Australian Universities' Review Vol. 54, No. 2

vol. 54, no. 2, 2012 Published by NTEU ISSN 0818–8068

AURAustralian Universities’ Review Editorial Policy Book Reviews The Australian Universities’ Review (AUR, formerly Vestes) is Books for review should be sent to the Editor. Our policy is to published by the National Tertiary Education Union (NTEU) to review books dealing either with tertiary education or with mat- encourage debate and discussion about issues in higher edu- ters pertinent to issues in tertiary education. Book reviews should cation and its contribution to Australian public life, with an be between 200 and 1200 words; review essays may be longer. emphasis on those matters of concern to NTEU members. AUR Editor Editorial decisions are made by the Editor, assisted by the AUR Satire Dr Ian R Dobson, University of Helsinki Editorial Board. The views expressed in articles in this publica- Do you have something satirical to say about the Australian tion, unless otherwise stated, are those of the authors and do not higher education sector? Send it in! AUR Editorial Board necessarily represent the views of the Editor, the Editorial Board Jeannie Rea, NTEU National President or the publisher. Replies and letters Professor Timo Aarrevaara, University of Helsinki Although some contributions are solicited by the Editor or the AUR welcomes letters of response to articles published in the Professor Walter Bloom, Murdoch University Editorial Board, AUR is anxious to receive contributions inde- journal. Longer responses to articles are also encouraged. pendently from staff and students in the higher education sector Dr Anita Devos, Monash University and other readers. Responses should be a maximum of 1,000 words, and should be received within a month after the publication of the journal so Dr Jamie Doughney, Victoria University AUR publishes both articles and other contributions, includ- that they can be properly considered by the Editor and the Edito- Professor Leo Goedegebuure, University of Melbourne ing short commentary and satire. Articles will be assessed by rial Board for the following issue. Professor Ralph Hall, University of New South Wales independent referees before publication. Priority is given to contributions which are substantial, lively, original and have a Subscriptions Professor Dr Simon Marginson, University of Melbourne broad appeal. Responses to previously published contributions Mr Grahame McCulloch, NTEU General Secretary are encouraged. AUR is free to NTEU members on an opt-in basis. Full details at www.aur.org.au/subscription.html. Dr Alex Millmow, University of Ballarat AUR is listed on the DIISR (formerly DEEWR and DEST) register of refereed journals. Annual subscription rates (inclusive of GST where applicable): Dr Neil Mudford, UNSW@ADFA Australia and NZ $71.50 AUD Professor Paul Rodan, Swinburne University of Technology Contributions Overseas airmail $86 AUD Dr Leesa Wheelahan, University of Melbourne Please adhere to the style notes outlined on this page. Overseas payments should be made by credit card or bank draft in Australian currency. Production Contributors should send digital manuscripts in Word format, preferably by email to [email protected]. Contributions on CD Advertising Design & layout: Paul Clifton or PC disk will also be accepted. AUR is published twice a year, in February and September. The Editorial support: Anastasia Kotaidis Contributions should normally be between 1,000 and 5,000 current hard copy circulation is approximately 8,000 per issue. Cover photograph: RMIT University, Melbourne. Chris Orr, words, although longer articles will be considered. All articles © 2012, should be accompanied by an abstract that would not usually be Rates are available on application to National Publications longer than 150 words. Coordinator, NTEU (email [email protected]). Contact Details The author’s full contact details should be provided, including Archive Australian Universities’ Review, email address, telephone and fax. c/- NTEU National Office, Contributions are sent to a minimum of two referees, in accord- This issue and previous issues of AUR can be viewed online at PO Box 1323, South Melbourne VIC Australia 3205 ance with DIISR requirements for blind peer review. www.aur.org.au. Phone: +613 9254 1910 Fax: +613 9254 1915 Email: [email protected]

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2 Letter from the editor 65 Grand crews: tasting notes on the Group of Eight Ian R Dobson universities Arthur O’Neill ARTICLES Quaffing, tasting panels and tasting notes of the fruit of the vine provide a metaphorical method for picking a university to study at. 3 Academic zombies: a failure of resistance or a means of survival? 71 Uncapped university Suzanne Ryan Andee Jones A zombie is a ‘hypnotised person bereft of consciousness and self- Never before has there been so much talk of ‘excellence and quality awareness, yet ambulant and able to respond to surrounding stimuli’. assurance’ and never before has there been so little concern for either. Does this sound like an academic near you? 73 Déjà vu all over again: what next for universities? 12 Australian transnational education programmes Warren Bebbington in South East Asia: student satisfaction with the From Unter den Linden to North Terrace: a saunter through time and learning environment space. ‘The way forward is going back to Humboldt’s ideal’ Iwona Miliszewska & Ewa M Sztendur International students: do they like the transnational education Aus- 78 Quality in teaching and learning: one path to tralian universities provide? improvement Geoff Sharrock 22 All beer and skittles? A qualitative pilot study of Student feedback for fun and profit. the role of alcohol in university college life Clarissa Hughes REVIEWS Is it my shout? Residential college students tend to regard drinking alcohol as an entrenched and highly valued aspect of college culture. 85 Am I still yearning? University Unlimited: The Monash Story by Graeme Davison & Kate 29 Covering the gap: social inclusion, international Murphy students and the role of local government Review by Jim McGrath Toby Paltridge, Susan Mayson & Jan Schapper Local government could be instrumental in ensuring the social inclu- 89 Multicultural muddles sion of international students in our communities. Transforming a ‘White Australia’: Issues of Racism and Immigra- tion by L Jayasuriya. 40 Recession-oscopy: can universities be the light at Review by Katharine Betts the end? Steve Mackey 91 Every home should have one! We can avert disaster by thinking! The Joy of English: 100 illuminating conversations about the Eng- lish language by Jesse Karjalainen 44 The managerialist university: an economic Review by Ian R Dobson interpretation Tony Aspromourgos 92 Inter (sic) the future? The shift in the political atmosphere since the end of the 1970s has Interdisciplinary Higher Education: Perspectives and Practicali- been the key factor in the changing role of the public sector. ties by Martin Davies, Marcia Devlin & Malcolm Tight (Eds) Review by Neil Mudford 50 Placing a value on academic work: the development and implementation of a time- 94 Hil of discontent based academic workload model Whackademia: An insider’s account of the troubled university by John Kenny, Andrew Fluck & Tim Jetson Richard Hil Do more with less! Time-based workload models are political and Review by Ian R Dobson transparency is a must. 95 Keeping it in the family OPINION Europeanizing Education: Governing a new policy space by Martin Lawn & Sotiria Grek 61 Transfer of teaching materials between universities Review by Raj Sharma Matthias Maiwald & Kathy Harrington Intellectual property rights: universities must take the lead in both legal and moral aspects. AUSTRALIAN UNIVERSITIES’ REVIEW Letter from the editor

Ian R Dobson

This is the second and final edition of AUR for 2012. It rep- notes that the emergence of an academic managerial class, resents a return to business as usual, the last issue having one that ‘must create a semblance of work for itself’, in been a special edition on PhD education, produced under light of the ‘tendency to over-regulation and excessive the watchful eyes of guest editors Anita Devos and Cath- bureaucratisation’. Who could disagree! erine Manathunga. This issue also incorporates an interesting collection of This issue includes articles and opinion covering a opinion, in addition to Arthur O’Neill’s oenological obser- number of contemporary areas of higher education. Two vations, mentioned earlier. Matthias Maiwald and Kathy articles have a focus on international students, with a Harrington present an interesting piece about moral paper on transnational education and student satisfaction intellectual property rights. Is this a form of institutional in South-East Asia by Iwona Miliszewska and Ewa Sztendur plagiarism? Universities have to get this right every time and another on the role of local government in assisting if they wish to take the moral high ground on others’ with social inclusion, by Toby Paltridge, Susan Mayson and alleged plagiarism. Jan Schapper. Andee Jones’ piece Uncapped University has some Clarissa Hughes’ paper on alcohol and college life is interesting overlaps with some of the papers in this issue. based on a pilot study on the subject. Drinking was per- ‘With a cut, cut here, a cut, cut there….’ (funds per student; ceived as ‘an entrenched and highly valued aspect of col- entry scores; academic staff at the University of Sydney; lege culture’. No surprises there! Based on related raw et cetera). materials, Arthur O’Neill’s opinion piece ‘Grand Crews…’ Newish VC Warren Bebbington looks into the crystal provides tasting notes on Group of Eight universities. A ball to see where we might be headed. This paper is his fruity little paper, with just enough irony to suit most pal- inaugural address as vice-chancellor, delivered in Adelaide ates, I’m sure you will agree. on 18 July 2012. Several items in this issue relate to goings-on in the aca- Finally, Geoff Sharrock has produced a piece that adds demic world. Suzanne Ryan discusses aspects of the con- to the discussion started by John Buchanan in the pages temporary academy, built on the zombie metaphor: the of AUR last year. He suggests that there can be light at the place of the living dead in our universities. As she says, end of the student feedback tunnel. See what you think! ‘Applying the zombie metaphor to academics and their And then….book reviews: six of them. response to change seems most apt given our apparent The last issue’s guest editors finished their Letter from helplessness in the face of overwhelming change. … what the editors with several acknowledgements, something are we doing about it’. What indeed! I don’t recall having done in the past. In order to atone Other papers also consider where we are now. John for this oversight, in future and starting with this issue, I Kenny, Andrew Fluck and Tim Jetson present an interest- intend to follow suit. ing paper on the implementation of an academic work- The much-increased demand to be published, to load model. In the managerialist university, everything meet all manner of university and government whims can be quantified (apparently). The need for fairness and has placed an increased burden on editors and edito- transparency is paramount. Steve Mackey’s article links rial boards, but it also means an additional load on peer academic performance pay, the measurement of research reviewers and journal production staff. Therefore, I should output and what he describes as ‘the astonishing pay like to thank all those responsible for getting this issue to levels of vice-chancellors to the global financial crisis’. Is press. Thank you! this a fair observation? You should decide. Tony Aspromourgas’ article provides an economic interpretation of the managerialist university. Interestingly, he

2 Letter from the editor, Ian R Dobson vol. 54, no. 2, 2012 AUSTRALIAN UNIVERSITIES’ REVIEW

Academic zombies A failure of resistance or a means of survival?

Suzanne Ryan University of Newcastle

Successive waves of neoliberal reforms to higher education have taken their toll on the academy. This paper uses the zombie metaphor to discuss the causes and consequences of organisational change on Australian academics as a background to exploring zombiefication as a form of passive resistance and survival. The paper uses the literature and empirical research to chronicle the disintegration of the academic workforce and with it, the idea of a university as a social institution. The paper concludes with the author’s reflection of her own desire to be emancipated from zombiedom.

Universities are increasingly populated by the undead: academic resistance to change before reviewing the main a listless population of academics, managers, admin- sources of zombiefication: governance; audit; workload; istrators, and students, all shuffling to the beat of the workforce; and an acquiescent leadership. Forms of adap- corporatist drum.... In this bleak landscape the source of the zombie contagion lurks in the form of bland, tation and resistance are then examined and exemplified mechanical speech .... peppered with affectless refer- with research results. The final section explores future ences to citation indices, ERA rankings, ARC applica- options for dealing with the next wave of reform and con- tions, FoR codes, AUQA reviews, and the like. ...Many cludes zombiedom as a form of resistance to change may zombies appear incapable of responding meaning- fully to the tyranny of performance indicators, shifting be the only but not the optimal option. promotion criteria, escalating workload demands and endless audits, evaluations and reviews. Try as they Academic resistance and change may to resist, zombies merely acquiesce to the corporatist line (Gora & Whelan, 2003). Academics, more than other professional groups, could be Zombies are the living dead, the undead. The term is figu- expected to reflect on their situation, take a view, and take ratively applied to describe a ‘hypnotised person bereft of action if necessary (Trowler, 1998). There is no dearth of consciousness and self-awareness, yet ambulant and able complaints about what is happening in higher education to respond to surrounding stimuli’ (Wikipedia). This paper (Lorenz, 2012; Parker, 2012; Parker & Guthrie, 2010), how- was inspired by a forthcoming book edited by Andrew ever, over the past one and a half decades research and Whelan, Chris Moore and Ruth Walker, ‘Zombies in the commentary suggests that academic resistance is weak, Academy: Living Death in Higher Education’, the title of generally relying on individual withdrawal rather than which struck accord with my own research and obser- organised action (Anderson, 2008; Parker & Jary, 1995; vation. Applying the zombie metaphor to academics and Willmott, 1995). Among the first to consider the academic their response to change seems most apt given our appar- response to winds of neoliberal change, Willmott (1995, p. ent helplessness in the face of overwhelming change. 1002) notes that the erosion of wages, conditions and dis- However, the real question is why have we allowed this cretion only managed to generate ‘simmering resentment to happen and what are we doing about it. Thus the aim and individual withdrawal from unmonitored responsibili- of the paper is to explore adaptation and resistance to ties rather than organised resistance’. The reasons for this zombiedom. The paper proceeds with an overview of are not always clear. Parker and Jary (1995) explain it in vol. 54, no. 2, 2012 Academic zombies, Suzanne Ryan 3 AUSTRALIAN UNIVERSITIES’ REVIEW terms of academics gaining a greater sense of worth from worst of ‘managerialism and measurement’, the sources of their students and peers than from management while zombiefication. Willmott (1995) links lack of organised resistance to academics considering themselves ‘professional’ and ‘above’ Sources of zombiefication industrial action that in any case is ‘rarely disruptive’. Lack of academic resistance is further accorded to ignorance of Over the past three decades, Australian higher education what is happening, academics being ‘ill equipped to inter- has experienced four major waves of change and is now pret the significance of change’ let alone resist govern- undergoing a fifth. The four waves of government induced ment funding and ‘the management of higher education’ policy and funding reform included massification during (Willmott, 1995, p. 1023). Individual withdrawal is most the 1980s, marketisation in the early 1990s, corporatisa- often in the ‘invisible’ but ‘highly meaningful and valued tion in the late 1990s and early 2000s, and a fourth wave activities such as close and continuous staff-student inter- from 2003 to 2007 marked by increased managerialism, action’ (Willmott, 1995, p. 1013) as well as the ‘service’ greater efficiencies, compliance, quality and research areas of academic work. measurements (Ryan, Guthrie & Neumann, 2008). We are More recently, in a study of resistance among Austral- now into a new wave of change, marked by an uncapped ian academics, Anderson (2008) finds that individual with- student system, a powerful watchdog, TEQSA, and a second drawal is the most common generation of Excellence in form of resistance and also an The success of these mechanisms Research Australia (ERA), all effective means of protecting accompanied by even more [‘bureaucratisation’ and ‘monetarisation’] values and identity. Respond- external and internal meas- in ‘reforming’ higher education is seen in ents in Anderson’s research urement, surveillance and were angered by managerial the current ‘crisis of authoritarianism’, control over universities and discourse and practices but a crisis engendering fear so that their academic workforce. generally refused to engage fear becomes a form of paralysis, of Each successive wave has with them, preferring to com- zombiedom. brought with it increased plain to trusted colleagues, or political and economic steer- refusing or avoiding partici- ing through what Habermas pation in managerial directives. At best, academics would (1984) refers to as the mechanisms of ‘bureaucratisation’ minimise their involvement, complying with the letter, and ‘monetarisation’, managerialism and money. but not the spirit, of particular requirements. The success of these mechanisms in ‘reforming’ higher Student evaluation processes and performance apprais- education is seen in the current ‘crisis of authoritarian- als were frequently mentioned as examples of minimal ism’ (Giroux 2006), a crisis engendering fear so that fear compliance. Subversive participation in performance becomes a form of paralysis, of zombiedom. Just as the appraisals often involved the cooperation of supervisors government applies ‘bureaucratisation’ and ‘monetarisa- who themselves saw the process as a ‘joke’ (Benmore, tion’ to steer institutions, so in turn institutional managers cited in Anderson, 2008). On the few occasions that apply the same mechanisms to control their institutions Anderson’s participants publicly voiced their complaints (Marginson & Considine, 2000). Five major causes of zom- to senior academic managers, their experience was one biefication arising from the internal application of these of feeling ‘dismissed and erased and reminded of their mechanisms are identified, in cause-effect order, as: gov- disempowerment’ (Anderson, 2008, p. 259). Anderson ernance; audit and surveillance; workload, workforce; and concludes that the resistance, although individual, is suf- the acquiescence of academic leadership. ficient to prevent managerialism from becoming embedded because it is framed by an understanding of academic Governance culture and values that attempt ‘to limit the process of col- The long held concept of ‘shared governance’ has been onisation implicit in the managerial project’ (Anderson, undermined by former colleagues, now managers and 2008, p. 267). In other words, zombiefication is a form of executives, who have replaced taking the advice of aca- both resistance and survival. Others, however, are not so demic bodies with a preference to treat the academic optimistic believing that long term exposure to the worst voice with lip service, a necessary inconvenience (Aro- of managerialism and measurement ultimately ends with nowitz, 2006). The appointment rather than election compliance or exit. The following section reviews the of academic ‘leaders’ combined with their Key Perfor-

4 Academic zombies, Suzanne Ryan vol. 54, no. 2, 2012 AUSTRALIAN UNIVERSITIES’ REVIEW mance Indicators and bonuses, have stifled the collec- ‘routine diagnosis, classification and treatment decisions’ tive voice of academics and reduced them to workers are sinister and Orwellian (McWilliam, 2004, p. 156) or instructed from above (Aronowitz, 2006; Pritchard & even ‘occult’ (Wood, 2010), they are deadening, zombify- Willmott, 1997). This is a downward spiralling process ing. Consequences of surveillance by audit are cited as a whereby the more compliance academics demonstrate major cause of stress among academics. Indeed, academ- with these disempowering processes, the stronger the ics are increasingly viewed as a highly stressed popula- power imbalance between academics and managers, and tion whose work and identity are being disfigured by the the less interested managers become in empowering ‘unwillingness or inability of managers to protect [them] faculty (Aronowitz, 2006). ‘A lot of top managers enjoy from the chill winds’ of decreased funding and increased cruelty. There’s no doubt that we are in a period in which audit (McWilliam, 2004, p. 161). As the tidiness of the audit you are a hero if you are cruel’ (Schartz & Kelly, 2005, p. imperative triumphs over the messiness of academic life, 109). Of course not all our managers are cruel; some are we become more and more undead. Nor is it possible to benevolent dictators, themselves the victims of orders hide. To sit outside the performance culture is to cease from above. But if academics fail to cooperate voluntarily, to be recognised or valued (McWilliam, 2004), to be fur- then managers resort to more authoritarian measures to ther deadened by exclusion. In addition to being deadly gain compliance. Reports of bullying and harassment are weapons, audit and surveillance increase the time and increasing within the academy, their spread being linked pressures on academic work. to the rise of managerialism, increased financial pressures and the increasing numbers of academics at the bottom Workloads of the power ladder: the casuals, the probationers, the Under the burden of increased student numbers and post-doctoral and the contract academics (Cox & Good- diversity, supervision of contingent academics and pres- man, 2005; Thornton, 2004; Lewis, 1999). Although such sures to research while all the time being measured and victimisation is the beginning of fear, the onset of zom- ranked, academic workloads have become unmanageable. biefication, the real arsenal in colonising the academy are Metaphors of dying from workload underline the zombie the accountability measures supplied to university man- status: ‘swamped’, ‘drowning’, ‘head above water’, ‘buried’ agers by successive governments. (Jacobs, 2004). Burgeoning academic workloads are crossing the line from being simply ‘productivity’ increases Audit and surveillance to becoming occupational health and safety risks (Hull, It is in the changing rules and the measurement regimes 2006; McWilliam, 2004). Increasingly the appeal of control that we are most zombiefied, infected by measurement over time is being outweighed by the lack of control over madness, the audit culture, surveillance. The expres- workload and decision making. New technologies have sion, ‘evidence-based’, usually reserved for scientific and the effect of intensifying work but not reducing it (Jacobs research endeavours, has been thrown back at academ- 2004). A fundamental change in the nature of academic ics in the guise of accountability requirements (Shah- work has been large increases in the proportion of time jahan, 2011). The effect of the contagion is widespread spent of administration (Tight, 2010). as it reduces ‘students to test scores, future slots in the The growth in expenditure on administration and labour market .... and teachers to technicians and supervi- administrators has been noted in Australia (Dobson, 2009; sors in the education assembly line... [it] is fundamentally 2010) and throughout the world, a growth that Tight about the negation of human agency, despite the good (2010, p. 214) views as indicative of ‘the decreasing trust intentions of individuals at all levels’ (Lipman cited in in academics’. The ‘administrative bloat’ phenomenon is a Shahjahan, 2011, p. 196). The discourse that defines evi- direct consequence of neoliberalist demands that institu- dence-based accountability, words such as impact, learn- tions be entrepreneurial, market-orientated, cost-effective ing outcomes, teaching evaluations, is ‘ultimately shaped and most of all, accountable (Hogan, 2011). Paradoxically, by material relations of power that are colonising’ in their the greater presence of administrators has burdened effect as they strive to ‘control and tame education .....to rather than freed academics from administration as their meet neoliberal ends’ (Shahjahan, 2011, p. 197). Students work becomes increasingly ‘unbundled’ (Macfarlane, and academics are rushed through these standardising 2011a), a process whereby academic work is taken apart processes in a way that leaves little time for ‘reflection, and given to others. In particular decision-making powers authenticity, and healing’ (Shahjahan 2011, p. 197). The to do with curriculum, entry standards, and student consequences of academic work being subjected to advice are surrendered to professional administrators vol. 54, no. 2, 2012 Academic zombies, Suzanne Ryan 5 AUSTRALIAN UNIVERSITIES’ REVIEW

