Campus Review - Sep 2013

WWW.CAMPUSREVIEW.COM.AU | VOL. 23 | issue 9 | september 2013

Overseas investments Bringing back international students

Leading the conversation TAFE chief gets the people talking

Three degrees of readiness for the business world

“The Holcim Awards is a very important opportunity to celebrate new ideas and to establish a dialogue with colleagues around the world who care about the same things.”

Enrique Norten, Principal and Founder, TEN Arquitectos, Mexico/USA. Head of the Global Holcim Awards jury 2012. Member of the Board of the Holcim Foundation since 2004.

4th International Holcim Awards for sustainable construction projects.

Prize money totals USD 2 million.

Renowned technical universities lead the independent juries in five regions of the world. They evaluate projects at an advanced stage of design against the “target issues” for sustainable construction and allocate additional prizes for visionary ideas of young professionals and students.

Find out more about the competitions at www.holcimawards.org The Holcim Awards is an initiative of the Swiss based Holcim Foundation for Sustainable Construction. It is supported by Holcim and its Group companies and affiliates in around 70 countries, including Holcim Australia. Holcim Ltd is one of the world’s leading suppliers of cement and aggregates.

contents EDITOR Antonia Maiolo (02) 9936 8618 antonia.maiolo@apned.com.au Journalist Dallas Bastian (02) 9936 8637 dallas.bastian@apned.com.au production manager Cj Malgo (02) 9936 8772 cj.malgo@apned.com.au

12

18

20

Subeditor Haki P. Crisden (02) 9936 8643 edmedia.subeditor@apned.com.au

news 04 QS rankings revealed

20 Sustainable design

Graphic Design Ryan Salcedo ryan.salcedo@apned.com.au

05 Pushed to breaking point

24 Price of innovation

SALES Steven Patrick (02) 9936 8661 steven.patrick@apned.com.au

06 QLD’s poor score

faculty focus 26 Three for the world

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07 Funding boost

PUBLISHED BY APN Educational Media (ACN 010 655 446) PO Box 488 Darlinghurst, NSW 1300 ISSN 1037-034X Print post approved: 10001945 Cover image Margy Osmond, Chair of the NSW TAFE Commission Board PUBLISHER’S NOTE © Copyright. No part of this publication can be used or reproduced in any format without express permission in writing from APN Educational Media.

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Audited 2,310 March 2013

Unis get to work embedding green across the curriculum

ANU claims top spot

Australian academics trail Asia’s in corporate funding

Peak training body blasts ‘experts’

State’s unis have highest dropout rate UniBridges program set to continue

28

Abbott’s HECS-style scheme for tradies

TAFE 30 Driving change

09 Guaranteed entrance

TAFE needs a culture shift

Newcastle touts incentive for students with high ATARs NTEU calls for gender equity in HE institutions

30

international education 12 New Colombo Plan

Shifting markets demand flexibility in the sector

VET 34 Money talks

36 Teacher qualifications

14 Back on board

Shine a light on quality

International student numbers picking up again

Margy Osmond reveals what people told her about the future

VC’s corner 32 Stay flexible

VET’s return on investment should turn heads

IEAA head tells us how it’s different from AsiaBound

policy & reform 18 Talking TAFE NSW

technology 28 MOOC matters

Online courses can change campus offerings for the better

08 Interest-free loans

10 Mind the pay gap

New courses get down to global business

noticeboard 38 The latest staff

34

appointments

proud sponsors of TEMC Campus Living Villages - sponsors of this year’s Tertiary Education Management Conference and the ATEM/Campus Review Best Practice Awards.

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Issue 9 2013 | 3

news

World class Four Australian universities make the top 50 in the latest global rankings.

By Antonia Maiolo

T

he latest international league rankings have again placed Australian National University at the top of the list for Australia.

The Quacquarelli Symonds World University Rankings (QS rankings) have ANU in the 27th spot, down three places from last year.

“This is an outcome of which we can all be proud, and is a reflection of the commitment and quality of ANU staff and students,” ANU vice-chancellor professor Ian Young said.

“Rankings are not an absolute measure, but they do give us pause to stop and acknowledge what is great about ANU,” he said.

The University of Melbourne came in second to ANU, climbing five places from last year to 31st in the world; the University of Sydney followed in 38th position.

University of Melbourne vice-chancellor professor Glyn Davis said it was positive to see the institution continue to increase its international standing.

“This latest rankings success is a credit to the many researchers and professional staff whose work contributed to the University’s continued rankings success,” Davis said.

Other top-ranked universities in Australia were The University of Queensland (43) and the University of New South Wales (52).

Monash University came in equal 69th, falling eight places, whilst the University of Western Australia lost five places, taking 84th spot.

UQ vice-chancellor professor Peter Høj said the results for Australian institutions were terrific particularly given the funding cuts the sector has experienced over the past year.

“If we were to have better levels of investment, stronger industry partnerships and policies that continued to leverage our strengths, universities would be even stronger stimulants for economic strength and international regard for Australia,” Høj said.

He warned that recent cuts to university funding would cause a “slide in the wrong direction” and put at risk Australia’s ability to support the broader economy and “maintain and further grow our third-largest export segment, namely education services”. n The QS World University Rankings, which are amongst the leading international measures, are annual tables that rate more than 700 institutions, as well as many individual subjects.

Australian institutions in the top 300 2013

2012

Institution

27

24

Australian National University

31

36

The University of Melbourne

38

39

The University of Sydney

43

46

The University of Queensland

52

52

The University of New South Wales

69=

61

Monash University

84

79

The University of Western Australia

104=

102

The University of Adelaide

263

233

Macquarie University

272

284

University of Technology, Sydney

276=

264

University of Wollongong

279=

281

Queensland University of Technology

284=

258

Curtin University

291=

246

RMIT University

298

268

University of Newcastle

Source: QS Quacquarelli Symonds, topuniversities.com/rankings2013

®

4 | Issue 9 2013

news

Field says

‘experts’

are clueless

Education and training CEO critical of decisions she says aren’t practical. By Antonia Maiolo

P

eak private college body the Australian Council for Private Education and Training has taken aim at the agency in charge of regulation for training nationwide, saying “socalled experts” are pushing the tertiary sector to breaking point.

In her speech at the ACPET conference in Adelaide, CEO Claire Field criticised behind-the-scenes ‘experts’ who “have wielded unparalleled influence, and who I believe are driving profound and largely negative change”.

“The system has been designed to be driven by ‘experts’, not those with real experience, and the labelling of them as experts encourages them to back their own judgement, rather than engage in genuine consultation and dialogue with those who know the sector best,” Field told attendees.

She said panel after panel of bureaucrats and self-appointed experts were ignoring the advice of industry and instead burdening the sector with needless red tape and changes that rarely work in practice.

On top of Field’s hit list was the new Australian Vocational Qualifications System put forward by the National Skills Standards Council (NSSC) earlier this year.

She questioned the standards council’s recommendation to change the current process of registering colleges to a new licensing system. “I want to formally put on the public record how nonsensical their licensed training organisation proposal is,” she said; however, she acknowledged that this initiative has since been removed from NSSC plans.

Field further questioned the requirement for all licensed training organisations to have accountable education officers (AEO).

Although Field said she sees some merit in the concept of the AEO, she said there were crucial issues related to them, such as the question of how introducing them would lessen the regulatory burden on providers with a proven track record and increase the regulatory scrutiny on those who need it.

She also attacked advice to lift quality in the sector by prescribing a minimum amount of capital behind providers, which she said would shut out many new providers and force many good, longstanding, small providers out of the sector.

“Anyone who knows anything about VET knows that size is not a de-facto marker for quality; big is not necessarily best, and there are plenty of reasons why [registered training organisations (RTOs)] choose to remain small or medium enterprises, including many that deliver predominantly on the job,” Field said.

“Such nonsensical ideas shouldn’t be proposed by so-called experts in the first place.”

Field said the education and training sector was suffering from a growing disconnect between policy and regulatory design and its implementation.

She also ridiculed the suggestion to change the term RTOs to licensed training organisations – LTOs. “I’m surprised that David

www.campusreview.com.au

Claire Field

Gonski and his panel reviewing the school system didn’t realise they could also improve the quality of school education in part by changing the name of schools,” she said.

“We have a system where ‘the experts’ look out from lofty heights and design a ‘robust new regulatory framework’ but don’t want any discussions on how their clever thinking might work on the ground.

“One of the things that’s missing is a focus on how all clever, expert thinking will be operationalised.”

In her speech, Field also criticised the NSSC for halting consultations with the sector until after the election.

An NSSC representative stated that the organisation was unable to comment for this article. n

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Issue 9 2013 | 5

news

Qld schools struggle

to keep students

Four Sunshine state universities earn one-star retention rating.

By Antonia Maiolo

Q

ueensland’s universities have the highest dropout rates in the country, a new survey has

revealed.

Griffith University, James Cook University, the University of the Sunshine Coast and the University of Southern Queensland each received one star in The Good Universities Guide 2014 student retention ratings, placing them in the bottom 20 per cent of Australian universities in that category.

Central Queensland University and Queensland University of Technology scored two stars, whilst the University of Queensland received three stars.

Just three other institutions received one star – Victoria University, Charles Darwin University and University of New England.

USC vice-chancellor professor Greg Hill suggested that retention rates are generally lower in smaller regional universities for a number of reasons, including the greater financial pressures on regional students, the longer distances they need to travel and the higher proportion of mature-aged students.

Hill also said there was a “stepping stone” factor at USC, meaning that about a quarter of students who leave go on to study at other universities.

“Many of these students do one year here at home on the Sunshine Coast and then go elsewhere to do a course that we may not offer,” he said. “This is an important community service.”

Vice-chancellor professor Jan Thomas from the University of Southern Queensland, which received a five-star socioeconomic equity rating, said many 6 | Issue 9 2013

of the university’s students come from low socioeconomic regions and are the first in their family to attend university.

“Universities in regional areas often need greater emphasis on supporting students, as they often have backgrounds of low aspiration and educational disadvantage or extended periods away from education,” Thomas said.

She said USQ had in place targeted support programs for at-risk students that provide ongoing assistance, counselling and peer-to-peer mentoring.

Not every regional institution struggled with retention. NSW’s Charles Sturt University, the University of Newcastle and the University of Wollongong all scored a five-star retention rating.

Wollongong’s acting vice-chancellor, professor John Patterson, attributes the university’s strong retention ratings to its development of peer-to-peer support programs, its ability to target students at risk and its range of support services, including several that focus on the first-year experience.

“UOW views its good retention rating as

a reflection of overall student engagement and experience, appropriate support for the cohort of commencing students, and a close alignment between the degree as described to the student when they are making their decision and the reality as delivered,” Patterson said.

UNSW vice-chancellor professor Fred Hilmer attributed his university’s four-star retention rating to pathway programs and support services.

“Our peer mentoring programs have proved to be very effective, as has our recently introduced early intervention initiative, which involves support officers targeting and helping students who may benefit from additional assistance,” Hilmer said.

He also stressed the importance of providing disadvantaged students with the tools to succeed at university as well as opportunities for admission.

“In particular, any endeavour to expand opportunity for disadvantaged students must take into account not just access to university, but the prospects for success,” Hilmer said. n

news

UniBridges

gets $1.3 million in federal cash

La Trobe access program to expand from three schools to 12. By Antonia Maiolo

A

program aimed at increasing the number of disadvantaged and regional students attending university has been given a boost of $1.3 million dollars by the federal government.

La Trobe University’s Curriculum Bridges program will now be expanded from three to 12 schools in North Melbourne and Bendigo, thanks to the additional funding.

The program, most commonly known amongst students as UniBridges, aims to improve access to university studies for students from groups that are under-represented in enrolments.

Victorian senator Gavin Marshall, who made the announcement, said he is excited about the program, which helps identify students who have the potential to succeed at university.

“I think it’s important that schools work with tertiary education to identify those kids that have the potential to go on that otherwise wouldn’t if there wasn’t some intervention,” Marshall said.

La Trobe deputy vice-chancellor professor Jane Long said the program, which began as a state government pilot study in late 2012, has enabled the university to engage actively with disadvantaged high school students to help them achieve in maths and science.

“We know that for a lot of students if they don’t have a background where parents and grandparents have gone to university it may not be something they naturally aspire to and so we are losing a lot of talent potentially,” Long said. “Curriculum Bridges enables us to make contact with students in years 10, 11 and 12 and engage them in meaningful work.”

Students are given a problem to solve with their teachers within school hours and while participating in the world of university, where they have access to the facilities, staff and students.

The program builds understanding about the pathway through school to university and employment by helping high schoolers build familiarity with the work science and mathematics graduates undertake, as well as providing an alternative entry pathway, not based on the ATAR, to selected STEM courses at La Trobe. It also provides opportunities for the university to conciliate strong partnerships with local communities.

Dale Pearce, principal from Bendigo Senior Secondary College, said the program had provided a powerful learning experience for his students.

“Really what that’s doing is it is lifting the aspirations of students, so it’s been a tremendous step forward for those kids,” Pearce said.

Long said La Trobe sees itself not only as an educational institution but as a community resource, adding “we want to work in strong partnership with secondary schools, with TAFEs with industry, with government and community to ensure that the region in Victoria is extremely well served”. n

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Issue 9 2013 | 7

news

Abbott touts

interest free loans

for tradies New government’s HECSstyle scheme offers up to $20,000 for apprentices.

