ACUMA Inc.: the Association representing tertiary campus service organisations in Australia & New Zealand Higher education news, Australia & New Zealand: July 2011
Higher education news, Australia & New Zealand: July 2011 Uni of Canberra, Canberra Institute of Tech pushed to merge for survival AUT to recover missing funds Aussie attitudes killing our unis' prospects, vice-chancellor Glyn Davis says It's dumb to dismiss the clever Melbourne University in row after backing Christine Nixon's book NZUSA mobilising opposition to Bill It's raining acronyms, as VET hits a traffic snarl Education Investment Fund Regional Priorities Round Student entitlements need not be bad for business Transitioning from study into work VET's role debated Budgets bitten by research funding Centre will link business and postgrads Better outcomes, cheaper subjects Universities reclaim the agenda Students not on policy song The vice-chancellor with wings Why it pays to be open minded The Master’s as the New Bachelor’s Australian Council for Educational Research: Research Conference 2011 - Indigenous Education Pathways to success Are Australian universities in a 'bubble'? Catholic University buys office tower for $53m USQ and TAFE join in historic pact Tertiary growth vision ‘Review It!’ another success for students’ associations Are you Asia-Savvy? Blind alleys in multiple university entry pathways VET mere 'bums on seats' Unis put degree of work into arts National Campus Art Prize (Gen Y’s Archibald) - Registrations now open National should kill 'destructive' ACT bill - NZUSA Protesting OUSA president says opponent attacked him Panel will be ready to advise on standards Borders Preparing To Liquidate Heads you win, heads you lose Indigenous education: what have we learnt? Ex-Chief Minister turns academic Otago student president's caged protest Innovation 'shopfront' launched Offshore ticket for engineering students New OUSA president to be prisoner of beliefs Diplomas make a run Class act from a student who 'hated' school $500 million Education Investment Fund to transform regional universities University of Tasmania experiencing record growth and investment Here's a lesson for Australia's education policymakers: failure begets failure Dunedin radio threatened by student association From where I sit - Collective judgement ACCC to help fight 'dodgy' colleges External checks on students "Rogue" figure skews attainment data Wait continues for student visa, Youth Allowance reviews Campuses share in funding ACUMA Inc.: the Association representing tertiary campus service organisations in Australia & New Zealand Locked Bag 1333, Launceston, Tasmania 7250, Australia Tel: +61 3 6324 3935 || Fax: +61 3 6324 3670 || admin.acuma@acuma.org.au http://www.acuma.org.au || http://twitter.com/acumainc || http://www.scribd.com/acumainc
ACUMA Inc.: the Association representing tertiary campus service organisations in Australia & New Zealand Higher education news, Australia & New Zealand: July 2011
States say VET regulator not ready to do its job Professor Denise Bradley to head National Trade Cadetship advisory panel National Union of Students Education Conference 2011 Government receives report on student income support review UK pushes wider student union role 100,000 additional university places delivered by Gillard Government’s reforms Volunteer for you - V4U Corruption leads to closure of Curtin's English language test centre Evans will negotiate student say in new bill Advancement by degree: Jess ponders uni Record number of students embrace Government funded training A class half full: Australia's missing indigenous scholars Graduates struggle in two-speed jobs market New code only so 'voluntary' Regulatory trust a two-way street Universities over-enrol in a dangerous numbers game Leader says students stand to lose Graduates facing a longer wait to find work Open to a wider approach Walking up the down escalator Ballarat to share in $1 billion regional fund Dropping ERA rankings 'correct decision': Ellen Hazelkorn Sectors nervously welcome TEQSA Australia's boom runs dry of skills CIT gets $2.6m bailout as foreign student numbers drop Hilary Winchester wins AUQA award A solution that sidesteps the politics of paying At cross purposes in the pursuit of graduate attainment goals History proves universities will suffer under Coalition Lower standards in higher education Student Volunteer Army's one last mission Student radio one of many possible casualties of VSM Bill Student radio station sale slammed Time up for long-haul learners? University student housing concerns Higher education and industry Higher education news resources from ACUMA Incorporated Uni of Canberra, Canberra Institute of Tech pushed to merge for survival The Canberra Times July 30 2011 The University of Canberra and Canberra Institute of Technology look destined to merge under recommendations from the architect of Australia's new deregulated higher education sector. Professor Denise Bradley, who authored the Federal Government's 2008 review of higher education, will hand her report on the future of the UC and CIT to the ACT Government on Wednesday.... Full article: http://goo.gl/b18lu AUT to recover missing funds Auckland Now July 30 2011 ACUMA Inc.: the Association representing tertiary campus service organisations in Australia & New Zealand Locked Bag 1333, Launceston, Tasmania 7250, Australia Tel: +61 3 6324 3935 || Fax: +61 3 6324 3670 || admin.acuma@acuma.org.au http://www.acuma.org.au || http://twitter.com/acumainc || http://www.scribd.com/acumainc
ACUMA Inc.: the Association representing tertiary campus service organisations in Australia & New Zealand Higher education news, Australia & New Zealand: July 2011