(Hogan, 2011). Without understanding what is happening a shrinking permanent workforce. Despite these dramatic and in an attempt to manage our workloads, we inadvert- changes in the nature of the academic workforce, our ently begin to develop and dispute among ourselves ‘fair’ institutional leaders remain silent. There are no succes- and ‘transparent’ workload allocation models, instruments sion plans to replace the elderly nor new entry points for that allow work to be further scrutinised, measured, the young (Larkin & Neumann, 2011; Neumann & Larkin, and controlled (Hull, 2006). Does our active collusion 2011). Many of those waiting to enter academe are the in undermining our own interests indicate the depth of same age as those about to exit (Ryan, Bhattacharyya & zombiefication to which we have sunk, or is it simply a McNeil, 2011). However, within this squeeze on entry and symptom of a stressed and shrinking workforce? progression, the proportion of the professoriate, our academic leaders, not managers, has grown (May, 2011). But Workforce what has it done to resist? Just as workload and work life have changed, so too has our workforce. The two waves of reform since the 1990s Acquiescent academic leadership were particularly harsh on the composition of the aca- The idea of a university and the values it incorporates are demic workforce. Not only are we growing old because crumbling. The idea that a university should be a place we haven’t been replaced for a generation and a half ‘in which nothing is beyond question, not even the cur- (Hugo & Morris, 2010; Hugo, 2008), but we have become rent and determined figure of democracy’ (Derrida, 2001, casualised, contingent, insecure, invisible. It is estimated p. 253) means the university should be a site of resistance that for every full-time academic, there are almost two and challenge in which the academic’s role is ‘not to con- casual or sessionally employed academics (May, 2011) and solidate authority, but understand, interpret, and question further, that 50 per cent of all teaching is carried out by it’ (Giroux, 2006, p. 75). This happens privately among aca- this army of contingently employed academics (Percy & demics but our voices rarely go beyond the hallowed halls Beaumont, 2008). of academe. Why is this? In a self-reflection on the failure What does this mean? Firstly, the workload of perma- of the professoriate to lead the movement against malevo- nently employed academics has increased, ‘the exploita- lent change, Barney (2010, p. 382) asks what might it take tion of part-timers is linked to the excessive demands on ‘to rescue the institution from its final instrumentalisation full-timers’ (Jacobs, 2004, p. 15). Second, full-time academ- under the auspice of technological neoliberalism and to ics have been cushioned from the more unpleasant effects instead orient it toward...the humanistic ideal’. His answer of change by an ‘underclass’ of contingent academics. The lies in the necessity of political intervention in the form of expansion of this underclass ‘has offered tenured academ- active resistance led by the professoriate, but he then goes ics short term relief from the degradation of their work’ on to explain why this will never happen. First, the very (Willmott, 1995, p. 1003). Additionally, career paths have nature of politics is a deterrent. Engagement in politics been blocked. Despite the long queue of contingently and is ‘exceptional, disruptive, antagonistic, risky and danger- precariously employed academics such as qualified ses- ous .... it is not joyful, festive, or fun; it is work, onerous, sionals, higher degree and post-doctoral students, bang- dangerous work’ (p. 383). Second, the professoriate enjoys ing on the door to gain entry into zombieland, the door the university, including the suffering and pain necessarily remains resolutely bolted (Edwards, Bexley & Richardson, endured as a consequence of being part of the university. 2011; Coates & Goedegebuure, 2010). There is nothing that an academic enjoys more than Why they wish to enter this half world is a curious their suffering: careerist students who can’t read and matter, open only to conjecture, not evidence: perhaps as can’t write and can’t think; colleagues who are lazy and insufferable; granting agencies that are biased an escape from insecurity? Perhaps passion for a poten- against our work; incompetent, corrupt, bean count- tial promise of free thought? We really don’t know. We do ing administrators; governments run by philistines. know, however, that for those with a foot in the door, the We enjoy them all. We could not live without them. post docs and probationers, there is pain. The hurdles to Our suffering is what distinguishes us (Barney, 2010, p. 384). entry are continually revised upwards, a doctoral qualification is no longer sufficient, publications in the ‘right’ jour- Political action and resistance would not only disrupt nals are becoming mandatory, the door keeps squeezing this enjoyment but threaten an obsession with personal closed. For those of us already in zombieland, our careers security defined by the ‘reliability of our conventional our being divided by mysterious means into teaching or identities, relationships, responsibilities, and rewards’ (p. research, thus increasing the burden for both functions on 385). The third and final barrier to professorial resistance

6 Academic zombies, Suzanne Ryan vol. 54, no. 2, 2012 AUSTRALIAN UNIVERSITIES’ REVIEW is the fear of insecurity that leads the professoriate to is has occurred through a process of sedimentation, the become ‘pragmatic calculators who weigh the potential speed of which affects various groups within the uni- costs of resistance and action against its uncertain ben- versity differently. efits and decide the risks are too great to bear next to Evidence for Bleiklie’s concept of sedimentation as a the certainty of an anaemic, but at least stable, present’ (p. response to change is found in De Zilwa’s (2007) study of 386). Barney concludes that, in view of these three obsta- the impact of academic unit culture on adaptive change cles and in order to assuage guilt, professors’ customary to external and internal pressures in Australia. De Zilwa response is to ‘retreat into the consolation of thought ..... found different academic units adapted in different ways a retreat into enlightenment’ (p. 386). In doing so, they and to different extents to external pressure. However, provide a role model for individual withdrawal, zom- those units most pro-active in their adaptation, the pro- biedom, as the means to survival within the academy. A fessional, multidisciplinary and heterogeneous units, had kinder view of the professoriate is presented by Macfar- changed their modes of operation and developed new lane (2011b) as he depicts the professoriate as the victim markets in teaching and research. Although these units of disempowerment by mechanisms of bureaucratisation displayed cultures encouraging of ‘intellectual fervour, and monetarisation, processes that undermine their abil- innovation, flexibility [and] risk-taking’ (De Zilwa, 2007, p. ity and opportunity to lead. 571), they were also most aligned to the university goals with natural markets for the development of research and Adaptation and resistance teaching. On the other hand, academic units least able to adapt were those with strongly homogeneous organi- When academic culture is weakened and shared beliefs sational cultures but lacking in their managers’ ‘zeal for are seriously threatened, ‘the result can be destructive marketisation and entrepreneurialism’ (p. 571) and were conflicts between faculties, loss of personal morale and completely reliant on student fees. Both types of units personal alienation’ (Dill, 1982, p. 304). Like politics, most were conscious of conflicts arising from the university’s of us want to avoid such consequences and so we can drive for revenue and the unit’s desire to maintain qual- be persuaded to accept new organisational values and ity and standards in addition to the general lack of trust identities if we understand them as perpetuating what between university managers and academic units. Results had previously given meaning and a ‘sense of distinctive- from De Zilwa’s study suggest that those in the interdisci- ness to [our] working environment (and so feed into plinary units and the professional fields found adaptation [our] sense of identity)’ (Henkel, 2005, p. 159). This pro- easier than those in the more traditional discipline-based cess is explained by Bleiklie (2005, p. 200) as a process units who were more likely to ignore or resist change. But of ‘sedimentation’ whereby ‘new ideals are layered on top for how long will this distinction continue as the mania of existing ones’ in a form of organic growth that absorbs for market and money is overlaid with more recent imper- new values without shedding the old. He argues that insti- atives to publish? tutional and individual autonomy previously sustained My own research reflects the findings of De Zilwa, at each other so that institutional autonomy was necessary least in the pre-2003 environment. But I also found that to ‘allow the maturation and promotion of values. Insti- adaptation could not be sustained following the fourth tutional autonomy is not found in specific administrative and most brutal wave of reform. I interviewed 21 academ- arrangements, but in how the institution functions to pro- ics about their lives and values in three graduate schools tect its values. In the past, the focus was internal and the of business in 2002/2003 and the same individuals again collegial body was the means of functioning, including in 2008 in the wake of the fourth wave of reform. For negotiating conflicts between individual and institutional ethical reasons, the three schools were combined into the autonomy. Once the institution begins to serve the needs one school, under the pseudonym, the Australian Graduate of external stakeholders such as government and industry, School of Business (AGSB). The results for the two periods both institutional and individual autonomy are circum- were stunningly different. I used storytelling based on the scribed by the needs of others and value shifts occur. average participant’s story to present the results in a way Current imperatives to commodify teaching, to that would touch a nerve with readers (Ryan, 2010). The commercialise research had no part in the traditional story opens with senior lecturer, Bill, the average partici- academic value set but are now a part of our daily dis- pant, living a busy but contented life within a strong col- course. Because new values are not clearly articulated, legial but entrepreneurial school whose success is a direct the change cannot be said to have been radical, rather result of earlier changes to the higher education system. vol. 54, no. 2, 2012 Academic zombies, Suzanne Ryan 7 AUSTRALIAN UNIVERSITIES’ REVIEW

His view of life responds well to De Zilva’s adaptive aca- undead, zombiefied. But once undead, where do we go demic units, he was riding the crest of an entrepreneurial to from here? wave, enjoying the excitement and inclusion of breaking new barriers in interdisciplinarity (Ryan & Neumann, Options for dealing with future change 2011) and entrepreneurialism (Ryan & Guthrie, 2009). In the subsequent five to six years, Associate Professor Bill, Right now we stand on the brink of a new wave of reform. as he had become, is increasingly unhappy and detached We can expect more students, more diverse students, as his institution’s managerialism increasingly affects his more competition, more audits, more performance based everyday life and identity. While marketisation and corpo- funding, more ERA, more pathways, more private provid- ratisation initially allowed Bill to live an exciting academic ers, more work, more unbundling of our work. But can we life, the fourth wave of change, managerialism and micro- expect more academics? More casually employed academ- management, signalled the end to excitement, instead ics, yes indeed; otherwise the new reforms are silent on challenging his values and identity. The following extract the academic workforce. So what are our options? adapt- from the story of Bill in 2008 demonstrates his decline ing? awakening? leaving? or withdrawing further in zom- into zombiedom. biedom? Possibilities of adaptation or conversion to the On the subject of academic managers, Bill no longer current round of change are offered in the form of devel- believes that the AGSB culture is stronger than the opment, either individual self-development and/or the deans that pass through it. In recent years there has development of agile leadership. Since the mid-1990s, the been a high turnover of deans, some were on the commencement of our steepest decent into zombiedom, side of the University and trying to bring the AGSB under control while others fought against University our institutions have offered us the salvation of self-devel- control. Either way, the University management won opment courses and workshops, opportunities to adapt to out, with or without the help of the deans. The AGSB change better. We are given workshopping opportunities culture was forced to change as so many of its aca- to learn how to teach, to present, to write, to count, to demics abandoned ship, including the deans who had fought to maintain its autonomy. Collegiality and supervise, to research, to resolve conflicts, to manage our entrepreneurialism no longer come to mind when Bill time, our stress, our health, and finally, to even apply for describes the new culture. He now uses words like promotion (McWilliam, 2004). Given it takes an average alienated, disengaged, and transactional. Although still of ten years to prepare for an academic career (Coates & valuing the freedom over what and how he teaches and researches and uses his time, Bill has lost his feel- Goedegebuure, 2010), these workshops present as some- ing of ownership and belonging toward to the AGSB, what redundant or simply therapeutic (McWilliam, 2004). withdrawing into his own work and world. The obses- In any case, we have little time to indulge in these ‘adapta- sion with making money and measuring publication’ exercises. tions has undermined his understanding of ‘quality’ in teaching and research and intensified his cynicism Agile leadership and organisation is an alternative to of official versions of ‘quality’. The departure of col- facilitate adaptation. Indeed for some, the resurrection leagues along with changes to governance structures of the zombie will come through ‘agile’ leadership and altered the School’s culture to the point where Bill organisation, leaders who are not only flexible but go a feels like a factory employee rather than an academic colleague. The passion for his School has turned to step further to be dynamic and proactive in the face of indifference. Despite his continual search for a new ever changing landscapes (Billot & Codling, 2011). The position outside the AGSB, Bill is held back from ever term ‘agility’, once reserved for the manufacturing sector following through with an application. In the back of has found its way into education. Rules, regulations, tradi- his mind rings the comment of former colleagues that it’s not very different elsewhere, it’s just that the pain tions and hierarchies are an anathema to the ‘agile’ com- of change came earlier in other places so it is easier to pany that is instead ‘robust, resilient, responsive, flexible, get on with life (Ryan 2010, p. 11). innovative, and adaptable’ (Gillies, 2011, p. 210). Ironically, As can be seen from this extract, exit was a common corporatisation of higher education has had the effect of strategy for dealing with unwanted change, followed by turning universities into machine bureaucracies, factories, individual withdrawal. Of the original 21 academics in Fordist production lines, the very antithesis of the sup- my study, only four remained in the same school in 2011, posedly ‘agile’ organisation (Parker & Jary, 1995; Pritchard albeit in larger, merged business schools. Initially, adapta- & Willmott, 1997). Structural obstacles aside, the rhetoric tion suited this multidisciplinary professional school but of ‘agile leadership’ relies on a workforce whose agility eventually the level of sedimentation reached a limit, comes from fear, insecurity and an absence of ethos (Gil- a limit no longer tolerable without resort to becoming lies, 2011). Hence, rather than be resurrected by ‘agility’,

8 Academic zombies, Suzanne Ryan vol. 54, no. 2, 2012 AUSTRALIAN UNIVERSITIES’ REVIEW academics risk being further deadened by it, but then 2005) which would tend to indicate a diminishing future again, perhaps this is the plan. More optimistically, the for the profession, an unwillingness to replenish the discourse of agility is simply a means of ‘fabricating and workforce with anything else but contingent labour. This representing, of constructing that which it wishes to see’ in turn begs the question of whether the younger gen- (Gillies, 2010, p. 211), an illusion. Its false promise as a eration of academics is an accepting product of the new form of adaptation is too transparent, even for a fearful system or able to recognise and resist its failures. Archer academic. (2008a; 2008b), in a rich but limited study, finds young Our second option for dealing with the future is to academics to be fully aware of and resistant to the del- ‘voice’ our frustrations, to resist collectively, to go beyond eterious effects of managerialism on their behaviour and whinging among ourselves in the corridors and confer- health. Unfortunately their resistance takes the same form ences, and speak out to broader and more powerful audi- as their older colleagues, withdrawal. Despite this knowl- ences. Aside from the odd industrial dispute over wages, edge, large scale surveys inexplicably suggest tens of we have generally avoided this form of resistance, how- thousands of higher degree students and contingent aca- ever there are some small signs of change. The econo- demics (Edwards et al., 2010; Junor, 2004), want to enter mists are beginning to stir, finally realising that having the profession on a permanent basis. Hence, for each exit, contributed to the current state of higher education; they the long queue of contingent academics provides but have used the wrong model and rectification is required. another opportunity for further casualising the profes- They are at last turning their theories to the failures of sion. As an option for dealing with change, exit is simply a higher education and more importantly they are gaining form of individual escape, a form that exacerbates rather the attention of the public media (Bennett, 2011). The than addresses the underlying issues. media is important, especially if the public is sympathetic. Thus we are left with the fourth, final, and ongoing During the previous two decades of severe change, most option, ever greater individual withdrawal into zombie- of us believed what the politicians told us, there were no dom. But just how effective is this strategy? Gora and votes in higher education, nothing to be gained by invest- Whelan, (2010) see zombiefication as a possible means ing in rather than controlling the system (Aronowitz, of survival, but not necessarily change: ‘occasionally it 2006; Willmott, 1995). That may have changed. A recent is necessary .....to pass as undead to survive. Paradoxi- survey of the Australian public shows concern about what cally, it is the unthinking intellectual rigor mortis of the it perceives as a deterioration of an important social insti- present bureaucratic plague that enables some to survive tution, higher education (NTEU, 2011). Such concern pro- the worst aspects of zombification’. More scholarly sup- vides an important audience for our voice, if we can use it. port for this possibility comes from our peer reviewed Collective action through industrial disputation over pay literature. Concluding a paper on the impacts of emerging claims has rarely met with public sympathy; however, the knowledge regimes, Bleiklie (2005, p. 209) observes that public might feel better disposed if industrial action were ‘academic capitalism has had a stronger impact on ideol- centred on our health, on issues of occupational health ogy and discourse than on the way in which universities and safety arising from workload (Trounson, 2011) and are operated’. Similarly, Krucken’s (2003) investigation issues around ensuring a sustainable higher education of change among German universities found the general system. Unhealthy zombies are not good for business, so pace of university reform was well behind the political governments and university managements might just be rhetoric and ‘best practice’ case studies. Krucken argues open to hearing about cures. Overall, the possibilities of that the ‘idea of a university was an ‘organisational myth’ the ‘voice’ option being exercised on any large scale are divorced from the reality of organisational life. Despite slim but as Gora and Whelan (2010) point out, ‘pockets of the idea not being a reality, it is a vision that lies at the resistance’ will continue: ‘the most curious aspect of this heart of every academic and university, providing ‘mean- zombie plague is not its devastating effects on those who ing through reference to a commonly shared identity’ and stagger through the intellectual rubble but the pockets of creating boundaries against external influences (Krucken, resistance that it fails to quash’. 2003, p. 327). The exit option, leaving the academy, is an interesting This notion is echoed in the words of a respondent one. On one hand, escapes from zombieland are difficult from my own research: ‘my values about the worth of except through retirement (Dany, Louvet & Valette, 2011). what academics do for the community have not dimin- On the other hand, there are more exits than there are ished but my behaviour has’. As comforting as this might entries into the permanent academic workforce (Hugo, seem, there is always the danger that values must ulti- vol. 54, no. 2, 2012 Academic zombies, Suzanne Ryan 9 AUSTRALIAN UNIVERSITIES’ REVIEW mately align with behaviour. Indeed, Davies and Petersen References (2005) argue that it is not possible to do without being, Anderson, G. (2008). Mapping academic resistance in the managerial university, that a failure to resist actively is a symptom of having Organization, 15(2), 251-270. been attacked by the neoliberal plague. The plague fore- Archer, L. (2008a). Younger academics’ constructions of ‘authenticity’, ‘success’ stalls resistance ‘by persuading each individual academic and professional identity, Studies in Higher Education, 33(4), 385-403. to treat the effects of neoliberalism as personal successes, Archer, L. (2008b). The new neoliberal subjects? Young/er academics’ construc- responsibilities and failings rather than as a form of insti- tions of professional identity, Journal of Education Policy, 23(3), 265–85. tutional practice in need of critique and transformation’ Aronowitz, S. (2006). Should Academic Unions Get Involved in Governance, (Davies & Petersen, 2005, p.77). Liberal Education, 92 (4), 22-27. Barney, D. (2010). Miserable Priests and Ordinary Cowards: On Being a Professor, T.O.P.I.A. Canadian Journal of Cultural Studies, 23-24(Fall), 381-387. Conclusion Bennett, J. (2011). Academonics Hard to say but here to stay, Campus Review, July 18. Personally, I am not convinced that withdrawal works Billot, J. & Codling, A. (2011). The Tertiary Research Milieu: Agile Management well as a successful means of resistance over the long for Positive Engagement. In K. Krause, M. Buckridge, C. Grimmer & S. Purbrick- term, especially if it simply allows us to survive as zombies Illek (eds) Research and Development in Higher Education: Reshaping rather than escape the plague. How long can one tolerate Higher Education, 34, Gold Coast, Australia, 4 – 7 July, 5—60. the cognitive dissonance from behaving in one way while Bleiklie, I. (2005). Academic Leadership and Emerging Knowledge Regimes, in I. Bleiklie & M. Henkel (eds), Governing Knowledge: A Study of Continuity and thinking in another? Like the participants in my research, I Change in Higher Education – A Festchrift in Honour of Maurice Kogan, yearn for action, in Habermasian terms, for ‘emancipation’, Springer, The Netherlands, 189-212. for a way out of zombiedom. Coates, H. & Goedegebuure, L. (2010). Research Briefing: The Real Academic I’ve been around long enough not to respect author- Revolution, L H Martin Institute on Higher Education Leadership and Manage- ment. ity dressed up in titles and positions, I know there are academics at all levels who command authority through Cox, E. & Goodman, J. (2005). Belittled; The state of play on bullying, Austral- ian Universities’ Review, 48 (1), 28-34. integrity and belief in a better system. I am in my 50s and Dany, F., Louvel, S. & Valette, A. (2011). Academic Careers: The limits of the experience all those feelings of frustration captured so ‘boundaryless’ approach and the power of promotion scripts, Human Relations, well in the work of Larkin and Neumann (2011). I don’t 64 (7), 971-996. want to give up that desire for resistance, for a different Davies, B. & Bendix, E. (2005). Neo-liberal discourse in the Academy: The form of academic life, for questioning accepted truths, for forestalling of (collective) resistance, LATISS – Learning and Teaching in the Social Sciences, 2 finding a humanitarian not utilitarian end to the academy. I (2), 77-98. don’t just want to turn up at symposiums and conferences De Zilwa, D. (2007). Organisational culture and values and the adaptation of academic units to Australian universities, Higher Education, 54 (4), 557-574. and publish for the enjoyment of like-minded masochistic Derrida, J. (2001). The Future of the Profession or the Unconditional University, academics. I want to be involved in challenge and change. in L. Simmons & H. Worth (eds) Derrida Down Under, Dunmarra Press, Whenever I feel myself shuffling to the zombie beat, I take Auckland, NZ. heart from the words of another of my research respond- Dill, D. (1982). The management of academic culture: Notes on the manage- ents: ‘although we’ve been crushed, I think there is still a ment of meaning and social integration, Higher Education, 11 (3), 303-320 kernel of desire to return’. Dobson, I. (2009). Hey Big Spender! An analysis of Australian universities and So, perhaps zombiedom can be construed as an effec- how much they pay their general staff, Australian Universities’ Review, 51(1), 39-47. tive form of resistance, a form that goes beyond survival to Dobson, I. (2010). Uneven development: The disjointed growth of university protecting and hopefully nourishing that kernel of desire staffing since Dawkins, People and Place, 18(1), 31-38. for future emancipation. But the questions remain as to Edwards, D. Bexley, E. & Richardson, S. (2010). Regenerating the Academic whether we can we survive by simply sheltering away, Workforce: The careers, intentions and motivations of research higher degree waiting for the neoliberal storm to pass? And, even if we students in Australia, ACER. do, will we have the memory, the energy, the identity left Gillies, D. (2011). Agile bodies: a new imperative in neoliberal governance, to reactivate the academy as we would like it? Journal of Education Policy, 26 (2), 207-223. Giroux, H. A. (2006). Higher Education Under Siege: Implications for Public Intellectuals, Thought and Action, Fall, 63- 78. Suzanne Ryan is an associate professor at the Newcastle Busi- ness School, University of Newcastle, Australia Gora, J. & Whelan, A. (2010). Invasion of the aca-zombies, The Australian Higher Education Supplement, 3 November.