By Antonia Maiolo

N

ewly elected prime minister Tony Abbott’s campaign included the announcement of an interestfree loan scheme for apprentices of up to $20,000, starting from next year.

The HECS-style system would help apprentices pay for their training, buy tools and equipment and otherwise support them in completing their apprenticeships.

Those eligible for the loans include plumbers, diesel mechanics, electricians and fitters.

The Coalition says the loans will be repayable through the tax system at the same threshold as FEE-HELP loans for a university student, which is $51,309 for 2013-14.

As an added incentive, apprentices who successfully complete their apprenticeships will receive an immediate 20 per cent discount on their loan.

In the first year, tradies are expected to receive up to $8000 to be paid in quarterly instalments of $2000. In their second year they will be offered up to $6000, with $4000 in their third year and $2000 in their fourth.

“All too often, young apprentices do not complete their training because they cannot afford the costs associated with undertaking an apprenticeship,” Abbott said. “Our loans scheme will provide real support for current apprentices to complete their skills training and provide a stronger incentive for young Australians to become apprentices.”

TAFE Directors Australia welcomed the Coalition’s loan scheme. TDA CEO Martin Riordan said those in the VET sector had been financially disadvantaged compared with those attending university.

“This policy places trades careers on a more even footing with higher education, and provides an incentive for those who face financial difficulties in the early years of their training,” Riordan said. “University students have had a head-start when it 8 | Issue 9 2013

comes to income-contingent loans to assist them in their study and training; it is long overdue that those studying apprenticeship-level courses be provided the same advantage.”

Riordan also pointed to data the National Centre for Vocational Education Research (NCVER) released this year that shows completion rates are increasing for trainees but not for trade apprentices.

Individual completion rates increased from 55.4 per cent for trainees who started in 2007 to 57.1 per cent for those who started in 2008. By contrast, individual completion rates for trade apprentices have decreased slightly, from 56.3 per cent for 2007 commencements to 55.8 per cent for those who started in 2008.

NCVER and other industry-sponsored research showed that a major issue affecting those apprentices not completing their trade course was lack of funding to cover the cost of living, transport and other financial pressures.

Group Training Australia (GTA) CEO Jim Barron, a peak body representing apprentices and trainees throughout Australia, also welcomed Abbott’s policy proposal.

“There is currently an unacceptably high apprentice drop-out rate of approximately 50 per cent across all traditional trades,” Barron said.

He said the proposed loan scheme acknowledged apprentices need up-front money as well as the capacity to repay down the track.

Meanwhile, the Greens have warned that the scheme is just another way to push costs onto students and that it would not deliver the skilled workforce Australia needs.

“Loans are a disincentive to young people starting their training,” Australian Greens leader senator Christine Milne said. “It looks like the Coalition is testing the waters to see how big a HECS fee increase they could get away with for TAFE students.”

Milne said Abbott should increase TAFE funding, saying “it is not much use having tools if there are no quality training courses available”.

She said the Coalition should commit to retaining the Tools For Your Trade system – tax-exempt cash payments that assist apprentices with the purchase of tools.

Greens higher education spokeswoman Lee Rhiannon said the party did not support any moves to a HECS-style university loans scheme for TAFE students.

“The top priority in vocational education and training must be an overhaul of the current VET funding arrangements, which have directed billions of dollars to private training providers ahead of TAFEs,” Rhiannon said. n

news

Top students promised a spot at Newcastle University courts high achievers with guaranteed places in many courses.

By Antonia Maiolo

S

tudents who achieve an ATAR score of over 90 will be guaranteed a place at the University of Newcastle, under a scheme the NSW institution recently launched.

The majority of undergraduate courses offered at the University of Newcastle are eligible for the High ATAR Guaranteed Offer Scheme, including radiation science and biomedical science – a popular stepping stone to medicine and dentistry.

The university, which boasts one of the top engineering schools in the country, is also including its range of single-degree engineering courses within the scheme.

Some highly selective degrees, such

as law, medicine and physiotherapy are not included, whilst some degrees have additional entry requirements.

Newcastle deputy vice-chancellor professor Andrew Parfitt said the new scheme could help reduce the anxiety levels of students.

“We know that high school students can be very anxious as they await their acceptance letters, so this guarantee will take the uncertainty out of the process for high-achieving school leavers,” Parfitt said.

“Students today are putting a lot of pressure on themselves to get into specific courses, mostly without an alternative plan if they are not accepted into the course they want.

Gaining a place at a university [in the top three per cent], such as ours, has become highly competitive.”

He said the scheme was introduced to encourage high-achieving students to enrol at the University of Newcastle. n

New routes to

the chalkboard

Charles Sturt University proposes alternative paths to teaching degrees under NSW reforms.

C

harles Sturt University has announced it will provide alternative pathways to teaching degrees for school leavers who wouldn’t otherwise qualify under the NSW education minister’s tougher standards.

The minister’s reformed standards will not introduce ATAR cut-offs; however, from 2015, recent school leavers will need HSC band 5 results in three or more subjects, including band 5 in English, to enter teaching degrees.

Students who do not meet those criteria will still have a chance to enter the field of teaching through a range of interviews and bridging programs, CSU faculty of education executive dean professor Toni Downes said.

Under CSU’s new plan, students could either come out with a degree allowing them to teach in early childhood environments (including pre-school and long day care) or a degree that allows them to teach from kindergarten to Year 12. “[We] are broadening the emphasis to include not only

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minimum standards around academic work but also suitability for the profession,” Downes said. “As part of the admissions criteria we will be having applicants demonstrate that they’re strong on the interpersonal skills and relationships.”

The university is soon set to put forward its proposal to the department of education and communities.

“We think that this will really appeal to the minister because it’s a flexible workforce for that community and also a flexible career pathway for the graduate,” Downes said.

The minister’s reforms will also require all teaching graduates to pass a literacy and numeracy test before their final-year school professional placement. They will also mandate more of what gets taught at universities.

“We have also laid out plans to support new teachers by providing them with not just increased release time for their professional development but also release time for mentors to better train them,” NSW education minister Adrian Piccoli said.

NSW is the only state to have implemented a new entry standard for teaching degrees.

“Improving teacher quality is a legacy we will leave for all our students, because we cannot improve the quality of education unless we improve the quality of teaching,” Piccoli said. n

Issue 9 2013 | 9

news

Mind the

pay gap

NTEU says higher education sector beats national average but still falls short. By Aileen Macalintal

U

niversity educated men with children can expect to earn about $3.3 million over their working lives, almost double the amount for women in the same category, NTEU president Jeannie Rea said. And where the gender pay gap is concerned, Victorian and Western Australian universities are the worst employers, NTEU data for 2012 shows.

“Across the country, the gender gap stands at 8.7 per cent [based on] the 2012 full-time rates of men and women employed as general staff in Australian universities,” Rea said. “This is around half the Australian industry average of over 17 per cent, but shows we still need to do more to close the gap within our higher education institutions. “Our aim is to close the gender pay gap across the board.”

She said the NTEU was now bargaining to limit casual academic employment and 10 | Issue 9 2013

promote career development for general staff, among other issues.

“About 35 per cent of all university staff are female general staff, so it’s hugely important that they get a fairer deal,” she said. “There is still marked gender segmentation in lower-paid and middlerange jobs, contributing to the overall pay gap.”

Rea said that although the number of women in senior general staff positions had almost doubled in universities during the last 15 years, only a quarter of these women are in senior positions (higher education worker Level 8 and above), whilst more than 40 per cent of male general staff are in such roles.

“The pay gap applies as soon as women graduate from university,” Rea continued. “ABS data reveals that the median salary for women graduates aged under 25 in 2012 was $50,000, compared

with $55,000 for men. The undervaluing of women’s work starts early and persists.”

One institution whose pay gap is among the highest in NTEU’s data – 12.0 per cent among general staff in 2012 – is Victoria University (VU). The school’s vice-president for people and culture, Paul Lefebvre, welcomes the opportunity to participate in discussions on the issue.

“It prompts us, as a large employer, to examine our workforce and consider the questions that need to be asked,” Lefebvre said.

“Equally important is a specific focus on professional or general staff in the sector.

“We think it is fair to suggest, however, that a sector pay equity gap for professional staff half that of the national average is reflective of a fair and robust set of employment practices, classification and remuneration systems in the tertiary sector.

“We recently welcomed an increase in the percentage of general staff women represented at level 10 of the classification scale, now up to 61 per cent, and level 10-plus, now up to 41 per cent for the first time,” he said.

“We look forward to the opportunity to undertake more comprehensive analysis of pay equity data in accordance with the new reporting requirements set out by the Workplace Gender Equality Agency and the capacity to monitor sector trends over time,” he said.

Lefebvre emphasised the university’s actions to close the gender pay gap through a number of initiatives. He said VU has been implementing a Women in Leadership program for the last 10 years and up to 250 female staff have graduated from it. In 2012, women represented the majority of the university’s academic recruits at all academic levels.

He said the institution accepts that a pay gap exists often for systemic or structural reasons. Questions of seniority, fractional employment, breaks in service and casual employment explain part of the story, but it is also about gender stereotyping and how an organisation values the type of work undertaken.

“We have recently introduced unconscious bias training for all managers to encourage a different level of mindfulness about how decisions are made that affect employment,” Lefebvre said. “Getting the basic human resource management structures right is the easier part. Introducing different and strategic approaches to diversity management is the harder part of the equation.” n

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international education

New mode

students

for on the move Bishop’s New Colombo Plan is more than just another name for AsiaBound.

By Phil Honeywood

I

n any new government, departmental restructures, rebadging of programs and new names stamped on policy initiatives are inevitable. This may well be the manner in which a number of former Gillard/Rudd government programs depart this world and resurface under the Coalition. However, cynics would be wrong to suggest the Abbott government’s student mobility proposals won’t change anything.

The new foreign affairs minister, Julie Bishop, conceptualised what she then referred to as the Reverse Colombo Plan quite some time before the Labor government announced its AsiaBound initiative. Now in published form as the New Colombo Plan (NCP), it is worthwhile to examine some of its key differences from AsiaBound.

12 | Issue 9 2013

Why the name New Colombo?

For those old enough to remember, Australia gained enormous kudos when, as part of the post-World War II Asian nation rebuilding effort, it signed an agreement in Sri Lanka’s capital to offer scholarships for Asian students to study at Australia’s universities. From the 1950s up to the late-1970s, many thousands of Asia’s future political, business, academic and scientific leaders experienced their initial professional development through this study experience in Australia.

In her previous role as shadow minister for foreign affairs, Bishop discovered there was a great deal of goodwill shown towards Australia when she met with former Colombo Plan students on her frequent trips to our neighbouring region.

Keen to see more young Australians gain access to meaningful study and work experience in Asia, she thought the region’s leaders would understand and support the notion of a reverse Colombo Plan. The concept would give thousands of young Australians access to the same transformative experience in Asia (albeit at the Australian government’s and their own expense) that the region’s leaders had in our country.

As this policy idea gained traction, the Reverse Colombo Plan also envisaged providing scholarships for Asian students to study in Australia. On this basis, it could no longer simply be reverse (implying one direction by Australians only) but needed to be termed New Colombo Plan.

How is it different to AsiaBound?

Some time after Bishop detailed her policy initiative, the Gillard government decided to promote something seemingly similar, which it termed AsiaBound. This fit in well with that government’s need to have an education policy that could arguably put some flesh on the bones of its Australia in the Asian Century white paper.

However, AsiaBound focuses only on studying abroad. By contrast, from its inception, the NCP’s intent has been to promote study opportunities combined with course-related internships or mentorship in an Asian city. Also unlike AsiaBound, it is predicated on creating an alumni community and using an interactive IT platform to maintain ongoing professional and networking opportunities for graduates.

international education Are we talking long-term or short-term mobility?

Initially, Bishop was keen to see NCP students undertake a minimum of one semester of study abroad. However, it soon became clear that the vast majority of Australian students prefer to undertake short-term study in Asia, typically three to six weeks.

So whilst the goal is still to maximise the period of study abroad, NCP will now also incorporate short-term mobility to guarantee a critical mass of entrants into the program. One idea here is that short-term mobility may serve to provide a “taster” experience that will encourage students to return later for a longer period.

So why internships?

Numerous surveys of international students indicate that exposure to course-related work experience is keenly desired. Australia is fortunate to have a large number of companies with offices based in key Asian cities. These cities also feature Australian chambers of commerce, which play an active role in networking with local business communities.

A number of large Asian corporations see merit in providing work opportunities to young Australians. Under NCP it is envisaged students could have internships in Asia while they study there or shortly after. Where an internship cannot be made available it is hoped that an Asia-based business person or non-government organisation might be able to provide mentoring. The executive director of the Menzies Research Centre, professor Don Markwell, has coordinated a great deal of research and groundwork around this.

What happens to AsiaBound?

The Coalition government intends to honour the first round of funding, which has already been committed to AsiaBound.

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Once this round ceases at the end of next year there is no intention to continue that program. In the interim, the new government intends to pursue a number of NCP pilot projects in three or four countries (possibly Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan and Singapore).

Just as AsiaBound included a funding allocation for VET study, the NCP intends to provide support for advanced technical skills study and work experience in Asia.

Whereas AsiaBound had a funding allocation of $58 million over four years (which included substantial funding taken from International Student Exchange Programs and other student exchange funds), NCP will involve about $100 million over a similar period.

