July 2010 higher education news summary - Australia, New Zealand by ACUMA Incorporated

ACUMA Inc.: the Association representing tertiary campus service organisations in Australia & New Zealand Higher education news summary • July 2010 .

ACUMA Incorporated: Higher education news summary for July 2010 - Australia & New Zealand

Coalition on education Students fear dramatic increase in course debts Abbott vies for disability vote Postgrads release election wishlist Uni push to slash undergraduates, allow more foreign students Asia-born population matching local born Global students of future to get degree of flexibility The International Journal of the First Year in Higher Education Old enough to vote? You're on a roll Google's student election ignores reality: McKay Google jump on election 2010 Air safety 'at risk from uni cheats' Uni cheat scandal poses plane risk $11b student loan debt a disaster, says Key University Of Canterbury Launches New Online Scholarships Service Dunedin school woos Chinese students As college text prices soar, students get a rental option Standards must be the foundation Both sides get sums wrong in battle over education costs Sector learns to handle change Liberals to reintroduce full-fee uni places Australia Seeks to Jettison Its Colleges' Relaxed Image Election focus turns to education Labor vows to revive student union fees HECS gives everyone a fair go: Gillard Probe called into soaring student fees Government looking at extra fees at tertiary institutions Student body slams new rules on immigration Academic Outcomes of Study Abroad Need for new system must end in tiers College orientation is emphasized more than ever — even involving some parents Student says bullied into paying fees What happened to studying? What the Alumni Read (or Ignore) Victoria University Wins Australasian Debating Champs More students use high-tech gadgets to cheat on exams Volunteering Experts Advise Government on Strategy Extra $118m handed over as more students struggle Uni Games mourns killed student To stop cheats, colleges learn their trickery Unis spot opportunities in visa changes Reforms would shore up research Accounting counts cost of success University students more likely to be hit by depression Push for degree-level TAFEs Student disengagement: global comparisons Massey University to cut 53 jobs AACA National Campus Band Competition / National Campus Film Festival / National Campus Art Prize / National Campus DJ Competition launched

ACUMA Inc.: the Association representing tertiary campus service organisations in Australia & New Zealand Locked Bag 1333, Launceston, Tasmania 7250, Australia ABN: 56 168 491 622 Tel: +61 3 6324 3935 / Fax: +61 3 6324 3670 / admin.acuma@acuma.org.au / http://www.acuma.org.au

ACUMA Inc.: the Association representing tertiary campus service organisations in Australia & New Zealand Higher education news summary • July 2010 .

Coalition on education The Sydney Morning Herald July 31 2010 Parents would be helped to make the choice to send disabled children to private schools under a Coalition plan for a $20,000 education card that follows each student, bypassing state education departments. Full article: http://bit.ly/dyOVjO Students fear dramatic increase in course debts The Sydney Morning Herald July 31 2010 STUDENT debt loads will rise dramatically under a University of Sydney proposal to increase the numbers of postgraduate places at the expense of undergraduates, a leading student advocate says. Elly Howse, the University of Sydney student president, said the proposed changes would have a detrimental long-term effect across higher education and the…. Full article: http://bit.ly/96SMzF Abbott vies for disability vote The Sydney Morning Herald July 31 2010 Opposition Leader Tony Abbott has sought to trump Labor on the issue of disabilities, pledging $314 million to help students with a disability and their families. Previously politically overlooked, disability has now earned prominence as an election issue, with Mr Abbott's announcement coming a day after Prime Minister Julia Gillard's announcement of $182 million of measures, including.… Full article: http://bit.ly/9kDQqe Postgrads release election wishlist AAP via The Sydney Morning Herald July 29 2010 Postgraduate students want the next federal government to give them better income support, more travel concessions and improved campus services, their peak body says. The Council of Australian Postgraduate Associations released its election wish list on Thursday. Full article: http://bit.ly/aWpFse Uni push to slash undergraduates, allow more foreign students The Sydney Morning Herald July 30 2010 ACUMA Inc.: the Association representing tertiary campus service organisations in Australia & New Zealand Locked Bag 1333, Launceston, Tasmania 7250, Australia ABN: 56 168 491 622 Tel: +61 3 6324 3935 / Fax: +61 3 6324 3670 / admin.acuma@acuma.org.au / http://www.acuma.org.au

ACUMA Inc.: the Association representing tertiary campus service organisations in Australia & New Zealand Higher education news summary • July 2010 .