Jonathan Kirkpatrick resigned from his role as chief executive of Auckland University of Technology's business innovation centre after $500,000 was unaccounted for. A university is promising to do everything it legally can to recover money from a senior staff member who has resigned after "accounting discrepancies" were discovered.... Full article: http://goo.gl/rlMWn Aussie attitudes killing our unis' prospects, vice-chancellor Glyn Davis says The Australian July 30 2011 MELBOURNE University vice-chancellor Glyn Davis has warned that Australia's egalitarian culture is holding back universities from competing internationally. Professor Davis said unlike in sport, there was little public demand for having world-class Australian universities.... Full article: http://goo.gl/Oxuix It's dumb to dismiss the clever The Sydney Morning Herald July 29 2011 Higher education, research, innovation and a skilled workforce are where a healthy future for Australia lies. Whatever became of the clever country? Pause long enough in the helter-skelter of daily life and the intrusive 24-hour media frenzy, and you will quickly realise that the extraordinary mining boom cannot last forever. Eventually, the cycle must reassert itself. Whenever the time comes, where will Australia be? There is broad consensus that our economic future will depend on a skilled workforce, innovation, entrepreneurship, high productivity and creation of knowledge-intensive goods and services.... Full article: http://goo.gl/NGsVT Melbourne University in row after backing Christine Nixon's book The Herald Sun July 31 2011 MELBOURNE University has been slammed for funding the publishing house that put out Christine Nixon's controversial new book. Financial documents show Melbourne University pours $1 million a year into Melbourne University Press, which put out Fair Cop.... Full article: http://goo.gl/x1iLH NZUSA mobilising opposition to Bill Otago Daily Times July 29 2011 ACUMA Inc.: the Association representing tertiary campus service organisations in Australia & New Zealand Locked Bag 1333, Launceston, Tasmania 7250, Australia Tel: +61 3 6324 3935 || Fax: +61 3 6324 3670 || admin.acuma@acuma.org.au http://www.acuma.org.au || http://twitter.com/acumainc || http://www.scribd.com/acumainc
ACUMA Inc.: the Association representing tertiary campus service organisations in Australia & New Zealand Higher education news, Australia & New Zealand: July 2011
Otago university students are leading the campaign to retain student associations in the face of a proposed controversial legislation change by Parliament, one of New Zealand's leading student politicians says.... Full article: http://goo.gl/a7UbH It's raining acronyms, as VET hits a traffic snarl The Australian July 28 2011 IN late 2008, six months or so before Australian governments reached a historic in-principal agreement to regulate VET nationally, the sector was "congested" with an "extensive array of advisory and regulatory bodies at both Commonwealth and state levels", according to a discussion paper from the fledgling Skills Australia.... Full article: http://goo.gl/W5zno Education Investment Fund Regional Priorities Round DEEWR July 2011 In the 2011-12 Budget, the Australian Government committed funding of $500 million over 5 years for a Regional Priorities Round of funding from the Education Investment Fund (EIF). Read more in the Media Release.... Full article: http://goo.gl/EjDYg Student entitlements need not be bad for business The Australian July 27 2011 EMPLOYERS have two interests in tertiary education: the number of graduates and their quality. The full introduction of student entitlements in higher education next year has raised legitimate concerns that too many students will enrol in programs that are popular but have poor employment prospects or that not enough students will enrol in programs with strong post-graduation employability.... Full article: http://goo.gl/4tO1Z Transitioning from study into work The Canberra Times July 26 2011 Work-integrated learning helps university students experience the work culture they imagine before they have to do it forever. There is absolutely nothing wrong with having my head bitten off by a gallery attendant at the National Gallery on a Saturday afternoon.... Full article: ACUMA Inc.: the Association representing tertiary campus service organisations in Australia & New Zealand Locked Bag 1333, Launceston, Tasmania 7250, Australia Tel: +61 3 6324 3935 || Fax: +61 3 6324 3670 || admin.acuma@acuma.org.au http://www.acuma.org.au || http://twitter.com/acumainc || http://www.scribd.com/acumainc
ACUMA Inc.: the Association representing tertiary campus service organisations in Australia & New Zealand Higher education news, Australia & New Zealand: July 2011
http://www.canberratimes.com.au/news/opinion/editorial/general/transitioning-from-study-intowork/2238185.aspx?storypage=0 http://goo.gl/LlbyH VET's role debated The Australian July 26 2011 VOCATIONAL education's workplace training role has been exaggerated, according to a leading tertiary education researcher who says VET and higher education have largely the same purpose. But Skills Australia says workplace training is a key characteristic of VET that helps distinguish it from – and prevent it from being subsumed by – higher education.... Full article: http://goo.gl/0YPY9 Budgets bitten by research funding The Australian July 27 2011 PRESSURE to perform well in audits such as Excellence in Research for Australia and in international rankings has left universities juggling their budgets to cover an estimated $2.7 billion research spending shortfall. And, says Frank Larkins, whose analysis of the situation is published today by the LH Martin Institute, it could get worse.... Full article: http://goo.gl/YnaAE Centre will link business and postgrads The Australian July 27 2011 LEE White is a mathematics professor, but his most important role in the next year will be as supersalesman for the $1 million Industry Doctoral Training Centre. The premise is that candidates will receive a new kind of training, grounded in the scholarly tradition but directed outward, towards solving real problems in Australian companies. It is part of the government's push to stimulate and support innovation.... Full article: http://goo.gl/xrEM5 Better outcomes, cheaper subjects The Australian July 27 2011 AN American-style redesign of potential "bottleneck" subjects in two Australian universities? undergraduate courses could improve student outcomes while cutting delivery costs by up to 77 per cent, experts say.