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Habermas, J. (1984). The Theory of Communicative Action, Volume One, Parker, L. & Guthrie, J. (2010). Business Schools in an age of globalisation, Reason and the rationalisation of society, T. McCarthy (transl), Beacon Press, Accounting, Auditing and Accountability Journal, 23 (1), 5-13. Boston. Parker, M. & Jary, D. (1995). The McUniversity: organisation, management and Henkel, M. (2005). Academic Identity and Autonomy in a Changing Policy academic subjectivity, Organization, 2(2), 319-338. Environment, Higher Education, 49 (1-2), 155-176. Percy, A. & Beaumont, R. (2008). The casualisation of teaching and the subject Hogan, J. (2011). Is higher education spending more on adminstration and, if at risk, Studies in Continuing Education 30(2), 145-157. so, why? Perspectives: Policy and Practice in Higher Education, 15 (1), 7-13. Pritchard, C. & Willmott, H. (1997). Just How Managed is the McUniversity? Hug,o G. (2008). The demographic outlook for Australian universities’ Organization Studies, 18 (2), 287-316. academic staff. CHASS Occasional Paper No. 6, Council for the Humani- Ryan, S. (2010). Storytelling in Critical Research: The tale of a business school, ties, Arts and Social Sciences, Retrieved from http://www.chass.org.au/papers/ paper presented at ANZAAM 2010 Conference, Melbourne, 4-8 December. PAP20081101GH.php Ryan, S., Battacharyya, A. & McNeil, K. (2011). Academic Work: A sessionalised Hugo, G. & Morriss, A. (2010). Investigating the Ageing Academic Workforce: future? Paper submitted to ANZAAM 2011 Conference, Wellington, December. Stocktake, University of Adelaide, Adelaide. Ryan, S. & Guthrie, J. (2009) Collegial entrepreneurialism: Australian graduate Hull, R. (2006). Workload allocation models and ‘collegiality’ in academic schools of business, Public Management Review, 11 (317-344). departments, Journal of Organisational Change Management, 19 (1), 38-53. 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Australian transnational education programmes in South East Asia Student satisfaction with the learning environment

Iwona Miliszewska & Ewa M Sztendur Victoria University, Australia

In view of the strong growth of transnational education programmes in Australian universities, there is growing interest in the experiences of students participating in such programmes. This article reports on the perceived student satisfaction with several aspects of their transnational programmes, including instructors, technology, and programme management and administration. Data for the study were collected from approximately five hundred transnational students participating in eight programmes offered by four Australian universities in Hong Kong, Malaysia, Singapore and Vietnam. The article outlines the findings of the study, highlighting the need for incorporating student perspectives in the provision of transnational education programmes. The article concludes by discussing the potential application of its findings in reviewing existing and planning new transnational education programmes.

Introduction pating in eight programmes offered by four Australian universities in Hong Kong, Malaysia, Singapore and Vietnam. Transnational education, often referred to as offshore education, describes all programmes in which the learners Australian transnational education – are located in a country different from the one where the perspectives and characteristics awarding institution is based. With rapid expansion of the transnational education market, more and more universi- There are a great number of different relationships ties join the ranks of transnational education providers, between different types of transnational education pro- or expand their transnational education offerings. For viders, delivery mechanisms, and programmes/awards. Australia, one of the main providers of transnational edu- Charting these is a difficult task, as the constantly evolv- cation in South East Asia (Banks et al., 2010), satisfying ing, highly complex situation includes an array of part- the needs of the highest demand disciplines in the region nerships, consortia, articulation agreements, modes of – computing and business – is of vital importance. Thus, delivery, public, private, off-shore, for-profit and corporate there is growing interest in the experiences of the par- elements. Various models of teaching can also be found, ticipating transnational students. This article responds to ranging from full programme delivery at an offshore this interest and presents the transnational students’ per- campus, combined face-to-face and flexible delivery spectives on their transnational education programmes; it option, and e-learning (Dunn & Wallace, 2006; McBurnie relates the views of nearly five hundred students partici- & Ziguras, 2007; Miliszewska & Sztendur, 2010).

12 Australian transnational education programmes in South East Asia, Iwona Miliszewska & Ewa M Sztendur vol. 54, no. 2, 2012 AUSTRALIAN UNIVERSITIES’ REVIEW

In terms of demand, it is estimated that the demand Student perspectives on transnational for transnational higher education in Asian countries education programme effectiveness (excluding China) will reach nearly 500,000 students by 2020 (OECD, 2009). This presents both a challenge In view of the strong growth of transnational programmes and an opportunity for Australian universities, who are in Australian universities (Universities Australia 2009), key transnational providers in the region. The Australian there is growing interest in the experiences of students Department of Education, Science and Training estimates participating in the transnational programmes. According that, already approximately one in every four interna- to Chapman and Pyvis (2005, 40), no one is in a better tional students in the Australian education and train- position to comment on these experiences than students ing system is enrolled offshore (DEST, 2005, 7). In 2007, themselves: they are the ultimate ‘insiders and experts’; almost all (93 per cent) of the 71,000 Australian transna- yet, the voice of the student is conspicuously missing tional higher education students were internal students at from research literature. In consideration of this need, a an offshore campus – only 4.6 per cent were external (dis- research study was conducted in 2007-2008 to examine tance education) and 2.4 per cent were multi-modal (AEI, the issue of transnational programme effectiveness from 2009). In terms of mode of attendance, only 65 per cent the student perspective (Miliszewska & Sztendur, 2010). of offshore students were studying full time. The top five sources of offshore students were Singapore, Malaysia, Methodology China, Hong Kong and Vietnam (AEI, 2009). While Singa- pore, Malaysia and Hong Kong have dominated transna- The study involved students in eight transnational com- tional education provision by Australian universities over puting programmes offered in Hong Kong, Malaysia, Singa- the years, recently China and Vietnam have emerged as pore and Vietnam by Australian universities; 469 students key offshore markets (Banks et al., 2010). participated. Table 1 presents a breakdown of student A typical transnational programme offered by Australian numbers across providing universities, locales and pro- universities is in the field of study of business, information grammes; it also includes information about the mode of technology, and education (Denman, 2009); in the past study (part-time ‘p/t’, full-time ‘f/t’) and the mode of teach- few years, health has also emerged as a popular field of ing (both Australian and local staff are involved in face-to- study for transnational students (AVCC, 2005). In terms face teaching ‘both’, or local staff only ‘local’). of delivery mode, a typical programme relies on face-to- The choice of locales was deliberate: Hong Kong and face teaching or supported distance education. The pro- Singapore are important markets for Australian transna- gramme involves a partner which is a private education tional programmes, and are also well-developed territo- institution or public education institution, and awards an ries where English is commonly spoken; hence, students Australian qualification. Such programmes are offered in participating in the study were likely to have the benefit Singapore, Malaysia, China and Hong Kong (Universities of suitable technological infrastructure and adequate lin- Australia, 2009). These countries host the largest number guistic skills. Malaysia and Vietnam were chosen to check of Australian transnational programmes, and provide the if limited technological infrastructure and language pro- largest number of transnational students; together these markets account for more than 70 per cent of Table 1: Number of students participating in the study all transnational programmes of Australian universi- Hong Kong Malaysia Singapore Vietnam ties (Universities Australia, 2009). University1 Programme1 Programme2 In terms of responsibility, the Australian university (N=131) p/t, (N=44) f/t, is responsible for curriculum, teaching and assess- both both ment, and quality assurance; the responsibility for University2 Programme3 Programme4 Programme5 provision of study location, marketing, promotion (N=69) f/t, (N=46) p/t, (N=33) f/t, and financial administration rests with the offshore local local local partner. Although, on the whole, the Australian uni- University3 Programme6 Programme7 versity is responsible for the quality assurance of the (N=44) p/t, (N=32) f/t, programme, partner institutions, overseas govern- both local ments, and international organisations also partici- University4 Programme8 pate in this responsibility (Banks et al., 2010). (N=70) p/t, both vol. 54, no. 2, 2012 Australian transnational education programmes in South East Asia, Iwona Miliszewska & Ewa M Sztendur 13 AUSTRALIAN UNIVERSITIES’ REVIEW ficiency would have a bearing on student perceptions. when the probability of obtaining the observed differ- Similarly, the choice of computing programmes was also ence by chance is small, compared to a significance level; deliberate: the intention was to seek the views of students the most commonly used significance levels are 0.05, who were technology savvy; hence, they were less likely 0.01, and 0.001. It should be noted that to protect the ano- to have negative perceptions of the use of technology in nymity and the privacy of Australian universities and their their programmes because of techno-phobia alone. transnational partners, this article does not provide any The programmes operating in part-time mode involved specific information about the participating institutions. students who had previous approved tertiary qualifica- tions. Students were normally in full-time employment, Findings and discussion and usually studied six subjects per year – two subjects per term. The full-time programmes typically involved stu- Student satisfaction with current programmes dents who were high school leavers. In the programmes This section reports on perceived student satisfaction with where teaching was shared by Australian and local aca- several aspects of their transnational programmes, includ- demics, lecturers from Australia were responsible for the ing: instructors, technology, programme management and design of curriculum, detailed teaching plans, continuous coordination, and overall programme effectiveness. It high- and final assessment, as well as face-to-face delivery of lights the issue of differing levels of satisfaction with Uni- twenty five per cent of the programmes; local lecturers versity (Australian) and local (offshore) instructors among taught the remaining part of the programmes. The pro- students of the evaluated programmes where both types of grammes relied on the Internet for communication, e.g. instructors participated in teaching. The section also pre- subject Web sites, bulletin boards, and email. Students met sents analyses of student satisfaction with the programmes with lecturers and fellow students through face-to-face in relation to offering institution, overseas location, and sessions, and benefited from Web-based support between types of instructors involved in programme delivery. sessions. Programmes taught exclusively by local staff fol- Table 2 presents a summary of an overall student satisfac- lowed the curriculum detailed by the host university from tion with various attributes of their current programmes, Australia and accessed online resources provided by the grouped in three broad categories of Instruction/Instruc- host university; however, Australian lecturers did not par- tor, Technology, and Programme management and coordi- ticipate in face-to-face teaching. nation; the satisfaction was measured using a five-point Data were collected through a quantitative survey to Likert scale, where 1 indicated very poor, 2 – poor, 3 – allow participants to note which elements of the learning average, 4 – good, and 5 indicated very good. experience contributed to, or limited, their satisfaction with the programme. Student satisfaction was measured Student satisfaction with instructors and on an ordinal (ranked) scale, hence non-parametric tests, instruction such as the Wilcoxon signed-rank test and the Friedman The average ranked scores related to students’ satisfaction test, were used to analyse the data. The Wilcoxon signed- with attributes in the Instructor/Instruction category are rank test is used to determine whether there is a statisti- reported in Table 3. For each programme, the Friedman test cally significant difference between two related samples was used to determine whether there were significant dif- or two repeated measurements, and the Friedman test is ferences in student satisfaction with the attributes in this appropriate for three or more related samples or repeated category. Student level of satisfaction varied significantly measurements. A difference is statistically significant across the attributes in all programmes except Prog7.

Table 2: Average student satisfaction with current programmes

University & local instructors Local instructors only Prog1 Hong Prog6 Hong Prog2 Prog8 Prog3 Prog7 Prog4 Prog5 Kong Kong Malaysia Singapore Malaysia Malaysia Singapore Vietnam Instructor/ 3.40 3.45 3.27 3.65 3.39 3.41 3.32 3.76 Instruction Technology 3.29 3.07 3.04 3.64 3.22 3.26 3.23 3.56 Management 3.13 3.13 3.17 3.62 3.21 3.42 3.15 3.50 Total satisfaction 3.27 3.22 3.15 3.64 3.27 3.36 3.23 3.61

14 Australian transnational education programmes in South East Asia, Iwona Miliszewska & Ewa M Sztendur vol. 54, no. 2, 2012 AUSTRALIAN UNIVERSITIES’ REVIEW

Table 3: Average satisfaction with Instructor/Instruction

University & local instructors Local instructors only Prog1 Prog6 Prog2 Prog8 Prog3 Prog7 Prog4 Prog5 HK HK Mal Sin Mal Mal Sin Viet Clarity of programme objectives, requirements, and assess- 12.96 14.85 15.13 13.88 10.04 9.64 11.18 10.71 ments. Time given in classes to copy down the presented lecture 11.26 10.98 13.14 10.83 10.18 8.14 10.23 9.02 material. Production quality of the lecture presentations. 12.16 14.67 15.29 13.42 11.03 10.36 10.61 8.12 Use of electronic media in lecture presentations. 12.63 14.22 12.75 13.31 11.63 12.00 9.75 10.90 Usefulness of lecture presentations in understanding the 12.42 11.52 15.93 12.81 11.76 9.47 10.75 8.87 programme content. Time taken to mark and return tests and written assign- 10.06 6.81 11.04 8.64 7.65 9.93 8.68 6.83 ments. Use of electronic media for assignment submission and 10.23 12.30 10.57 12.10 9.81 10.76 7.14 11.48 feedback. Use of instruction that helped you better understand the 12.64 11.93 12.38 11.40 8.08 8.98 9.92 8.69 programme material. Quality of the classrooms environment (e.g.noise) 13.40 14.42 11.23 14.00 6.73 9.47 8.83 9.23 Extent to which instructors made you feel that you were 12.96 14.25 12.17 13.83 9.46 9.66 10.64 10.75 part of the class. Instructors’ communication skills. 14.41 14.49 16.70 15.07 11.65 11.19 11.81 12.12 University instructors’ organisation and preparation for 13.78 13.34 15.33 14.32 classes. Local instructors’ organisation and preparation for classes. 12.64 13.92 10.21 13.82 12.46 9.88 11.11 9.23 University instructors’ dedication to students and teaching. 14.03 14.73 15.70 13.23 Local instructors’ dedication to students and teaching. 14.32 14.55 11.02 14.73 11.78 11.34 11.99 11.62 University instructors’ teaching ability. 16.15 14.57 16.54 15.39 Local instructors’ teaching ability. 13.79 13.30 10.06 14.57 11.03 11.12 10.76 10.44 University instructors’ encouragement to participate in 15.32 11.82 14.81 12.25 class. Local instructors’ encouragement to participate in class. 14.53 13.47 11.38 13.25 10.87 8.67 9.95 9.71 Telephone/email accessibility of the University instructors 10.60 12.84 10.86 12.93 outside of classes. Telephone/email accessibility of the Local instructors 12.68 11.24 10.98 12.81 8.02 10.40 8.79 10.85 outside of classes. Degree to which instructors encouraged communication 12.11 11.22 11.42 11.56 8.43 9.86 9.61 10.10 between students, and between students and instructors. Extent to which the programme material was sufficient to 11.13 10.89 12.99 10.20 8.55 9.02 8.04 11.04 support study at home. Overall, the University instructors were: 14.89 15.01 17.39 13.43 Overall, the Local instructors were: 13.92 13.69 9.99 13.26 10.85 10.12 10.23 10.31 Significant at: α=0.01 (**), α=0.05 (*) ** ** ** ** ** ** **

Attribute with 1st or 2nd highest level of satisfaction. Attribute with lowest level of satisfaction.

Attribute does not apply. vol. 54, no. 2, 2012 Australian transnational education programmes in South East Asia, Iwona Miliszewska & Ewa M Sztendur 15 AUSTRALIAN UNIVERSITIES’ REVIEW

The table distinguishes between programmes where 2001), and various university quality policies include that both Australian and local instructors were involved in requirement. Table 4 shows the results of the compari- face-to-face delivery (Prog1, Prog6, Prog2, and Prog8), son in student satisfaction between Australian and local and programmes delivered entirely by local instructors instructors. (Prog3, Prog7, Prog4, Prog5). For each programme, two In terms of instructor attributes, students in all pro- attributes with the highest level of satisfaction are high- grammes reported higher levels of satisfaction with the lighted in dark grey, and an attribute with the lowest level University instructors’ teaching ability and overall perfor- of satisfaction is highlighted in light grey. mance; only some of these differences were statistically Satisfaction with the various attributes of instructors significant. and instruction varied across programmes. However, some It appears that within individual programmes Univer- of the attributes recorded the highest level of satisfaction sity instructors also attracted higher levels of satisfaction. in several programmes – for example, the instructors’ However, in Prog2 these differences were statistically communication skills (Prog2, Prog8, Prog4, and Prog5) or significant for all but one (accessibility outside classes) the local instructors’ dedication to students and teaching aspects. This sentiment was also reflected in written com- (Prog3, Prog7, Prog4, and Prog5); it should be noted, that ments provided by the students: the latter attribute scored highest only in programmes ‘Although University lecturers are very good with their delivered entirely by local instructors. Interestingly, in pro- respective subjects, they leave too soon. After that, the grammes delivered by both Australian and local instruc- local lecturer might not be as good as the University lecturer, which affects the overall understanding of the tors, students reported the highest levels of satisfaction subject. Ms X [University instructor] made the subject with attributes related to the Australian instructors. well understood.’ With respect to the lowest level of satisfaction, students in different programmes were least satisfied with different ‘It [the programme] would be more effective if the lecturers from Australia came more often.’ attributes. However, ‘the time taken to mark and return tests and written assignments’ recorded the lowest scores ‘Some [local] lecturers are not 100 per cent commit- in four programmes (Prog1, Prog6, Prog8, and Prog5). ted to teaching  students’ lack of confidence toward quality  decrease interest in studies. No motivations  A comparison of student satisfaction with the Austral- [local] lecturers use harsh words and raise their voice ian instructors and the local instructors was also of inter- to show anger.’ est, since four of the participating programmes (Prog1, Prog6, Prog2, and Prog8) involved Australian, as well as local instructors. This was important in view of the argu- Student satisfaction with technology ment that transnational programmes should be of equivalent standard to the same programmes offered by the The average ranked scores related to students’ satisfaction university at home (Biggs 2001; Hyam 2003; Van Damme with attributes in the Technology category are reported

Table 4: Student satisfaction with University & Local instructors (incl. preferred instructors and significance of preference)

Prog1 Hong Kong Prog6 Hong Kong Prog2 Malaysia Prog8 Singapore Organisation and preparation for University1 Local University1 University4 classes. p=0.08 p=0.90 p<0.001 p=0.35 Dedication to students and teaching. Local University3 University1 Local p=0.99 p=0.96 p<0.001 p=0.13 Teaching ability. University1 University3 p=0.39 University1 University4 p<0.001 p<0.001 p=0.26 Encouragement of class participa- University1 Local University1 Local tion. p=0.11 p=0.14 p=0.004 p=0.18 Telephone/email accessibility outside Local University3 University1 Local of classes. p<0.001 p=0.11 p=0.85 p=0.82 Overall satisfaction. University1 University3 University1 University4 p=0.18 p=0.34 p<0.001 p=0.49

Shading indicates a significantly greater level of satisfaction (p<0.05, using Wilcoxon test).