The plan envisages support for Asian language training, alumni network promotion and research collaboration. It also intends to have a number of high-level scholarships awarded each year that will be quite distinct from the thousands of mobility grants and loans to be provided in the general NCP scholarship category.

academic credit for the period spent studying and working abroad. This may work best when education institutions have for-credit arrangements in place with Asian counterparts. Many such partnership agreements will need to be broadened in scope (with possible tuition fee support to Asian partner institutions) in order to achieve the critical mass NCP envisages.

Clearly, it will be important to continue consultation for the effective development and implementation of the plan. A great deal of goodwill and research has already been undertaken. Australian students will clearly be the beneficiaries of a stronger focus on meaningful mobility engagement. n Phil Honeywood is executive director of the International Education Association of Australia. He is also a member of the New Colombo Plan Steering Committee.

Who will administer New Colombo?

The department of innovation, through Australian Education International (AEI), had the responsibility of administering AsiaBound. In contrast, New Colombo will primarily be administered by the foreign affairs department with Bishop intended to be its key portfolio minister.

Other departments will be involved in coordination and support roles, including specialist advice from the education and science counsellors based at Australia’s overseas postings in Asia. A high-level committee is expected to assist the minister in implementing the plan.

Australia’s education institutions will have a crucial role in building demand for places and supporting students in the program. For example, it will be important that Australian students have a straightforward process for gaining

Issue 9 2013 | 13

international education

Welcome

back

14 | Issue 9 2013

international education Enrolments from overseas have declined recently but are rising again. By Louis White

www.campusreview.com.au

T

he income derived from international students is essential for the financial survival of Australia’s universities, and after a brief downturn the numbers are starting to pick up again.

Racial incidents in 2009, along with visa issues, the high Australian dollar and intense marketing from America and Europe to draw Asian students, served to lessen the appeal of Australian universities in recent years, but a new streamlined visa process and a more concentrated effort from local tertiary institutions are helping admissions climb again.

A look at the numbers reveals just how important international students are to Australian universities.

Australian Education Council statistics reveal that there were 156,641 commencements in the year to June 30, 2013, representing a 3.4 per cent increase over the same period ending in 2012.

There were 379,214 full-fee paying international students in Australia on a student visa at June 30, 2013. This represents a 2.2 per cent decline from June 2012 and contrasts with the average growth rate for enrolments of 5.8 per cent a year in the preceding 10 years.

Overall, there are more than 190,000 international students studying at Australian universities in 2013. UNESCO data states that Australia is one of only seven countries to host more than 100,000 international enrolments. And students from China/Hong Kong (SAR), Malaysia, Singapore, Sri Lanka, New Zealand and North Korea all choose Australia as their number one destination to study. More than one in five students studying in Australia are internationals.

Data from the Australia Bureau of Statistics reveals that international education activity contributed $16.3 billion in export income to the Australian economy in 2010-11. Furthermore, many educational institutions rely on the income from full-fee paying international students to assist in the provision of quality to all students, both international and domestic.

Amongst the total number of international students, the higher education sector was ranked first by volume of enrolments throughout the 10 years to June 2012, with China (40 per cent) and Malaysia (7.1 per cent) the two biggest markets. Postgraduate research commencements were up by 2.5 per cent over the same period, while other post-graduate commencements grew by 13.7 per cent. Surprisingly, undergraduate commencements declined by 2.7 per cent.

Some of the factors that conspired to lessen international enrolments in

Australia have begun to turn back in the local market’s favour. The fall in the dollar will help ease living costs for international students, as Australia now ranks as the most expensive country in the world to study in. It costs an international student an average of $41,700 to live and study in Australia but with the Aussie dollar expected to get as low as 80-85 cents to the US dollar (about 91 cents at publication) in the next 12 months, comparative costs should ease.

Austrade international education group manager Quentin Stevenson-Perks says other factors are changing as well.

“The changes made to the student visa program have received significant positive media coverage across Australia’s major source countries,” Stevenson-Perks says.

“Through their engagement with in-market stakeholders, Austrade’s international network is indicating growing demand for Australian education. Recent networking activities with education agents in China and Taiwan, for example, showed renewed interest in Australia from both education agents and potential students.

“The fact that students can undertake work experience after they have finished their undergraduate and/or postgraduate course is helping enormously, too.

“Australia has faced stiff competition from other countries wanting to attract international students. It is a competitive industry. But I think you will find the streamlined visa processing, the drop in the Australian dollar and the ability to take work experience, combined with a bigger international presence across the world by Australian universities, are all helping.”

In the latest (2012) QS World University Rankings, seven Australian universities feature in the top 100.

Australia also has 15 universities in the Top 100 Under 50 in the Times Higher Education rankings (2012). This, too, broadens the appeal of Australia.

“We have definitely stepped up our recruitment efforts to attract international students,” David Wood, deputy vice-chancellor, international, Curtin University, says.

“We have campuses in Malaysia and Singapore. We believe we offer a number of attractive university degrees to international students and we are a highranking university.”

Curtin has more than 9000 international students studying at its Australian campuses each year. Some of the most popular courses include commerce, humanities, engineering, pharmacy, nursing and mining. Some of the most popular areas of recruitment internationally are China, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia and Malaysia.

Issue 9 2013 | 15

international education In 2012, international students accounted for 23 per cent of total operating revenue for the university.

“There is no doubt that Perth has lost a bit of ground competitively when it comes to attracting international students, due to employment opportunities starting to dry up,” Wood says. “But what we are finding now is that international students who choose to study in Perth do so as a conscious decision.

“Curtin University’s Western Australian School of Mines’ international enrolments equate to 40 per cent of the total student population. This is a very significant representation.”

WASM offers degrees in applied geology, exploration geophysics, metallurgical and minerals engineering and mining engineering, amongst others.

But like most universities around Australia, Curtin is determined to regain the numbers it attracted back in 2009.

“There is no doubt external factors have played a part in declining international student numbers in Australian universities,” Wood says. “The competition from the United States and the United Kingdom really intensified and they embarked on intense recruitment campaigns. Some of the federal government policies proved

barriers to recruiting students and the incident with the Indian students a few years ago didn’t help either.

“Add a burgeoning Australia dollar and you could say we had the perfect storm.

“But changes to the visa streamlining process and the ability for students to undertake work experience after they complete their studies have helped.

“You also have to understand the rationale of a country’s culture when it comes to choosing international education to enable you to successfully market to them. The Chinese are very concerned about education quality, while the Malaysians will focus on the cost.

“The key for us and any Australian university is to focus on the quality of the applicant and, when that criteria is solved, to push hard on speeding up the turnaround time on the application.”

International students as a rule favour the eastern states to study. ABS figures reveal that 37 per cent of students choose NSW and 30 per cent choose Victoria.

Tertiary institutions such as Sydney University, Macquarie University, University of NSW, Monash University and The University of Melbourne attract big international numbers.

Sydney University has about 22 per cent

of its students attending from around the world. Its goal is to keep it between 20 and 30 per cent.

“We will seek to diversify our international student population in terms of both discipline of study and country of origin,” a university spokesperson says.

International students bring in 16.3 per cent of the university’s revenue, at $212 million, according to the NSW Auditor-General’s report. If the university were to increase its proportion of international students to 25 per cent in 2014, it would make a significant difference to the bottom line.

“We understand that international students like the University of Sydney’s reputation and influence, quality of our teaching and research, international rankings and good social life, as well as the traditional campus experience of both Sydney and Australia,” A Sydney University spokesperson says. “The university has over 300 agreements and MOUs with international universities for student exchange, staff exchange and research collaborations.

“These help particularly at the postgraduate research level with facilitating student and staff exchanges, and developing long-term people-to-people links that then contribute to overall levels of awareness and

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international education interest in the university as a good place to consider studying at the undergraduate or postgraduate coursework levels.”

Not all institutions are as fortunate as Sydney University when it comes to attracting big numbers of international students, but all realise it’s a great source of revenue.

James Cook University in Queensland has small international numbers in comparison with the universities mentioned above but uses its campus diversity and high international rankings to attract up to 100 different nationalities.

“There are approximately 1900 international students on Australian Tropical campuses, which represents 11.5 per cent of total enrolments,” Lisa Cowan, acting director of JCU International, says. “This ratio existed in 2012 also.

If Beijing, Brisbane and Singapore are included in enrolment numbers, the number of international students rises to approximately 6300. This represents 30 per cent of total enrolments.

“Based on a gross tuition fee view, international students on Australian Tropical campuses contribute approximately 13 per cent to total gross tuition fees. Beijing, Brisbane and Singapore are not included in the revenue percentage calculation.”

James Cook University believes its appeal to international students stems from its reputation for research, particularly in environmental science and management, coral reef ecology, public health and tourism.

Its ranking in the top 4 per cent of the universities in the Institute of Higher Education, Shanghai Jiao Tong University and Academic Ranking of World Universities will broaden its appeal worldwide.

“We offer a lower cost of living than many capital cities in Australia,” Cowan says. “We also offer one university, two countries, three tropical campuses, with the ability to study across countries in a number of JCU courses.

“Students are recruited through a number of channels, one of which is JCU’s official, signed agents/representatives or direct institutional and government partnerships,” Cowan says. “We also have a large cohort of students who are recruited through online mediums (web, advertising), word of mouth from current students and alumni, and English language pathways.”

But international students have not always been a priority for every Australian tertiary institution. The University of Western Australia, the state’s oldest and most prestigious university, recently appointed Iain Watt as pro vice-chancellor international, to ramp up its numbers.

“We are definitely focused on attracting quality international students no matter what their country of origin,” Watt says.

“For a long time the university focused on attracting quality students from its own state and was very successful at that but now we want to appeal to a broader market across the world.”

UWA has approximately 4500 onshore international students (about 20 per cent of overall numbers). The most popular courses are business, science and engineering. International students contribute a little more than 10 per cent of the university’s revenue.

Watt’s previously held roles as a long-term education counsellor at the Australian Embassy in Beijing and later as the director of international operations and student recruitment at the Australian National University.

“I believe we have a lot more room to grow when it comes to accommodating international students,” Watt says. “The Group of Eight Universities are a lot less reliant on international student income than some of the other universities.

“But we believe that a more concentrated effort to attract international students even though we have had good success in Singapore and Malaysia.” n

The Hong Kong Polytechnic University is a government-funded tertiary institution in Hong Kong. It offers programmes at various levels including Doctorate, Master’s, and Bachelor’s degrees. It has a full-time academic staff strength of around 1,200. The total consolidated expenditure budget of the University is close to HK$5 billion per year.

DEPARTMENT OF CIVIL AND ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERING Assistant Professor in Structural Engineering (Ref. 13080101) The Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering is seeking a highly motivated individual with a PhD degree in Structural Engineering or Civil Engineering. The Department is widely recognised by both the local and the international communities in conducting world-class and high-impact research in civil engineering, and has strong connections with industrial partners and government agencies in Hong Kong. The new appointee will add to the existing research strengths in structural engineering of the Department.

The Department currently has more than 38 faculty members and about 34 technical and administrative personnel, and is committed to international standards of excellence in teaching, research and services. Please visit the website at http://www.cee.polyu.edu.hk for more information about the Department.

The appointee will be required to (a) teach relevant subjects at various levels; (b) supervise student projects and theses; (c) secure external research funding; (d) initiate, lead and participate in research activities; and (e) undertake relevant administrative duties.

Applicants should (a) have a PhD degree in Structural Engineering or Civil Engineering; (b) have strong commitment to excellence in teaching and research; (c) have a strong record of research and scholarship in structural engineering; (d) be able to demonstrate effective classroom teaching skills and have good interpersonal skills; and (e) possess research interests in, but not limited to, one or more of the following areas: (i) Concrete Structures / Concrete Technology; (ii) Earthquake Engineering / Bridge Engineering; and (iii) Finite Element Analysis / Numerical Methods. Preference will be given to those with an undergraduate degree in Civil Engineering. Relevant professional qualifications and working experience as a structural / civil engineer will be an asset.

Remuneration and Conditions of Service A highly competitive remuneration package will be offered. Initial appointment for Assistant Professor will be on a fixed-term gratuity-bearing contract.

Re-engagement thereafter is subject to mutual agreement. Applicants should state their current and expected salary in the application.

Application Please submit application form via email to hrstaff@polyu.edu.hk; by fax at (852) 2364 2166; or by mail to Human Resources Office, 13/F, Li Ka Shing Tower, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hung Hom, Kowloon, Hong Kong. If you would like to provide a separate curriculum vitae, please still complete the application form which will help speed up the recruitment process. Application forms can be obtained via the above channels or downloaded from http://www.polyu.edu.hk/hro/job.htm. Recruitment will continue until the position is filled. Initial consideration of applications will commence on 20 November 2013. Details of the University’s Personal Information Collection Statement for recruitment can be found at http://www.polyu.edu.hk/hro/jobpics.htm.

www.campusreview.com.au

Issue 9 2013 | 17

policy & reform

TAFE NSW hears

from communities it serves

t

Stakeholders tell system why they value it, what needs to change. By Margy Osmond

AFE NSW is facing real and significant change and it is critically important that we bring the community and the people of NSW with us on that journey. So 10 months ago we launched the Let’s talk about TAFE initiative so we could have that conversation with the people who support and depend on us.