ACUMA Inc.: the Association representing tertiary campus service organisations in Australia & New Zealand Locked Bag 1333, Launceston, Tasmania 7250, Australia Tel: +61 3 6324 3935 || Fax: +61 3 6324 3670 || admin.acuma@acuma.org.au http://www.acuma.org.au || http://twitter.com/acumainc || http://www.scribd.com/acumainc
ACUMA Inc.: the Association representing tertiary campus service organisations in Australia & New Zealand Higher education news, Australia & New Zealand: July 2011
The three-year pilot will overhaul two subjects each at James Cook University and the Australian Catholic University, replacing lectures with small groups and ramping up the use of instructional software and other web-based learning resources.... Full article: http://goo.gl/1BJno Universities reclaim the agenda The Australian July 27 2011 UNIVERSITIES could adopt a sector-wide system for peer reviewing teaching inputs and outputs of disciplines as part of an effort to benchmark and assure quality standards. A pilot project involving eight diverse universities is under way and is partly about reclaiming the quality agenda amid concerns that government proposals to use generic skills tests to measure academic performance are too simplistic and misleading.... Full article: http://goo.gl/ReyjZ Students not on policy song The Australian July 27 2011 IT'S an international phenomenon that universities are being drafted as instruments of government policy, whether to boost productivity, create social cohesion or promote health and wellbeing.... Full article: http://goo.gl/XgkbE The vice-chancellor with wings The Australian July 27 2011 SCOTT Bowman looks out of his office window as Mount Archer disappears in a shroud of mist and cloud. He grabs his iPad, checks the weather forecast again, then, still disbelieving, pores over aviation charts and topographical maps. He knows the 20-minute, 100km flight south to Gladstone well, and reckons any rain will be patchy. He can fly around it, if need be.... Full article: http://goo.gl/wxAZO Why it pays to be open minded The Age July 26 2011 What should prospective students be looking for when universities throw open their doors? MATING season has begun. Thousands of eager young people are about to flock to university open days, giving these institutions their best opportunity to seduce Australia's best and brightest. This year the pheromones will be working overtime. Caps on government-funded places are about to be removed, meaning universities are trying to increase their revenue by wooing more students.... ACUMA Inc.: the Association representing tertiary campus service organisations in Australia & New Zealand Locked Bag 1333, Launceston, Tasmania 7250, Australia Tel: +61 3 6324 3935 || Fax: +61 3 6324 3670 || admin.acuma@acuma.org.au http://www.acuma.org.au || http://twitter.com/acumainc || http://www.scribd.com/acumainc
ACUMA Inc.: the Association representing tertiary campus service organisations in Australia & New Zealand Higher education news, Australia & New Zealand: July 2011
Full article: http://goo.gl/UylkE The Master’s as the New Bachelor’s The New York Times July 22 2011 William Klein’s story may sound familiar to his fellow graduates. After earning his bachelor’s in history from the College at Brockport, he found himself living in his parents’ Buffalo home, working the same $7.25-an-hour waiter job he had in high school. It wasn’t that there weren’t other jobs out there. It’s that they all seemed to want more education. Even tutoring at a for-profit learning center or leading tours at a historic site required a master’s. “It’s pretty apparent that with the degree I have right now, there are not too many jobs I would want to commit to,” Mr. Klein says.... Full article: http://goo.gl/WXkbF Australian Council for Educational Research: Research Conference 2011 - Indigenous Education Pathways to success Research Conference 2011 will focus on what we can learn from research about creating and sustaining positive educational outcomes for Indigenous students. Presenters will highlight the conditions, contexts, curriculum, pedagogy and practices that establish pathways to success for Indigenous students. http://www.acer.edu.au/conference http://goo.gl/cgYf7 Are Australian universities in a 'bubble'? The Sydney Morning Herald July 21 2011 An undergraduate degree in a general field may no longer be worth the time and cost. I recently bumped into a former student who took an entrepreneurship subject as an elective in a marketing degree. After three years of study and thousands of dollars in student debt, this bright young bloke could not find a marketing job and now works in a lower-paid services role.... Full article: http://goo.gl/h6oA4 Catholic University buys office tower for $53m The Sydney Morning Herald July 22 2011 THE Australian Catholic University has spent $53 million on a North Sydney office tower as part of its preparation for full competition for next year, when universities will be able to enrol as many students as they choose.... Full article: http://goo.gl/lX9Sa
ACUMA Inc.: the Association representing tertiary campus service organisations in Australia & New Zealand Locked Bag 1333, Launceston, Tasmania 7250, Australia Tel: +61 3 6324 3935 || Fax: +61 3 6324 3670 || admin.acuma@acuma.org.au http://www.acuma.org.au || http://twitter.com/acumainc || http://www.scribd.com/acumainc
ACUMA Inc.: the Association representing tertiary campus service organisations in Australia & New Zealand Higher education news, Australia & New Zealand: July 2011
USQ and TAFE join in historic pact The Chronicle, Toowoomba July 22 2011 STUDENTS working and learning anywhere in Queensland will soon be able to access seamless pathways into a university degree following the signing today of an agreement between TAFE Queensland and Toowoomba’s University of Southern Queensland.... Full article: http://goo.gl/QRXNs Tertiary growth vision The Border Watch July 21 2011 MOUNT Gambier’s tertiary education institutions are cautiously optimistic following the federal government’s announcement of a $500m fund for regional universities and TAFE facilities. UniSA Mount Gambier Regional Centre head of Sarah Mott said a larger campus and increased collaboration between TAFE SA and UniSA in Mount Gambier would be highly recommended in the university’s grant application.... Full article: http://goo.gl/GVLWO ‘Review It!’ another success for students’ associations Press Release: NZUSA July 21 2011 NZUSA is congratulating Massey University students’ associations on the launch of Review It!, a new survey designed to review courses and improve quality and student choice, developed in collaboration with Massey University. Launched just this semester, thousands of students have already used it to rate first semester courses on the quality of the teaching, resources, workload and assessment they experienced in their papers.... Full article: http://goo.gl/M7BF8 Are you Asia-Savvy? Voxy, New Zealand July 21 2011 Kiwi students wanting to break down economic, political and social barriers between the two countries are being invited to attend a special free conference in Auckland in September. Asia-Savvy: New Zealand Asia Conference 2011 - put together mainly by a cross-Faculty academic and student group from The University of Auckland - plans to bring together 100 fervent undergraduate and postgraduate students from around the country determined to strengthen New Zealand's.... Full article: http://goo.gl/fC7Hv Blind alleys in multiple university entry pathways ACUMA Inc.: the Association representing tertiary campus service organisations in Australia & New Zealand Locked Bag 1333, Launceston, Tasmania 7250, Australia Tel: +61 3 6324 3935 || Fax: +61 3 6324 3670 || admin.acuma@acuma.org.au http://www.acuma.org.au || http://twitter.com/acumainc || http://www.scribd.com/acumainc