16 Australian transnational education programmes in South East Asia, Iwona Miliszewska & Ewa M Sztendur vol. 54, no. 2, 2012 AUSTRALIAN UNIVERSITIES’ REVIEW

Table 5: Student satisfaction with technology

University & local instructors Local instructors only Prog1 Prog6 Prog2 Prog8 Prog3 Prog7 Prog4 Prog5 HK HK Mal Sin Mal Mal Sin Viet The quality of the technology used in classes. 4.23 4.70 3.60 3.49 3.86 3.40 3.74 3.94 The ease of use of technology. 4.26 4.22 4.10 3.58 4.19 3.32 3.93 3.98 The extent of programme’s reliance on the use of 3.91 4.02 4.18 3.73 4.21 3.66 3.83 3.93 technology in the classroom or the college. The extent to which the programme relied on the 4.04 3.88 4.32 3.98 4.24 4.35 4.43 3.41 use of technology at home. The degree of confidence you had that classes 4.16 4.31 4.01 4.78 3.87 4.44 4.41 3.96 would not be interrupted or cancelled due to technical problems. The quality of technical support provided. 3.76 3.27 3.36 4.03 3.55 3.77 3.77 3.97 The overall usefulness of programme Websites. 3.64 3.60 4.42 4.40 4.08 5.05 3.88 4.80 Significant at: α=0.01 (**), α=0.05 (*) ** ** * ** **

Attribute with 1st or 2nd highest level of satisfaction. Attribute with lowest level of satisfaction.

in Table 5. For each of the programmes, the Friedman test Student satisfaction with programme was used to determine whether there were significant dif- management and administration ferences in student satisfaction with the attributes in this category. Student level of satisfaction varied significantly The average ranked scores related to students’ satisfac- across the attributes in five of the programmes. tion with attributes in the Programme management Satisfaction with the various attributes related to the and administration category are reported in Table 6. For use of technology varied across programmes. However, each of the programmes, the Friedman test was used to two attributes recorded the highest level of satisfaction determine whether there were significant differences in in four programmes; the attributes were the degree of student satisfaction with the attributes in this category. confidence in the reliability of technology used in class Student level of satisfaction varied significantly across the (Prog6, Prog8, Prog7, and Prog4), and the overall useful- attributes in four of the programmes. ness of programme Websites (Prog2, Prog8, Prog7, and Satisfaction with the various attributes related to pro- Prog5). gramme management and administration varied across With respect to the lowest level of satisfaction, students programmes. However, students in four programmes in different programmes were least satisfied with different (Prog2, Prog8, Prog7, and Prog5) were highly satisfied attributes. However, ‘the quality of technical support pro- with their ability to access the university programme vided’ recorded the lowest scores in three programmes coordinator when needed. Students in three pro- (Prog6, Prog2, and Prog3). grammes (Prog2, Prog3, and Prog7 – all offered in Malay- Surprisingly, there were considerable differences in stu- sia) were also highly satisfied with their ability to access dent satisfaction with the quality of the technology used the university library and other student resources; yet, in classes among programmes offered in technologically students in two other programmes, Prog1 in Hong Kong advanced countries. While students in programmes Prog1 and Prog8 in Singapore, were least satisfied with this and Prog6 offered in Hong Kong reported highest levels very attribute. of satisfaction with this attribute, students in programmes Among all the attributes related to programme manage- Prog8 and Prog4, offered in an equally technologically ment and administration, students in three programmes advanced Singapore, were least satisfied with the qual- (Prog6, Prog7, and Prog5) rated lowest their ‘ability to ity of the technology used in classes in comparison with access a computer when, and if, needed’. other technology-related attributes of their programmes. vol. 54, no. 2, 2012 Australian transnational education programmes in South East Asia, Iwona Miliszewska & Ewa M Sztendur 17 AUSTRALIAN UNIVERSITIES’ REVIEW

Table 6: Student satisfaction with programme management and administration

University & local instructors Local instructors only Prog1 Prog6 Prog2 Prog8 Prog3 Prog7 Prog4 Prog5 HK HK Mal Sin Mal Mal Sin Viet The present means of exchanging programme material 6.26 6.53 5.74 5.97 6.13 6.06 6.10 5.96 between you and the instructors. Your ability to access the university library and other 5.13 5.38 7.40 4.26 7.28 6.76 6.02 6.23 student resources. Your ability to access a computer when, and if, needed. 6.20 4.89 6.74 6.26 5.94 5.40 6.24 4.33 The general attitude of the administrative/technical 6.22 7.00 5.32 6.70 5.60 5.45 5.82 6.19 staff, e.g. in delivering materials, maintaining classrooms. The accessibility of administrative/technical staff. 6.46 7.00 5.42 6.53 5.23 5.76 4.84 6.23 The promptness of delivery of programme materials. 5.88 6.28 5.66 6.42 6.31 5.55 5.99 6.83 Your ability to access the university programme coordi- 6.11 6.72 6.78 7.02 5.96 6.77 6.01 6.67 nator when needed. Class enrolment and registration procedures. 6.06 6.35 6.41 6.06 6.01 6.45 6.26 5.98 Your opportunity to evaluate the programme. 5.94 5.63 6.01 5.64 6.37 5.85 6.38 5.92 The extent to which, in your opinion, the university 5.62 5.03 5.17 5.05 5.46 5.69 6.11 5.63 responds to evaluations. The degree of organisational support. 6.12 5.19 5.35 6.08 5.71 6.24 6.23 6.02 Significant at: α=0.01 (**), α=0.05 (*) ** ** ** **

Attribute with 1st or 2nd highest level of satisfaction. Attribute with lowest level of satisfaction.

Comparative analysis of student satisfaction with the current programmes

It was important to determine if, and how, student satisfaction with the various aspects of their transnational programmes differed across all programmes. The two independent variables were: ‘Programme’ (with 8 levels: Prog1, Prog2, … , and Prog8), and ‘Category’ (with 3 levels: Instructor/Instruction, Technology, and Programme management and administration). Each of the levels in the variable ‘Category’ represented a composite variable; for example, Instructor/Instruc- tion represented the mean satisfaction of each student with all attributes related to instructor and instruction. Considering that ‘Programme’ was a between-subjects variable, and ‘Category’ was a within-subject variable, Figure 1: Student satisfaction with current pro- a mixed design ANOVA was used to test if there were grammes, by category significant differences in student satisfaction with the three aspects of transnational programmes across all ment (Instructor/Instruction, Technology, and Programme programmes considered in this study. management and administration) and the participating A mixed design ANOVA showed a significant interac- programmes, F(13.9, 812) = 4.33, p < .001 (as illustrated tion between various aspects of the educational environ- in Figure 1). Students in programmes Prog8 and Prog5

18 Australian transnational education programmes in South East Asia, Iwona Miliszewska & Ewa M Sztendur vol. 54, no. 2, 2012 AUSTRALIAN UNIVERSITIES’ REVIEW

Table 7: Differences between the highest-ranking gramme structure and flexibility, and relevance to job and programmes career were named as determining factors: Prog8 Prog5 ‘Flexibility of time and subject management.’ S8 Infrastructure Well-developed Developing (Singapore) (Vietnam) ‘I can work and study at the same time to earn a degree.’ S8 English proficiency High Limited Mode of study (students) Part-time Full-time ‘Provided a lot of useful knowledge that is required by recruiters.’ S5 Mode of teaching Both Australian Local only (instructors) & local ‘It [the programme] provides proper materials in order Australian institution University4 University2 for me to pursue a career in this field.’ S3 ‘Useful in my job.’ S2 reported significantly higher levels of satisfaction than (S1 refers to a student in Prog1, S2 identifies a student students in other programmes, with the exception of in Prog2, and so on.) Prog7 where the difference was not significant. Many students appreciated the opportunity to obtain Interestingly, programmes Prog8 and Prog5 differed in a foreign degree without leaving their country or experi- many respects, as illustrated in Table 7. ence Western teaching methods: The students in Prog8 were almost equally satisfied ‘Allows to study in a foreign country without leaving with all three aspects of their programmes; on the other our country.’ S2 hand, students in Prog5 were most satisfied with their ‘Gives the study opportunity for students who can’t instructors and the quality of instruction and somewhat study full time in Australia.’ S8 less satisfied with technology and programme management and administration. ‘It eliminates the need to spend the entire course duration overseas which many cannot afford.’ S3 Surprisingly, students in Prog4 which, like Prog8, was also delivered in Singapore and, like Prog5, was offered by ‘Because it applied Western teaching methods.’ S5 University2, reported significantly lower levels of satisfac- ‘These types of programmes are better taught by the tion than their counterparts in Prog8 and Prog5. foreign university than the local uni.’ S2

Perceived programme effectiveness ‘I had the opportunity to learn new skills which I may not have in my home country.’ S3 This section reports on student perceptions of programme effectiveness which was measured in three ways: Others valued the status of the Australian host univer- one, students deemed their current programme effec- sity: tive/non-effective; two, students stated if they would be ‘It is a highly accredited university.’ S8 willing to participate in this type of programme (that is, transnational) in the future; and three, they stated if the ‘Quality education from a recognised university is important.’ S8 programme was worthwhile – Table 8. The section cites student reasons for deeming their programmes effective/ ‘Prestige.’ S5 not effective, and worthwhile/not worthwhile (derived ‘Good university.’ S3 from the qualitative part of the student survey). The majority of students in all programmes regarded ‘Good reputation.’ S7 their programmes as effective and worthwhile. Pro-

Table 8: Perceived effectiveness of current programmes (percentage of students who agreed)

University & local instructors Local instructors only Prog1 Prog6 Prog2 Prog8 Prog3 Prog7 Prog4 Prog5 HK HK Mal Sin Mal Mal Sin Viet Is the programme effective? 85 75 73 94 82 91 84 91 Would you participate in a similar programme again? 55 21 68 90 75 84 78 77 Is the programme worthwhile? 86 84 94 97 97 85 82 89 vol. 54, no. 2, 2012 Australian transnational education programmes in South East Asia, Iwona Miliszewska & Ewa M Sztendur 19 AUSTRALIAN UNIVERSITIES’ REVIEW

For some students, short programme duration leading in defining what constitutes its effectiveness. The reported to a formal qualification defined programme effectiveness: findings might assist academics, designers, and administra- ‘I can complete the programme in a short time.’ S1 tors involved in teaching, developing, and managing such programmes to gain insights into programme effective- ‘Short.’ S7 ness as perceived by transnational students. ‘It is quick and effective.’ S1 • Satisfaction with instructors in the evaluated programmes was high; however, in the four programmes ‘Fast to obtain a degree (express route).’ S4 taught by both University and local instructors, stu- The approving assessment of the effectiveness of cur- dents reported higher levels of satisfaction with Uni- rent programmes generally corresponded to the students’ versity instructors in terms of overall satisfaction and willingness to participate in a similar type of programme the instructors’ teaching ability; in two programmes, the (that is, transnational) in the future; however, only 21 per differences were statistically significant. cent of students in Prog6 declared their potential will- • Slow feedback on assessment tasks emerged as a ingness. Those students in Prog6 who were not willing major problem in all evaluated programmes. Students to participate often cited reasons that did not reflect on identified the tardiness with which tests and written the quality of the programme or its type of delivery, but assignments were marked and returned as the least sat- related to the students’ lack of time, family circumstances, isfactory aspect associated with instructors and instruc- and financial constraints. tion. ‘I will use more time with my family and my work after • Students were highly satisfied with the reliability of I finish this course.’ technology used in class and the overall usefulness of programme Web sites. On the other hand, the quality of ‘I will have a break after I finish this programme. I am very tired to study at night.’ the available technical support was found to be lacking. • The majority of students regarded their programmes ‘Very tired at night and working in daytime.’ as effective and worthwhile. Students named the fol- ‘Too expensive.’ lowing determinants of programme effectiveness: programme structure and flexibility, relevance to job and Other students in this programme cited disappoint- career, opportunity to obtain a foreign degree without ment with the demanding programme schedule, frequent leaving their country, opportunity to experience West- and unexpected schedule changes, lack of adequate ern teaching methods, high status of Australian Uni- course material and support, and emphasis on self-study versities, and short programme duration leading to a as reasons for not trusting similar types of programmes formal qualification. in the future. In terms of assisting in the design, development, and ‘Schedule too tight. Not enough time provided for review of transnational programmes, the findings pre- good preparation in the study period.’ sented in this article could be pertinent to staff involved in those programmes, as well as to university administra- ‘Too much to study, too many topics, no time for revi- sion; not easy to get a high mark.’ tors. For staff, they could provide a platform for reflection on what is ‘right’ or ‘wrong’ with a programme, and which ‘I don’t have time to ask comments, suggestions from practices are effective or non-effective. Understanding of the professor face to face.’ how the learning experience discourages or frustrates ‘Not enough materials or demo to make it easier for learners might enable staff to consider and implement the students.’ constructive changes. For instance, the reported perceived ‘The schedule is too condensed, 4 times a week, which failure of the programmes to deliver timely feedback on is very difficult to fit in daily work and the schedule is assignments identifies one aspect of the programmes that changed quite often.’ calls for attention. For university administrators, the reported findings Conclusion could provide assistance in reviewing the quality and con- sistency of their transnational offerings. For instance, it Student perspectives outlined in this article were col- has been argued that transnational programmes should be lected with the notion in mind that as the ultimate clients of equivalent standard to the same programmes offered of an education programme, students should participate by the university at home, and various university quality

20 Australian transnational education programmes in South East Asia, Iwona Miliszewska & Ewa M Sztendur vol. 54, no. 2, 2012 AUSTRALIAN UNIVERSITIES’ REVIEW policies include that requirement. Yet, the reported find- Denman, B. D. (2009). Higher education by distance: Opportunities and challenges at national and international levels. Report. London, The Observatory ings revealed significant differences between perceived on Borderless Higher Education, February. performance of university and local lecturers in the DEST (Department of Education, Science and Training). (2005). A national participating programmes, which might undermine the quality strategy for Australian transnational education and training: A requirement of equivalent programme standards; this is discussion paper. Retrieved from http://aei.dest.gov.au/AEI/GovernmentActivities/ one issue for university administrators to consider. Like- QAAustralianEducationAndTrainingSystem/QualStrat_pdf.pdf wise, university policies and, in some instances, dedicated Dunn, L. & M. Wallace M. (2006). Australian academics and transnational teaching: an exploratory study of their preparedness and experiences. Higher university units aim to ensure that all transnational educa- Education Research and Development 25: 35-369. tion programmes offered under the university are deliver- Hyam, L. (2003). Australian higher education and quality: International issues, ing a sound education consistent and compliant with well challenges and opportunities. Keynote address. In Proceedings of the Australian defined standards. Yet, the reported study revealed signifi- Universities Quality Forum 2003. cant differences between perceived satisfaction with two McBurnie, G. & Ziguras, C. (2007). Transnational education: issues and programmes offered by the same university, potentially trends in offshore higher education. London: Routledge. challenging the requirement of intra-institutional consist- Miliszewska, I. & Sztendur E. (2010). Australian TNE Programmes in South- east Asia: The Student Perspective. Report. The Observatory on Borderless Higher ency of transnational programmes; this is another issue for Education, London, April. the university administrators to address. OECD (Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development). (2009). Given the information contained in this article, it is Higher education to 2030: Globalisation. OECD Publishing. evident that to improve and sustain transnational pro- Universities Australia. (2009). Offshore Programs of Australian Universities. grammes in the future, it is essential for universities to Canberra, AVCC. gain an understanding of the learners’ perspective: an Van Damme, D. (2001). Higher education in the age of globalisation: The need understanding that transcends attendance records and for a new regulatory framework for recognition, quality assurance and accreditation. Introductory Paper for the UNESCO Expert Meeting, Paris, 10-11 September academic achievements. 2001. Retrieved from http://www.unesco.org/education/studyingabroad/highlights/global_forum/presentations/keynote_eng.doc Iwona Miliszewska is an Associate Professor and Head of Ziguras, C. (2007). Good practice in transnational education: A guide for the School of Engineering and Science, Victoria University, New Zealand providers. Report. Wellington, Education New Zealand. Retrieved Australia. from http://mams.rmit.edu.au/b0fsg6huol3q1.pdf

Ewa M. Sztendur works as a Senior Statistical Consultant in the Office of PVC (Research and Research Training), Victoria University, Australia.

References

AEI (Australian Education International). (2009). Transnational education in higher education sector. Research snapshot. Canberra, DEST, July. Retrieved from http://aei.gov.au/AEI/PublicationsAndResearch/Snapshots/2009073120_pdf.pdf AVCC (Australian Vice Chancellors’ Committee). (2005). Internationalisation: Report, January 2005. Banks, M, Olsen, A. & Pearce, D. (2007). Global student mobility: An Austral- ian perspective five years on, IDP Education Australia. Retrieved from http:// www.idp.com/pdf/GSM_Brochure_Oct07.pdf Banks, M., Kevat, P. Ziguras, C. Ciccarelli, A. & Clayton D. (2010). The changing fortunes of Australian transnational higher education. Report. London, Observatory on Borderless Higher Education, June. Biggs, J. (2001). The reflective institution: assuring and enhancing the quality of teaching and learning. Higher Education 41: 221-238. Chapman, A. & Pyvis D. (2005). Identity and social practice in higher education: student experiences of postgraduate courses delivered ‘offshore’ in Singapore and Hong Kong by an Australian university. International Journal of Educational Development 25: 39-52. Chapman, A. & Pyvis D. (2006). Quality, identity and practice in offshore university programmes: Issues in the internationalization of Australian higher education. Teaching in Higher Education 11: 233-245. vol. 54, no. 2, 2012 Australian transnational education programmes in South East Asia, Iwona Miliszewska & Ewa M Sztendur 21 AUSTRALIAN UNIVERSITIES’ REVIEW

All beer and skittles? A qualitative pilot study of the role of alcohol in university college life

Clarissa Hughes University of Tasmania

This paper reports the results of a small qualitative pilot study on the role of alcohol in college life, undertaken at three residential colleges at an Australian university. Focus groups (involving 43 students aged between 17 and 23 years) investigated participants’ views of the social functions of alcohol in the residential college environment. Participants regarded drinking as an entrenched and highly valued aspect of college culture at all three colleges. They portrayed alcohol as contributing in positive ways to ‘sociability and relaxation’ as well as ‘bonding and social inclusion’ at college. Although drinking was acknowledged as disruptive of students’ sleep, study, and daily routines, such impacts were often played down or normalised. The article concludes that normative studies, with a particular focus on first-year students, may be fruitful avenues for reducing alcohol-related harm among college-based university students. Qualitative studies like the one reported here can provide detailed, context-specific information about ‘local drinking cultures’, which are essential for informed decision-making about intervention approaches and policy change.

Introduction indicates that university students drink more than their same-age peers not engaged in tertiary studies (Dowling, The alcohol consumption habits of Australian young Clark & Corney, 2006; Walker, 2000). people are of great concern to parents, politicians, Accidental injury, assaults and other consequences of researchers, policy makers, educators and others. There alcohol misuse are ‘key concern of university leaders’ are ongoing debates about whether Australians ‘binge (Perkins & Craig, 2006; Wechsler & Nelson, 2008) in the drink’ more or less often than they did in the past, and, in US and elsewhere. Alcohol use also has implications for academic circles, what constitutes ‘a binge’ (see also Alex- other less dramatic (but no less important) issues includ- andre & Bowen, 2004; Herring, Berridge & Thom, 2008). ing academic performance and student attrition (Mar- Regardless, it is well-documented that a large proportion tinez, Sher & Wood, 2008; Porter & Pryor, 2007; Powell, of young peoples’ drinking places them at risk of current Williams & Wechsler, 2004). Despite 18 to 23-year-olds and future harm, both in terms of health-related risks and (and university students in particular) being identified as other negative consequences (Chikritzhs, Pascal & Jones, ‘at risk’ of alcohol-related harm, comparatively little work 2004; McBride, Farringdon & Midford, 2000; Toumbourou, has been undertaken to identify problems and determine Hemphill, McMorris, Catalano & Patton, 2009). University appropriate solutions (Roche & Watt, 2000, p. 390; see also students, as a group, are often associated with problem- Wilks, 1989). Furthermore, much of the existing research atic alcohol consumption. An Australian study reported has a disciplinary basis in either psychology or epidemiol- 54 per cent of the university student sample consuming ogy, and is dominated by quantitative methods. more than five standard drinks on a typical drinking occa- This paper addresses an important gap in the literature sion, and over two-thirds (69 per cent) drinking at hazard- by investigating students’ views on the role of alcohol in ous or harmful levels (Roche & Watt, 1999). Research also college life, based on the results of a small qualitative pilot

22 All beer and skittles?, Clarissa Hughes vol. 54, no. 2, 2012 AUSTRALIAN UNIVERSITIES’ REVIEW study conducted at three residential colleges at an Aus- gap-years and mature-age entry (McKenzie & Gow, 2007). tralian university. It is, to the author’s knowledge, the first For many students at residential colleges, their first year Australian study of its kind. The underlying premise of the at university involves a significant reduction in ‘parental paper is that efforts to change university drinking cultures surveillance’ (see also Casswell, Pledger & Pratap, 2002). should be informed by a comprehensive and nuanced As noted above, much research on alcohol consump- understanding of the place of alcohol in college life. With- tion among university students takes a psychological or out such an understanding, there is a risk of interventions epidemiological approach (see for example Alexandre or policy changes being ill-chosen and/or poorly received. & Bowen, 2004; Baer, 2002; Davey, Davey & Obst, 2002). The paper briefly discusses the social-scientific A smaller, but growing body of research investigates the research on university student drinking and provides influence of norms, perceptions and other socio-cul- a rationale for a sociological focus. After describing the tural processes (Berkowitz, 1997; Neighbors, Lee, Lewis research setting and methods, the paper then considers & Fossos, 2007; Perkins, 2002; Roche & Watt, 1999). As the findings relating to two key themes emerging from Hansen (1997, p. 155) explains, so-called ‘socio-ecological’ students’ accounts. These themes are the ways in which theories postulate that alcohol use serves to enhance a) Sociability and relaxa- instead of looking for causes within the individual… tion, and b) Bonding and social cohesion at the colleges. we should focus on the social system…Clearly, some The discussion then explores the ‘flipside’ of these posi- causes of substance abuse lie within the individual, and these should not be ignored. Social ecology tive contributions by considering Alcohol-related damage, theory, however, seeks causes primarily in the social disruption and disharmony resulting from alcohol use at environment. Consequently, efforts to modify use the colleges. The paper highlights the tensions inherent must focus on changing the person’s environment in student accounts of alcohol consumption. Despite stu- rather than the person. dents’ tendency to present drinking as making a positive Following Hansen, this study is concerned to shed light contribution to residential college life, the situation is not on the social ‘place’ of alcohol in college life, which makes ‘all beer and skittles’. The paper concludes with a discus- qualitative methods an appropriate data collection choice. sion of the implications of the study for future research Arguably, small local studies of this kind can improve and efforts to reduce alcohol-related harm among univer- understanding of ‘local drinking cultures’ to guide deci- sity students in Australia. sion-making about subsequent interventions and policy change (see also Mullen, Watson, Swift & Black, 2007; University drinking cultures – the Sheehan & Ridge, 2001). importance of ‘the social’ Research setting The university setting has been noted as one which offers ‘a unique social context for the consumption of excessive This pilot study was undertaken at three residential col- amounts of alcohol’ (Roche & Watt, 1999). Problematic leges (which have been given pseudonyms) at an Australian alcohol use among university students has a similar preva- university. Barton College and Stewart College are located lence in Australasia, Europe, and South America, and a lower within the University’s main campus, with a single adminis- prevalence in Africa and Asia (Karam, Kypri & Salamoun, tration team overseeing both colleges. Barton and Stewart 2007). The international research evidence also confirms Colleges have approximately 170 and 100 residents, respec- that university students experience a range of negative tively. Just over 50 per cent (n=135) of residents are male, consequences as a result of their own and others’ drinking around 50 per cent of residents are international students (McAlaney & McMahon, 2007; McGee & Kypri, 2004; Roche (n=130), and more than 50 (n=140) per cent of residents & Watt, 2000; Sharmer, 2001; Simao et al., 2008). are first-year students. Farrell College is a residential col- Additionally, residential colleges are often noted as lege of the University, located near the main campus. There being particularly ‘wet’ environments where residents are currently approximately 190 residents, approximately drink heavily and often (Raskin White et al., 2006). A 55 per cent (n=104) of whom are male. By contrast with number of major life landmarks (being granted permission Barton and Stewart, approximately 15 per cent (n=28) of to vote, drink, and hold a drivers licence) cluster together Farrell residents are international students. Fifteen per cent within the space of a few weeks or months for many first- (n=28) are from interstate and the majority of the remain- year university students (Roche & Watt 1999), although der are from other regions of the state. More than half the this pattern is changing with the increasing popularity of residents are first-year students at the University. vol. 54, no. 2, 2012 All beer and skittles?, Clarissa Hughes 23 AUSTRALIAN UNIVERSITIES’ REVIEW