The University of Sydney is considering cutting more than 6000 undergraduate places and instead recruiting more postgraduate and international students, in a radical overhaul of its operations. The shake-up aims to improve the university's finances and lift its international research reputation, with the impact likely to be felt across the Australian higher education sector…. Full article: http://bit.ly/d4kMCQ Asia-born population matching local born The Age July 30 2010 Australia's Asia-born population was growing almost as fast as the Australian-born population in the year before the federal government cracked down on immigration rorts, new figures show. The Bureau of Statistics' annual migration estimates show Australia's migrant population rose by more than a million in the five years to 2009, topping the…. Full article: http://bit.ly/asdO0F Global students of future to get degree of flexibility The Independent, Ireland July 30 2010 THEY say university broadens the mind, but for third-level students of the future, it will be a gateway to a whole new world of learning. Full article: http://bit.ly/9uqFO5 The International Journal of the First Year in Higher Education The International Journal of the First Year in Higher Education provides the opportunity to disseminate research and practice for enhancing the first year in higher education. Full article: http://bit.ly/929hRI Old enough to vote? You're on a roll The Sydney Morning Herald July 28 2010 The Monday after Prime Minister Julia Gillard announced that the federal election would be held on August 21, thousands of Australians queued at Australian Electoral Commission offices to enrol to vote. More than 200,000 eligible Victorians are not enrolled, including about half of all 18-year-olds and a third of 19-year-olds. Full article: http://bit.ly/9O6r3f Google's student election ignores reality: McKay ACUMA Inc.: the Association representing tertiary campus service organisations in Australia & New Zealand Locked Bag 1333, Launceston, Tasmania 7250, Australia ABN: 56 168 491 622 Tel: +61 3 6324 3935 / Fax: +61 3 6324 3670 / admin.acuma@acuma.org.au / http://www.acuma.org.au

ACUMA Inc.: the Association representing tertiary campus service organisations in Australia & New Zealand Higher education news summary • July 2010 .

The Sydney Morning Herald July 28 2010 Students given a virtual vote Google are inviting all 15-17 year old school students across Australia to have their say in a simulated federal election between 9 - 12 August. Leading social researcher Hugh McKay says Google's mock election for 15- to 17-year-old students across Australia is "a very strange idea" and ignores the fact that…. Full article: http://bit.ly/dlLc5T Google jump on election 2010 MarketingMag.com.au July 29 2010 Google has partnered with a group of Australian politicians to launch ‘Student Voice’, a simulated online election for young Australians. Full article: http://bit.ly/9yOxcy Air safety 'at risk from uni cheats' The Australian July 30 2010 RMIT University has been rocked by a cheating scandal in aeronautical engineering, exposed by Victoria's Ombudsman. Full article: http://bit.ly/9jVeA5 Uni cheat scandal poses plane risk AAP via The Sydney Morning Herald July 29 2010 An aeronautical engineering teacher at a prominent Melbourne University assisted three students to cheat, endangering air passengers, the ombudsman has found. Full article: http://bit.ly/bQyhsA $11b student loan debt a disaster, says Key Stuff.co.nz July 28 2010 Fresh calls have been made for interest to be reintroduced on student loans after Prime Minister John Key said student debt was a disaster economically. "If you're an investment banker – not that I am these days – you'd say it's a disaster of a loan book," he told students at Victoria University's Weir House yesterday. ACUMA Inc.: the Association representing tertiary campus service organisations in Australia & New Zealand Locked Bag 1333, Launceston, Tasmania 7250, Australia ABN: 56 168 491 622 Tel: +61 3 6324 3935 / Fax: +61 3 6324 3670 / admin.acuma@acuma.org.au / http://www.acuma.org.au

ACUMA Inc.: the Association representing tertiary campus service organisations in Australia & New Zealand Higher education news summary • July 2010 .

Full article: http://bit.ly/cd6JU6 University Of Canterbury Launches New Online Scholarships Service Voxy, New Zealand July 29 2010 Searching for scholarship support to study at the University of Canterbury has just got a whole lot easier. The University has launched a new online service for students which will help them search through the more than $13.5 million worth of scholarships and prize funding available annually and make it easier for them to find a suitable scholarship to…. Full article: http://bit.ly/9lN897 Dunedin school woos Chinese students TVNZ July 28 2010 A deal with an Otago school which will see pupils from China going to high school in Dunedin also clears the way for them to go to university. For 100 students from northern China, Bayfield High School will soon be home and Hengshui High delegates said they have been impressed with…. Full article: http://bit.ly/azHE1I As college text prices soar, students get a rental option Boston.com July 26 2010 College students will have new, cheaper alternatives this fall to shelling out hundreds of dollars each semester for textbooks they may never use again. In an effort to curb escalating book prices amid sky-high college costs, bookstores at more than a dozen campuses across the state and hundreds more around the country will begin renting textbooks at…. Full article: http://bit.ly/cJeNr8 Standards must be the foundation The Australian July 28 2010 ARE different institutional capacities worth identifying and preserving? Reform is afoot in tertiary education. Greater access to diplomas and degrees for the Australian people is proposed. There is significant federal investment in the operations and infrastructure of public institutions under way. There is talk of government funding tied to performance in education and research. A new system for assessing research quality, Excellence in Research for Australia, is being ACUMA Inc.: the Association representing tertiary campus service organisations in Australia & New Zealand Locked Bag 1333, Launceston, Tasmania 7250, Australia ABN: 56 168 491 622 Tel: +61 3 6324 3935 / Fax: +61 3 6324 3670 / admin.acuma@acuma.org.au / http://www.acuma.org.au

