of AI use, peer reviewing, human oversight and funding for research on automated mathematics.
Their number one reason for rules is, “current automated techniques can produce plausible but unreliable (or even incorrect) arguments which are difficult to distinguish from correct mathematical proofs.” ZINGER
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Teal MP Monique Ryan has a plan to help with, “the cost-of-HECs crisis, which saddles graduates with $50,000 debt for three-year Bachelor degrees.” Good-o, except not all grads are so slugged. This is what the Feds charge HASS, law and bized students. Others, say teachers, can pay less than half that.
Dr Ryan proposes moving the indexation date for HELP/HECS debt from June 1 to November 1. This would mean people’s compulsory repayments through the tax system for a financial year would be credited to their debts before indexation is calculated, thus lowering the principal, at least for those who file their tax returns by Nov 1. According to the Parliamentary Budget Office, this could decrease the underlying cash balance in the Budget by $1.2bn over 4 years, increasing to $3.4bn in a decade.
Dr Ryan acknowledges the Feds wiped $3bn off three million people’s study debt last year, “but the job is not yet done.” With $80bn still outstanding, there are ample opportunities for more campaigns.
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ANU’s John Blaxland reports (via LinkedIn) briefing new ambassador to the United States Greg Moriaty, the other day “about Universities Australia, the Group of Eight, ANU’s Coral Bell School of Asia Pacific Affairs … and lots more.” The discussion was at the Australian Embassy in Washington where ANU has an office. Times can’t be that tough if ANU still has people on the Potomac.
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Education Minister Jason Clare issues new rules for universities to access the Disability Support Fund. They will need a committee chaired by a PVC, with a majority of members who have a disability, to oversee inclusion strategies for staff and students. Universities can use their share of the Fund for purposes including: support for students with disability, training and salaries and, independent reviews at least every five years. Universities must report to DoE annually.