Methods perspectives on the ‘place’ of alcohol at the residential The data for this article were collected using focus colleges rather than individuals’ drinking behaviours or groups undertaken with approval from the relevant other psychological risk/protective factors. The analysis Human Research Ethics Committee (number H10533). also investigated students’ views of the consequences of The focus groups were all audio-taped with consent. drinking. Although international students were involved All college residents were invited (via posters, emails, in a separate group, there was little to differentiate their and announcements at dinners) to participate in focus discussions from those involved in the other groups. groups. No inducements to participate were offered. A semi-structured focus group guide was used to investigate Findings perceptions of the role of alcohol in college life and their alcohol-related experiences. This section of the paper outlines the findings of the qualitative pilot study. It commences with a brief over- Participants view of the ‘patterns of consumption’ identified by focus Five focus groups were conducted, involving a total of 43 group participants, who indicated that heavier alcohol students. Posters inviting participation were displayed at use at college is associated with particular days of the each of the colleges. The comparatively low response rate week, times in the academic semester, years of study and may have been a function of the issue (i.e. students deemed types of social events. At one college, Monday nights that the topic was not worthy of their time) or the fact were popular nights for drinking, with residents con- that no inducements to be involved were offered (in fact suming alcohol provided (free of charge) at the Formal the Ethics Committee expressly forbade inducements), Dinner, then drinking at local hotels. At another college, and/or some other unforeseen factors. Male and female Wednesday night was Formal Dinner night, but residents focus groups were, where possible, conducted separately were required to purchase alcohol at the dinner. It was to assist both genders to more freely express their views. also common for these students to ‘party on’ afterwards At one college, an additional mixed-gender international at local venues. Focus group participants believed that student focus group was conducted, due to a high propor- hotels capitalised on this situation through deliber- tion of international students. There were two all-female ate marketing strategies (such as ‘half price nights’) to groups involving 14 students, two all-male groups involving attract students and enable college residents to have a 15 students, and a separate focus group of 14 international ‘big’ night at minimal cost. students which had a roughly equal gender balance. The Early in first semester and late in second semester youngest focus group participant was 17 and the eldest were also reportedly associated with heavier drinking. was 23, with most participants aged 18 or 19. Participants According to a female participant from Farrell College, were not asked to identify as drinkers or non-drinkers. ‘At the start of the semester everyone’s drinking heaps. Then everyone stops going out so much’. Similarly, a male Analysis participant from Barton College noted that ‘Around exam The focus groups were transcribed and a coding guide time or…when there are heaps of assignments, people was developed. Due to the small number of data collec- don’t tend to go out so much’. Participants also perceive tion sites and participants, a decision was made to work that alcohol consumption depends, to a certain extent, on with electronic and hard-copy versions of the transcripts which year of College someone is in - with second and rather than use a qualitative analysis software package third year students consuming less than first year students such as NVivo. The coding guide was drawn from themes (see also Bewick et al., 2008). Certainly, several first-year in the literature relating to youth alcohol consumption participants (i.e. ‘freshers’) reported that since moving and socio-cultural influences on drinking. Those themes to College they had started drinking more, and more fre- related to, inter alia, peer pressure & normative percep- quently, than they had previously. tions, gender & drinking practices, negative consequences Lastly, participants reported that heavier alcohol use of consumption, college alcohol policies, and the relation- by college residents was associated with organised social ship between alcohol and sport. Initial coding (undertaken events and college sports. These two topics shed light on by two researchers, independently) involved identifying different aspects of two key themes that emerged from stu- broad patterns in the data, while subsequent analytical dents’ accounts of the contributions of alcohol to residen- work involved further refinement and exploration of tial college life. The themes of Sociability and relaxation and themes. A particular priority was to explore participants’ Bonding and social cohesion are now examined in turn.

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Sociability and relaxation that they are a good way to socialise and meet new A recurring theme in focus group discussions at all three people. Students mentioned the use of ‘beer bongs’ (i.e. colleges was the contribution of alcohol to social func- custom-made drinking devices which hold large quan- tioning and relaxation for students. The fun and pleasura- tities of alcohol) and similar items in popular drink- ble aspects of drinking with friends featured prominently ing games (particularly after college sporting events), in many conversations. Participants also spoke of drinking despite their use being contrary to college rules and as an important strategy for stress-relief: regulations. We have stressful lives with all our assignments and For example, a male Farrell College student commented: working and everything, so alcohol and socialising There’s sometimes up to thirty people playing (a is like a way to relieve and have a bit of enjoyment drinking game) which is really good because you see (Male, Farrell College). different social groups mixing before they go out and go their separate ways. The annual College Ball at each of the colleges was particularly associated with heavy consumption and was a The international students were also asked their views major event in many residents’ social calendars. Pre- and about drinking games. Overall they suggested that drink- post-Ball functions are held, including pre-dinner drinks ing games/parties were not a negative thing and that they at a nearby bar, and parties afterwards which sometimes provided an opportunity to meet and interact with people. continue until the next day. Several first-year students The role of alcohol in building and sustaining friend- made comments like ‘I’m really excited about it. Every- ship groups was noted by many participants. Females, in one says it’s the best night of the year’. Some returning particular, stressed the extent to which College residents students spoke favourably about the Ball, but not all of looked after their friends and the environment in which them intended to go. The financial aspect was frequently they drink is safe. For instance: mentioned, with one participant stating that he was not I reckon most of the time if people have too much (alco- prepared to pay money to go to an event he did not think hol) their friends will … put them to bed, or start getting he would enjoy. Participants noted the tendency of some water into them. We all look out for each other so something bad rarely happens (Female, Barton College) students to drink to excess at the Ball to ensure they receive ‘value for money’. As explained by a female Farrell The link between alcohol consumption and college College participant: sport was emphasised by students at all three colleges. It’s … unlimited drinks, so $110 including drinks, as Female Stewart College participants also perceived that much as you can drink, and that’s often seen as the males put more pressure on each other to drink than do way to go… I want to get my money’s worth. females, especially after sporting events. The sport/drink- On the other hand, the financial outlay could also ing connection is highlighted by the following excerpt: function in the opposite direction – for instance another After … sport we go to an ‘old boy’s’ house and have female participant reported only having three drinks at drinks there … After cricket, rugby and football, we the previous year’s ball because she did not want to ruin have parties, usually here. (Male, Barton College) her dress. Despite initially stating that the Ball is a night One male participant summed up the College sport/ of sustained drinking for many, students wanted to clarify heavy drinking connection: ‘it’s a sport thing - it’s part of that ‘it’s not just about drinking’: the sports teams tradition’. There’s a band there, really good food, it’s not just Given the emphasis placed on the centrality of drink- about the alcohol at all, it’s about sitting at a table with ing to college life, it was appropriate to explore whether ten or so of your friends, just enjoying the night (Male, students’ status as ‘drinkers’ or ‘non-drinkers’ affected Barton College). their acceptance within social groupings. Both male and female residents of Farrell College reported that extent to Bonding and social cohesion which drinking assisted students to ‘fit in’ depended on The positive contribution of alcohol consumption to the group they were in: sociability was frequently noted during focus groups. Some groups are interested in drinking and others Drinking games (i.e. games involving either individu- aren’t. I don’t think people who don’t drink feel left als or teams, in which aim is to ‘out drink’ one another out (Male, Farrell College). and/or become intoxicated as quickly as possible) were Similarly, international students suggested that ‘fitting mentioned in relation to facilitating social interaction in’ was more dependent on confidence and personality between residents, with many students commenting than on alcohol consumption. However, the potential for vol. 54, no. 2, 2012 All beer and skittles?, Clarissa Hughes 25 AUSTRALIAN UNIVERSITIES’ REVIEW subtle and unintentional social exclusion exists, as sug- sising the centrality of drinking to college culture, the gested in the following discussion. students who participated wished to maintain that ‘drinking is not that important’, that ‘not everyone drinks’ and Alcohol-related damage, disruption and that ‘people who don’t drink aren’t left out’. For instance, disharmony one Farrell student commented that she has ‘a number of While many students acknowledged that drinking is an friends here who don’t drink, but they always come out important part of college culture, they were also quick and are the life of the party. Similar stories emerged from to point out that it is ‘not a destructive drinking culture’. residents of the other colleges. Unfortunately, it was not Some students (presumably drinkers) suggested that col- possible in this study to ascertain whether self-identified lege staff think student drinking is more of a problem than non-drinkers concurred with this view. It seems likely that it actually is because they only hear about it when some- the image of ‘happy inclusion’ of non-drinkers at college is thing bad happens. In general terms, the participants did somewhat oversimplified – but examination of that issue not regard drinking by college students as a problem; they is a task for future studies. reiterated that it is rare for ‘things to get out of hand’, and that most residents drink responsibly. Alcohol at College: all beer and skittles? However, specific questioning about social events and Results of this study accord with Roche and Watt’s college sports revealed that alcohol-related harm is a real- observation that alcohol ‘is often central to the social ity at times. For instance, drinking at the ball has resulted in and sporting life of students’ (2000, p. 389). The partici- the need for medical intervention, people being removed pants were generally positive about the contribution from the venue, and people vomiting at the table. Resi- of college drinking to sociability and social cohesion. dents from all colleges recalled post-sport celebrations Students from all three colleges claimed that drinking (or commiserations) ‘turning ugly’. One female Stewart is ‘not compulsory’ at their college, that abstainers and College participant recalled a particular barbecue after an light drinkers are never ostracised, and the extent to inter-college football game: which individuals ‘fit in’ is more a function of their per- We had a (liquor) licence and thought people would sonality and outlook than on their drinking. However, just have a beer but it kind of escalated. One person the absence of a ‘teetotallers’ focus group’ (or anony- drank a whole bottle of spirits, and there were drink- mous mechanisms for providing comment) mean that ing games and stuff. It was probably the messiest night it is not possible to assess the accuracy of these claims, this year, so far. which were presumably made by drinkers. Although several students insisted that the colleges do not As noted above, the focus group participants recounted have ‘destructive drinking cultures’, vomit did feature prom- numerous anecdotes of their own and other peoples’ inently in all focus group discussions. Participants spoke of vomit, hangovers, accidental injuries as a result of drink- seeing and hearing people vomit – in bedrooms, hallways, ing alcohol. However, the short- and longer-term health stairwells and out of windows. They also commented on the risks of alcohol consumption were conspicuous by their unpleasantness of lingering odour from vomit, and on inci- absence from participants’ accounts. Similar to the Aus- dents where toilet seats were broken. One male Barton par- tralian teenagers in Taylor and Carroll’s 2001 study (2001, ticipant commented that he ‘wasn’t bothered’ by students p. 23), participants in this study seemed not to associate vomiting after drinking, then added that ‘generally people short-term consequences of alcohol consumption (such are pretty responsible. They’ll do it outside’. as vomiting, hangover and loss of consciousness) with Drinking also appeared to cause disruption to many harm to their health. participants’ study, sleep and daily routines. Residents Participants’ experiences of ‘second-hand effects of reported planning their study to avoid ‘drinking nights’ – alcohol’ (including having their sleep and/or or study for instance, a male Farrell College participant noted that it interrupted) were numerous. Yet there was a tendency was often so noisy and difficult to concentrate on Monday for students to overlook or downplay disturbances if nights that he avoided studying ‘until everyone has gone they were ‘caused’ by alcohol. Social processes and nor- to the pub’. Some female students routinely avoided using mative influences are salient here, since students may certain bathrooms on certain mornings since they were be less likely to express annoyance about noise pollu- ‘always disgusting’ after drinking nights. tion or inconsiderate behaviour if they perceive that The potential contribution of drinking to social exclu- ‘everyone else is cool with it’ (see for example Berkow- sion was explored during the focus groups. Despite empha- itz, 2004).

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Implications and conclusion risky drinking by aiming to change ‘the environment’ rather than ‘the person’. Accordingly, it has highlighted This paper has taken a sociological, qualitative approach the benefits of examining ‘drinking cultures’ rather than to the issue of drinking among residential college students focusing on individuals’ levels of knowledge or other fac- attending an Australian university. It heeds Mancini-Pena tors that may predispose them to problematic alcohol and Tyson’s (2007, p. 36) call for research that reveals how consumption (see also Hughes, Julian, Richman, Mason & young people understand their drinking, to assist policy- Long, 2008). It has also revealed the complex interplay of makers and health professionals to better understand and wider contextual factors (such as availability, pricing, and communicate with the youth population. The paper has special promotions) and the local ‘social environment’ demonstrated that many of the participants regard alco- (such as norms and perceptions of alcohol use) in par- hol as an intrinsic aspect of the college experience. Drink- ticular settings. ing is positively regarded for its contribution to sociability The findings of this study suggest that interventions and relaxation, and bonding and social cohesion among focused on the normative environment (perceptions of residents. However, alcohol’s contribution to damage, peers’ alcohol-related attitudes and behaviours) should disruption and disharmony coexists somewhat uncom- be investigated by Australian universities seeking to fortably with some students’ reduce alcohol-related harm desire to see college drink- among their students. They Some students... suggested that college ing cultures as ‘safe’ and ‘not also suggest that approaches staff think student drinking is more of a destructive’. targeting first-year students This study has investigated problem than it actually is because they hold excellent potential for the understandings partici- only hear about it when something bad influencing college drink- pants have of their own and happens. In general terms, the participants ing cultures in positive ways others’ drinking, and the did not regard drinking by college students (see also Kypri, Langley, social functions of alcohol as a problem; they reiterated that it is rare McGee, Saunders & Williams, use in the residential col- for ‘things to get out of hand’, and that 2002). The fact that ‘freshers’ lege environment. It does, most residents drink responsibly. are in the midst of develop- however, have a number of ing new social networks limitations. One limitation is provides an opportune envi- the small sample size, meaning that the results are not ronment to investigate how those networks influence generalisable to wider settings or populations. However, alcohol-related perceptions and behaviour (McAlaney, at least some of the issues may be salient in other Aus- Bewick & Hughes, 2011). tralian residential colleges. Additionally, as a ‘snapshot’ This paper has focused on the issue of student drink- in time, it does not convey the changing demographic ing cultures in university residential colleges. It has profile of college residents reflective of broader changes investigated the subtle and not-so-subtle ways in which in student enrolments, including the increasing propor- alcohol consumption influences college residents’ lives, tions of mature-age and international students. Lastly, the experiences and interactions with others. The study use of focus groups may have had the unintended con- has reinforced the importance of learning about stu- sequence of discouraging participants from frank discus- dents’ worldviews and receptiveness to different types sion of their opinions and experiences. Issues relating of prevention intervention. Arguably, studies of this kind to international students and the experience of non- are required to improve understanding of the com- drinkers could benefit from individualised data collec- plex ‘place of alcohol’ in specific social contexts. These tion methods and more detailed consideration in future understandings are essential for guiding decision-making studies. A more comprehensive study would involve about alcohol-focused interventions, future research and mixed methods, a larger number of residential colleges policy development. from different states, data collection methods that would allow anonymity and thereby encourage honest answer- Dr Clarissa Hughes is a Senior Research Fellow and the Aca- ing (such an online surveys), and perhaps also incorpo- demic Research Coordinator at the University of Tasmania’s rate objective measures of alcohol consumption. Department of Rural Health. This paper commenced with a statement of the importance of ‘the social system’ and of the need to address vol. 54, no. 2, 2012 All beer and skittles?, Clarissa Hughes 27 AUSTRALIAN UNIVERSITIES’ REVIEW

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Covering the gap Social inclusion, international students and the role of local government

Toby Paltridge, Susan Mayson Monash University

Jan Schapper La Trobe University

Over the last twenty years or so the number of international students in Australia has grown rapidly. At the same time, official responsibility for providing support to international students has been devolved from governments to educational institutions. In this paper we argue that while education institutions have a significant role in supporting international students, there is a large gap in social support provided to them when off-campus. This is a gap which we believe could be filled by local government, to provide international students with greater integration and security when they are off campus. The ideas outlined in this paper are based on a critical examination of international students’ experience in Australia and are intended to contribute to and advance recent debates about the safety, security and value of international students to Australian society. We argue that international students’ status as temporary visitors creates the conditions for social exclusion, that is, an inability to engage fully in the economic, cultural, social and political aspects of Australian life. In light of this, we suggest that local government, especially as it relates to the provision of human services, has a role in helping international students access social support services. We argue that local government can be instrumental in ensuring the social inclusion of international students in our communities. This, we suggest, would improve international students’ overall study experience and contribute to their greater integration and participation in the Australian community.

Introduction national students, due to their position as ‘non-citizens’ and ‘temporary migrants’, are relegated to outsider status Over the last twenty years or so, political strategies and despite the fact that they are invited to live in Australia for policy development at Federal and State levels of govern- an extended period of time. This outsider status has impli- ment have driven the growth of international education cations for international students’ safety and security as in Australia. At the same time, official responsibility for past events have demonstrated (Forbes-Mewett & Nyland providing support to the international students who have 2008; Marginson et al. 2010). arrived in Australia as a result of these policies, has been In this paper we argue that while education institutions devolved from governments to educational institutions have a significant role in supporting international students, (Marginson, Nyland, Sawir & Forbes-Mewett, 2010). This is there is a large gap in social support provided to interna- problematic for several reasons, not least of which is that tional students’ when off-campus. This is a gap which we the majority of issues experienced by international stu- believe could be filled by local government, to provide dents occur off campus, an area where education institu- international students with greater integration and secu- tions are able to provide only limited support (Marginson, rity when they are away from their education institutions’ 2011). We agree with Marginson et al. (2010) that inter- grounds. In adopting this position we take up the point vol. 54, no. 2, 2012 Covering the gap, Toby Paltridge, Susan Mayson & Jan Schapper 29 AUSTRALIAN UNIVERSITIES’ REVIEW from Marginson et al. (2010, p. 458) that, ‘It is crucial to some means or organisation to formally provide critical improve coordination between the universities and other support (e.g. housing, employment, integration, advocacy, public agencies, especially policy, local government [our etc.) to international students off-campus, in conjunc- emphasis] and state officials handling housing or tenancy tion with the on-campus support provided by education and health services.’ However, we go even further. It is our institutions. We suggest that local government – given contention that local government can do more than just its role, engagement and proximity with the community provide accommodation and health services to interna- and existing services – is a good, although not necessarily tional students. We argue that local government can be ideal, choice to fulfil this role. instrumental in ensuring the social inclusion of interna- In this paper we first discuss the role of international tional students in our communities. In light of concerns students in Australia and the issues they face. We then spe- about international students’ safety and security there is cifically explore how international students are socially potential for education institutions and local government excluded from Australian society and the impact this has to work together to provide a system of whole-of-life sup- on their security and lived experience. Next, the regu- port to international students whist studying in Australia. latory support structure for international students is dis- This, we suggest, would improve international students’ cussed. We then move on to describe the role of local overall study experience and contribute to their greater government in Australia. Finally, we posit what exactly integration and participation in the Australian community. local government should be doing to support interna- We argue that developing ways to improve the sup- tional students in their off-campus lives. port provided to international students, and thereby their social inclusion and overall experience, is important for International students in Australia both economic and moral reasons. Morally, we believe it is highly unethical to accept international students into International students are a significant presence in Aus- Australia and then essentially abandon them once they tralian society. Their gross contribution to the Australian arrive, expecting them to adapt to life in a foreign country economy was approximately $18.6b in export earnings without appropriate support (Peterson, Briggs, Dreasher, (across all levels of international education) in FY2009/10 Horner, & Nelson, 1999). Economically speaking, provid- (Australian Education International, 2011), provide on ing comprehensive support for international students is average 15 per cent of Australian universities’ budgets, important because a reputation for safety and the guar- and sometimes much more (Senate Standing Commit- antees of a positive experience are a source of advantage tee on Education, Employment and Workplace Relations in the increasingly competitive international education 2009), and comprise 25 per cent of all students in Austral- market (Lane, 2011; Mazzarol & Soutar, 2002). ian post-secondary education (Department of Education, The ideas outlined in this paper may be controver- Employment and Workplace Relations [DEEWR], 2009). sial; however they are based on a critical examination of International education is Australia’s fourth largest export international students’ experience in Australia. We accept (Marginson, 2011) and largest service export (Australian that while not all our suggestions may be feasible they Education International 2011). As such, the export of edu- are intended to contribute to and advance recent debates cational services to international students represents an about the safety, security and value of international stu- important contribution to Australia’s (and its universities) dents to Australian society. We argue that international stu- economic prosperity. dents’ status as temporary visitors creates the conditions International students also bring many non-economic for social exclusion, that is, an inability to engage fully in benefits to Australia, benefits rarely discussed in the pop- the economic, cultural, social and political aspects of Aus- ular media and debates about the value of international tralian life. In light of this, we suggest that local govern- students. In an effort to redress this blindness to the ways ment, especially as it relates to the provision of human in which Australian society has been enriched by the pres- services, has a role in helping international students gain ence of international students, Adams, Banks and Olsen access to social support services. (2011) provide a comprehensive list of benefits including; The current lack of support for international students enhancement of public diplomacy and trade, especially in their off-campus lives is concerning, and likely has neg- through alumni of Australian institutions; a culturally rich ative consequences for not just their social inclusion in learning environment for local students; greater interna- the broader Australian community, but their overall study tional understanding and awareness among all students; experience as well. We believe there is a pressing need for and development of multinational professional and per-