ACUMA Inc.: the Association representing tertiary campus service organisations in Australia & New Zealand Higher education news summary • July 2010 .

implemented. Reforms to the standards required for educational institutions teaching international students are…. Full article: http://bit.ly/bFaz2O Both sides get sums wrong in battle over education costs The Australian July 24 2010 WHEN the first major brawl over costings in this election campaign broke out, the spin of the major parties glossed over an ugly truth. Tony Abbott's $760 million plan to expand the education rebate to include private school fees was costed on the basis of a mistake. That mistake was made by Julia Gillard eight days earlier, when she overestimated by 600,000 the number of…. Full article: http://bit.ly/cTCXvy Sector learns to handle change The Australian July 24 2010 New ideas are only as good as their implementation JULIA Gillard became education minister with a simple mantra, that demography is not destiny. Her ambition was to change that for the large proportion of students who leave school with poor skills in literacy and numeracy, limiting their options for higher education and training or a job. Full article: http://bit.ly/cWhRMv Liberals to reintroduce full-fee uni places The Sydney Morning Herald July 23 2010 A COALITION government would overturn Labor's ban on full fees for Australian undergraduates, clearing the way for universities to offer places for a price to students who missed out on publicly subsidised places on academic merit. Full article: http://bit.ly/bbeYrN Australia Seeks to Jettison Its Colleges' Relaxed Image The Chronicle of Higher Education July 22 2010 Australia is trying to improve its academic image to attract a new crop of students to its shores. For years the island nation has marketed itself as a sun-kissed destination for foreign students, promoting its relaxed lifestyle as much as opportunities to study. But now it is revamping that approach and seeking to emphasize a more intellectual image. ACUMA Inc.: the Association representing tertiary campus service organisations in Australia & New Zealand Locked Bag 1333, Launceston, Tasmania 7250, Australia ABN: 56 168 491 622 Tel: +61 3 6324 3935 / Fax: +61 3 6324 3670 / admin.acuma@acuma.org.au / http://www.acuma.org.au

ACUMA Inc.: the Association representing tertiary campus service organisations in Australia & New Zealand Higher education news summary â&#x20AC;˘ July 2010 .

Full article: http://bit.ly/9ytZ2Z Election focus turns to education ABC News July 21 2010 Julia Gillard and Tony Abbott have targeted education spending in announcements made on the campaign trail in marginal seats today. In his first Coalition spending pledge of the campaign, Opposition Leader Tony Abbott promised to use $750 million to increase and expand the Education Tax Rebate. Full article: http://bit.ly/aka3WU Labor vows to revive student union fees The Age July 22 2010 FEDERAL Education Minister Simon Crean has promised a re-elected Labor government would try again to change the law to allow universities to charge students compulsory fees to pay for sporting facilities, health clinics and other non-academic amenities. Full article: http://bit.ly/9rOpib HECS gives everyone a fair go: Gillard The Australian July 20 2010 JULIA Gillard says she has no plans to change the nation's Higher Education Contribution Scheme. But the Prime Minister believes Labor's first term in office has made it easier for people from poor backgrounds to go to university. Full article: http://bit.ly/9W9jty Probe called into soaring student fees The New Zealand Herald July 15 2010 The Government is to probe whether skyrocketing non-academic fees for university and polytech students are being used to dodge its restrictions on course fee increases, Tertiary Education Minister Steven Joyce said yesterday. Full article: http://bit.ly/bU1ruH Government looking at extra fees at tertiary institutions Guide2.co.nz July 14 2010 ACUMA Inc.: the Association representing tertiary campus service organisations in Australia & New Zealand Locked Bag 1333, Launceston, Tasmania 7250, Australia ABN: 56 168 491 622 Tel: +61 3 6324 3935 / Fax: +61 3 6324 3670 / admin.acuma@acuma.org.au / http://www.acuma.org.au

ACUMA Inc.: the Association representing tertiary campus service organisations in Australia & New Zealand Higher education news summary • July 2010 .