It was TAFE NSW’s largest ever consultation and we were proud to release the results of this conversation in August.

A key finding was that according to our stakeholders, TAFE NSW Institutes play a crucial part in communities across NSW – as the government training provider and with 550,000 student enrolments each year, across 10 institutes, they fill a role no other provider can. Our stakeholders value us but equally recognise perhaps it is time to move more in step with the new world of student needs and everevolving technology.

The most critical changes that are affecting TAFE NSW are: • Skills training is in demand but student and employer needs are changing 18 | Issue 9 2013

• NSW needs a more highly skilled workforce to expand its economy • Competition from other providers is growing • Smart and Skilled vocational education and training reforms will commence in July 2014, bringing greater choice for consumers accessing publicly funded vocational education and training.

The TAFE world is changing to align with this new environment so we can be sure we’re delivering what the communities, students, employers and TAFE staff in NSW need, so we can remain relevant and successful.

Let’s talk about TAFE was designed to help us understand what the people of NSW value about TAFE NSW, how effective it is in meeting industry and community needs, and how TAFE needs to adapt in a changing environment. These findings are being incorporated into the NSW Government’s plan to re-shape TAFE NSW’s future directions.

So what did we do and how did we do it? We undertook three tranches of research to ensure we heard from as many people as possible: • a Newspoll survey of a representative sample of 1905 NSW adults, • online consultation via the NSW Government’s Have Your Say website, which attracted 844 responses in 245,000 words • 70 face-to-face stakeholder forums with students, employers and industry, staff, community and special interest groups.

What stakeholders say

From these consultations, we learned that TAFE NSW, as the public provider, is seen as the backbone of skills training across NSW. We found that TAFE NSW is deeply valued. Of those surveyed, 97 per cent are aware of TAFE, and 96 per cent of these say that TAFE services are valuable to NSW. Three-quarters of those surveyed have taken a TAFE course themselves or have a family member who has.

Newspoll also found that of those aware of TAFE, 94 per cent say it provides training services that are valuable for business and industry in NSW. Respondents say TAFE is extremely or very important for: • apprentice training, 97 per cent • training unemployed people, 92 per cent • basic skills courses, 91 per cent • higher level technical training, 88 per cent • vocational counselling, 78 per cent and • disability learning support, 92 per cent People tell us they value TAFE NSW as the public provider, 86 per cent say TAFE is valuable to their local community.

When Newspoll respondents aware of TAFE were asked why TAFE NSW is valuable to the state, the most popular response was TAFE’s vocational focus. Is contribution in regional communities was seen as going beyond skills development to community building. TAFE’s role in reducing the effects of disadvantage in communities was the second most frequently commented on area across survey responses.

policy & reform

TAFE NSW’s charter to provide statewide access to technical and further education attracted the highest number of comments to the online consultation. Have Your Say respondents strongly supported the need to provide access to a broad range of courses to cater for new entrants and people needing upskilling, as well as those needing support and encouragement to take up “second-chance” learning.

In the face-to-face forums, participants spoke about the importance of the support services TAFE NSW provides to help students overcome socioeconomic and other disadvantages and gain access to first-step and second-chance education.

They considered these support services factors that increase participation in and outcomes from training.

In summary, people told us that TAFE NSW is crucial to the economy and vital to communities. But, like all institutions, there are improvements to be made to ensure TAFE NSW remains relevant to the people who need us.

TAFE evolution and change

There was plenty of feedback about change. Respondents offered detailed comments and suggestions about why and how TAFE NSW needs to adjust. Some of these included: • Increase learning options including a blend of online and face-to-face learning – 57 per cent of respondents say they prefer a combination of these two options • Respond more rapidly to employer and customer needs, including access to information – those surveyed say being able to respond rapidly to industry timeframes is critical to TAFE NSW’s future competitiveness • Simplify enrolment systems and offer more flexible enrolments – many respondents think administrative www.campusreview.com.au

processes are a significant barrier to TAFE NSW becoming more responsive and competitive. They suggest moving away from semester based enrolments to offer more widespread, rolling starts to courses • Maintain quality of teaching, training and facilities – a significant proportion of respondents focused on maintaining and improving quality as a priority for TAFE NSW. For many, high-quality teaching, training and facilities are needed to set TAFE apart from other providers and to increase its attractiveness to students and employers so that TAFE NSW becomes the provider of choice • Operate more like a business and cut red tape – stakeholders say TAFE NSW needs to be more commercially focused, build commercial revenues and find new markets • Increase autonomy to respond to local needs – there is recognition that individual TAFE Institutes would benefit from more localised autonomy and decision-making to better meet the needs of employers and industries • Improve marketing and promotion of the TAFE NSW brand – respondents say TAFE needs to better promote its brand and be more effective in marketing its courses and services

Government’s new directions

We’ve listened carefully and provided this feedback to minister for education Adrian Piccoli. The findings have informed the NSW Government’s new directions for TAFE NSW – the Statement of Owner Expectations, also launched this month.

The statement acknowledges the important role TAFE plays, working with industry to build the skills our economy needs across NSW. But it also recognises we need to move more effectively with the

times, which means communities around NSW can expect some changes to their local TAFE but some things to stay as they have always been: • TAFE NSW will remain the state’s public training provider, providing a broad range of services to communities across the state, and ensuring stability at the centre of the training system.

• Individual institutes will still be part of TAFE NSW but will have greater autonomy to manage their finances and operations locally so they can be more responsive to local needs.

• Under the new funding model introduced from July next year with Smart and Skilled, TAFE will receive direct funding to support its important role as the public provider, but will also be expected to compete for student entitlement places with private and community providers.

• TAFE will also be expected to deliver our services more efficiently under these new pricing arrangements while still maintaining our quality. This will be challenging, but we are already working in new ways to improve our services. We will also need to expand our commercial business in areas that add value to the economy and reduce our dependency on direct government funding.

To the many thousands of NSW residents who had their say about TAFE NSW, thank you. We’ll keep talking with our stakeholders to ensure TAFE is relevant and responsive to you and the needs of business and your community. n View a full copy of the Let’s talk about TAFE report at tafensw.edu.au/about/ltat.htm Margy Osmond is Chair of the NSW TAFE Commission Board.

Issue 9 2013 | 19

policy & reform

Green

all over

Australian universities are finding ways to build in sustainability – everywhere they can. By Louis White

Designed by John Wardle Architects and NADAAA. Southern elevation of the new ABP building University of Melbourne.

A

n understanding of the importance of sustainability is gathering momentum within the higher education sector in Australia, as universities around the country are seeking ways to embed associated knowledge and skills across their programs.

Whilst sustainability has previously been a topic included in built environment programs such as architecture, science and engineering studies, universities are now expanding this focus to create a culture of sustainable thinking across the campus.

“That is the biggest challenge,” says Donald Bates, chair of architectural design in the faculty of architecture, building and planning at the University of Melbourne.

“We want students to embrace sustainability as part of their natural thinking, especially in the area of design,” Bates says. “It shouldn’t be an afterthought or as an add-on; the issues of design and

20 | Issue 9 2013

sustainability must work hand in hand.”

Bates, who is also a director of the award-winning Lab Architecture Studio and one of the designers behind Melbourne’s Federation Square, has been with the University of Melbourne since June 2012, in what was then a newly created role to build upon the faculty’s strong foundations in architectural design.

“We embrace sustainability … in our master and undergraduate programs and what we emphasise is the thought process in the design construction to ensure that sustainability becomes a natural way of thinking,” he says.

Subjects taught within the faculty include regenerating sustainability, environmental building systems and building sustainability.

The university is also practising what it preaches as it constructs the multimilliondollar faculty of architecture, building and planning facility to be completed by 2015.

The new building has received the

endorsement of the Green Building Council of Australia in 2012 and is registered under the five-star category “Australian Excellence” for its design.

Building services such as mixed-mode heating and cooling, increased ventilation provisions with heat recovery, a unique ground-source pre-cooling system and high-efficiency dynamic lighting are controlled by an array of sensors and controls that optimise settings to meet the dynamic needs of the centre.

“But its real sustainability performance will be experienced by the user in the light-filled, airy space with healthy, natural materials that cocoon the occupant in an environment conducive to specialised learning and concentration,” faculty lecturer Chris Jensen says.

“The mixed-mode nature of the building services, combined with the adaptable architecture, allows it to breathe fresh air … but retain warmth and comfort

policy & reform across seasons,” Jensen explains. “Upon completion, this new living laboratory will contribute to the body of knowledge of sustainable design philosophies and technical application with real performance data – a field test to last in excess of 50 years.”

The University of Melbourne has also entered into a historic agreement with sustainable building advocates the Holcim Foundation to collaborate on supporting initiatives that combine sustainable construction with architectural excellence and enhanced quality of life beyond technical advancements.

Monash University is also committing to sustainability as part of its ethos within its charter of learning, for its students and its staff as well.

The Monash Sustainability Institute is a new professional learning development program for academic staff from all faculties at the university. The program explores sustainability, examines its relationship to contemporary university academic practice and prepares staff to embed education for sustainability into the units they teach.

“Sustainability is critically linked to improving our teaching and learning at Monash University,” says associate engineering professor Geoff Rose. “We need to improve our learning regarding sustainability at every level right across the

university. We need to embed it as part of the educational DNA at Monash. The challenge as I see it is to get an overall strategy in place to embed sustainability in the curriculum while at the same time getting some runs on the board to advance sustainability in some specific programs.”

Queensland University of Technology, which built a $230 million science and engineering centre powered in part by solar trees, is also waiting on federal government funding to incorporate sustainable subjects into its engineering degree courses.

“Sustainability knowledge and skills are growing in popularity,” Dr Cheryl Desha, senior lecturer in sustainable development, says. “For example, we have a postgraduate course on sustainable business practice that consistently has more than 100 enrolments.

“Embedding sustainability into science and engineering undergraduate courses is critical, to address not only emerging employer needs and student demand, but also increasing accreditation requirements by professional bodies.”

Desha is part of a six-university consortium (Queensland University of Technology, University of Adelaide, University of Wollongong, RMIT, Victoria University and La Trobe) – an unprecedented level of collaboration – that is developing open-source and online

Monash

www.campusreview.com.au

Issue 9 2013 | 21

policy & reform

resources that are curriculum-ready on the subject of “energy efficiency education resources for engineering”.

“It is important to emphasise the opportunity to embed energy efficiency knowledge and skills as a priority and also as a leverage topic for driving curriculum renewal for sustainable development,” she says. “We will be discussing this at the Australasian Association for Engineering Education conference later this year.”

Curtin University has also taken strong steps to embed sustainability into core teachings in its architectural science degree.

“Sustainability is now built into the

bachelor of applied science (architectural science), rather than being taught as a discrete discipline or topic, reflecting the way in which issues around sustainability are now seen as part of everyday practice in the professional environment,” says professor Peter Davis, head of the school of built environment, Curtin University.

“First-year units include an introduction to the principles of relationships between built, natural and human environments and issues of environmental, social and economic responsibility.

“While the more technical aspect of sustainability is addressed in the

architectural technology stream, the issue is also emphasised in the studio and culture streams. This will continue in the revised master’s course, planned for implementation in 2014. As students develop their own positions on architecture, they will have the opportunity to explore sustainability issues in greater detail and focused options will be made available.”

But for students to be able to see sustainability in practice, it helps when an institution puts the theory into play, as the University of NSW did with the Tyree Energy Technologies Building, which obtained a Six-Star Green Star rating – the highest possible score – from the Green Building Council, providing independent verification that the design achieved international best practice with regards to sustainability.

Its features include a gas-fired tri-generation plant for power, heating and cooling, that can provide 800kw of power (the balance will be fed into the campus grid) and a photovoltaic (PV) array system installed across eight separate roof surfaces. It also has a northern skylight area incorporating purpose-built modules that provide the aesthetics of glass paneling. And finally, it boasts a 300,000-litre rainwater tank and treated bore water system so it can recycle for toilet flushing, cooling towers, landscaping and non-potable laboratory water. n

An award worth winning The Holcim Awards were created to reward sustainable construction by celebrating projects and visions that contribute to a more sustainable built environment. They feature total prize money of US$2 million.

“I was involved in the first Holcim Foundation Awards and I thought it would be great for The University of Melbourne to be involved,” says Donald Bates, chair of architectural design at the University of Melbourne.

“There are universities from all over the world involved in these prestigious awards and I thought the University of Melbourne would be a perfect fit.

“I really think we can add to the conversation and we hope to host the awards in the future. Sustainability is a core issue in buildings going forward and awards like these bring it to the forefront of the conversation.”

22 | Issue 9 2013

Holcim Foundation general manager Edward Schwarz says the awards’ Next Generation category, targeted at 18- to 30 year-olds, aims to capture the thoughts and ideas of young minds around the world so they will view sustainability as exciting.

Holcim Awards (main category) • Project has reached an advanced stage of design with high probability of execution.

Execution of the project may not have started before July 1, 2013.

• All authors must be at least 18 years of age.

“By engaging with the next generation, not only does the Holcim Awards competition seek to capture the concerns of young professionals about the critical issue of sustainability, but also, more importantly, we have the opportunity to recognise and promote remarkable innovation, and challenge established professionals to raise the bar higher,” Schwarz says.

Next Generation (young professionals and students category) • Visionary projects and bold ideas. All authors must be between 18 and 30 years of age. Execution of the project may not have started before July 1, 2013.