30 Covering the gap, Toby Paltridge, Susan Mayson & Jan Schapper vol. 54, no. 2, 2012 AUSTRALIAN UNIVERSITIES’ REVIEW sonal networks by students. While such benefits are dif- networks. These findings are not revelations; the majority ficult to quantify, international students enhance the of the issues identified have been documented during culture and knowledge of Australian society and extend preceding decades by other researchers (for example, see Australia’s political influence in addition to more tangible Mori, 2000; Perrucci & Hu, 1995; Yeh & Inose, 2003). Yet, economic contributions. despite being well known, these problems have persisted. While international students and their welfare have Amongst this list of difficulties faced by international been of interest to academics for some time (see Margin- students, it is clear that most involve their lives outside son et al., 2010), recent events have raised the profile of their educational institution. It is off-campus that interna- international students and the issues they face as (tempo- tional students confront problems such as finding suitable rary) members of Australian society. Unfortunately, it has accommodation and employment, exploitation by land- not been the growing awareness of their contributions to lords and employers, personal safety concerns or discrimi- Australian society that has recently brought international nation by locals (Marginson et al., 2010; Paltridge, 2009). students and international education into the spotlight Dealing with such issues is challenging and, unfortunately, (Babacan, Pyke, Bhathal, Gill, Grossman & Bertone, 2010; many international students who do experience difficul- Commonwealth of Australia, 2010a; Council of Australian ties in Australia suffer severe consequences because they Governments, 2010; Jakubowicz & Monani, 2010). It has lack the support network possessed by locals (Deumert, instead been the involvement of international students, Marginson, Nyland, Ramia & Sawir, 2005; Forbes-Mewett either as victims or alleged perpetrators, in incidents of & Nyland, 2008). These outcomes, we argue, are a con- violent crimes, along with revelations of exploitation and sequence of the social exclusion international students visa fraud that have focussed the attention of the media experience in Australia. and different government agencies on their plight and off- campus activities. Social Exclusion and International Students We acknowledge that there is a danger in focusing on high profile incidents that involve international students Compared to Australian citizens and permanent residents, in Australia and that, despite the many negative stories in international students do not have the same ability to the media, the majority of students who have participated participate socially, economically, politically or culturally in surveys indicated they are satisfied with their experi- within the community. This we argue results in the social ences in Australia. For instance, according to the Interna- exclusion of the majority of international students in Aus- tional Student Survey 2010 (Commonwealth of Australia, tralia. As mentioned in the introduction to this paper, we 2010b), conducted by the Federal Government over 2009 support the arguments made by Marginson et al., (2010) and 2010, approximately 86 per cent of surveyed interna- that international students are generally outsiders in Aus- tional students across all education categories were satis- tralian society as a consequence of their status as tem- fied or very satisfied with their experience of living in porary non-citizens. This has negative implications for Australia. However, this does not mean that they do not international students’ safety and security, as evidenced by experience problems. It must also be said that of those past incidents of violence and exploitation against them 14 per cent who were not satisfied with their experience (Forbes-Mewett & Nyland, 2008; Marginson et al., 2010). in Australia many would have faced serious issues, some We are well aware, having constructed the difficulties potentially life threatening. It is an unfortunate fact that a of international students within the conceptual frame number of international students have died or been killed, of social inclusion and exclusion, that there are defini- usually off-campus, and under terrible circumstances tional and political problems associated with these terms. (Marginson et al., 2010; Olding & Kwek, 2012). According to Silver (1994) defining social exclusion is a Following their extensive research Marginson and col- difficult task, with Atkinson (2000) and Millar (2007) argu- leagues (2010) published a comprehensive study of the ing that it is not so much that there are no definitions of issues experienced by international students in Australia. social exclusion, but that there are many, most of them The list of problematic areas for international students vague, and all of them contested. Not only is the use of is too large to list here, but some examples include the the word ‘exclusion’ endlessly disputed (Gallie, 1956, as difficulty in finding affordable accommodation in safe cited in Silver, 1994) but social exclusion itself is consid- neighbourhoods relatively close to their study location, ered an ambiguous concept that is ‘loaded with numerous exploitation by employers, personal safety, living and economic, social, political, and cultural connotations and studying in a foreign language, and establishing new social dimensions’ (Silver, 1994, p. 536). The same has also been vol. 54, no. 2, 2012 Covering the gap, Toby Paltridge, Susan Mayson & Jan Schapper 31 AUSTRALIAN UNIVERSITIES’ REVIEW said of social inclusion, with Caidi and Allard (2005) argu- cance was exemplified in 2009 by the slow response of ing that its multiple meanings have been created oppor- governments to the spate of violent attacks against inter- tunistically to justify different policy initiatives. national students. It was only after large-scale street pro- Despite these definitional and conceptual difficulties tests and strong diplomatic pressure from home country we persevere with the concepts of social exclusion and governments that the Australian Federal and State Gov- inclusion because they are generally used as concepts ernments initiated any action to address the safety con- capable of encompassing the broader social and eco- cerns of international students (Nyland, Forbes-Mewett nomic issues that marginalised groups, such as interna- & Marginson, 2010). tional students in Australia, face. In support of our use In the social dimension, international students fre- of social exclusion Millar (2007) and Raffo and Gunter quently lose the support of family, friends and commu- (2008) contend that at the most basic level, social exclu- nity when they move overseas to study (Forbes-Mewett sion describes multi-dimensional socio-economic pro- & Nyland, 2008). Students often find it difficult to replace cesses which cause specific groups or individuals, in these relationships due to language barriers, cultural dif- specific locations to be excluded/included in specific ferences, and heavy study and work-loads. These factors ways from mainstream society. Those suffering from limit time for socialising. Limited financial resources also social exclusion are ‘excluded not only from the goods reduce students’ ability to participate in many common and standards of living available to the majority but also social activities. Added to this is the unwillingness of many from their opportunities, choices and life chances’ (Millar, locals to form friendships with international students, 2007, p. 2). According to Steinert (2003), the dimensions greatly limiting their access to informal support networks. of social exclusion are generally agreed to include politi- Economically speaking, international students have lim- cal, economic, social and cultural activities. ited work rights and limited knowledge about their rights In our view, the same characteristics apply to social in Australian workplaces. This means they can and do face inclusion. However in the interest of conceptual clarity exploitation by employers (e.g. Babacan et al., 2010; Ham, we acknowledge that there is much debate about the 2011). These two factors can also overlap in that some relationship between social inclusion and social exclu- international students need to work more than 20 hours sion (O’Reilly, 2005). Some authors contend that the per week during semester in order to support themselves, concepts are binary opposites, while others argue that thus breaching their visa conditions; some employers being not socially excluded does not mean one is socially then use this fact to exploit those students under the included and vice versa. O’Reilly (2005) suggests that the threat they will inform the Department of Immigration two concepts lie on opposite ends of a continuum. The and Citizenship (DIAC) of the student’s breach. Of course, advantage of this conceptualisation is that it allows for such excessive work hours are likely detrimental to inter- varying degrees of inclusion/exclusion and also for the national students’ studies and it would be best if they had two terms to be used interchangeably. We have chosen to sufficient financial resources that they did not need to adopt O’Reilly’s (2005) conceptualisation here as it is logi- work more than 20 hours per week in order to support cal and makes discussion involving these concepts easier. themselves. While one of the requirements for a student Consequently, the two terms are used interchangeably in visa in Australia is providing proof that one has access to this paper. sufficient money to cover tuition fees and living expenses There are numerous ways in which international stu- for the duration of one’s study, the required amount being dents are socially excluded from political, social, cultural set arbitrarily by the Australian government, this is only and economic processes and activities in Australia. For checked when applying for a visa. Hence, potential inter- example, when we examine the political dimension, national students can ‘fake’ access to the required money international students are not citizens of the host coun- (e.g. borrow money temporarily, claim sponsorship from try and therefore can only lay claim to the reduced rights a relative who won’t actually pay, etc.) and thereby obtain of a temporary migrant (Deumert et al., 2005). One of a student visa without actually having sufficient finan- the most important citizenship rights is the right to vote. cial resources to support themselves without working Although we are not necessarily advocating for interna- excessive hours (Marginson et al., 2010). In addition, the tional students to be given the right to vote in Australia, amount of money accessible per year required by the we do suggest their lack of enfranchisement means they Australian government was, before being increased on 1 are not likely to be afforded a priority amongst politi- January 2010 (Bowen, 2009), far too low for a student to cians’ many constituencies. Their lack of political signifi- actually survive on (Marginson et al., 2010). International

32 Covering the gap, Toby Paltridge, Susan Mayson & Jan Schapper vol. 54, no. 2, 2012 AUSTRALIAN UNIVERSITIES’ REVIEW students also often find it difficult to access safe accom- Despite these many different ways that international modation due to financial issues and/or lack of rental his- students are excluded from support and services that tory. Further, international students do not have access most Australian citizens take for granted, it should be to many common support services, such as free public noted that the Australian Government does not entirely healthcare (they must have private health insurance) and absolve itself from any legislative responsibility for welfare, and in Victoria and New South Wales, in contrast their well-being while studying in Australia. However, as to all other states and territories, they are also ineligible noted in the introduction to this paper, the government for student concession tickets for public transport. responsibilities are essentially devolved in their entirety Culturally, the majority of international students come to educational institutions. The next section of the paper from Asia and are not part of the dominant Anglo-Austral- examines what these responsibilities are and how they ian culture. This can cause some of the students to feel have been devolved. quite lonely and separate from the society around them, as their concerns and view of the world are quite differ- Support for International Students in ent (Sawir, Marginson, Deumert, Nyland & Ramia, 2008). Australia However, if they are of the same culture as an immigrant group that is already established in Australia then they By their very nature international students have greatly may find some similar cultural contexts and a greater reduced security (physical, social, economic) compared level of acceptance and rec- to citizens or permanent ognition of their culture by residents of the host coun- Compared to Australian citizens and mainstream Australian soci- try, or what they would ety than those from cultures permanent residents, international enjoy in their home nations. which are little known in students do not have the same ability This is a combined result Australia. International stu- to participate socially, economically, of their status as temporary dents from Western nations politically or culturally within the migrants; their general loss such as the United States or community. This we argue results in of informal social networks Europe therefore typically the social exclusion of the majority of as a consequence of moving find ‘fitting in’ much easier international students in Australia. to a foreign country where than those from non-West- they know few, if any, people ern cultures (Chapdelaine & (Forbes-Mewett & Nyland, Alexitch, 2004; Sawir et al., 2008). 2008); and their social exclusion. Consequently, interna- In summary, by being socially excluded, international tional students generally need far greater support than students have reduced security across all four dimen- local students in order to compensate for, and address, sions of social inclusion – political, economic, cultural and their reduced security and social exclusion. However, in social. For international students, social, economic politi- Australia, currently this additional support is at best only cal, and cultural exclusion has significant consequences partially available (with the possible exception of univer- for their security and well-being. The more a group is sity accommodation; see Paltridge, Mayson & Schapper, socially excluded the more vulnerable its members are 2010). to life’s misfortunes (Babacan et al., 2010). Physical secu- In Australia, the Education Services for Overseas Stu- rity is reduced as those who are considered to be ‘outsid- dents (ESOS) Act provides the security framework for ers’ are more frequently found in areas where they are international students by outlining government and likely to be the target of street crime and more likely to education institutions’ formal responsibilities towards be exploited by employers and landlords. Social security international students. The National Code of Practice for is reduced because those who exist on the edge of soci- Registration Authorities and Providers of Education and ety have less access to both formal and informal support Training to Overseas Students 2007, which is established networks. Economic security suffers because those who under the ESOS Act (Department of Education, Employ- are socially excluded find it more difficult to obtain safe, ment and Workplace Relations, 2007), stipulates that edu- well-paying employment, and/or access welfare. Cultur- cation institutions are to provide ‘…the opportunity for ally, international students are faced with different norms, students to participate in services or provide access to customs and attitudes, which may make it difficult for services designed to assist students in meeting course them to navigate life in Australia. requirements and maintaining their attendance.’ (p. 16), vol. 54, no. 2, 2012 Covering the gap, Toby Paltridge, Susan Mayson & Jan Schapper 33 AUSTRALIAN UNIVERSITIES’ REVIEW as well as ‘…the opportunity for students to access extensive range of rights while studying in Australia. We welfare-related support services to assist with issues argue then there exists a need for some institution(s) to that may arise during their study, including course pro- provide much-needed support to international students gress and attendance requirements and accommodation when off-campus. Our contention is that local govern- issues. These services must be provided at no additional ment (also known as local councils or municipal coun- cost to the student.’ (p. 16). Such requirements, in addi- cils – sometimes abbreviated to just ‘councils’), due to its tion to being vague, only mandate education institutions position and role within the community, can and should to provide minimal support services in relation to their perform this function. study and course requirements. With the exception of involvement in accommodation issues, the ESOS Act does The role of local government in Australia not cover international students’ lives away from campus. This means that international students must rely primar- ‘Out of all spheres of government in Australia, local ily on whatever informal and limited support networks governments possess the closest relationship with communities and therefore have a unique opportunity they possess to help them live, study and work within the to gain an understanding of, and to meet particular Australian community. local and community needs.’ (Department of Infra- Marginson et al. (2010) suggest that when formulating structure, Transport, Regional Development and Local the legislation, the government may have hoped that com- Government 2010, p. 2) petitive pressure would encourage education institutions Due to proximity to its constituency, local government has to provide a high level of service as a means of making a significant role in shaping communities that are ‘civil, themselves more attractive to prospective international equitable, culturally sensitive, environmentally sustainable students. However, this appears not to have occurred. and democratic’ (Kiss, 1999, p. 110). This is reflected in It is suggested this has not been the case because, until the ongoing trend of increasing the provision of human recently, the number of potential international students services which assists local government to address prob- wanting to study in Australia well exceeded the capacity lems specific to their community. We include in this view of education institutions to take them (Marginson, 2011), of local community international students who reside in thus limiting competitive pressure between education local communities, albeit temporarily, and the community institutions. Further, to do so would mitigate a significant specific issues that arise for them. rationale for inviting international students to Australia - Although traditionally considered as being only respon- the subsidisation of domestic student places and research sible for the 3 Rs of ‘roads, rates and rubbish’, in the (Marginson, 2011; Marginson et al., 2010; Thakur & Hou- last two decades local government has steadily moved rigan, 2007). Given these factors, there appears little com- towards the provision of human services to the local competitive incentive for education institutions to provide munity (Dollery, Wallis & Allan, 2006). This shift means more than the bare minimum of legally mandated support that local government is more responsive to the broader services to international students. social and cultural demands of their communities. Dollery Added to this, and perhaps very tellingly, international et al. (2006, p. 555) state ‘In essence, Australian councils students are referred to in the Act as consumers of edu- are moving away from their traditional narrow empha- cational services (as opposed to human beings or tem- sis on “services to property” towards a broader “services porary citizens) and hence as we have argued above, the to people” approach.’ Such services include, but are not burden of care is effectively passed on almost entirely to limited to, health, welfare, community development and the students (Marginson et al., 2010). The result is that recreation (Haratsis, 1992; Jones, 1989; Morris, 1986; international students are reliant primarily on their own, Thornton, 1995). often weak, informal support networks when off campus. Of course, a major constraint for most local govern- This begins to explain why international students, beyond ments in providing services to the community is limited the reach of existing regulation or the (often limited) sup- financial resources (Dollery et al., 2006) and the needs port services provided by educational institutions, end up of international students may not be high on local gov- in precarious and sometimes dangerous situations leaving ernments’ to do lists. Consequently, most councils tend to them open to violence and/or exploitation. focus on what they see as their core business – providing There is little political pressure at this time to change key services to ratepayers. And hence, as Dunn, Thompson, the ESOS Act and it is therefore unlikely in the foreseeable Hanna, Murphy and Burnley (2001) found, many councils future that international students will be granted a more see the promotion of multiculturalism and addressing the

34 Covering the gap, Toby Paltridge, Susan Mayson & Jan Schapper vol. 54, no. 2, 2012 AUSTRALIAN UNIVERSITIES’ REVIEW needs of diverse community groups as secondary to their regional cities, for example the City of Adelaide (Adelaide ‘core’ business and are reluctant to spend money on such City Council, n.d.a, n.d.b) in South Australia and the City programmes. Dunn et al. (2001), however, argue against of Wollongong (Wollongong UniCentre, 2012) in regional this position, identifying numerous ways that the services New South Wales. Despite not being citizens or permanent and programmes provided by local government fail to residents of Australia, international students are residents of reflect the diversity of the community they are supposed the communities in which they live while completing their to represent. They state that ‘…failing to incorporate studies and for up to four years afterwards (with recent multiculturalism in local government risks the situation changes to the international student visa regime; Evans & where local administrations selectively determine — Bowen 2011), and consequently have an impact on that either overtly or implicitly — who is and is not effectively community. Therefore, just like any other significant minor- a local citizen.’ (Dunn et al. 2001, p. 2479). ity or interest group, international students have a right to In the context of limited budgets and contestation protection and support from local government. around whose needs are met or not met by local govern- Given that local government has the capacity to at least ment, it is little surprise that temporary residents such as partially address many of the issues international students international students are generally neither considered face, there is a role and opportunity for local government nor included within community activities. This, we argue, to ameliorate students’ current experience of social exclu- needs to change. Local government areas with substantial sion and improve their security through the provision international student populations (generally those that of support services. This includes but is not limited to accommodate, or are near, education institutions) must information on tenancy and employment rights, advocacy recognise that international students make up a signifi- when dealing with landlords and employers, the establish- cant group within their local community and need to take ment and/or promotion of home-stay programmes, the steps to respond to their needs and provide them with promotion of multiculturalism within the community, the support services. establishment of social programmes to encourage international students to build social networks and promote gen- What local government can and should eral interaction between locals and international students. be doing to support international students Many local governments already provide support services and programmes to their communities that would In 2011, there were approximately 474,000 international be useful to international students, but in many cases it students (combined total for all sectors) living in Australia, appears the international students do not access these down from approximately 524,000 in 2010 (Australian services either because of lack of eligibility or awareness Education International, 2012). The majority of these stu- that they are available (Victorian Immigrant and Refugee dents live in neighbourhoods which are relatively close to Women’s Coalition 2009, as cited in Dunstan 2011). For their education institutions (Marginson et al., 2010). This example, many local governments offer language and means that international students are primarily concen- youth services, as well as run community events designed trated in local government areas that include or are close to promote multiculturalism (for example, see City of to, education institutions. Consequently, international stu- Greater Dandenong, n.d.a, n.d.b; City of Melbourne, n.d.a, dents will likely be a significant presence in particular local n.d.b; Darebin City Council, 2011a, 2011b). Such activities government areas. For example, the City of Melbourne (a could easily be extended to include, and/or be marketed local government area which includes the central business to, international students; as some local governments are district and several inner suburbs of Melbourne, Victoria) already doing. contains eight universities and over 90 private education However, a simple but effective initiative that can be institutions (primarily vocational educational and training adopted by a local government council to assist its interna- colleges), with international students accounting for 27.5 tional student population is the establishment of a consul- per cent of enrolments in 2008 (City of Melbourne, 2010). tative committee that involves the students in discussions This has resulted in international students coming to com- and decisions around the provision of services relevant to prise approximately one third of all young people living in their needs. We know that Darebin City Council – a local the City and about 10 per cent of its total resident popu- government area in the north of metropolitan Melbourne, lation (City of Melbourne, 2010). International students Victoria – has established the Darebin Overseas Student are also recognised as a visible community group by local Association. Similarly Melbourne City Council has estab- governments in a number of other Australian capital and lished a committee called InterComm3. These committees vol. 54, no. 2, 2012 Covering the gap, Toby Paltridge, Susan Mayson & Jan Schapper 35 AUSTRALIAN UNIVERSITIES’ REVIEW permit a dialogue between the Councils and students, but included within these broader programmes are poli- giving international students a voice that is easily heard cies designed primarily to benefit international students. by Council. We contend that these examples are a vital The ‘packaging’ approach serves to not only reduce the first step for setting up a successful international student overall cost of providing support services specifically for support programme because engagement and empower- international students by making them relevant to multi- ment are essential to addressing the social inclusion and ple sections of the population, but also makes the overall security needs of international students. programme more appealing and relevant to the com- While some may argue that the provision of support munity. This, we contend, is vital for programme survival services for international students represents a signifi- because such an approach assists in maintaining commu- cant burden on the limited financial resources of many nity support and political will for the programme. local governments, there are ways to mitigate the cost. Finally, to further strengthen support programmes, Volunteers (including international students themselves) coordination and information sharing local government can be used to run many programmes, as Darebin Coun- and educational institutions could share or spread costs cil has done with its Festival of Lights event which served between both parties while also increasing awareness as a welcome to international students and celebration of of available programmes, particularly by leveraging insti- Darebin’s cultural diversity. The use of student volunteers tutional communication channels, such as email lists is of benefit not just to local and social media. This type government budgets but to While some may argue that the provision of of scheme could poten- the students themselves for tially provide education support services for international students participation in community institutions with a source represents a significant burden on the activities can address issues of competitive advantage, of social isolation, develop limited financial resources of many local especially in today’s falling English language compe- governments, there are ways to mitigate the market for international stu- tence and promote commu- cost. Volunteers (including international dents, by allowing them to nity development. Services students themselves) can be used to run offer a broader range of ser- and programmes could also many programmes... vices to students at low cost. be run in conjunction with Cost and information shar- charities, community groups ing arrangements could be and religious groups, thereby splitting the costs between mutually beneficial for both local government and edu- multiple parties. For example, the ‘The Couch’ interna- cation institutions with regard to providing support ser- tional student centre in the Melbourne CBD was estab- vices to international students. For example, as a move lished by the Salvation Army, but with support from the in this direction, the cities of Brisbane (a local govern- City of Melbourne (Perkins 2009). Similarly, the “Welcome ment area which includes the entire metropolitan area to Wollongong Project” is a joint initiative of the City of of Brisbane in Queensland; Study Brisbane, n.d.), Dare- Wollongong (a regional coastal city located to the south bin (Darebin City Council, 2011b) and Wollongong (Wol- of Sydney, in New South Wales), various education institu- longong UniCentre, 2012) all have their civic welcome tions located in Wollongong, and the Illawarra Business events for international students sponsored, in part, by Chamber (Wollongong UniCentre, 2012). Another sug- some education institutions located in their local gov- gestion is to simply extend and/or raise awareness of ernment areas. existing and relevant local government services to inter- In summary, international students are a substantial national students thereby reducing costs of establishing minority in many local government areas, particularly new services. those that contain, or are close to, major higher education There is also much to be gained from packaging inter- institutions. In the absence of support for international national student support programmes into larger support students outside their educational institution and minimal programmes which target broader sections of the com- on-campus support, local governments need to acknowl- munity. For example, both the City of Adelaide (a local edge the presence of international students within the government area covering the CBD of Adelaide in South community they service and provide them with appropri- Australia; Adelaide City Council, n.d.a, n.d.b) and the City ate support services, just as they would with any other of Melbourne (2010) have a large suite of social support significant community group. Local government has the programmes directed towards young people in general, capacity to assist international students and address many