Wellington, July 14 NZPA - The Government has signalled a crackdown on tertiary educators who are ramping up non-academic levies. In a speech to tertiary education providers at Victoria University today, Tertiary Education Minister Steven Joyce said students had written to him complaining about…. Full article: http://bit.ly/bmysDY Student body slams new rules on immigration The Australian July 13 2010 THE head of a new international student body says the government's immigration changes hit student residency hopes. The new Council of International Students Australia is also calling for the reform of work restrictions on students and increased student accommodation. It also wants NSW and Victoria to finally extend…. Full article: http://bit.ly/buu0TD Academic Outcomes of Study Abroad InsideHigherEd.com July 13 2010 In 2000, researchers began an ambitious effort to document the academic outcomes of study abroad across the 35-institution University System of Georgia. Ten years later, they’ve found that students who study abroad have improved academic performance upon returning to their home campus, higher graduation rates, and improved knowledge of cultural practices and context compared to…. Full article: http://bit.ly/9YMGOQ Need for new system must end in tiers The Australian July 14 2010 UNIVERSITIES should take the initiative to set up polytechnics that are not research-based. AUSTRALIA needs a new kind of tertiary institution, delivering a curriculum that blends vocational and higher learning in ways Australian society and its economy will want. Full article: http://bit.ly/aBPuUZ College orientation is emphasized more than ever — even involving some parents The Chicago Tribune July 12 2010 Schools hope extra attention helps students succeed and avoid problems during the year

ACUMA Inc.: the Association representing tertiary campus service organisations in Australia & New Zealand Higher education news summary • July 2010 .

A generation ago, college orientation was a perfunctory affair, lasting little more than a day. The focus was on registering for classes and buying textbooks. If parents were needed at all, it was primarily for their wallets. Full article: http://bit.ly/caZD6S Student says bullied into paying fees One News via TVNZ July 11 2010 Victoria University student Marie Shepherd, who is studying interior architecture, initially refused to settle the bill for campus services, but says she was bullied into paying it. Full article: http://bit.ly/dfT2Bz What happened to studying? The Boston Globe July 04 2010 You won’t hear this from the admissions office, but college students are cracking the books less and less They come with polished resumes and perfect SAT scores. Their grades are often impeccable. Some elite universities will deny thousands of high school seniors with 4.0 grade point averages in search of an elusive quality that one provost called “intellectual vitality.” The perception is that today’s overachieving, college-driven kids have it — whatever it is. They’re not just groomed; they’re ready. There’s just one problem. Once on campus, the students aren’t studying. Full article: http://bit.ly/9PiMff What the Alumni Read (or Ignore) InsideHigherEd.com July 09 2010 The days when alumni eagerly turned to "class notes" sections of alumni magazines to find out about their old friends seem quaint in the era of Facebook. So the question for alumni magazines becomes: How do they stay relevant? Full article: http://bit.ly/90EeWS Victoria University Wins Australasian Debating Champs Voxy.co.nz July 09 2010 A team from Victoria University of Wellington has taken out top honours in the world's second largest university debating tournament.

ACUMA Inc.: the Association representing tertiary campus service organisations in Australia & New Zealand Higher education news summary â&#x20AC;˘ July 2010 .

The team of three students won the 2010 Australasian Intervarsity Debating Championships by defeating Auckland University in the Grand Final on Wednesday night in Auckland. One hundred teams from all over the Asia-Pacific regionâ&#x20AC;Ś. Full article: http://bit.ly/bjoyMk More students use high-tech gadgets to cheat on exams The Calgary Herald July 08 2010 An investigation found that Grade 12 students cheated on the Alberta Pure Math 30 exam after the students received a copy of the test prior to exam day. Apparently confused by the answer his peer had e-mailed to his BlackBerry, a student asked to be excused for a washroom break. Full article: http://bit.ly/dxJ3Si Volunteering Experts Advise Government on Strategy Media release: Senator the Hon Ursula Stephens July 08 2010 Parliamentary Secretary for Social Inclusion and the Voluntary Sector Senator Ursula Stephens met with key leaders from the community at the final meeting of the Volunteering Policy Advisory Group in Canberra today. The group of diverse representatives across the volunteering community has met five times since its establishment in October 2009. Full article: http://bit.ly/cdGhaD Extra $118m handed over as more students struggle The Dominion Post via Stuff.co.nz July 07 2010 The Government has had to cough up an extra $118 million after record numbers of cash-strapped students asked for financial help. More than 82,000 students used the Government's student living allowance scheme in 2009, pushing spending to $516 million, a 30 per cent rise. Full article: http://bit.ly/aeyOeL Uni Games mourns killed student ABC News July 06 2010 The 2010 Eastern University games will today remember a competitor that died after a car accident on Sunday night. ACUMA Inc.: the Association representing tertiary campus service organisations in Australia & New Zealand Locked Bag 1333, Launceston, Tasmania 7250, Australia ABN: 56 168 491 622 Tel: +61 3 6324 3935 / Fax: +61 3 6324 3670 / admin.acuma@acuma.org.au / http://www.acuma.org.au