The fourth Holcim Awards are open for projects in architecture, building and civil engineering, landscape and urban design, materials, products and construction technologies. The competition has two categories with different requirements:

Evaluation process Renowned technical universities lead independent juries in five regions of the world. They evaluate entries against the target issues for sustainable construction.

The closing date for entries is March 24, 2014. To find out more visit www.holcimfoundation.org

policy & reform

You can

put a price on research

Recent data shows many Asian countries’ universities are better than their Australian peers at chasing corporate funding. By Aileen Macalintal

A

sia is way ahead of Australia in a recent ranking of university systems’ ability to corner industry funding.

The World Academic Summit Innovation Index, released by Times Higher Education (THE), has shown that academics from South Korea receive the most commercial funding for innovation and research in the world. Whilst the average South Korean scholar gets the equivalent of nearly US$100,000 from industry, her Australian counterpart gets US$25,600. Singapore comes second to Korea, with an average of US$84,500 per academic.

This should be a wake-up call, says Vicki Thomson, executive director of the Australian Technology Network of Universities. Thomson says the rankings 24 | Issue 9 2013

should push the incoming government to support policies that will encourage industry-oriented research.

“The fact is that Australia does a lot of world-class research,” she says. “But that does not get converted to industry earnings without a deliberate and coordinated effort from universities, industry and government.

“Countries such as the Netherlands, Belgium and Sweden have academically excellent university research systems that are also high earners in industry dollars.

So can Australia – but we need to get a move on if we want to leverage our excellent research to catch up on the lead of Korea, China and India in the industry earnings stakes.”

She explains that it’s difficult to

incentivise and engender a culture of university-industry engagement in Australia because there is zero systematic accounting for and tracking of the on-theground, delivered impact of research.

Referring to the index, she says, “Only one country appears in the top 10 [for both the] industry earnings per researcher and THE’s standard academic rankings – The Netherlands. Australia sits 15th in average value per researcher, yet [has the 5th most institutions] in [THE’s] Top 200 academic rankings. Why is that? In traditional academic rankings, age and maturity of the system matters.”

She pointed out that countries such as the US, UK, Germany, Australia, France and the Netherlands are all among the topperforming countries and have established, world-class universities.

“In terms of industry engagement and earnings by university researchers, what counts is a culture of and focus

policy & reform on university-industry engagement and government policy and incentive settings to support this,” Thomson says. “And if these elements are there, this can be done in a comparatively short timeframe, as judged by top 10 industry earners [South] Korea, Singapore, China and India,” she says.

Not surprising

Angel Calderon, principal adviser for planning and research at RMIT University, says “That Australia has been outranked by Asian countries is not surprising, given the increased research and development effort from these countries.”

Calderon elaborated: “In particular, the gross domestic expenditure on R&D in South Korea grew by 115 per cent [in 10 years], from US$22.6 billion in 2001 to US$49.4 billion in 2011, according to figures from the OECD. Whereas Australia’s expenditure on R&D increased by 65 per cent from US$10.7 billion in 2002 to US$17.6 billion to 2008 [latest year for which figures are available].”

He says THE’s index implies Australian universities need to increase efforts at creating opportunities for R&D collaborations with industry within Australia and abroad.

Operating on a global scale, he says, creates more opportunities across borders and industry sectors.

“Education service is Australia’s fourthlargest export industry, it provides an invaluable channel by which expanded R&D opportunities can be fostered on a regional, if not global, scale for universities and industry,” Calderon says.

Whilst the main source of money for R&D in Australian universities is general university funds, Calderon says, 17 per cent comes from Australian Competitive Grants and 14 per cent is funded through other commonwealth government channels.

“The critical message we can take away from what is occurring in Asian and other emerging economies is that we must maintain, if not increase, our overall expenditure on education and research training – as well as research and development – to remain competitive and adapt to the changing world dynamics,” Calderon says. “In this context, the role of the Australian government in providing support to universities and incentives for expanding Australia’s R&D efforts across all entities is vital.”

One way to foster close links is to establish an industry fund to support doctorate research training. “Doctorate students would undertake research in cooperation with enterprises,” Calderon explains. “This can be a springboard to increasing cooperation for publications, commercialisation of research and patents.”

He compared THE’s index with another www.campusreview.com.au

ranking, the Global Innovation Index (GII), 2013 edition, released in July. The GII ranked Australia 19th, compared with 15th in THE’s list.

“In a nutshell, Australia does better in THE,” Calderon says. “But the GII is a more complex index,” he says. “The key message that we can draw from both indices is that Australian universities are doing well as institutions in building Australia’s capability in R&D and promoting innovation. These results highlight Australia’s weakness in expenditure on education and the need for increased investment in R&D.”

Incomplete picture

Charles Darwin University vice-chancellor Barney Glover, who is also the chair of Innovative Research Universities (IRU), says the World Academic Summit Innovation Index does not show the total amount of funding received from industry, as the measure given is per academic, not a national total.

“The index also only covers those universities that participate in the Global Institutional Profiles Project conducted by Thomson Reuters, so it does not give a comprehensive, national picture for any country,” Glover says.

He points out that in 2011, Australian universities received more than $700 million of research income from industry, other non-government and international sources, but he does acknowledge that a boost in industry support is necessary.

“The IRU agrees that we need more industry investment in university research, particularly since industry itself employs very few researchers in Australia, when compared with other nations,” Glover says. “A particular challenge for Australia is the lack of multinational corporations headquartered here, [which is] particularly acute for universities based outside of the large Australian cities.

“Universities need to work harder to get the attention of the headquarters – where decisions on research investment are often made. We can be competitive but need to work at being known.”

High gear

Institutions such as Monash University were already switched into high gear in pursuit of the corporate dollar, before the rankings even came out.

Monash vice-chancellor professor Ed Byrne shares, “In addition to our ongoing engagement projects, we are constantly building on our international collaborations and developing our industry partnerships globally.

“The university has just announced that the Indian Institute of TechnologyMonash Research Academy and one of

Saudi Arabia’s largest companies, SABIC, will join forces to produce graduates with highly specialised knowledge required by the advanced chemicals and polymers industry,” Byrne says.

He adds that Monash’s international collaboration at Suzhou with the Southeast University (SEU) – one of China’s key national schools – will produce postgraduates and researchers with ideas to change people’s lives in the region, through the Suzhou Industrial Park, one of the largest innovation precincts in China and recognised as one of the world’s most dynamic places for turning clever research into valuable industrial processes and products.

“Monash University has also partnered with CSIRO to establish the Australian Manufacturing and Materials Precinct at Clayton, [Victoria], which will build on the existing research strengths of the two organisations,” he says.

Asia and Australia

The editor-at-large of THE magazine, Phil Baty, says, “The relatively weak position of Australia in this new index is less a question of specific failings by Australia, and more a case of the extraordinary emphasis that [many parts of East Asia] have placed on the importance of universities as key drivers of the knowledge economy.”

“Governments have been investing heavily in Asia on applied research in areas with quick, real-world applications that power economic growth, and businesses are also recognising the benefits of investing in the new ideas and innovations emerging from university laboratories,” Baty says. “In the extremely tough global competition among top research universities, an ability to win funding from business, as well as from student tuition fees, government and philanthropists will be an increasingly key part of an institution’s success.

“What is often called the ‘third mission’ of universities behind teaching and research – the transfer of knowledge from the ivory tower to the real world – is now becoming a central part of their activities; and this will only intensify as state funding for research in Australia diminishes.

“This is why we have put the issue at the top of the agenda for the Times Higher Education World Academic Summit in Singapore [in October],” Baty says. “And also why, I think, so many of the registered delegates are from Australia.” n For more on The World Academic Summit Innovation index, go to: theworldacademicsummit.com For more on the Global Innovation Index, go to: glovalinnovationindex.org Issue 9 2013 | 25

faculty focus

Three for the world Macquarie offers new business degrees designed for the evolving global marketplace.

By Antonia Maiolo

F

rom next year, Macquarie University will offer three new degree options designed to equip students to become leading professionals in international business.

The degrees are the bachelor of business leadership and commerce, bachelor of business analytics and bachelor of global business. Professor Mark Gabbott, executive dean of the faculty of business and economics at Macquarie University, says the courses were developed in response to the evolving expectations and needs of the university’s students, as well as what businesses now require from graduates. “[Each degree represents] a major change to the workplace for our students,” Gabbott says. “We’re experiencing important technological advancements and the rise of consumer data and global trade, which requires cross-cultural management as well as [increasing the] need for collaborative work that fosters innovative solutions to business problems.”

Macquarie University is renowned for its business programs; eight of the top 15 degrees it offers are in that field. The three new degrees join the bachelor of commerce, bachelor of commerce – professional accounting, bachelor of business administration, bachelor of applied finance, master of commerce, master of applied finance, master of business administration, and master of accounting.

26 | Issue 9 2013

Inside the new degrees

Gabbott says he believes the bachelor of business leadership and commerce is the first of its kind. It is a four-year integrated degree program designed with industry input from the Business Council of Australia.

The course combines high-level skills graduates will need – such as leadership, decision-making, problem solving and communication – with the technical expertise developed in the bachelor of commerce. The amount of leadership content will be progressively increased from the second to the fourth year.

The course is highly selective, just 40 students will be offered a place.

Applicants will be assessed through an interviews process and their ATAR score.

“The reason for this is that we don’t believe you can teach leadership skills from scratch,” Gabbott says. “There has to be some basis on which we can develop those skills; we don’t believe an ATAR is a good representative of that potential.”

The university states a degree in business leadership can lead to roles including accountant, business analyst, human resources manager, management consultant, marketing consultant and sales manager.

The second degree, bachelor of business analytics, was designed in response to employers’ demands for graduates with business intelligence skills.

“One of the biggest changes taking

place in the work environment is around being able to extract usable information from big data sets,” Gabbott says. The three-year course aims to give business graduates the skills and knowledge necessary to understand big data, information management and analytics.

Jobs for graduates can include business analyst, business process improvement specialist, data analyst and IT planning manager.

The third degree, the bachelor of global business, combines the faculty of arts with the faculty of business economics. It aims to build skills in global business strategy, cross-cultural dynamics and international trade, to prepare graduates to work in international companies.

The course will combine commercial understanding of global business, a major in an Asian or European language and an internship in an international company. A qualification can lead graduates to careers including global business analyst, political adviser and international relations manager, as well as roles in public services.

What the experts say

Gabbott says the university spent two years consulting with partner organisations within the business community to find out what new skills graduates need for the workplace.

These experts and businesspeople were able to provide feedback in terms of the design of the courses and curriculum.

faculty focus

Karl Lijun Qin was one of about 10 experts who sat on the faculty of business and economics industry advisory committee to assist in with development.

Qin, a part-time lecturer at Macquarie University who has his own manufacturing business producing parts for global mining companies, as well as a corporate background in engineering and manufacturing, was a committee member.

“I gave feedback in terms of what the current business environment changes are, as well as what skills graduates need to meet the demands of employers, as I am one of them,” Qin says.

He says the two main drivers of change for business in the past 20-30 years have

been the advent of globalisation and the internet. Before these developments, Qin says, Australian businesspeople may not have worked with any foreigners throughout their careers, but this is no longer the case.

“Now it’s almost certain that a graduate will have to work with a person from another culture from their very first day,” he explains. “There is a strong demand on everybody in the business world, including most importantly the graduates, to be familiar with the globalised environment.”

He says the idea of introducing these three international business degrees is not to create a brand new curriculum but to modernise the learning criteria for

graduates to meet employers’ demands.

Bob Miller, former marketing chief for Toyota Australia and part-time adjunct lecturer at Macquarie University, also sat on the advisory board. Miller is still heavily involved in industry as a consultant and therefore has a clear idea of the skills graduates will need to succeed.

He says the degrees are also about giving students new ideas to take to employers. “[They can tell employers] what they have learnt and how it can apply to their business,” Miller says, adding that they will offer practical skills that can apply on a global scale. “They are good practical skills in Mumbai or Singapore, they are not just practical in Sydney.” n

Business graduates’ bottom line • In terms of employment prospects shortly after course completion, business studies graduates have outcomes relatively close to the average for all graduates (in 2012, 74.5 per cent compared with 76.1 per cent overall).

• This cohort earned a median starting salary of $48,000, compared with $52,000 for all graduates. This median is calculated based on the reported annual earnings of bachelor degree graduates aged less than 25 and in their first full-

time job in Australia four months after course completion.

• In 2012, a three-year follow-up of 2009 management and commerce bachelor degree graduates found that their employment figures had grown from 82.1 per cent in 2009 to 94.9 per cent in 2012 and their earnings had grown from a median of $50,000 in 2009 to $70,000 in 2012.

• In 1999, 29,374 domestic students

completed courses in management and commerce. In 2011, that number had grown to 38,689, an increase of more than 30 per cent. Over the same period, course completions for all domestic graduates grew by over 39 per cent.

• Management and commerce courses are popular with international students.

In 1999, there were 43,013 course completions by internationals. This grew to 100,290 in 2011, rising more than 133 per cent.

Source: Graduate Careers Australia, DEEWR course completions statistics www.campusreview.com.au

Issue 9 2013 | 27

technology

Stop worrying and love the MOOC F Free online offerings can be the catalyst for much needed change in campus offerings.