ACUMA Inc.: the Association representing tertiary campus service organisations in Australia & New Zealand Higher education news, Australia & New Zealand: July 2011
The Australian July 20 2011 THE federal government will soon allocate $119 million to universities to support their partnerships with disadvantaged schools. Some of this money will be used to develop new recruitment pathways for students from low socioeconomic status backgrounds. Schools will identify students likely to succeed at university and these students will receive conditional or guaranteed offers from a partner university.... Full article: http://goo.gl/d0Yvu VET mere 'bums on seats' The Australian July 20 2011 TERTIARY sector integration is being hampered by strategic misalignment and academic elitism, with universities valuing vocational education and training students simply as bums on seats rather than for the diversity they offer, a Sydney skills symposium heard last week. Anthony Bohm, chief executive of distance learning provider Cengage Education, told the Service Skills Australia forum that universities couldn't solve Australia's skill shortages because they lacked a strategic skills agenda.... Full article: http://goo.gl/ysUGZ Unis put degree of work into arts The Australian July 20 2011 A JOBS-READY arts degree? Sounds like an oxymoron given stereotypes of arts students not knowing what they want to do other than find the uni bar. But in a world of competitive job markets and HECS debts of more than $16,000 for an arts degree, La Trobe University will next year offer a new bachelor of arts that it has explicitly described as "workready". Full article: http://goo.gl/iYNAR National Campus Art Prize (Gen Y’s Archibald) - Registrations now open Media release: AACA July 2011 The National Campus Art Prize (NCAP) has excelled in uncovering Australia’s young artistic talents and showcasing the future of Australian art for over 25 years. This year the University of South Australia invites tertiary students from around Australia to enter.... Full article: http://goo.gl/C2kDw
ACUMA Inc.: the Association representing tertiary campus service organisations in Australia & New Zealand Locked Bag 1333, Launceston, Tasmania 7250, Australia Tel: +61 3 6324 3935 || Fax: +61 3 6324 3670 || admin.acuma@acuma.org.au http://www.acuma.org.au || http://twitter.com/acumainc || http://www.scribd.com/acumainc
ACUMA Inc.: the Association representing tertiary campus service organisations in Australia & New Zealand Higher education news, Australia & New Zealand: July 2011
National should kill 'destructive' ACT bill - NZUSA 3News.co.nz July 19 2011 Logan Edgar is spending two nights in a cage in protest against the bill Otago University Students Association president Logan Edgar is spending two nights in a cage in protest against ACT’s Education Amendment Bill, which would end compulsory membership of student associations. New Zealand Union of Students' Associations co-president David Do says the bill is “destructive and unnecessary”, and the National Party should remove its support.... Full article: http://goo.gl/PrW60 Protesting OUSA president says opponent attacked him The Otago Daily Times July 19 2011 Otago University Students Association president Logan Edgar says he was grabbed by the throat by a political opponent, moments before entering a "prison cell". At 7pm the marketing student slipped between the bars of his "presidential prison" to oppose the Education (Freedom of Association) Amendment Bill, sponsored by Act New Zealand MP Heather Roy.... Full article: http://goo.gl/9XpwB Panel will be ready to advise on standards The Australian July 20 2011 Tertiary Education Minister Chris Evans will be able to rely on expert advice in setting academic standards. INDEPENDENT experts will have a say before Tertiary Education Minister Chris Evans sets Australia's first official standards for university teaching.... Full article: http://goo.gl/oIMM1 Borders Preparing To Liquidate MediaBistro.com July 18 2011 Borders Group will ask the bankruptcy court to accept a liquidation bid from Hilco and Gordon Brothers. The liquidation will close the company’s remaining 399 stores and cut around 10,700 employees.... Full article: http://goo.gl/dtsJy Heads you win, heads you lose ACUMA Inc.: the Association representing tertiary campus service organisations in Australia & New Zealand Locked Bag 1333, Launceston, Tasmania 7250, Australia Tel: +61 3 6324 3935 || Fax: +61 3 6324 3670 || admin.acuma@acuma.org.au http://www.acuma.org.au || http://twitter.com/acumainc || http://www.scribd.com/acumainc
ACUMA Inc.: the Association representing tertiary campus service organisations in Australia & New Zealand Higher education news, Australia & New Zealand: July 2011
The Age July 18 2011 Who’d be a university head of department? There are heaps of forms to fill in and endless meetings to attend. Heads also have to meet university — and, now, government — targets to accommodate more students. Then there are the lecturers. An increasing number of casual academics are being hired, when some department heads would prefer to employ permanent staff. Then department heads must grapple with.... Full article: http://goo.gl/JVvjQ Indigenous education: what have we learnt? ABC Canberra July 18 2011 And how far have we got to go? Virginia Jones was joined in the 666 ABC Canberra studio by three local indigenous students from the Australian National University, The University of Canberra and Canberra Institute of Technology to talk about key issues in tertiary education for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students.... Full article: http://goo.gl/ttmeu Ex-Chief Minister turns academic The Canberra Times July 18 2011 Former ACT Chief Minister Jon Stanhope may be known as Professor Stanhope from next month, beginning a professorial fellowship at the University of Canberra. The role will include teaching, research and providing strategic advice to the university, and will see the former politician placed within the Australia New Zealand School of Governance’s Institute of Governance.... Full article: http://goo.gl/uRV89 Otago student president's caged protest New Zealand Herald July 18 2011 An Otago student is to spend two nights locked in a cage in freezing Dunedin to protest a proposed law that would make student union membership voluntary. The Education (Freedom of Association) Amendment Bill, which is sponsored by ACT's Heather Roy, is currently awaiting its final reading before Parliament.... Full article: http://goo.gl/AmTjE
ACUMA Inc.: the Association representing tertiary campus service organisations in Australia & New Zealand Locked Bag 1333, Launceston, Tasmania 7250, Australia Tel: +61 3 6324 3935 || Fax: +61 3 6324 3670 || admin.acuma@acuma.org.au http://www.acuma.org.au || http://twitter.com/acumainc || http://www.scribd.com/acumainc
ACUMA Inc.: the Association representing tertiary campus service organisations in Australia & New Zealand Higher education news, Australia & New Zealand: July 2011