36 Covering the gap, Toby Paltridge, Susan Mayson & Jan Schapper vol. 54, no. 2, 2012 AUSTRALIAN UNIVERSITIES’ REVIEW of their issues, including their social exclusion and poor This significant short-fall in the formal support net- security. We have outlined in this section the numerous work for international students opens up opportunities ways in which local governments can provide support, for local governments to fill this gap and the potential for giving international students a voice being of particular local government and education institutions to partner in importance. We have also offered suggestions for how providing support for international students. We argue local governments can reduce the financial burden of the role of local government in Australia is to meet the providing services, including working with local educa- needs of the community, as well as to create a community tion institutions. which is civil, equitable and culturally sensitive. In recent times fulfilling this role has increasingly meant the provi- Conclusion sion of human services, such as healthcare, community development and recreation. International students form International students, due to their legal status and mar- part of the local community during their stay in the host ginal location in Australian society, experience social nation. As such, they deserve to be considered a part of exclusion and a reduced level of security in Australia. As the perceived community for which their local govern- a consequence they require a greater level of on-campus, ment is responsible and to have their needs met and con- but particularly off-campus, support compared to local cerns listened to. Therefore, we argue local governments students. There are both economic and ethical reasons have a role, particularly those who have significant inter- for ensuring that international students are provided with national student populations within their boundaries, to this additional support. However, as a number of scholars extend existing services to include international students show (e.g. Deumert et al., 2005; Marginson et al., 2010; and, where necessary, establish new services to provide Marginson, 2011) the current legislated welfare and secu- them with essential support. rity regime in Australia, and the level of support provided For many local governments, the provision of such to international students is inadequate. International stu- services will primarily be constrained by their limited dents are not simply consumers of educational services; financial resources. However, this should not prevent they are temporary residents who need access to appro- them from incorporating multiculturalism into their core priate support. services and thus providing services to international stu- Deumert et al. (2005) and Marginson (2011), propose dents. In this paper we have made several suggestions as a comprehensive international student security regime to how the financial burden can be shared or reduced. In based on international students as global citizens deserv- fact, the most important step that a local government can ing of full human rights. Unfortunately, at the current time take with regard to providing support to international stu- – despite a review of the ESOS Act (Commonwealth of dents, and one that is not very expensive at all, is to give Australia, 2010a), an investigation into the industry by the them a voice through the creation of a local consultative Senate Standing Committee on Education, Employment body, and to listen to that voice. and Workplace Relations (2009), and the development of We contend that local government is in a good, although an international student strategy out to 2014 by the Coun- far from perfect, position to fill the gap in support to cil of Australian Governments (2010) – neither the Austral- international students left by the current legislative frame- ian Federal Government nor any of the State Governments work. However, such support will only be forthcoming have moved to adopt such an extensive international stu- when international students are recognised as legitimate dent security regime. Consequently, the support services members of their local community and given a voice in for international students legally required to be provided decisions that affect them which is commensurate with by government and education institutions remain insuf- this position. Until that time, international students will ficient, particularly as it relates to international students’ face an uncertain and insecure future as outsiders existing lives off-campus. This may become even more of an issue on the fringes of Australian society. as international students begin to take advantage of recent changes to the international student visa regime allowing Toby Paltridge is a PhD student and Susan Mayson is an aca- them to stay for up to four years after completing their demic in the Department of Management, Monash University, studies (Evans & Bowen, 2011), as those students unable Australia. to obtain quality employment (or any employment at all) may find themselves still with limited financial resources Jan Schapper is an academic in the Department of Manage- but even less support. ment, La Trobe Business School, Australia. vol. 54, no. 2, 2012 Covering the gap, Toby Paltridge, Susan Mayson & Jan Schapper 37 AUSTRALIAN UNIVERSITIES’ REVIEW

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vol. 54, no. 2, 2012 Covering the gap, Toby Paltridge, Susan Mayson & Jan Schapper 39 AUSTRALIAN UNIVERSITIES’ REVIEW

Recession-oscopy Can universities be the light at the end?

Steve Mackey Deakin University

This paper paints the philosophical and ethical backdrop to some of the issues raised in Australian Universities’ Review vol. 53, no. 2. It links academic performance pay; the measurement of research output; and the astonishing pay levels of vice chancellors to the present global financial crisis. These are explained as part of a general malaise of institutions, which has its roots in the early Enlightenment. Drawing from semioticians Charles Sanders Peirce and John Deely it uses the terms ideoscopy and cenoscopy to characterise the hijacking of unwarranted scientific status for much of the way our world is managed. But crisis can lead to opportunity. Consequently, the paper points to the glaring opportunity for thinkers who can articulate the present situation in a way which could avert disaster.

Introduction of these two words as to do with something that probes into unusual places with a light at the end. However, 19th How will the looming Global Financial Crisis (GFC) Mark century philosopher of semiotics and pragmatism Charles II affect our lives? How will it affect universities here and Sanders Peirce would have had no idea about this future overseas? What will courses and students look like under implication. He coined the terms to mean respectively: a regime of global austerity? Will Europe disintegrate into knowledge originated in special scientific ways which it is social strife? And, not to put too fine a point on it, what is hard to understand if you are not a relevant specialist; and going to happen to our superannuation? Nobody seems knowledge which can be worked out by many people if to know the answers to any of this. But, as TV financial they apply logic and experience to common sense, (Peirce, pundit Alan Kohler put it in an ABC interview in January: 1955, p. 66), (Peirce, Weiss, & Hartshorne, 1974, passim). ‘This is a very interesting time for people in my caper.’ Deely (2008) and (2009) uses these terms to explain how Kohler was talking about his excitement as a specialist modernity from Descartes onwards went too far down journalist during this ‘once in a lifetime financial crisis the ideoscopic track – the ‘trust in the experts track’ – event’. But is this also an interesting time for those of us in the ‘call for the consultants track’. Deely’s argument in his the ‘academic caper’? I’d like to answer: well, yes. But, well, 2009 book contrasts Peirce’s ideoscopic and cenoscopic perhaps no. I’ll attempt to justify this vacillation with the notions to make the point that philosophy took an unrea- two words: ‘ideoscopy’ and ‘cenoscopy’. And this is where sonably nominalist turn in the 17th century. Deely’s multi- it gets a bit academic... book project champions a deeper understanding of the realism of the correct semiotic approach, as opposed to The cult of ideoscopy misunderstandings of semiotics. He writes in the tradition stemming from the scholastics which runs through John Readers whose internal health has ever been questioned Poinsot (1589-1644) and Peirce (1838-1914). Part of his would probably be among the first to recognise the suffix concern is the difficulty caused by over-fascination with

40 Recession-oscopy, Steve Mackey vol. 54, no. 2, 2012 AUSTRALIAN UNIVERSITIES’ REVIEW science and social science. He argues that scholarship was Because of this sleight of hand, one of the most important a cenoscopic activity from the times of the early Greeks foundations of civilisation has been ceded to people now right up to the 17th century when: revealed to be either not at all clever or not at all ethical. One way of understanding that historical period or It is apparent that many of them are at best so confident epoch in European history called ‘the Enlightenment’ of their own infallibility that they are deluded. At worst is precisely as that period when ideoscopy began to many are charlatans who have taken advantage of ideo- take hold and demand institutionalisation within the scopic cultural tendencies in a way which now threatens framework of the developing ‘community of inquirers’ inspired by the idea of the university... The exuber- financial ruin for many. The bankers of course continue to ance of the early generation of inquirers who turned extract high fees or retire on big pensions. to ideoscopy, especially in the mathematisation of the results of experimentation and observation acquired After virtue by the systematic use of instruments which extended the unaided sense powers of the human body, led to a naive but general expectation that ideoscopy, the But it is not only financial managers who have enjoyed development of science in the definitively modern undeserved status because of the ideoscopy of modern- sense, would ‘slow by slow’ supplant cenoscopy ism. In After Virtue Alasdair MacIntyre implies that the entirely (Deely, 2009, p. 4). whole of western society is riddled with people benefit- The argument of this paper is that Enlightenment over- ing from the mythology of expert scientific management: enthusiasm for ideoscopic ‘experts’ rather than more Expertise becomes a commodity for which rival state generally dispersed cenoscopic good sense bears respon- agencies and rival private corporations compete. Civil sibility for many aspects of the pretty pass which we are servants and managers alike justify themselves and their claims to authority, power and money by invok- in today. Using Deely and Peirce’s terms it appears obvi- ing their own competence as scientific managers of ous that the world’s financial maestros have been oper- social change. (MacIntyre, 1985, pp. 85-86) ating in an ideoscopic manner. They have expounded their expertise in the use of hard to understand, math- But what if effectiveness is part of a masquerade of social control rather than reality? What if effective- ematically designed ‘financial products’, ‘products’ which ness were a quality widely imputed to managers and have resulted in economic chaos. They have honed their bureaucrats both by themselves and others, but in fact ‘instruments’ behind a veil of: ‘You wouldn’t understand.’ a quality which rarely exists apart from this imputa- But now they are coming into view cenoscopically, i.e. in tion? (MacIntyre, 1985, p. 75) common terms, to show what these ‘instruments’ really Civil servants and managers who legislate and run uni- are. They are ‘schemes’ ...and they are often schemes versities are a case in point. They tend to welcome ideo- which look quite odd. Some are schemes which should scopically justified instrumental and vocational studies at not be associated with the terms ‘science’ or ‘expert’. the expense of the more cenoscopically friendly humani- What this sudden ‘the King has no clothes’ vista suggests ties. At the same time pure science - studies of what science is that in the post Enlightenment world, mass estrange- really is - is similarly downgraded. Because of the mind set ment from participation in the creation of knowledge, of ideoscopy the ability of students to critique and explore mass alienation from great swathes of understanding, has is reduced. Why would graduates need to think for them- allowed vital areas of life to be unnecessarily obscured selves when the world is so complicated? Why can’t they sometimes with disastrous consequences. Earning, bor- call in the experts, call in the consultants, call in someone rowing, paying back and spending money is one of these to do their thinking for them? This is the unadmitted rubric areas. This is an area which is not rocket science. In the of universities which are increasingly driven by the priori- credit card era most of us earn, borrow, pay back, and ties of industry and the priority of client career choice. This spend every day. We are highly experienced in this activ- concentration on doing things rather than thinking risks ity. But those who do this on a scale capable of collapsing eroding the intellectual culture, the intellectual quality of the world economy while they make big money out of it universities. It has led to professors looking like rabbits have opted to pretend that what they do is far too hard caught in the car headlights, impotent and dumbfounded for ordinary people to understand. Instead of engaging in in the current crisis. Where is their understanding about transparent, public debate these ‘experts’ have secreted what is really going on as we slide ever closer towards what themselves and their processes away. They have renamed Bank of England Governor Sir Mervyn King has described schemes – ‘products’ and ‘instruments’ in order to make as: ‘the most serious financial crisis at least since the 1930s, them sound more scientific, more ‘the realm of experts’. if not ever?’ (Elliot, 2011). vol. 54, no. 2, 2012 Recession-oscopy, Steve Mackey 41 AUSTRALIAN UNIVERSITIES’ REVIEW

The looming crisis Athens’s ancient city wall contained the inscription: ‘The man with no public business has no business’. Underscoring that observation, the ancient Greek After a seemingly prosperous expansionary period sud- word for a person mute on public affairs was ‘idiot’. denly we face a decade when in Europe and the US, if not (Hauser, 1999, p. 19), (eNotes, 2011) more widely a trillions of dollars disruption is imminent. This means food, heating, healthcare, shelter, transport, Major economic malaise is urgent public business. Eve- education, employment and the organisation and fund- ryone should be discussing it intelligently. Why are we ing of these, whether public or private, will be in shorter not? Are we all idiots? Or are we mute because of the cult supply. Where this does not result in people dying earlier of ideoscopy? Has everyone, including university staff it certainly means life will be less pleasant. Would it have ceded this sort of discussion to the realm of the ‘expert’ come to this if people had been educated to really under- – the opinion editorial writer; the political pundit; the stand what was going on with their countries’ finances; blogger; the whoever-appears-on-the-TV-screen? What with their countries’ governance; with their countries’ seems to be the case is that where mass thinking is morality? If universities had properly stimulated thought not trapped into totally irrational literal religiosity – as into what the financiers were risking would citizens have in much of America – it is trapped into an irrational happily agreed to the greed involved? If voters had been belief in experts. Democratic systems require politicians sufficiently taught the history of similar episodes would to at least feign alignment with majority public belief. they have gone along with the deception? If people were But majority public belief is stuck at the ‘modern’ stage participating in cultural expression which reflected the described by Deely. The ‘post-modern’ is still not a term nonsense would they have remained content with politi- to be used in polite company without a smirk. Conse- cal processes? Would aware, informed and intelligently quently, politically controlled universities are unlikely participating populations have been content to let a semi- to pass on the realisation that the omnipotence of the secret industry blight personal lives for a large part of the modern scientific expert is as much a myth as is literal 21st century? religion. Individual scientists and individual scientific We hear little snippets of ‘research’ here and there... the projects are of course often brilliant and indispensable. Greek suicide rate is up; the Irish are increasing migra- But this does not qualify institutions to claim pseudo-sci- tion again; UK household incomes are sliding; the use of entific justification for their methods of deciding what water cannon has been considered on the UK mainland. should and what should not get taught; how it should But what is happening in universities at this interest- or should not be taught; and what status and encourage- ing time for those of us in the ‘academic caper’? Where ment should be attached to particular subjects. are the major debates? Where is rigorous analysis of the financial viability of advanced western societies and Ideoscopy and academic management analysis of the viability of other societies which depend on our viability? Where are the insightful forecasts of For the same reasons the feigned ‘scientific management’ what sort of countries both varieties will be in ten years of academics should be opposed. The inappropriate appli- time? What opportunities might be taken of a shattering cation of ideoscopy is the core contradiction of both of post-war presumptions about how the world might performance related pay for academics and journal rank- be? How might the enormous resource of millions of out ing fetishism as discussed in AUR vol.53, no 2, (Harkness, of work income seekers be harnessed? How could envi- 2011), (Young, 2011). Cenoscopically we would argue that ronmental and sustainable-planet improvements mesh it is intelligent and moral academics who do the better job with these factors? in comparison to academics who are on incentive bonuses or whose work is more closely measured. But profession- Are we all idiots? alism; intelligence; a sense of vocation; and morality are difficult attributes to measure. They are the priceless qual- These sorts of questions and the responses which they ities which enable any department or group of employees seek are not beyond the understanding of most of us. They to function well together. But these are qualities which and many similar discussions should be everyday parlance are downplayed or ignored when ideoscopy becomes a – pub talk, hair salon gossip. In the cenoscopic era of the cult which demands the ‘hard facts’ - the mathematisa- Greek polis ordinary citizens were referred to as ‘idiots’ if tion of everything. There is another striking manifesta- they were not able to articulate these sorts of public affairs: tion which comes to the fore when ideoscopy becomes

42 Recession-oscopy, Steve Mackey vol. 54, no. 2, 2012 AUSTRALIAN UNIVERSITIES’ REVIEW a cult. This is the proliferation of increasingly higher piles educational priorities from churning out masses of rarely of cash that are dropped like votive offerings at the feet read technical trivia in order to meet irrelevant metrics to of so called experts who achieve the rank of demigods: a deeper examination of the basis of contemporary under- top bankers; VCs; other CEOs. It is not their professional- standings. We need a better grasp on what is really obscure ism, their morality, their collegiality which is measured to knowledge and what is merely obscurity. University Coun- qualify them for their bonuses. Instead they promise inter- cils’ members drawn from industry and commerce must view panels that they will achieve performance targets be replaced by genuine, intellectually committed educa- which can be validated in some mathematical manner: tionalists. We cannot risk another decade without people university research ranking; student satisfaction statistics; being educated properly. As Kohler says of his profes- budget outcomes and so on. But piles of cash and the sion this is indeed an interesting time for people in our super-executive power and status which wealth implies ‘caper’: academia. It is a time of crisis – and consequently tends to insulate top managers. They become cocooned of opportunity. It is a time when the bases of many social behind an outer office of those much lower on a steep and economic understandings are vulnerable to construc- power gradient. Underlings are people who are far more tive questioning. One of these constructive questions is to likely to take a ‘Yes Minister’ approach than to be criti- do with the balance between ideoscopic and cenoscopic cal peers. In their private lives the ostentation of VCs as ways of investigation the world. Deely and Peirce are clear the enriched beneficiaries of the cult of misplaced ideos- that proper scientific method and mathematics are vital to copy further undermines the power and morale of ordi- the ways the contemporary world works. But we need to nary, well meaning professionals. Cenoscopic collegiality review what can really be understood scientifically and declines as ideoscopically based propaganda dominates where science is merely being hijacked for the propagan- organisational relations. distic exploitation of its prestige. In this way it can be argued that every time we hear about a vice chancellor being awarded an obscene pay Dr Steve Mackey is a Senior Lecturer in Public Relations in level we are in fact seeing a further blow to the profes- Deakin’s Faculty of Arts and Education. sional nature of higher education. As VC pay levels reach the stratosphere, higher education falls into line with an References intellectual repression now overseen by the business Barrie, J. M. & Unwin, N. S. (1951). Peter Pan. London: Hodder & Stoughton. people and technocrats – the ideoscopically justified Deely, J. N. (2008). Descartes & Poinsot : the crossroad of signs and ideas. ‘experts’ who have displaced educationalists on univer- Scranton, Pa. ; London: University of Scranton Press. sity councils. Vocational education is all very well and Deely, J. N. (2009). Augustine and Poinsot : the protosemiotic development. good. Universities were founded on the need to teach Scranton: University of Scranton Press. medicine and law. But every time an academic manager Elliot, L. & Allen, K. (2011, October 7). Britain in grip of ‘worst ever financial says something like a dean once said to me: ‘I think you crisis’: Bank chief: ‘There’s not enough money’: £75bn of quantitative easing should leave that semiotics stuff alone’ [and concentrate announced. The Guardian. more on my vocational subject – public relations], then, eNotes (2011). Idiot (Athenian democracy). eNotes Retrieved from: http://www. enotes.com/topic/Idiot_(Athenian_democracy) just like happens in Peter Pan, something dies somewhere Harkness, P. & Schier, M. (2011). Performance related pay in Australian universi- – something fundamental to the deepest responsibilities ties: The case of Swinburne University, Australian Universities’ Review, 53(2), of academics, [with apologies to]: (Barrie & Unwin, 1951). 50-58. Hauser, G. A. (1999). Vernacular voices : the rhetoric of public and public Conclusion spheres. Columbia: University of South Carolina Press. MacIntyre, A. (1985). After virtue : a study in moral theory (2nd ed.). London: The current economic sickness is a symptom and a Duckworth. wakeup call which points to deafness and blindness Peirce, C. S. (1955). Philosophical writings of Peirce. New York: Dover Publica- tions. towards public affairs in many modern institutions. In the institution of the university it is the academic’s respon- Peirce, C. S., Weiss, P. & Hartshorne, C. (1974). Collected papers of Charles Sanders Peirce. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press. sibility to throw off a central aspect of this sickness: the Young, S., Peetz, D. & Marais, M. (2011). The impact of journal ranking fetish- misuse of the ideoscopic legacy. Proper status needs to be ism on Australian policy-related research: A case study. Australian Universities’ reattached to cenoscopic thought, to the realisation of the Review, 53(2), 77-87. ability of ordinary people to understand and intervene into the way their world works. This implies a change of vol. 54, no. 2, 2012 Recession-oscopy, Steve Mackey 43 AUSTRALIAN UNIVERSITIES’ REVIEW

The managerialist university: an economic interpretation

Tony Aspromourgos University of Sydney

The rise of the managerialist university, in terms of a shift towards supposed corporate forms of governance in universities, associated also with greater competition between universities, has been the subject of considerable controversy. Dissent with respect to these developments has commonly appealed to the notion of the university as a special kind of corporate entity that at least partly transcends merely economic considerations. This paper demonstrates that a purely economic analysis of the university provides a sufficient basis for repudiating the managerialist model.