By Jo Dane

28 | Issue 9 2013

ear of change versus fear of not changing – this is the bind facing many university academics and administrators at present. The necessity of change is being driven by technology, increasing student numbers and expectations of high-quality teaching. The resistance to change is being driven by an ageing academic workforce, the cost-effectiveness of traditional lecturing and the ongoing tension between research and teaching. But today’s university students have different expectations and demands, which makes them a vastly different proposition to students of only a decade ago. Some researchers have even suggested the current generation of students have differently wired brains as an anthropological response to being digitally connected 24/7.

There is no better example of this generation gap than in the execution of a typical university lecture, which continues to prevail as the foundation of the university learning experience. Lecturing over the centuries has evolved from reading texts to adding visuals using slide projectors, overhead projectors and eventually internet-enabled data projectors (the visual enhancements were introduced only in the last 40 years). With the greatest of intentions, universities began recording lectures, to allow legitimately absent students to access lecture content, and as a useful revision tool. However, many students have realised that accessing a recording of the lecture online is just as effective as attending in person. As audits of lecture theatres across campuses will demonstrate, the numbers of students attending lectures has severely reduced. Students have become adept at using the technology to manipulate the system to best suit their lifestyles.

Is this surprising? No. Students have been complaining for decades about boring lectures, with only a small percentage of lecturers being regarded as interesting or entertaining. Furthermore, research into teaching and learning over the last 40 years has seriously questioned the

technology effectiveness of lectures. In 1972, following a comprehensive study of research into the effectiveness of lecturing, Donald A. Bligh declared in his book, What’s the Use of Lectures?: • The lecture is as effective as other methods for transmitting information but not more effective • Most lectures are not as effective as more active methods for the promotion of thought • Changing student attitudes should not normally be the major objective of a lecture Other education researchers have questioned the role of lecturing in universities, endorsing a more active role for students. In particular, Diana Laurillard, head of the e-Learning Strategy Unit at the Department for Education and Skills in the UK, posed: “If we forget the 800 years of university tradition that legitimises [lectures], and imagine starting afresh with the problem of how best to enable a large percentage of the population to understand difficult and complex ideas, I doubt that lectures will immediately spring to mind as the obvious solution.”

Despite the evidence that students don’t learn as effectively in lectures, and despite the evidence that students prefer to access the lecture content online rather than face to face, universities have continued to systematically program lectures as the centrepiece of higher education.

A new direction

But now there is a game-changer on the horizon. In two short years, massive open online courses (MOOCs) have begun to disrupt higher education, threatening the foundations of universities that have endured for hundreds of years. If you are yet to fully grasp the MOOC concept, it is a free online course that anyone can enrol in. You don’t have to comply with specific prerequisites (although the fine print may indicate that some level of understanding of a specific topic is an advantage). There are no fees, no contact hours, no age restrictions; all you need is access to a computer, an internet connection and a desire to learn. You won’t be just one student in a cohort of one hundred, or one thousand. You might be one student in a cohort of over one hundred thousand!

Yes, there is content, coursework, assessment; and there are teachers and even online communities of learners.

MOOCs often claim to offer content equivalent to what fee-paying students access in their campus-based courses.

Coursework is self-directed and in some cases self-assessed. You could be forgiven for questioning the difference between a student attending a campusbased course and a MOOC, apart from www.campusreview.com.au

the fact you don’t have to get out of your pyjamas to participate in the latter. The downside is that until now, participants have received little more than a certificate of accomplishment upon completion, although several institutions are seriously considering some form of accreditation.

How long will it be before professional accreditations will be available via MOOCs? The Rotman School of Management’s Don Tapscott recently claimed in Canada’s The Globe and Mail newspaper that universities as we know them have officially changed forever. Not only are MOOCs attracting millions of students, providers are collaborating with universities to pave the way for accreditation. Even more disruptive to higher education is the notion that schools will soon be accepting MOOC accreditations from other institutions in order to confer their own accreditation upon students. In other words, students will soon be able to tailor a degree from subjects undertaken at different institutions. Thomas Friedman wrote in The New York Times that he predicts a day when, “you’ll create your own college degree by taking the best online courses from the best professors from around the world”. Now that is a game-changer that promises to have universities rethinking their offering to feepaying students.

So do you get what you pay for?

My primary concern with discussions on MOOCs is that they are rarely promoted as high-quality learning experiences. They are heralded as free and convenient, not as an effective way to learn. One clear exception is the outrageously successful Artificial Intelligence MOOC delivered through Stanford University in 2011, which attracted 160,000 students.

Google’s Peter Norvig, one of the two academics responsible for the course, presented a TED Talk in February 2012 in which he detailed a well-considered pedagogical philosophy behind the online course. This talk demonstrated that it is possible to plan and deliver a pedagogically sound online program that does not seek to create an online version of a lecturebased course. If all online courses could be structured with such pedagogical purpose, then universities would genuinely have something to worry about. But where threats exist, so too does opportunity.

The great advantage campus-based courses have over MOOCs is that they offer a range of experiences that cannot be replicated online: they enhance the social, cultural and intellectual pursuit of knowledge. The great opportunity for universities is to improve the quality of education delivered on campus, so as to make it irresistible to academics, students, employers and researchers.

Raising the quality of higher education

has been an explicit aim of the federal government and Australian universities for several years, while at the same time officials have resisted change to instructional delivery methods. Research literature provides a clear picture of what effective teaching and learning looks like, but has for too long been unsupported by university administrators and academics.

An even greater inhibitor to the shift towards effective campus-based learning has been aged infrastructure that was efficiently designed for didactic teaching practice but not for active student learning.

Architects and designers in the field of environmental psychology will contend that a physical environment can be designed to yield specific human behaviours. In other words, it is possible to design an environment that promotes active, social and intellectual activities in students and teachers.

It is my proposition that the quality of higher education can be raised by designing the university campus as a series of active learning environments, to support the theoretical principles of effective learning. Of course, other changes will be required, too: faculty support to promote team teaching; professional development of teachers; cloud-based software; accessible mobile technologies.

There is not one singular panacea for universal transformation; it will be a complex matrix of changing structures, models, perceptions and beliefs – but a process that must include the design of the physical as well as the metaphysical.

With the shadows of MOOCs hanging over universities like the digital cloud in which they are situated, pressure is mounting for institutions to reinvent themselves. Now is the time for universities to reconceptualise what a truly effective and meaningful learning experience looks like.

What’s the best way to educate hundreds or thousands of students at a time whilst still providing an active and engaging experience? This reinvention demands restructuring courses and staff, implementing innovative approaches to teaching and learning, giving students a reason to come to campus and re-engage with the academy. These things must occur for universities to survive.

And this is why I believe MOOCs are good for universities. Not because they are the best thing since sliced bread, but because the fear of their success will catapult institutions into action to change what has been unchanged for centuries and, ultimately, to improve the quality of teaching and learning in higher education. n Jo Dane is a designer, educator and researcher at global architecture studio Woods Bagot.

Issue 9 2013 | 29

TAFE

Driving change

means laying down

pathways T These are volatile times in the TAFE sector; to survive, leaders need to establish a culture that is ready for change. By Christina Hong

30 | Issue 9 2013

he current seismic shifts occurring across the VET landscape and the intensity of the dynamic at play are clearly evidenced through the headlines in past editions of Campus Review: “Collaborate to compete”, “The marketisation of TAFE”, “Sector policy in Australia: Skills shock”, “Blowing the whistle on dodgy providers”, “Flexibility key to survival”, “Globalise or perish”, “A lean and mean year”, “TAFEs on a hiding to nothing”.

It would seem an understatement to say VET is in a state of flux. Reform agendas are under way at both federal and state levels to address the perceived deficiencies in the system. However, even though these reforms are themselves contributing to the sector’s volatility in varying degrees, the underlying value proposition of VET – its contribution to the economic and social fabric of communities – continues to be sustained.

TAFE reform agendas

The Queensland government has embarked on an ambitious program to reform the sector with a commitment to establish a clear role, purpose and strategic direction for the future of TAFE. The goal is to create a stronger, more agile, more efficient TAFE system. One that delivers improved outcomes for students, industry and the community and ensures that Queensland has the skills it needs to prosper into the future. The government passed legislation in May that establishes TAFE Queensland as an independent statutory body. The TAFE Queensland parent entity established on July 1, with a soon to

be formed commercially focused TAFE Queensland Board, will undertake the transfer of the functions and operations of TAFE from the Department of Education, Training and Employment to the new parent entity. It will also oversee the creation of seven new operating entities through the restructure of the 13 existing Queensland TAFEs by July 1, 2014.

Running in tandem with the TAFE reform agenda is the revitalisation of the VET sector over the next five years through the implementation of Great Skills Real Opportunities: the Queensland Government reform action plan for further education and training. These broader VET reforms, aligned to the federal reform agenda, include: promoting a more openly contestable, competitive training market; the introduction of national Certificate III entitlement to subsidised training places; and more flexible trade training arrangements.

Given this radical but necessary reform activity, what are the considerations going forward and the key shifts that need to emerge out of the reforms to ensure that the desired transformation occurs?

Marketisation of VET

At face value, a more openly contestable VET market with public funds accessible by a heterogeneous mix of registered training organisations (thereby providing the market with a greater range of choices), may well seem to be a reasonable way of achieving a more equitable training landscape. However, critiques by VET

TAFE commentators from other constituencies present cautionary tales for TAFE reform in Queensland. In the June issue of Campus Review, University of Melbourne associate professor Leesa Wheelahan warns of the potential risk to TAFE providers of marketisation (“The Marketisation of TAFE”), as exemplified by the decline of TAFE market share in Victoria from 67 per cent in 2008 to 42 per cent in 2011. The private provider market, by comparison, increased its share from 16 per cent to 46 per cent in that time and now dominates training delivery in 11 of the 19 industries. The other cautionary note Wheelahan expresses concerns the invisible work – the social justice agenda the TAFE public provider traditionally upholds. In anticipating marketisation, reform leaders will need to purposefully consider the ways and means by which TAFE will continue to value and sustain programs of social inclusion.

Brendan Sheehan, writing in February’s Campus Review (“A lean & mean year”), similarly underscores these points, although he does acknowledge that the Queensland model is reasonable in that it does at least give the nod to the fundamental role of the TAFE provider in underpinning the training system by ensuring provision in thin markets.

Acting locally, networking nationally, working globally

A revitalised TAFE Queensland that acts locally is networked nationally and works globally will be necessary to produce the desired outcomes of reform. The all-important impetus locally will involve collaboration, not competition, across TAFE providers. A strategic focus on further leveraging genuine partnerships with industry to enhance skills development, promote innovation and assure quality outcomes will be a key driver.

Nationally, integral to the future vision will be the establishment of strategic networks that enable activity such as institutional benchmarking for nationwide consistency, advocacy, and the opportunity to leverage economies of scale to pursue business enterprises here and overseas.

Partnerships should be fostered to capitalise on the needs of developing economies and market optimisation opportunities through global outreach. As TAFE NSW’s David Riordan commented in May’s Campus Review (“Globalise or perish”), “Australian training providers who benchmark themselves globally rather than looking inwardly will be best positioned to meet and exceed future challenges in the volatile vocational market”.

University partnerships and higher education delivery by TAFE providers will also advance the educational and financial www.campusreview.com.au

outcomes of institutes in the future. At the Southbank Institute of Technology (SBIT), about 280 articulation pathways to university courses enable seamless qualifications pathways from certificate through to degree.

About 50 per cent of our SBIT graduates progress on to university degrees. In an era of greater contestability, the opportunity to retain a significant percentage of these current pathway enrolments ought to be optimised.

As at other TAFE providers, university degrees are now taught on the SBIT campus in addition to our own higher education program delivery. However, to echo the growing call from the sector, the current funding arrangement that requires students undertaking TAFE own-degrees to pay full tuition is fundamentally inequitable.

High-level consideration is needed to address this anomaly; particularly because applied vocational degrees that are differentiated from university degrees are increasingly sought by the market and industry and professional stakeholders support them.

Investing in Quality

Core to the reform agenda is the focus on the enhancement of provider quality.

The development of a quality culture that comprises the shared values, beliefs, expectations and commitments towards quality will be an a priori concern, as will structural and managerial elements with defined processes that aim to enhance quality by coordinating efforts.

Cultural change in any organisation – and certainly the development of a quality culture – requires significant investment of resources, time, and commitment.

An institution’s quality culture must acknowledge as fundamental tenets ways of working that include a strong customerservice focus, evidenced-based decisionmaking, outcomes-based activity and continuous improvement.

Mechanisms will include strong corporate and academic governance and the use of business intelligence and learning analytics to help foster continuous improvement in educational accountability, affordability, productivity and student success.

The ability to develop and apply new technologies to foster more future-oriented business process design and product delivery will be essential for a re-engineered TAFE Queensland. At SBIT, recent work in the field of learning analytics has included the development of high-level quality indicators in addition to finer-grained learner experience surveys, which will ultimately be incorporated into the development of a course quality dashboard.

Such analytics provide trend data across

key indicators such as: successful course completion; student retention; qualification completion; student progression and graduate destinations. This information allows evidenced-based decisions pertaining to business planning and continuous improvement.

Development of an institutional quality culture is also synonymous with investment in VET scholarship and applied research and the ongoing professionalisation of staff across levels.

The right balance needs to be found between the necessary further professionalisation of the teacher workforce and greater flexibility regarding the terms of their recruitment, (inclusive of higher education provision) professional currency and conditions of work.