Innovation 'shopfront' launched Stuff.co.nz July 13 2011 Nine universities and crown research institutes have launched the Kiwi Innovation Network (KiwiNet) to take more of a New Zealand Inc approach to commercialising science and technology research.... Full article: http://goo.gl/5fDn1 Offshore ticket for engineering students PerthNow.com.au July 18 2011 A PERTH university has introduced the state's first maritime engineering course to meet growing demand for skilled workers in the oil and gas industry. From next year, students will be able to study marine and offshore systems, naval architecture and ocean engineering at Edith Cowan University's Joondalup campus.... Full article: http://goo.gl/iII6s New OUSA president to be prisoner of beliefs Otago Daily Times July 16 2011 Is Logan Edgar the clown prince of student politics at the University of Otago? The political novice came from nowhere to be elected president of the Otago University Students Association last month, on the back of an unashamedly populist and self-promoting platform, which, in his own words, was "all about me and winning".... Full article: http://goo.gl/onr1f Diplomas make a run The Australian July 15 2011 DIPLOMAS have defied the doomsayers and given the Council of Australian Governments? tertiary education targets a leg-up, with publicly funded diploma enrolments rising 20 per cent in just one year. The increase capped a general increase in publicly funded VET last year, with subject enrolments at all qualification levels growing 8 per cent across the country. Tertiary Education Minister Chris Evans said the number of participants in government-funded training had increased by 5 per cent to a record 1.8 million students in 2010.... Full article: http://goo.gl/6Q1Gw Class act from a student who 'hated' school ACUMA Inc.: the Association representing tertiary campus service organisations in Australia & New Zealand Locked Bag 1333, Launceston, Tasmania 7250, Australia Tel: +61 3 6324 3935 || Fax: +61 3 6324 3670 || admin.acuma@acuma.org.au http://www.acuma.org.au || http://twitter.com/acumainc || http://www.scribd.com/acumainc
ACUMA Inc.: the Association representing tertiary campus service organisations in Australia & New Zealand Higher education news, Australia & New Zealand: July 2011
The Canberra Times July 15 2011 He hated the work, he hated the system and the fact that his classmates signed his yearbook with venomous racial slurs didn't exactly convince him to stay. So it was no surprise to see the pride of his family when the former motor mechanic officially graduated from Australia's most prestigious university yesterday.... Full article: http://goo.gl/TVr4u $500 million Education Investment Fund to transform regional universities Media release: Christopher Evans/Kim Carr July 13 2011 Regional universities and TAFEs will be able to share in $500 million of infrastructure funding which will support the construction of state-of-the-art education facilities across regional Australia. Guidelines for the $500 million Regional Priorities Round of the Education Investment Fund were today released at the Regional Universities Campus Heads Conference at the University of Tasmania’s Cradle Coast Campus.... Full article: http://goo.gl/uK8Dj University of Tasmania experiencing record growth and investment Media release: Senator the Hon Christopher Evans July 13 2011 The Gillard Government is delivering on its commitment to give all Tasmanians the opportunity of a firstclass university education. Latest enrolment data shows that undergraduate Commonwealth supported places at the University of Tasmania have increased by more than 1000 students since 2008.... Full article: http://goo.gl/SQAeH Here's a lesson for Australia's education policymakers: failure begets failure The Age July 15 2011 Our public schools are reeling from existing and proposed policies. Australia should look to Finland for its national education policy. MOST of the so-called innovative and ground-breaking educational policies and reforms adopted in Australia over the past 50 years, in the areas of policy, curriculum, pedagogy or assessment, have been.... Full article: http://goo.gl/ZHKc9
ACUMA Inc.: the Association representing tertiary campus service organisations in Australia & New Zealand Locked Bag 1333, Launceston, Tasmania 7250, Australia Tel: +61 3 6324 3935 || Fax: +61 3 6324 3670 || admin.acuma@acuma.org.au http://www.acuma.org.au || http://twitter.com/acumainc || http://www.scribd.com/acumainc
ACUMA Inc.: the Association representing tertiary campus service organisations in Australia & New Zealand Higher education news, Australia & New Zealand: July 2011
Dunedin radio threatened by student association 3News.co.nz July 14 2011 The station has six paid staff and around 70 volunteers, broadcasting a schedule of music, news, and debate Radio One has been the voice of University of Otago students for almost three decades. That is now at risk, with the students' association considering a proposal to sell the station.... Full article: http://goo.gl/XncBb From where I sit - Collective judgement Times Higher Education July 14 2011 In New Zealand, a unique process where all universities must collectively approve all new degree programmes shows that collegiality can thrive, even in a competitive education environment. New Zealand's national quality assurance framework is based on a model of registration, accreditation and continuous review of both qualifications and providers. All providers must be identified on a national register and the programmes they offer accredited by one of two.... Full article: http://goo.gl/vVfc2 ACCC to help fight 'dodgy' colleges The Age July 14 2011 AUSTRALIA'S consumer watchdog could begin policing the operations of training colleges, enforcing standards and carrying out checks to help weed out dodgy providers. The push to involve the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission in enforcement in the private training industry comes as the latest figures show the troubled international student sector has shrunk by almost 10 per cent in a year.... Full article: http://goo.gl/1Yq8F External checks on students The Australian July 13 2011 FINAL-YEAR work by students at Australia's sandstone universities will be checked for quality by external reviewers under a pioneering Group of Eight project.... Full article: http://goo.gl/8I21M "Rogue" figure skews attainment data The Australian ACUMA Inc.: the Association representing tertiary campus service organisations in Australia & New Zealand Locked Bag 1333, Launceston, Tasmania 7250, Australia Tel: +61 3 6324 3935 || Fax: +61 3 6324 3670 || admin.acuma@acuma.org.au http://www.acuma.org.au || http://twitter.com/acumainc || http://www.scribd.com/acumainc
ACUMA Inc.: the Association representing tertiary campus service organisations in Australia & New Zealand Higher education news, Australia & New Zealand: July 2011
