“Should governments use scarce public research money to build a small number of brilliant universities that can share and initiate global conversations? Or should they build genuine research capacity in all universities, in provincial cities and outer metropolitan areas as well as sandstone heartlands? …” (more)
[Simon Marginson, University World News, 17 July]
“Dropping rankings from journals for the next round of the Excellence in Research for Australia audit was the correct decision, according to a leading thinker on metrics in higher education. Ellen Hazelkorn, Dublin Institute of Technology’s director of research and enterprise in the higher education policy unit, says the Australian Research Council was right to drop the designated A* to C rankings …” (more)
[Jill Rowbotham, The Australian, 6 July]
“Australian universities are so chronically under-funded in their teaching activities that every domestic undergraduate is effectively subsidised to the tune of $1200 by international student fees …” (more)
[Andrew Trounson and Julie Hare, The Australian, 1 July]
“Caught in limbo between his election in early April as the 44th provost of Trinity College Dublin and stepping into the big chair on August 1, Patrick Prendergast has been doing some homework. He was in Melbourne last week to get a first-hand understanding of how the Melbourne model works, and no doubt take a breather from Ireland’s economic woes …” (more)
[Julie Hare, The Australian, 29 June]
“Spiralling class sizes, overcrowding, tutorials replaced by seminars, few avenues for feedback and interaction, a shift to online and peer-assessment as a cost saving measure – the dire state of teaching in Australian universities emerges from just a cursory glance at submissions to the base funding review …” (more)
[Julie Hare, The Australian, 21 June]
“Australia’s Academy of Science and its international peers are calling on all governments to support collaboration. Creating the conditions for ‘true globalisation’ of knowledge in science and technology means establishing virtual collaborative research centres to advance innovations in education. So says a coalition of peak science bodies supported by the Australian Academy of Science …” (more)
[Jill Rowbotham, The Australian, 13 June]
“The university and research sectors were united this week in vigorously condemning a string of death threats to climate change scientists and policy experts. But there has has also been criticism of the role of politicians and the media in inflaming the debate …” (more)
[Andrew Trounson, The Australian, 7 June]
“I haven’t heard of an academic yet who is sad about the end of the ERA journal rankings, announced yesterday by Minster Kim Carr. Carr said in his press release: ‘There is clear and consistent evidence that the [ERA journal] rankings were being deployed inappropriately within some quarters of the sector, in ways that could produce harmful outcomes …’” (more)
[Skepticlawyer, 31 May]
“A senior African academic has lost his job for the second time after an Australian university that appointed him in January belatedly discovered he had been forced to quit his South African post the previous November following charges of serial plagiarism. The case raises questions about the secrecy surrounding disgraced academics who are found guilty of academic misconduct and why other universities planning to hire them are not informed …” (more)
[Geoff Maslen, University World News, 24 April]
“The rising cost of third-level education in Ireland is leading to a ‘mass exodus’ of Irish students to Australia. There has been a 40% increase in inquiries from Irish students about Australian one- year temporary visas in the first quarter of this year, according to Visafirst.com, which provides global visa and travel support services …” (more)
[Michael Lavery, Herald, 21 April]
“RMIT has revoked the doctorate of a former deputy dean in an embarrassing plagiarism scandal that raises questions over how the 2001 PhD was awarded in the first place. Julian Bondy had been deputy dean at the school of global studies, social science and planning when plagiarism allegations were raised, prompting him to resign last November …” (more)
[Andrew Trounson, The Australian, 13 April]
“I work at a university, and I drive to work. Accordingly, there is plenty of opportunity to observe bicycle-car interactions at their most crazy. The Age had the following report today which doesn’t surprise me at all …” (more)
[Skepticlawyer, 12 April]
“A pioneering web guide to sustainability in higher education launches today. Sustainability.edu.au is believed to be the first searchable website showing higher education courses, teaching tips and other resources …” (more)
[Bernard Lane, The Australian, 11 April]
“The University of Melbourne is pushing for the creation of an independent pricing regulator to de-politicise the university funding debate and ensure student tuition fees are high enough to guarantee high standards of education …” (more)
[Andrew Trounson, The Australian, 4 April]
“At the same time that the number of university students who study abroad continues to climb, a few countries have moved to put up barriers to entry. Three nations — Australia, Britain and Sweden — have made access to their highly attractive higher education systems more difficult for foreigners …” (more)
[Christopher F Schuetze, New York Times, 3 April]
“Launching its higher education policy, the Business Council of Australia’s education taskforce said graduates still lacked essential attributes, especially in leadership, teamwork and communication, but universities were failing to heed the call …” (more)
[Julie Hare, University World News, 3 April]
“… What greater good would be lost if universities closed tomorrow? If higher education is emptied out of its public purposes we can no longer justify its survival.Today’s higher education institutions need a larger purpose that underpins their existence, a purpose that is more than a marketing slogan. The 21st century university needs to redefine itself as a creator, protector and purveyor of public goods …” (more)
[Simon Marginson, The Conversation, 30 March]
“One of three men covertly photographed by investigators probing a racket involving Indian students paying thousands of dollars for dodgy English test scores believes that the scam got ‘too big’ …” (more)
[Debbie Guest, The Australian, 25 March]
“Australians will have direct access to the thoughts of some of the country’s brightest minds through a new independent news and information website, The Conversation …” (more)
[University World News, 27 March]
“Pressure from rising stars Korea and Singapore could soon squeeze Australia out of its third place in a prestigious ranking of publication rates in the Nature suite of scientific journals. The Nature Publishing Index for Asia and the Pacific released today …” (more)
[Jill Rowbotham, The Australian, 24 March]