Whilst commercially successful institutions with VET products that are flexible and responsive to market forces are the desired outcomes of reform, the engine of the TAFE enterprise resides in the quality of its teachers and their skilful, knowledgeable and reflective engagement with stakeholders, including new literacy demands and digital pedagogies.

Enabling change

Building a flexible culture to help the transition into the anticipated future state is arguably the most challenging aspect that lies ahead for the TAFE sector in Queensland. There will be a need to cultivate clarity about the imperatives, the necessary actions and intended outcomes of the change agenda. A transparent communication strategy that is responsive to feedback will be essential, as will the acknowledgement that change is a complex learning and unlearning process likely to be felt deeply.

Ultimately however –to borrow commentary from the higher education sector – as authors Peter Coaldrake and Lawrence Stedman argue in Raising the Stakes: Gambling with the future of Australian Universities, faced with greater competition and reduced prospects for public funding, it is the universities and, concomitantly, the TAFE institutes themselves that will provide the impetus and take responsibility for undertaking change and adaptation to meet complex and uncertain futures.

So whilst federal and state governments might direct the path for a reformed TAFE sector in Queensland, the onus will be on the deployment of strong strategic, operational and tactical institutional leadership to fully optimise the transformational outcomes necessary. n Dr Christina Hong is acting CEO/institute director of Southbank Institute of Technology.

Issue 9 2013 | 31

VC’s corner

Don’t be so rigid Universities are going to have to be flexible to meet the demands of modern students and get the best out of staff.

By John Dewar “The only man I know who behaves sensibly is my tailor; he takes my measurements anew each time he sees me. The rest go on with their old measurements and expect me to fit them.”

– George Bernard Shaw

L

ike it or not, there have been significant changes in higher education over the last 20 years.

What was historically a privileged experience for the few is now open to all and has become one of Australia’s largest export industries.

Despite these fundamental changes, some traditions and practices of the past still predominate and threaten to hold the sector back.

In this brave new world, universities are increasingly exposed to the same market forces that drive private-sector performance. Success as a university under these conditions requires consideration of how an institution’s education and research relate to shifting patterns of market demand and preference.

The demand-driven system means that, within reason, students (whom many now describe as “the customer”) and their families are far more empowered.

As educators, we must offer and deliver a distinctive and high-quality experience.

Otherwise, students will simply go elsewhere – to another more responsive provider, here in Australia or anywhere in the world.

Students are increasingly choosing this option – since 2007, 50 per cent

32 | Issue 9 2013

VC’s corner more students are transferring their initial institution after commencement. Whilst this increase comes from a low base, the trend is clear and cannot be ignored.

Australian universities have, despite many challenges, been the beneficiaries of wider economic good fortune over the last decade. The mining boom enabled significant increases in government higher education outlays, funding more research and enrolments. Many in the sector would have preferred increased funding per student, but all universities demonstrated that expansion was not dependent on per-student funding.

Just as China’s appetite for our mineral resources protected the Australian economy from financial storms buffeting Europe and the Americas, China’s appetite for our qualifications has protected Australian universities. Our sector has displayed tremendous ingenuity in building and accommodating international demand.

Higher education’s export income over a decade quadrupled to about $10 billion, counteracting the impact of declining government payments per student.

Today, there are signs that our lucky streak may be about to end. Government revenue writedowns have triggered a series of multibillion-dollar cuts to the higher education budget. The sector’s exports are down 4.4 per cent from a peak of $10.2 billion in 2012. Growth in international student income has ground to a halt due to the combined impact of the strong dollar, instability in international student policy, student safety concerns, a weak global economy and global competition.

While there are signs of recovery in international demand – commencements are up by 3.3 per cent in the first half of 2013, an increase preceded by three years of decline – the growth of the postmillennium decade will be a hard act to follow. The factors influencing the downturn have not gone away. Key Asian markets continue to build the capacity and quality of their home-grown education systems.

Australia’s response to the global financial crisis included massive investment in education infrastructure. The drawdown of the Education Infrastructure Fund was a real fillip to university capital plans. Now the sector must revert to income-driven investment in new buildings and maintenance, which will be difficult to accommodate within the context of softening institutional income.

In short, in a time when structural reforms have taken place around us, universities themselves have been relatively immune to the pressures that have triggered significant workplace change in other industries.

The more recent combination of declining government and international student revenue and the increasing www.campusreview.com.au

influence of market forces poses a challenge to the sector for which there is no precedent. Greater competitiveness and volatility in teaching and research income demands a flexible workforce, which we lack – both historically and in current practice.

What do I mean? A cursory glance around the sector reveals some obvious examples.

The proportion of students who combine work and study has increased.

The sector enrols many more mature age and postgraduate students for whom the weekday 9-5, two-semester timetable is now irrelevant. The proportion of students studying through a mixture of on-campus and distance education modes has increased by more than 80 per cent over the last decade and is likely to increase faster in the future.

The technology that allows us to undertake routine tasks such as shopping and banking 24 hours a day, seven days a week is also creating an expectation that other information and services – such as essay lodging or access to educational resources – can be done on demand and without requiring a physical on-campus presence.

The question we need to ask ourselves is: can universities thrive whilst workforce practices are grounded in a standard business hours mindset? The span of hours that count as a working day are too restrictive at a time when students and the community require more flexibility.

As universities around the country are deadlocked in collective agreement negotiations, it is timely to ask if this bargaining sufficiently accounts for current educational needs and the likely future evolution of the workplace.

As a sector, we need to be more flexible, responsive, nimble and accountable; not only to answer student needs, but also to give our staff the chance to take advantage of the exciting new opportunities emerging through more flexible approaches to defining and rewarding academic work.

Examples of inertia, however, are many.

A defining attribute of Australian universities is the requirement for most staff to undertake research leading to new knowledge and creative endeavour. Whilst there is no requirement that this research be rated a five under the Excellence in Research for Australia system, there is a significant proportion of staff employed and paid in part for their research who do not publish anything.

Can universities confidently assert to governments and students that their money is being well spent when reasonable expectations of research activity remain unmet?

Inflexible and prescriptive workplace

terms and conditions make it difficult for employees and/or a university to construct career paths that are responsive to the needs of the university, students and the increasingly diversified cohort of university staff.

Within existing awards, the presumption of a work regime consisting of 40 per cent teaching, 40 per cent research and 20 per cent service activity constrains the individual and the university, limiting both in creating realistic expectations that may change across an individual’s career span.

It is proving inordinately difficult to break that one-size-fits-all approach, to the detriment of both universities and their staff members. What is wrong with a staff member who wants to focus on teaching at a particular phase of a career, such as when they’re returning to work from maternity leave or have a young family – periods when unbroken time on research may prove difficult? Similarly, why not enable research-productive staff to have periods of unbroken time when they are flourishing in that domain? And what of the staff member who demonstrates particular leadership acumen, whose time may be more valuably spent in university service beyond the allocated 20 per cent?

The current situation too frequently assumes an increasingly elusive norm in academia and is a recipe for mediocrity, at a time when we need creativity and flexibility.

Archaic and overly restrictive workplace conditions also put major hurdles in the way of universities wishing to implement strategic change and educational innovation in fields such as blended and online learning.

Universities thrive in a context of innovation and exist in part to interrogate and challenge accepted thinking. The generation of new knowledge depends on this sort of bold engagement. It seems ironic then, that the very work culture of such institutions has militated against such engagement and resists modern work practices and industrial relations reforms.

In coming months, the sector must face some difficult adjustments. Those who expect students to bend to institutional rigidities may find that some give at the seams is required.

Success in challenging times will require universities, staff and unions alike to work together more effectively to find better ways of providing students and industry with high-quality, internationally competitive higher education.

We must rethink the workplace conventions that limit our adaptation to new possibilities. n Professor John Dewar, vice-chancellor, La Trobe University.

Issue 9 2013 | 33

VET

Worth every

penny and more?

What rate of return on investment in VET would get the attention of the new federal government, John Mitchell asks.

P

redictably, the newly installed federal government will be lobbied by education groups from all sectors and political persuasions. Hopefully the new government will give more of a hearing to those groups that champion the interests of a whole sector, particularly if the analysis demonstrates significant positive benefits.

In the VET sector, lobbyists for public and private can happily journey to Canberra, arm in arm, waving around a new report that champions the entire sector and provides a compelling economic analysis of the potential returns from increased investment in VET. The August 2013 report was prepared by Independent Economics, led by director Chris Murphy and is titled Cost benefit analysis and returns from additional investment in vocational education and training.

The report was produced for the peak TAFE body TAFE Directors Australia and funded by the Commonwealth Department of Industry, Innovation, Climate Change, Science, Research and Tertiary Education.

The research was supported by Industry Skills Councils and the draft report was commented upon by representatives from the Australian Workplace and Productivity Agency, the National Centre for Vocational Education Research and the Australian National University.

34 | Issue 9 2013

The report estimates the economywide benefits and costs of the increased VET funding governments committed to in April 2012 under the National Agreement on Skills and Workforce Development (NASWD). It also estimates the costs and benefits of even more funding.

The real rate of return on last year’s increased investment in VET, targeted at people completing a Certificate III qualification or above, is what Murphy describes in an interview for Campus Review as high, at 18 per cent, the report states.

This compares favourably with 9 per cent which “is about the average return on business investment”, Murphy says.

“That means if you put a dollar in you get a net return of nine cents per year on an ongoing basis, whereas our study found that an extra dollar of funding for VET yields a return of 18 cents per year on an ongoing basis.”

The report estimates the total costs of VET at $7.0 billion, including tuition and related contributions by governments, students and businesses, and the foregone earnings of students.

However, the total benefits are dramatically higher than the

costs, at $20.4 billion, consisting mainly of what the report calls employability benefits; that is, “workers with VET training are more likely to participate in the workforce, less likely to be unemployed and more likely to work full time than those with no post-school qualification”. The $20.4 billion also includes productivity benefits of $2.0 million because “VET training leads to work in more highly skilled occupations”.

VET What if more were invested in VET?

This raises an obvious question, “If the return’s so high, why isn’t more money being put in?” Murphy offers some observations and possible answers.

First, an observation: governments could take the initiative and simply fund more places, he says. “There is strong evidence that there’s unmet demand for places; so not enough places are being funded.”

Second, potential students don’t realise the payback they can obtain from investing in VET study.

“There’s some evidence in the US that for students from lower socioeconomic groups in particular, that’s an issue,” Murphy says. “One way of dealing with that is to reduce the cost of attending VET by government partly funding the [student] place, which of course they do.”

Third, students may not have sufficient cash to pay for their course in advance.

“Some people think they may not be able to finance [the upfront costs of attending VET], lessening their opportunity to work,” Murphy says. “That is an argument for something like a HECS loan scheme so that people can study now and pay later, when they’re earning an income.”

A unique feature of the Independent Economics research is the exploration of the possible national benefits of governments

contributing even more to VET than they agreed to in April 2012.

That attractive 18 per cent rate raises the question, Murphy says, “of why don’t you go a step further to a funding scenario where the Commonwealth’s putting in an extra $2 billion rather than just an extra $1 billion over the five years to 2017?”

“Assuming that the states also put in extra money, then [VET] would get extra money from students and the benefits go up almost commensurately, so there is a strong case for committing still further funds.”

Murphy is confident the extra student places funded would be filled, justifying the expenditure. “There is enough unmet demand for places to absorb that extra funding. So there’s a strong case for going at least as far as that further expansion scenario.”

Revaluing module completions

Another feature of the Independent Economics research is the examination of the benefits derived from VET students completing only modules [units of competence], or skills sets consisting of groups of modules. This analysis contrasts with the conventional focus on the value of students completing full programs.

“So it’s important for this kind of [sector-wide cost benefit] analysis, and to get a realistic estimate of the [national] returns to VET, to take into account [not just] the returns for people who complete full qualifications, as the number who complete modules is quite a high percentage of VET students,” Murphy says.

His approach is counter to a negative public narrative around VET in the last three or four years, that VET’s in dire straits with low completion rates and surely someone’s stuffing up – whether it’s providers, regulators, politicians, employers or students. The tone of Murphy’s work is positive not negative, in arguing that almost every VET student completes a module and this is of value to the nation.

“You do need to allow for those [module completions] to get the full story.

It is true that only around one-third of students complete full qualifications, but actually only

10 per cent of students don’t complete any modules at all. “[Most] students are completing modules rather than completing full qualifications and are getting a benefit from that, so obviously in this kind of [cost-benefit] analysis it’s critical to take that into account.”

The positive story about VET students completing modules and skill sets would be even stronger if more data were collected, Murphy says.

“We do collect data on module completers but an important category of module completers are people who do skill sets, which are combinations of modules, to acquire certain skills. We don’t have any data that tells us about people who undertake skill sets separately from other module completers, and so to do a good evaluation of the value of skill sets, we’d need that data so we can extract the two types of module completers.”

Murphy suspects that the reason data is not collected about people who undertake skills sets is because “some people look at VET in the same way they look at university and they don’t understand the subtle differences between the aims of VET versus universities”.

“Universities are very much more about people completing full qualifications. But VET’s about making sure that we’ve got a workforce that’s adapting to the sort of skills that industry needs.”

Even the Productivity Commission misunderstood the value of people completing skills sets, Murphy says. “I think people who are new to looking at VET and perhaps have studied the university system in the past can miss that.