July 12 2011 The ABS higher education attainment data has been skewed by a statistical blip that artificially inflated the 2009 figure, according to higher education researcher Alan Olsen. There have been suggestions that the 2010 attainment figure of 34.2 per cent, marginally down on the 34.6 per cent recorded in 2009, could have marked the start of a downward trend. The figure had grown steadily since measurements began in 1995.... Full article: http://goo.gl/FbWtf Wait continues for student visa, Youth Allowance reviews The Australian July 13 2011 REPORTS from the income support and student visa program reviews are with the government, but it could be months before the public gets to see them. Tertiary Education Minister Chris Evans said he’d received the income support review last Friday. He committed to table it in Parliament within 10 sitting days, effectively setting a September 14 deadline.... Full article: http://goo.gl/CvE42 Campuses share in funding The Northern Star July 13 2011 SOUTHERN Cross University and the North Coast Institute of Tafe will be able to share in $500 million of infrastructure funding to support construction of state-of-the-art education facilities across regional Australia. Guidelines for the $500 million Regional Priorities Round of the Education Investment Fund have been released at the Regional Universities Campus Heads Conference at the University of Tasmania’s Cradle Coast Campus.... Full article: http://goo.gl/vspqo States say VET regulator not ready to do its job The Australian July 13 2011 VICTORIA and Western Australia say the national vocational education and training regulator has been imposed on them without enough resources to do its job. But the Australian Skills Quality Authority's new chief executive says its establishment is on track, with half its staff already employed and about half its workload still to be handed over.... Full article: http://goo.gl/3bHuR Professor Denise Bradley to head National Trade Cadetship advisory panel ACUMA Inc.: the Association representing tertiary campus service organisations in Australia & New Zealand Locked Bag 1333, Launceston, Tasmania 7250, Australia Tel: +61 3 6324 3935 || Fax: +61 3 6324 3670 || admin.acuma@acuma.org.au http://www.acuma.org.au || http://twitter.com/acumainc || http://www.scribd.com/acumainc
ACUMA Inc.: the Association representing tertiary campus service organisations in Australia & New Zealand Higher education news, Australia & New Zealand: July 2011
Media release: The Hon Peter Garrett MP July 08 2011 Minister for School Education Peter Garrett today announced that Professor Denise Bradley has been appointed as Chair of the new National Trade Cadetship (NTC) Minister’s Advisory Panel. Mr Garrett informed a meeting of Federal, State and Territory Education Ministers in Melbourne today that Prof Bradley will oversee the formation of the advisory panel which will guide the development and implementation of the NTC initiative.... Full article: http://goo.gl/pHkQo National Union of Students Education Conference 2011 Speech: Senator the Hon Christopher Evans July 08 2011 Curtin University of Technology—Bentley Campus Kent St, Bentley WA I’d like to acknowledge the traditional owners and custodians of the land on which we meet—the Noongar people—and pay my respects to their elders, past and present. I also extend that respect to other Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples who are here today.... Full article: http://goo.gl/JcNUj Government receives report on student income support review Media release: Senator the Hon Christopher Evans July 08 2011 The Minister for Tertiary Education, Senator Chris Evans, today received the report from the independent Review of Student Income Support Reforms conducted by Professor Kwong Lee Dow AM. The report will be tabled in both houses of Parliament within 10 sitting days.... Full article: http://goo.gl/ZbqzY UK pushes wider student union role The Australian July 11 2011 Weeks before the Australian Senate resumes its debate on student representation, with some conservative members expected to reiterate their argument that student unions should stick to sport, the Conservative-led UK Government has declared they should expand their advocacy activities.... Full article: http://goo.gl/NL4Wz 100,000 additional university places delivered by Gillard Government’s reforms Media Release: Senator the Hon Christopher Evans July 04 2011 ACUMA Inc.: the Association representing tertiary campus service organisations in Australia & New Zealand Locked Bag 1333, Launceston, Tasmania 7250, Australia Tel: +61 3 6324 3935 || Fax: +61 3 6324 3670 || admin.acuma@acuma.org.au http://www.acuma.org.au || http://twitter.com/acumainc || http://www.scribd.com/acumainc
ACUMA Inc.: the Association representing tertiary campus service organisations in Australia & New Zealand Higher education news, Australia & New Zealand: July 2011
The Gillard Government has succeeded in opening the doors of Australia’s universities to more students than ever before, Minister for Tertiary Education, Senator Chris Evans said today.... Full article: http://goo.gl/L3jLm Volunteer for you - V4U Victoria University News July 08 2011 On Friday 14 October 2011, the VU Community will get together and volunteer their time and skills to a variety of projects in Footscray.... Full article: http://goo.gl/IWrTo Corruption leads to closure of Curtin's English language test centre The Australian July 08 2011 CURTIN University will close its IELTS English language testing centre following a corruption scandal. A former staff member, Kok Keith Low, pleaded guilty to bribery offences following an anti-corruption inquiry into a 2009-10 trade in falsified IELTS results from the Curtin centre.... Full article: http://goo.gl/AQ1TA Evans will negotiate student say in new bill The Australian July 08 2011 Tertiary Education minister Chris Evans has signalled possible additional guidelines in new student amenities legislation to ensure students have a ?proper? say in how universities spend the revenue raised from the proposed levy on students. But Mr Evans didn’t comment on proposed amendments from the Greens requiring universities to allocate 30 per cent of the revenue to student organisations. The Greens control the balance of power.... Full article: http://goo.gl/Mc3om Advancement by degree: Jess ponders uni The Sydney Morning Herald July 08 2011 JESS Alexander recognises that ''not many Aboriginal kids find uni is a place for them''. But after a week in the University of NSW's winter school program for indigenous students, the 16-yearold believes a degree is well worth considering.... Full article: http://goo.gl/P1pq2 ACUMA Inc.: the Association representing tertiary campus service organisations in Australia & New Zealand Locked Bag 1333, Launceston, Tasmania 7250, Australia Tel: +61 3 6324 3935 || Fax: +61 3 6324 3670 || admin.acuma@acuma.org.au http://www.acuma.org.au || http://twitter.com/acumainc || http://www.scribd.com/acumainc
ACUMA Inc.: the Association representing tertiary campus service organisations in Australia & New Zealand Higher education news, Australia & New Zealand: July 2011