ACUMA Inc.: the Association representing tertiary campus service organisations in Australia & New Zealand Higher education news summary • July 2010 .

The death will be recognised with a minute's silence at all of the Games' events today. Full article: http://bit.ly/bqqnhQ To stop cheats, colleges learn their trickery The New York Times July 05 2010 The frontier in the battle to defeat student cheating may be here at the testing center of the University of Central Florida. No gum is allowed during an exam: chewing could disguise a student’s speaking into a hands-free cellphone to an accomplice outside. Full article: http://nyti.ms/9SExKl Unis spot opportunities in visa changes ABC Radio Australia June 06 2010 With uncertainty facing overseas students in some Australian education courses, many are expected to take advantage of opportunities to study in their home country at first before transferring to an identical course in Australia. Full article: http://bit.ly/brcNUG Reforms would shore up research The Australian July 07 2010 A SHIFT towards decade-long research grants and joint university-industry appointments head the list of reforms in the federal government's draft blueprint. The moves would accompany a longer-term expansion of Australia's $794 million university-based research training scheme recommended by the Department of Innovation, Industry, Science and Research's blueprint as necessary to…. Full article: http://bit.ly/cCxB5u Accounting counts cost of success The Australian July 07 2010 RAPID growth presents daunting challenges for the popular academic discipline. ACCOUNTING academics cannot cope with their popularity and the number of students must drop if teaching and research are to continue in universities. Full article: http://bit.ly/a2rx1R

ACUMA Inc.: the Association representing tertiary campus service organisations in Australia & New Zealand Higher education news summary • July 2010 .

University students more likely to be hit by depression The Sydney Morning Herald July 07 2010 UNIVERSITY students are four times more likely to be anxious and depressed than other people their age, a study of almost 1000 students has found. The research found that 48 per cent of participating students from the medicine, law, mechanical engineering and psychology faculties at the University of Adelaide showed significant levels…. Full article: http://bit.ly/cC2PBp Push for degree-level TAFEs The Australian June 30 2010 TAFE Directors Australia is proposing a new type of higher education institution between universities and TAFEs. This initiative is part of the push to win commonwealth funding for degrees in the post-2012 uncapped system. A blueprint for the tertiary education sector will be discussed by the TDA board in Brisbane tomorrow. It includes protocols for a new category of non-university institution that would offer degrees at bachelor and masters level in…. Full article: http://bit.ly/a8XYxy Student disengagement: global comparisons University World News July 04 2010 Jim Côté A common reaction to reports of student disengagement is that we all should get used to widespread disengagement because nothing better should be expected from a mass university system. A variety of excuses are made for students who are 'too busy' to put full effort into their studies. One way to approach this 'inevitability question' is to ask whether the levels of student disengagement observed…. Full article: http://bit.ly/aMdGoW Massey University to cut 53 jobs The New Zealand Herald Sun July 01 2010 Massey University says government funding cuts are behind a proposal to axe more than 50 jobs from its three campuses. Under the plan the university would replace 120 current non-academic roles with 67 new positions at its campuses in… Full article: ACUMA Inc.: the Association representing tertiary campus service organisations in Australia & New Zealand Locked Bag 1333, Launceston, Tasmania 7250, Australia ABN: 56 168 491 622 Tel: +61 3 6324 3935 / Fax: +61 3 6324 3670 / admin.acuma@acuma.org.au / http://www.acuma.org.au

ACUMA Inc.: the Association representing tertiary campus service organisations in Australia & New Zealand Higher education news summary â&#x20AC;˘ July 2010 .

http://bit.ly/9IsL25 Australasian Association of Campus Activities (AACA): 2010 national student competitions National Campus Band Competition launched: National Campus Film Festival launched : National Campus Art Prize launched : National Campus DJ Competition launched :

http://www.aaca.net.au/ncbc http://www.aaca.net.au/ncff http://www.aaca.net.au/ncap http://www.aaca.net.au/ncdjc

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