Indeed, in the draft report the Productivity Commission missed that point. It went some way to addressing it in its final report but not sufficiently.”

VET lobbyists seeking to influence the incoming government might do well to listen to Murphy’s advice. He suggests that future VET policy could include an analysis of “the costs and benefits for these policies and estimate the overall rate of return rather than just looking at them more superficially. Taking a cost-benefit analysis approach to alternative policy ideas in the VET space I think is important.” n Dr John Mitchell’s company measures workforce capabilities. jmaanalytics.com.au

www.campusreview.com.au

Issue 9 2013 | 35

VET

Shine

a light on quality It’s past time to raise the standards for VET teacher qualifications.

By Erica Smith

36 | Issue 9 2013

O

ver the last three years, there has been considerable debate about the quality of vocational education and training teaching in Australia. This debate began in earnest with the Productivity Commission’s report into the VET workforce in late 2010 and has continued since then with a range of national developments, each of which has touched upon the possibility that a better qualified VET workforce might lead to higher-quality teaching and assessment.

At times over these three years of debate, it has seemed as though there was light at the end of the tunnel, but at other times that light has receded rapidly to a pinprick, or even disappeared altogether.

Whilst nobody would deny that some excellent teaching takes place in VET, most people would agree that the quality of teaching and assessment is too low overall. There are several indicators of this. For example, employers reportedly have little confidence in the outcomes of the VET system. Its infrastructure is (or was, until recently) excellent, but its basic function is not performing well. I first wrote for Campus Review on this topic in 2003, talking at that time about the gradual withdrawal (now complete) of TAFE systems from requiring their new full-time teachers to gain university qualifications in VET teaching. Four years later, in “Are we throwing away the TAA?” I explored the lost opportunity to provide a better-quality Certificate IV qualification for VET teachers.

It is depressing to review those papers and to see that the effects I predicted have in fact come about.

Although the obvious solution to an underskilled workforce in any other industry is to raise its qualification levels, this solution seems unattractive to the VET sector.

The minimum qualification for VET teachers is the Certificate IV in Training and Assessment. From 1999 through 2004, I was a member of the national steering committee for the development of the TAA version of this qualification, which aimed to provide a higher-quality standard than the previous BSZ version. In 2000-01, I was also involved in the development and review of three other training packages.

At the other training package steering committee meetings, industry representatives argued forcefully for qualifications of a high standard. In the TAA committee, however, I was surprised that the industry representatives (VET providers) argued against higher standards, continually attempting to downgrade the scope and content of the Certificate IV. The culmination of this sorry tale was that at the last minute the “delivery of training” unit of competency was removed

VET from the core of the Certificate IV. We were told that the states and territories had insisted on this.

The reason was, reportedly, that not all teachers taught face to face in their daily work. Yet qualifications are designed to prepare people for work in an occupation, not just in a particular workplace!

But what about higher level qualifications? Why don’t we want VET teachers to possess university degrees?

Why is VET so different from other sectors of education or, indeed, other industries?

Do we fear that fewer people will enter the occupation if the bar is set too high?

This was the Productivity Commission’s main argument in its report on the VET workforce. Yet no real evidence has ever been provided for this argument, and it is not applied to other occupations, such as nursing. Moreover, other countries do require higher-level qualifications and still manage to find VET teachers.

Or does VET think it should be able to fully educate its own workforce? We do not see the schooling sector delivering school-teaching qualifications or the early childhood sector delivering early childhood teaching qualifications. Is there a distrust of those who provide higher-level qualifications?

It is sometimes stated that the quality of university VET teacher-education courses was at one time uneven, but no firm evidence exists for this either. Or could it be that VET providers think their teachers and trainers would not be prepared to share the financial and time burden of higher-level qualifications?

For most professional jobs in Australia, people are required to fund their own qualifications through HECS, and to study on their own time. Does the complexity of the VET sector provide an excuse to shelter behind?

The VET workforce is, in fact, probably no more diverse than many others that happily accommodate a range of people with diverse qualifications. For example, in the road-building industry, which I have recently been researching, at major worksites one sees people with university degrees, people with civil construction Certificate IVs, and people with plant operator units of competency. Nobody would argue that all workers should have engineering degrees; but equally nobody would argue that it would be adequate if the most highly qualified person on a major site held only a Certificate IV. Arguments against raising the bar for VET teaching qualifications have been buttressed by three statements that are repeated from government report to government report. These were first printed in the Productivity Commission report and were seen most recently in www.campusreview.com.au

the National Skills Standards Council’s June 2013 paper Improving vocational education and training. The three statements were flimsy the first time they were made, and constant repetition doesn’t make them more solid. The first is that the Certificate IV “if taught properly” is adequate preparation for a VET practitioner. This was lifted, out of context, from a research report that listed a number of qualifiers. The second statement was that employers are satisfied with VET teaching; for this, the NCVER survey of employer views of the VET system was cited, yet the survey didn’t ask any questions directly about the quality of teaching.

The third statement is that many VET teachers do not have the Certificate IV and therefore, so the argument goes, we need to focus our attention on that problem. In fact, the data about people’s qualifications from which this statement was derived, an Australian Bureau of Statistics data set, does not support the assertion. All of these deficiencies were pointed out to the Productivity Commission at the time, in the Australian Council of Deans of Education submission. The Productivity Commission took no notice of this provided evidence; the incorrect statements have been perpetuated and continue to misinform decision-making.

Where are we situated in 2013? The TAE Certificate IV in 2010 attempted to rectify some of the deficiencies in the TAA, but the reality was that many VET practitioners simply purchased their TAE qualifications, and still didn’t know how to undertake basic teaching and assessment functions.

The Diploma of VET was developed partly to provide teachers with the basic teaching and assessment skills that somehow seemed to be missing from the Certificate IV. The diploma even requires learners to undertake periods of teaching and assessment practice – a great improvement.

Yet the indications are that since its introduction in 2012 unsuitable providers may have been rushing to offer the diploma.

The Australian Skills Quality Authority (ASQA) has introduced special requirements for training providers who wish to add TAE qualifications to their scope; it’s the only training package to be singled out in this way and is a sobering commentary on the ability of the VET sector to manage itself.

The year 2013, moreover, finds us with a VET sector that has undergone considerable disturbance in four states and is focused on trying to manage with different structures and less money. The Productivity Commission’s proposition that any deficiencies in the VET workforce could be rectified through professional development looks a little sad in this environment.

Focused on survival, VET providers and state systems have little attention and few resources to spare for professional development for their teachers.

The National Skills Standards Council (NSSC) has made two recent proposals relevant to VET teacher qualifications.

One is that every training provider should have an accountable education officer: one person who knows about pedagogy and curriculum and has to hold only a diploma-level qualification, and doesn’t have to work for the teacher’s organisation.

Imagine the outcry if it was suggested that this was all that was needed in secondary schools. The other proposal is that people who deliver the Certificate IV should have a Diploma of VET. This is a start, but the debate then begins over who is allowed to deliver the diploma so people can’t get it in a weekend. Rather than trying to plug all the potential holes, which appear more quickly than those in the legend of the Dutch dike, should we not be moving towards re-professionalising the VET workforce?

A professionalised workforce in any industry has many advantages. First, members have a sense of where their work fits in the bigger picture; they understand about ethical practice and the need for quality and rigour. They require, on the whole, fewer external compliance structures and less regulation. Members of the occupation can converse with people in other occupations in a productive way.

They understand and embrace the need for lifelong learning. Yet the NSSC has made no pronouncement, in the proposed standards for training providers, about the need for training providers to have a proportion of their staff qualified to a professional level.

Of course higher-level qualifications for VET teachers might not lead to better teaching and assessment. However, governments around the world work on an assumption that more highly qualified workforces provide better outputs and outcomes. It would be odd if VET teaching were the one occupation to which this general rule did not apply. It seems particularly out of place that an industry whose very existence depends on other industries’ training their workforces through qualifications, seems to resist qualifying its workforce to an appropriate level.

Universities have been offering qualifications in VET teacher education for decades. Staff working on these courses work closely with the VET sector, and would welcome the chance for their courses to be benchmarked against standards. Let’s shine the light down the tunnel, get on with the job of improving the quality of the VET workforce and stop finding reasons to avoid it. n Erica Smith is professor of vocational education and training at the University of Ballarat.

Issue 9 2013 | 37

noticeboard Inaugural Chevron chair at Curtin

Professor Chris Elders is the inaugural Chevron professor of petroleum geology at Curtin University, to commence in early October. Elders is from Royal Holloway at the University of London. After graduating from the University of Oxford, he worked as an exploration geologist for the Shell group of companies for five years. Since 1993, he has been with Royal Holloway, where he directed the master of science program in petroleum geosciences before holding the position of professor of petroleum geoscience. In his new post, he will lead Curtin’s research and education programs in the soft rock and petroleum geology field under a funding arrangement from Chevron’s global University Partnership Program that will include a $1 million investment over three years. UPP was developed to establish new research and technology projects, foster academic excellence, expand research capacity, build key relationships and provide student scholarships around the world. Curtin and The University of Western Australia are the only Australian institutions to participate in the program.

Materials expert joins UniSA

Professor Mats Andersson, renowned

Swedish researcher in polymer chemistry, will join the University of South Australia’s Ian Wark Research Institute early next year under a South Australian Research Fellowship. Recently ranked one of the world’s top 50 scientists in materials chemistry, Andersson focuses his research on the development of new materials for energy capture, specifically in photo voltaics and the use of printingtype materials for polymer electronics, as well as the development of hybrid materials. He has also held the position

USQ’s Thomas joins global council University of Southern Queensland vice-chancellor professor Jan Thomas will join the governing committee of the world’s first and oldest international university network. The UK-based Association of Commonwealth Universities represents about 500 institutions across 36 countries. The council promotes and supports excellence in higher education for the benefit of individuals and societies worldwide through academic research, scholarships, the promotion of inter-university cooperation and the sharing of good practice. Thomas was one of 15 vicechancellors from 13 countries to be appointed to the ACU governing committee in August. The Council comprises up to 23 members, who represent constituencies covering major regions.

Thomas will travel to London for her first face-to-face association meeting in October and attend the ACU Centenary Conference. “The association is all about helping universities serve their communities and I feel I have a lot to contribute through the experience gained by USQ’s close links with our community,” Thomas said. She will serve on the ACU Council for a two-year term.

of professor of polymer chemistry at Chalmers University of Technology, where he completed his PhD in 1995 before moving to the University of California to complete postdoctoral research in 1996.

Upon his return to Chalmers, he led the department of chemical and biological engineering, supervising more than 25 PhD and postdoctoral students and developing research and associated publications.

At UniSA, he is expected to contribute to South Australia’s capacity to develop world-class innovation in sustainable energy systems and minerals technologies.

Charles Sturt names campus head

Charles Sturt University has announced Miriam Dayhew as the new campus head at Wagga Wagga. Dayhew is the university ombudsman in Wagga Wagga.

Her previous roles include Murrumbidgee division controller with the State Emergency Service and multiple volunteer roles. The head of campus is held for a period of up to four years. Dayhew is expected to play a lead role in working with communities and civic leaders to inform regional and campus planning. With a background of senior positions in NSW Health, Dayhew has direct knowledge of one of the key priorities for the region and CSU – particularly the need to ensure equity in the delivery of health and community services to people in rural and regional areas.

CSU vice-chancellor professor Andrew Vann said, “Miriam has a passion for the development of our region and community engagement, and has been an active contributor to the thinking of the university around how to better meet the needs of our communities through higher education and research.”

UNSW selects general counsel

UNSW has appointed Elizabeth Grinston as its general counsel.

In this role, Grinston will lead the provision of high-level, expert legal services for the university, as well as the management and strategic direction of the legal office, legal office (research), compliance framework and governance office. She joins the university from Screen Australia, where she has been general counsel since 2009. Prior to that, she was special counsel at Gilbert and Tobin lawyers, a state and federal tribunal member and a partner at Freehills. She has also been with the finance group at a Tokyo law firm now called Nishimura & Asahi. Her specialty is in intellectual property and her experience has covered regulatory and administrative law, general commercial disputes and transactions and copyright issues. She holds a bachelor of arts and bachelor of laws from the University of Sydney and has extensive experience as a corporate lawyer. She will commence at UNSW on October 8.

strictly speaking

Aquamation The process of disposing of human corpses is not usually considered an area of great innovation. So conservative have we been, in Western societies at any rate, that the now common method of cremation was not officially sanctioned in Australia until the start of the 20th century, long after the mock epitaph to English cricket that gave rise to the Ashes series. One of the chief motivations for the uptake of cremation was concern over sanitation, as the population growth caused by the industrialisation of cities was leading to overcrowded graveyards. In similar fashion, a modern environmental problem has led to the development of aquamation by an Australian. This process uses chemically treated water, heat and high pressure to speed up the natural process of decomposition known as alkaline hydrolysis. This is regarded as a biofriendly alternative to cremation, which uses at least 10 times as much energy and produces over 200kg of greenhouse gas. The final output of aquamation can be put back into the earth as fertiliser. The general usefulness of water is indicated by the number of words you can find starting with aqua-, from aquaculture to aqualung, aquacise and now aquamation. You just wouldn’t want to get the last two mixed up.

Written by Adam Smith, senior research assistant at the Centre for Language Sciences, Macquarie University.

38 | Issue 9 2013

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