Record number of students embrace Government funded training Media Release: Senator the Hon Christopher Evans July 07 2011 A report released today by the National Centre for Vocational Education Research NCVER, shows a record number of students are in Australian Government funded training places. The report, The Students and Courses 2010, shows the number of students enrolled in Australian Government funded training has increased by 5.4 per cent to a record 1.8 million in 2010.... Full article: http://goo.gl/XzNFr A class half full: Australia's missing indigenous scholars Times Higher Education July 07 2011 Simon Baker reports on a high-profile review of low levels of Aboriginal entry to university study The issue of Aboriginal rights has long been a divisive one in Australia, but in recent months higher education's role in the debate has been thrust into the spotlight. In April, the Labor-led federal government launched a major review of university participation by indigenous Australians. But even before its announcement, it ran into controversy.... Full article: http://goo.gl/my6ha Graduates struggle in two-speed jobs market ABC News July 06 2011 A report into university graduates has found a quarter of them cannot find work within four months of completing their studies. Accounting and science graduates are among the worst-off, and the findings reinforce claims that the number of Australians looking for work is significantly higher than official statistics show.... Full article: http://goo.gl/ruyzT New code only so 'voluntary' The Australian July 06 2011 A voluntary code of best practice for university governance, proposed as a replacement for the National Governance Protocols, may be more notable for its omissions than its contents. LH Martin Institute director Lynn Meek said the code was silent on the long-debated issue of whether council members should be paid.... Full article: http://goo.gl/EfTp2 ACUMA Inc.: the Association representing tertiary campus service organisations in Australia & New Zealand Locked Bag 1333, Launceston, Tasmania 7250, Australia Tel: +61 3 6324 3935 || Fax: +61 3 6324 3670 || admin.acuma@acuma.org.au http://www.acuma.org.au || http://twitter.com/acumainc || http://www.scribd.com/acumainc
ACUMA Inc.: the Association representing tertiary campus service organisations in Australia & New Zealand Higher education news, Australia & New Zealand: July 2011
Regulatory trust a two-way street The Australian July 06 2011 THE risk-focused and proportionate approach by the new Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency presents it with several challenges, as its proponents readily accept. Risk management of the kind that it and universities and colleges profess to adopt is no longer a technical and rather specialist function as it tended to be in the 1980s and 90s. It has become allencompassing in recent years. Effective risk management is now a matter of broad governance.... Full article: http://goo.gl/x5Ehh Universities over-enrol in a dangerous numbers game The Australian July 06 2011 ALMOST a quarter of Australia's universities expect to be over-enrolled by more than 20 per cent this year. And more than two-thirds of institutions began the year planning to take on extra students without any federal teaching subsidy to offset the cost.... Full article: http://goo.gl/aNkIe Leader says students stand to lose Otago Daily Times July 05 2011 Student radio will not be the only thing silenced if Parliament approves the contentious Act New Zealand Bill requiring voluntary student membership (VSM), the New Zealand University Student Association has warned. NZUSA co-president David Do said a recent proposal by the Otago University Students' Association to sell its independently-owned station Radio One heralded a move to undermine the voice of students.... Full article: http://goo.gl/dpweF Graduates facing a longer wait to find work The Sydney Morning Herald July 06 2011 UNIVERSITY graduates are finding it more difficult to secure full-time work than at any time since 1994, with about a quarter still looking four months after leaving university, a new report says. Released last night, the Graduate Careers Australia report, which surveyed about 100,000 university graduates, found the number of graduates finding full-time work was down about 10 per cent from.... Full article: http://goo.gl/ypGCs
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ACUMA Inc.: the Association representing tertiary campus service organisations in Australia & New Zealand Higher education news, Australia & New Zealand: July 2011
Open to a wider approach The Australian July 06 2011 FOR the first time online learning company Open Universities Australia will directly help its providers craft courses for online delivery. "We're establishing what we're calling the centre of online learning excellence," OUA chief executive Stuart Hamilton said.... Full article: http://goo.gl/gRND7 Walking up the down escalator The Age July 05 2011 Are universities making the undergraduate dropout rate worse by putting lectures on the internet? First-year arts students, for example, have about 12 contact hours a week, a fraction of the time they had in year 12. It takes many of them a long time to adjust to having free time at university.... Full article: http://goo.gl/bzoIy Ballarat to share in $1 billion regional fund The Courier July 05 2011 BALLARAT will be one of the big beneficiaries of the $1 billion Regional Growth Fund announced yesterday. It was launched by acting Premier Peter Ryan at the University of Ballarat’s Greenhills Enterprise Centre. Mr Ryan said the fund – a pre-election commitment honoured in the May state budget – would spearhead a new era of prosperity for regional Victorians.... Full article: http://goo.gl/8D1gU Dropping ERA rankings 'correct decision': Ellen Hazelkorn The Australian July 06 2011 DROPPING rankings from journals for the next round of the Excellence in Research for Australia audit was the correct decision, according to a leading thinker on metrics in higher education. Ellen Hazelkorn, Dublin Institute of Technology's director of research and enterprise in the higher education policy unit, says the Australian Research Council was right to drop the designated A* to C rankings.... Full article: http://goo.gl/FPVfK ACUMA Inc.: the Association representing tertiary campus service organisations in Australia & New Zealand Locked Bag 1333, Launceston, Tasmania 7250, Australia Tel: +61 3 6324 3935 || Fax: +61 3 6324 3670 || admin.acuma@acuma.org.au http://www.acuma.org.au || http://twitter.com/acumainc || http://www.scribd.com/acumainc
ACUMA Inc.: the Association representing tertiary campus service organisations in Australia & New Zealand Higher education news, Australia & New Zealand: July 2011
Sectors nervously welcome TEQSA The Australian July 06 2011 TERTIARY Education Minister Chris Evans will create the first legal threshold standards for Australian universities by the end of 2011 without independent advice from the Higher Education Standards Panel, a Universities Australia representative claims. At a Melbourne forum on Monday night, Michael Beaton-Wells, who has represented Universities Australia in negotiating changes to Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency.... Full article: http://goo.gl/stprC Australia's boom runs dry of skills The Guardian, UK July 05 2011 The country needs foreign workers to maintain its surging minerals and energy exports, but tougher English language requirements have exposed gaps in training for migrants The minerals and energy boom in Australia's remote northern regions, fuelled by Chinese demand for iron-ore, coal and liquefied natural gas (LNG), is about to put the Australian labour market in a vise.... Full article: http://goo.gl/F1URx CIT gets $2.6m bailout as foreign student numbers drop The Canberra Times July 05 2011 The ACT Government diverted $2.6 million in emergency funding to the Canberra Institute of Technology last month to address a slump in international student enrolments. The