Uni Wollongong VC Max Lu reports he is “delighted and deeply honoured” to be inducted as an International Fellow of the Royal Swedish Academy of Engineering Sciences. And yes, he was in Stokholm for the occasion. But no, it was not a global jaunt at UoW’s expense. The VC was in Dubai for graduations and the UK on university business and he covered travel and accommodation costs in Sweden, for the induction as well as personal leave.. Wife Lian Lu paid for her travel.
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And the Dizzy for Own Trumpet Blowing goes to Edith Cowan U for promoting its performance on the Times Higher research quality ranking, first in WA, top 10 in Australia and in the global top 100. Perhaps the intent is to show the people of Perth why ECU can solo while the other public unis should be a trio. Then again, it might just be generalised big noting. ECU once bought perimeter fence advertising at the Edgbaston Test to pitch (sorry) its WA wares.
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Jason Clare Zoomed his speech to the international education industry conference the other day. Perhaps he hoped distance would lend enchantment in the audience when he thanked them, for “working with us to set the whole sector on a more sustainable path.” Mr Clare also avoided discussing falling international numbers with the “look, over there – it’s an offshore Aus campus!” line, citing expansion in India. Which may take a while to get going. Indian international ed commentator Rahul Choudaha suggests (via LinkedIn) that for foreign unis “a typical campus starts with a median of 20 students per programme in its inaugural cohort.”
In 2021, the Coalition’s then-Education Minister Alan Tudge suggested that in a “decade or two” Australia could be educating 10m international students “through high-quality offshore courses.” So far not so good.
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The Fair Work Ombudsman reports recovering $453m in underpaid wages for 181,000 workers last year. And a par on its litigation achievements mentions penalties secured against Uni NSW and the CFMEU. Perhaps a reference that will not appear in the university’s marketing.
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RBA Governor Michele Bullock did UG economics at Uni New England and was back there last week delivering an uncommon graduation address – it was not all about her. While she talked about her time there, it was to demonstrate to the grads the places they can go.
It was an understandably policy-free speech but with one hint of an issue, where new economists need to come from, (now they are often young men from flash schools). “At the RBA, we want to encourage people from a wide range of backgrounds and communities to engage with economics, because the field is stronger when it draws on a wider range of experiences, perspectives and ways of thinking,” she said.
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The NTEU branch at Federation U and management are arguing over who said what about the future for humanities courses but the university states they “remain important parts of Federation’s teaching offering (and) there are no job losses anticipated.”
Surprising there is much left not to cut. In ’22 management proposed reducing the BA, claiming 22 starts that years, down from 83 four years prior.
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During Winter, the Uni Melbourne and the union disagreed over what they had agreed on giving existing staff first dibs on applying for jobs. The Fair Work Commission found the comrades were correct and internal candidates had to be considered for continuing jobs before they were advertised externally. But the university appealed. A full-bench has just ruled that internal candidates must be considered first but the university can go to market before deciding their choice
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Next month new WA TAFE qualifications will be on my eQuals, which is very good indeed. It will take a while, a long while, to get really better. Credentials issued from 2018-19 to 2026 can be added on request but before then, apparently, it can’t be done.
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The National Health and Medical Research Council announces a not-especially creative change in the name of its grant management platform. Sapphire becomes NHMRC Grant Management System. “The new name provides a clear and straightforward description of the platform and a more sustainable identity for the future,” the Council explains. But why bother? Maybe SAPPHIRE conjures unhappy memories.
It was never hugely popular with users, what with it taking a bunch of time and money to get going. Back in 2019 the NHMRC explained that that the original $5.8m cost grew to $16.2m. It was a “beast that is evolving,” the Council’s Tony Krizan told Senate Estimates. To which Senator O’Neill (Labor NSW) enquired “how many more millions are going to be invested in its beastliness.” There was no dollar figure then, and last December an internal rebuild, “Sapphire Refresh” was abandoned.