Julia Gillard has put together a Committee to look into various issues involving Higher Education and the Funding of Higher Education. Said experts seem merely political academics and Board level representatives from industry. No representation is to become available from Deans or middle rank staff: Let alone front-liners or students.

How can Gillard investigate; with such a limited, biased representation; address the real issues of poor governance, commercialisation of education and lack of funds actually reaching academics and PhD researchers? Else-put, there is no representation by cash-starved on the academics front-line nor research students..

The chances of an elite Committee fixing up the mess left by Dawkins through to Nelson would seem slight. These people or there peers helped create the problems in the firdt place.

Research students are pushed to complete five-year research degrees with a three-year stipend, whish is set at about a quarter of the average wage. Meaning no money for two years or minimising the value of the work with truncation or part-time work.

To repeat, five years is the time needed to complete a comprehensive PhD. Yet, typically, there is usually only three thousand to four thousand dollars per student available at School level over the entire research-period; to support major super-projects literally meant to; “substantially increase human knowledge via ‘original’ research endeavours”.

The research student often in their thirties or forties, perhaps, with a family, and facing the huge opportunity cost of leaving a job, needs to live. Herein, how can Committee members on $400 plus feel for the plight of junior staff and students? “Yes, Charles, I think we will have Grange with dinner and Grandfather afterwards; meanwhile, what about these simple folk [often with three or four university degrees] actually saying they need money to conduct their research. – by the way, Preston, do like the new Bentley?”

Our academics are paid a fraction for twelve-month work contract; for what an American academic receive for a nine month per year contract.

Please scroll past the names:

http://209.85.173.104/custom?q=cache:_9szGJAufBEJ:docsig.eci.gsu.edu/
WWW2007.pdf+who+went+where+phd+2007&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=1&client=pub-2456819124576563
(you will have to copy and paste both halves into a browser address bar)
-US Reseach & US Dollar Data continued-

Error Above: $4OOk P.A. PLUS

The above data are for Americans who are about to complete a PhD or have just completed it, first research job, not experienced staff. Note amounts are US Dollars.

Having acted as a Dean in several countries, I know the whole administration of Australian universities needs to tightened, with some functions centralised, perhaps some rationalisation of the universities back to about twenty universities, with more campuses, where needed. Less chiefs and less admin., more teachers & researchers.

Research grants, such as RTS, should go to School inside the Faculty, directly; not to the Financial Controller to fill-up holes, elsewhere.

Plagiarism being being tolerated needs to be addressed, now. Standards have declined since full fee paying students can win appeals against just about any kind of cheating. Keeping standards low will only mean, we will fall behind the top quartile of US and Candian universities.

Gillard has pulled together the tier of people whom caused the mess in the first place. Of course, submissions will be called for, maybe even viewed, thence dutifully filed.

Deep, deep audits with the administration staff pushed away from their brown builts.

Best wishes all,

Oly.

Gillard has pulled together a committee which will allow her to use our money to pay for support she has received.

Did you expect something else?

Hasbeen,

1. That Committee is effevctive.

Nelson called for submissions about four years ago; He essentially ignored the input. The issues about plagiary and overseas providers feigning passes in the name commercialisation could have been avoided. The circumstances underlying the University of Newcastle & Malaysian provider ICAC incident was previously pointed out to Nelson, at the level of personal conversations between the Director of Studies [who resigned in protest] and the cheating the private providers, where the providers and Aussie deans were letting cheating slip through for income.

2. The AUQA must be present on the table. Not merely invited to submit.

3. Funding issues must be addressed.

If it is the VCs and Financial Controllers, who are rechanneling funds away from Faculties to run the wider university, where the research grant is for the student: Gillard's Heros are the very people we don't want. They are overseers not experts. Their peers have lost tens of millions in Asia. Just read the papers.

Deans go into Asia enter into multi-million dollar deals with companies with a paid-up capital of $10,000 and $140,000 in assets. Never heard of GX or Directors guarantees? They are academics not business people. The experienced Asian entrepreneurs walk all over them.

4. Funding for research needs to be away from the Gillard's Heros' control, towards people near the action, not the port cabinet nor the next Board meeting. Look at what a mess a group of Engineers running Westpac made of that Bank's operations in 1992.

5. How many VCs would agree to rationalising the universities back to twenty, costing twelve VCs and scores pro-VCs their jobs? Dawkins vertical integration of universities & CAEs was one of the most foolish actions in the exercise of political power of the twentieth century. Nelson followed in his foot-steps, ignoring major issues.

6. We have to do right this time.

At best we have 5-10 years repair the damage caused by the politians & the then ACCC, who have ruined Australia's once highly regarded Higher Education sector

Hasbeen,

post script:

I am not trying to dump on Ms Gillard before she has a had a go. But the history education reforms going back until the 1960s, show we are pretty poor at it, especially since Dawkins. We just cannot afford a replay.

Alexander knew he could not unravell the Gordian Knot, so he cut it. That will prove a hard task given the team is made-up of the rope by which the Knot tied.

O.

Dear Oliver,

I've been to Canberra for a couple of days - for a short break.
While there I made a point of attending - "Question time" in the House of Reps. And heard J. Gillard speak on this very topic.

I may be somewhat naive, but the lady impressed me tremendously.
She spoke at great length of the plan that the Government has regarding higher education - I wish that I could remember half of
what was said. Anyway, Oly, why not wait and see what develops?
The current Government seems very keen in keeping their election promises - and they appear to be working through the list slowly but surely.