funding boost was among $21.6 million in urgent or unforeseen expenditure signed off by Chief Minister and former treasurer Katy Gallagher on June 23, in the final days of the 2010-11 financial year.... Full article: http://goo.gl/Okg4P Hilary Winchester wins AUQA award The Australian July 05 2011 HILARY Winchester is the recipient of the 2011 Australian Higher Education Quality Award. Professor Emeritus Winchester, pro vice-chancellor: participation and engagement, at the University of South Australia, has been an Australian Universities Quality Agency auditor since 2001. She is also an auditor and audit panel chair for quality assurance agencies in several other countries, including Hong Kong and Oman. She is a former chair of the South Australian Higher Education Advisory Group and.... Full article: http://goo.gl/8w2U1 ACUMA Inc.: the Association representing tertiary campus service organisations in Australia & New Zealand Locked Bag 1333, Launceston, Tasmania 7250, Australia Tel: +61 3 6324 3935 || Fax: +61 3 6324 3670 || admin.acuma@acuma.org.au http://www.acuma.org.au || http://twitter.com/acumainc || http://www.scribd.com/acumainc
ACUMA Inc.: the Association representing tertiary campus service organisations in Australia & New Zealand Higher education news, Australia & New Zealand: July 2011
A solution that sidesteps the politics of paying Andrew Norton in The Age June 28 2011 ALMOST everybody wants a well-funded higher education system, but few people are prepared to pay for it. That was a key message of an opinion poll released last week by the National Tertiary Education Union.... Full article: http://goo.gl/nQns1 At cross purposes in the pursuit of graduate attainment goals The Australian July 06 2011 ALMOST a quarter of a century ago a prime minister overstepped the mark and made a memorable promise. "By 1990, no Australian child will be living in poverty," Bob Hawke gushed at the 1987 election campaign launch. The response was sceptical. A worthy aspiration, but unachievable. More than two decades later, with child poverty tracking at about 13 per cent, a prime minister-inwaiting - Julia Gillard, then the Education Minister - set another target. "Our ambition is that by 2025, 40 per cent of all 25 to 34-year-olds will have a qualification at bachelor level or above," she told.... Full article: http://goo.gl/gTFSX History proves universities will suffer under Coalition The Australian July 06 2011 IF the present polling at the federal level is accurate, for anyone involved in the higher education sector right now it is the calm before the storm. It is only a matter of time before the Coalition returns to government (unless Labor embarks on the greatest comeback in Australian political history) and, when the Coalition does win, funding will be dramatically cut.... Full article: http://goo.gl/9rcQ5 Lower standards in higher education The Australian July 06 2011 WOULD you believe that US government funding of higher education exceeds that of Australia as a share of gross domestic product? Or that Australia's higher education sector is more privatised than America's? Or that public funding per student in Australia is about 25 per cent below the average of rich nations? Full article: http://goo.gl/iZcwL ACUMA Inc.: the Association representing tertiary campus service organisations in Australia & New Zealand Locked Bag 1333, Launceston, Tasmania 7250, Australia Tel: +61 3 6324 3935 || Fax: +61 3 6324 3670 || admin.acuma@acuma.org.au http://www.acuma.org.au || http://twitter.com/acumainc || http://www.scribd.com/acumainc
ACUMA Inc.: the Association representing tertiary campus service organisations in Australia & New Zealand Higher education news, Australia & New Zealand: July 2011
Student Volunteer Army's one last mission Stuff.co.nz July 03 2011 The call went out and the Student Volunteer Army answered. Dozens of students turned up for one last push to clear silt from residential properties in eastern Christchurch. Army leader Sam Johnson said about 200 volunteers would be needed for one last mission.... Full article: http://goo.gl/g9vn8 Student radio one of many possible casualties of VSM Bill Voxy News Engine July 04 2011 Student radio will not be the only thing silenced if Parliament continues to support an Act Party Bill that will undermine the services, facilities and vibrant campus environments that students currently use and enjoy.... Full article: http://goo.gl/S5RUp Student radio station sale slammed New Zealand Herald July 04 2011 Musicians and media have hit out at plans to sell student radio station Radio One as an attack on the cultural heart of Dunedin. Otago University Students Association (OUSA) has confirmed it is looking at selling Radio One to save money ahead of legislation ending compulsory membership of student bodies.... Full article: http://goo.gl/G5K3Q Time up for long-haul learners? The Age June 28 2011 WHEN Simon Marginson attended university in the 1970s, students lived and studied at the taxpayers' expense for as long as they chose. "It was Woodstock multiplied from three days to 30 years if you wanted it," says Professor Marginson, Melbourne University's chair of higher education. "In 1974-75 you could live on student assistance payments much more comfortably than today, and that was at a time when there was both free tuition and no constraints on the number of years you enrolled." The days of free education are long gone, but even today the Australian taxpayer covers about.... Full article: http://goo.gl/4m77k University student housing concerns ACUMA Inc.: the Association representing tertiary campus service organisations in Australia & New Zealand Locked Bag 1333, Launceston, Tasmania 7250, Australia Tel: +61 3 6324 3935 || Fax: +61 3 6324 3670 || admin.acuma@acuma.org.au http://www.acuma.org.au || http://twitter.com/acumainc || http://www.scribd.com/acumainc
ACUMA Inc.: the Association representing tertiary campus service organisations in Australia & New Zealand Higher education news, Australia & New Zealand: July 2011
The Canberra Times June 30 2011 Concerns have been raised about the Australian National University's relationship with UniLodge after allegations the university exempted itself from a competitive tender process over the management of a student accommodation building.... Full article: http://goo.gl/1aH5Z Higher education and industry The Australian June 30 2011 We should be Asia's leading knowledge-based democracy Picture: Richard Cisar-Wright Source: The Australian Australia is at a very interesting point in its history and this is inextricably bound to the world being on the cusp of another big moment in its history. For Australia this is the emerging boom in the demand for our ubiquitous natural resources and the structural change this portends for large sections of the economy.... Full article: http://goo.gl/Ipx45 Higher education news resources from ACUMA Incorporated: Full daily updates for ACUMA members Limited daily public updates Monthly public higher education news summaries
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ACUMA Inc.: the Association representing tertiary campus service organisations in Australia & New Zealand Locked Bag 1333, Launceston, Tasmania 7250, Australia Tel: +61 3 6324 3935 || Fax: +61 3 6324 3670 || admin.acuma@acuma.org.au http://www.acuma.org.au || http://twitter.com/acumainc || http://www.scribd.com/acumainc