Introduction ture in which it is clear that each level of management is responsible to those further up the structure, not those The changing character of universities in recent decades, ‘below’, has entailed a repudiation of the traditional col- both in Australia and internationally, has been the subject legial model of the university. of considerable discussion, debate and indeed, concern. While a variety of forces has no doubt been at work in Managing the university product these institutional and other developments, at least in the Anglophone world, the shift in the political atmos- Rather than treating the university as some kind of spe- phere since the end of the 1970s seems to have been cial corporate entity, that in some manner at least partly the key factor – notably, with respect to the role of the transcends merely economic considerations, one may, public sector. Just as there have been a variety of forces provisionally, approach the issue by treating the university at work, so also there are a number of distinct (if con- as an enterprise, ‘just like any other’, producing a set of nected) aspects of the evolution of universities that have commodities. (This will be qualified below.) But of course stimulated controversy. Here, the focus is on just two par- commercial enterprises are not all of the same kind, even ticular and related aspects. First, the rise of a managerialist as purely commercial enterprises. However, the key point approach to university governance and thereby, the emer- here, rather than singling out the universities as in some gence also of an academic managerial class that exercises sense unique corporate entities, is to recognise universi- power in the contemporary university, as a class distinct ties as belonging to the subset of enterprises that produce and largely separated from the bulk of working academ- services, rather than physical commodities. And then fur- ics. The second is the implementation of a sort of com- ther, it is necessary to understand that universities belong petition model of the university system. The adoption of to that sub-subset of service providers in which it is quite a managerialist approach, with a ‘line management’ struc- impossible for a managerial group within the enterprise

44 The managerialist university: an economic interpretation, Tony Aspromourgos vol. 54, no. 2, 2012 AUSTRALIAN UNIVERSITIES’ REVIEW to enforce upon the workers a set of activities and endeav- damage to the reputation and standing of the university in ours so as to ensure the services of the corporate entity the wider community. But perhaps the standing of the uni- are provided to a desired quality standard. versities’ products will not be damaged in the eyes of the Under such production conditions it is always possible wider community, even as the objective quality of those for the workers to shirk with respect to the provision of products declines. We return to this possibility below. some aspects or other of the activities and endeavours Now, if academic workers are induced to minimise that go into forming the final product. This is only rein- their work efforts, in ways that cannot be observed or forced when some aspects of the product or services ascertained by managers, in response to stick-wielding being produced involve voluntary contributions by the vice-chancellors, deputy vice-chancellors, deans, associ- individual workers, contributions that are not, and cannot, ate deans, and so on down the food chain, then it is not be written into explicit labour contracts. It is impossible likely to be their research time or research output that is for management to enforce all aspects of the workers’ primarily affected. The self-image and self-regard of aca- activities, either because such supervision and enforce- demics – certainly those at research-intensive universi- ment are too costly, or because any such surveillance ties – in general is inevitably more closely bound up with would actually undermine service provision, thereby det- their research achievements than with teaching or wider rimentally changing the product. With regard to the latter, service. Academics who are induced to shirk in response imagine university management watching over the con- to stick-wielding academic managers are likely, as much duct of research, either in the office or the laboratory, or as they can, to protect their research time and efforts at overseeing every minute of every lecture, and so on. There the expense of teaching and service. It is in particular in are many, many things that academic workers do that they teaching where a minimum or merely serviceable effort could cease doing, without compromising their contracts will suffice, without the corporate entity having any with the university, but which if they ceased to be done capacity to enforce that effort which produces something by many, most, or all academic workers, would certainly better, even immensely valuable, in the way of pedagogy. compromise the overall product that universities deliver. But would this not then force management to alter its It is these peculiar conditions of academic produc- methods, since the consequent decline in teaching quality tion which make ‘Management 101’ inapplicable to the might compromise a university’s standing with potential university industry, or makes its application damaging students and thereby threaten the student load, which is (whether or not it is usefully applicable to any other kind the funding base for both teaching and a considerable of commodity production). Certainly, one cannot induce amount of research time, at least for most universities? academic workers, individually or collectively, to deliver Perhaps it will not. an overall product of quality research, teaching and wider community service merely by way of management wield- Competition and the higher education ing a stick of one form or another. The goodwill of the industry workforce is essential to enable quality product provision. University management or leadership must be able to take To see why this reputational effect might not occur takes the academic workers with them, by making the work- us to a second dimension of the managerialist university: ing academics willing participants in the endeavour; an the rise of the academic-manager class within the univer- antagonized and demoralised workforce will find a myriad sities has been associated, presumably not by accident, of ways, individually and collectively, to cut corners in the also with the notion that universities should engage in provision of research, teaching and/or service. Hence fol- competition with each other, in some sense. (The most lows a joke recounted to me by an Italian colleague some obvious connection between the two developments is years ago (but like all good jokes, half serious): ‘We [Italian that if universities can be conceived of as usefully com- academics] have an implicit contract with the Italian State: peting with each other, then an application to univer- they pay us very little – and we do very little.’ This need sities of supposed private sector governance methods only be qualified by acknowledgement of the motivating appears, to that extent, more plausible.) Underpinning role in academic life of non-pecuniary ‘remunerations’ as the endorsement of competition is a belief, articu- well; but these too are part of the implicit contract. lated only in the vaguest of ways, that competition will The overall character and quality of what the univer- improve service quality, as well as perhaps contributing sity produces in the aggregate will be compromised by to other desirable outcomes; notably, cost minimisation. such shirking, with – one might suppose – consequent In fact, this notion has only been specified in the vaguest vol. 54, no. 2, 2012 The managerialist university: an economic interpretation, Tony Aspromourgos 45 AUSTRALIAN UNIVERSITIES’ REVIEW of ways because if any precision is attempted, the plausi- remunerations. Or to put the same point differently, rela- bility of the idea evaporates. tive to non-academic remuneration possibilities open to One may picture the competitive process, albeit in a the brightest, even academic positions with abnormally brief and somewhat loose way, along the following lines. high remunerations cannot compete on purely pecuni- Let us say the generic product under consideration is beer. ary terms. When a ‘trophy professor’ is headhunted from There are a number of suppliers providing the product, one university to another, with an abnormal remunera- which is differentiated and branded. They can compete tion offer, the aggregate of research in the world is not on both price and quality, with tradeoffs between the two increased. Income and resources are probably transferred dimensions. They are supplying into a market – let us call from the trophy professor’s new colleagues to the trophy it ‘Australia’ – in which there is a large body, indeed, a very professor, likely with some degree of demoralisation of large body, of experienced and hence informed consum- those other staff; the headhunting university management ers on the demand side of the market. One would expect congratulates itself on its strategic genius, and of course, under these conditions that, at the same price, a better makes sure an article about the trophy professor appears quality beer will succeed over a lesser quality beer; and at in the alumni magazine; and that is all. the same quality, a cheaper beer will prevail over a dearer Returning to competition with respect to degree provi- one. This is of course consistent with beers that exhibit dif- sion, the first difference to note between competition with ferent price/quality combinations surviving in the market, respect to beers and with respect to university degrees is side by side – when it is further allowed that beer quality is that almost by definition, there cannot be a large body of multidimensional, and that consumers have heterogeneous informed consumers – in fact, there can hardly be any such tastes. Then it is also possible that a beer A, which is infe- potential consumers – on the demand side of the degree rior to a beer B, in quality dimension x, while higher priced market. The peculiarity of university degree consumption, than beer B, may yet also survive in the market, if superior vis-à-vis most other commodity demands, for both final to beer B in some other quality dimension y, valued by at consumption goods and capital goods, is that it is virtu- least a sufficient segment of consumers. ally always a unique act of consumption, strictly speaking, Is this kind of typical competitive process transferable never to be repeated. (We mention capital goods because to competition with respect to the services universities education is often conceived of as accumulation of ‘human provide? In answering this, let us put aside the research capital’.) That is to say, for any particular degree on offer and community service dimensions of the product uni- from competing producers on the supply side, any single versities provide and focus just on education; in particular, potential consumer will only ever wish to consume one of degree provision. In doing so we nevertheless acknowl- them in a lifetime, at most. To end up consuming, for exam- edge that the three dimensions are not separable in real- ple, two Bachelor of Science degrees, or whatever other ity; they are ‘joint products’. For example, the teaching degree, would be almost always a very great disaster for and community service aspects of the product are cer- the consumer. tainly not independent of the research achievements and To return for a moment to the beer example, if I am a research activities of the academic staff. Nor are these person who has never before consumed beer, and I wake three dimensions independent of each other in the com- up one morning and decide to become a beer drinker, I petition that occurs between universities. For example, could go out every night for, say, 40 days, and drink three universities’ research standing can influence their stand- to five beers of a particular and different brand each night. ing as degree providers, though it seems, both positively No doubt I would in this process drink some shockingly and negatively! bad beers. (Let us leave them nameless here.) But in a rela- However, before putting aside research and community tively short time (i.e., relative to my remaining expected service, one parenthetical comment may be made with lifespan of prospective beer drinking), and at relatively respect to competition among universities for research- low cost (relative to the benefits from my remaining life of ers. It is highly unlikely that any of this competition, even beer drinking), I would become an informed beer drinker. if it increases remuneration for a few, will increase the I would thereby become an addition to the large body of aggregate of human intelligence and effort devoted to informed beer drinkers that makes competition a signifi- the sciences and humanities, rather than merely reallocat- cant force in shaping the pricing and quality of the variety ing intelligence and research effort between institutions of beers supplied to the market. and perhaps between disciplines. People do not choose A further impediment to competition between uni- an academic life based primarily upon relative pecuniary versities being capable of beneficially shaping the

46 The managerialist university: an economic interpretation, Tony Aspromourgos vol. 54, no. 2, 2012 AUSTRALIAN UNIVERSITIES’ REVIEW degree product is that the quality of the product is to It may be added here that the multidimensionality of a considerable extent opaque, or non-transparent, even the product and heterogeneity of consumer tastes or pref- after it has been consumed. This is not only because erences, which were earlier noted in the case of beer, may it is a one-off consumption item, but also because it have some analogy in the market for particular degrees, or is in the nature of knowledge- or information-rich they may not. We leave this issue aside here. But it should products and services that they entail an information not be taken for granted that competition among univer- asymmetry between supplier and consumer. The poten- sities will encourage greater diversity in the character of tial consumer, in making a choice, is reliant upon the particular degrees, across different universities; it may advice of the potential suppliers, causing thereby also instead lead to greater homogeneity. And the information an asymmetry of power. This asymmetry between the asymmetry problem in the degree market means that con- ‘demander’ and the supplier is intrinsic to the situa- sumer preferences are considerably more influenced by tion. Most consumers of car repairs cannot know pre- the suppliers than could possibly be the case in the beer cisely what service has been provided, and whether it market (in the latter case, for example, by way of advertis- was required. When one attends a medical doctor with ing). This aspect of the situation can foster homogeneity an ailment, one asks this supplier of medical services: in degree offerings as well. what do I need to purchase? Similarly, to a considerable In fact, it is doubtful whether advertising by universities extent, the one-off consum- has any significant influence ers of degrees will never When a ‘trophy professor’ is headhunted in shaping the preferences know if it was worth it. from one university to another, with across universities of degree Whatever degree of satisfac- consumers, other than by an abnormal remuneration offer, the tion graduates may record way of letting potential con- concerning their degrees – aggregate of research in the world is not sumers know, or reminding one, five or ten years after increased. Income and resources are them, of the conventional graduation – they will not probably transferred from the trophy rankings of universities have any very clear and professor’s new colleagues to the trophy within the industry. Putting definite conception of professor, likely with some degree of aside research students, con- what their education could demoralisation of those other staff... sumer preferences across have been, better than that universities are largely an which they received. expression of self-validating In particular, a decline over time in the quality of the circular causation. For example, in the Australian context, education provided in degrees will not be evident, or at the research-intensive Group of Eight (Go8) universities least will not be transparently evident, to the students rank high in degree-consumer preferences, not because of and graduates who have consumed just one degree of any objective superiority in their teaching performance, any type, at one point in time. An engineering graduate, but mainly, because they already, previously, ranked high. or graduate in any other discipline, will never know, at To a very substantial extent, the perception of their qual- least with any definiteness, the difference between a ity as degree providers is merely due to the quality of their 2012 engineering degree and a 1982 engineering degree, previous students, which in turn was a result of those even from the same institution. There is of course much universities previously ranking high in degree-consumer public debate about declining standards in university edu- preferences. This perception then attracts another genera- cation (and in many other areas of human life!); but the tion of quality students, and so on. (It is difficult, but not non-transparency of the product will always make these impossible, for this virtuous circle to be broken.) claims contestable and less than compellingly evident. This is the basis for our comment above, that a decline in Conclusions teaching quality, resulting from managerialism, need not be inhibited by competitive pressure, because it will not We have been pursuing here a line of critical argument necessarily damage the reputation of a degree supplier, about the contemporary university within a fairly nar- and in particular, the relative reputation of the supplier rowly economic frame of reference. That of course is not with respect to other suppliers. To that extent, competi- an adequate conceptual framework for a properly com- tion will not motivate university managers to change gov- prehensive accounting for the purposes and character ernance regimes and methods. of universities. Our aim has been precisely to show how vol. 54, no. 2, 2012 The managerialist university: an economic interpretation, Tony Aspromourgos 47 AUSTRALIAN UNIVERSITIES’ REVIEW thoroughly one can repudiate the managerialist model, It is undoubtable that academic work must be subject without need of appeal to special or unique characteris- to audit by, and accountability to, those who fund the tics of the university. activity; most obviously, government, but also fee-paying But before drawing some conclusions arising from our students. Economic theory also provides justification argument, it is worth pointing out one further limitation for public funding or subsidisation of the ‘public good’ of the crude application of a vague notion of competi- dimensions of the university product: as well as pure or tion to degree provision. In standard economic theory, the fundamental research, with particular regard to educa- autonomy or independence of consumers’ preferences tion this concerns fundamental knowledge and generic (i.e., desires, wants or tastes) – independence from the skills – that which purely profit-seeking entities could consumption they undertake – is an essential assumption not provide in desirable quantity to self-funded, unsub- to enable the competitive model to produce its typical sidised students. In the absence of public funding, these conclusions. Preferences (together with the constraints of educational attainments and the degrees in which they prices and incomes) cause consumption; but consump- are embodied would also be provided, less on a merito- tion influencing preferences must be ruled out. Without cratic basis and more with regard to private ability to that restriction, there would be no independent and stable pay. Furthermore, whatever the balance between public criterion by which to determine whether individuals are and private funding, to the extent that some parts of a better or worse off as a result of competition; the individu- comprehensive university that undertakes education als themselves, as constituted by their preferences, would across the whole range of the sciences and the humani- become endogenous to the economic process, depriving ties cannot be self-funding, cross-subsidisation, in some the theory or model of the capacity to generate definite measure, is intrinsic to the nature of the ‘universe-ity’ conclusions. Now, whether or not that assumption is rea- – intrinsic to its universal mission. If competition with sonable in relation to the consumption of material goods, such institutions from niche providers is allowed (for it is beyond question that the consumption of educa- example, from free-standing business schools), then, as tion changes people. Indeed, it is clearly a conscious and the cross-subsidisation is undermined, so also is the very central purpose of individuals in pursuing education, to existence of the university proper. change themselves into something different. And is this But even allowing for legitimate audit and accountabil- not at least part of the reason why graduates’ perceptions ity, the managerialist university has a natural tendency to of their education commonly differs some years after overregulation and excessive bureaucratisation. graduation, from their perceptions while undertaking First, the managerial class must create a semblance of their degrees? work for itself. Developing and implementing ‘strategic The most important conclusion to be drawn from our plans’ are popular fillers in this respect. The crude quan- argument is that the managerialist model, in combination titative targets commonly incorporated in such plans are with a vague conception of competition between univer- also an easy benchmark by which the managers can justify sities, is not going to produce or promote a quality uni- themselves to those further up the hierarchy. The propa- versity system. The managerialist model cannot serve as a gation of ‘learning and teaching’ agendas and activities, substitute for traditional approaches to quality assurance, which have been the catalyst for a thriving bureaucracy- which ultimately rest upon embodying in all individual cum-industry within the university system, populated by and collective academic activity, professional norms and non-academic or quasi-academic staff, is also a popular ethics of conduct, collegially regulated by the community managerial pursuit. This learning-and-teaching industry is of academics. With regard to the education dimension in a striking instance (and perhaps not the only one) of an particular, for genuine, quality university teaching to occur ‘emperor’s-new-clothes’ phenomenon in the contempo- requires an ‘inner commitment’ grounded in professional rary university. While some educational theory and practi- ethics and professional self-respect. While the informa- cal teaching advice may be useful for academic teachers tion asymmetry between potential degree consumers and – especially junior staff – virtually everyone in the system, degree suppliers necessitates a certain limited external including the academic managers, knows that the learn- and internal regulation to enforce minimum acceptable ing-and-teaching industry, as currently constituted, pro- standards (for example, via accreditation systems), such duces little of value for genuine university education regulation – however much extended and over-extended and teaching. But while virtually everyone acknowledges – is never sufficient: internalised professional norms are this privately, publicly, almost everyone pretends that it also essential. is important and worthwhile. However undesirable this

48 The managerialist university: an economic interpretation, Tony Aspromourgos vol. 54, no. 2, 2012 AUSTRALIAN UNIVERSITIES’ REVIEW kind of phenomenon is in normal commercial enterprise, contracts. And the attempt to do so certainly undermines such collective dishonesty is obviously particularly corro- the traditional academic norms and ethics that are nec- sive in institutions that are supposed to be in the business essary to its provision; for example, as indicated above, of truth-telling, in some sense or other. encouraging shirking with respect to those contribu- Second, and here economic analysis again provides par- tions to academic life that are not and/or cannot be indi- ticular insight, there is almost never any attempt to esti- vidually contracted for. Explicit or implicit performance mate the net benefit from proposed regulatory and audit indicators, particularly when applied down to the level policies. This is primarily because the costs of regulation of the individual academic, tend to crowd out whatever are largely externalised by those who implement it (the is not included in them; for example, reviewing, journal implementation and compliance costs in particular), and editing, refereeing – activities traditionally regarded as rather, borne by those further down the food chain. Under important service undertaken by good academic ‘corpo- these conditions, with most of the costs ignored by the rate citizens’, for the benefit of academic communities. decision-makers, there is a natural inclination to extend They also deter elements of good teaching for which regulation until the perceived or supposed increment of robust empirical evidence can never be provided, and benefit falls to zero, even if any additional benefit (real or service activities that are not career-enhancing. illusory), net of the costs of acquiring that benefit, is nega- Second, given the great limitations on the capacity of tive (i.e., marginal supposed benefit is less than marginal degree consumers to ascertain quality (both before and cost). The managerialist regulatory and performance audit after undertaking a degree), competition between degree processes, with all the attendant acquisition, measure- providers leads to a diminution of degree quality. This ment and processing of data, themselves absorb resources tendency will be reinforced to the extent that there is an that could otherwise better be devoted to research, teach- inclination on the part of the degree consumers, individu- ing and service. Governments impose regulation on the ally, to minimise their effort in acquiring a degree. Indeed, universities; the university bosses push the costs down to the extent that degree consumers’ primary motivation to the faculties; the faculty deans push them down to the in acquiring a degree is their perception of its usefulness schools and departments – with the last port of call for in advantaging them in the labour market, merely rela- the costs, the working academic. To put the economic tive to others, they may be rather indifferent to the intrin- point of view bluntly, in most human activities, the opti- sic usefulness of their education. This is possible so long mal number of screw-ups is unlikely to be zero; rather, as lack of intrinsic degree quality does not compromise some positive number. the relative advantage in the labour market, provided by It was asserted earlier (five paragraphs above) that possession of the degree. It is then tempting to wonder managerialism and quasi-competition will not deliver a whether the universities and many of their students are in quality university system. In fact, they are impediments to a kind of tacit conspiracy to advance a pretence concern- that. The managerial class, probably more or less uncon- ing the educational enterprise. sciously, supposes that its recourse to contractual modes Suffice it to conclude by noting that quality is easier to of governance of academic life will leave traditional norm- destroy than it is to rebuild. governed academic conduct intact. It will not. Not only are managerialism and quasi-competition not substitutes Tony Aspromourgos is a professor at the School of Econom- for traditional quality assurance grounded in professional ics, University of Sydney, Australia. ethics, they serve to undermine it. Two examples suffice to make the point. Acknowledgement First, the contract mentality which is part and parcel of the Management 101 approach to governance seeks The author is indebted to P. Docherty, T. Fisher, M. Paton, to reduce the entire conduct of academic life to an R. Swain, A. Thomas and two anonymous referees for exchange process in which rewards and punishments, comment, without thereby implicating them in the final at the level of the individual academic, are traded for product. ‘outcomes’. A key point of our argument above is that a quality university product, of research plus teaching plus service, cannot be reduced to key performance indicators, and therefore its provision cannot be ensured merely by recourse to more or less explicit individual vol. 54, no. 2, 2012 The managerialist university: an economic interpretation, Tony Aspromourgos 49 AUSTRALIAN UNIVERSITIES’ REVIEW

Placing a value on academic work The development and implementation of a time-based academic workload model

John Kenny, Andrew Fluck & Tim Jetson University of Tasmania

This paper presents a detailed case study of the development and implementation of a quantifiable academic workload model in the education faculty of an Australian university. Flowing from the enterprise bargaining process, the Academic Staff Agreement required the implementation of a workload allocation model for academics that was quantifiable in terms of hours with a stipulated annual maximum. Upon its eventual implementation, evidence emerged of academic workloads well beyond the supposed upper limit to hours. The case study demonstrates the highly political nature of defining academic work. With the emphasis in a modern university on competition driven by reduced funding and limited resources, academics are increasingly held accountable through performance management for teaching and research outcomes. The case study revealed the inherent tensions that arose between academics and managers as the related issues were negotiated.

Introduction accountability. Meeting challenges to deliver outputs and outcomes while simultaneously preserving valued process and academic discourse is a complex balanc- In recent years, changes to the university operating envi- ing act (Houston et al., 2006, p. 20). ronment have resulted in reduced funding for higher education and greater external and internal accountability The academic role includes teaching, research, engage- for academic work. The push for efficiencies and a focus ment with students, local communities and professional on mass education which has placed increasing empha- bodies, and leadership within the university. The degree sis on utilitarian forms of knowledge and research have of complexity of the role makes its definition somewhat occurred contemporaneously with issues about good problematic. Individual differences, due to discipline, teaching and research. Increasingly staff are expected to career stage or emphasis placed on research, teaching or conform to externally defined performance outcomes in administrative duties, add an extra layer to nominally simi- research, teaching and administration (Barnett & Middle- lar roles. Houston et al. (2006, p.27) argued that the com- hurst, 1993; Henkel, 2007; Houston, Meyer & Paewai, 2006; plexity of universities and the diversity of academic work Lyons & Ingersoll, 2010; Vardi, 2009). In this new context: both within and across disciplines make any attempt to Managers, leaders and individual academics are ‘standardise workload expectations... is fraught by differ- expected to be responsive to diverse student needs ent realities’. and expectations, a competitive research environment, Traditionally, many academics approach their role as community expectations for relevance, declining a vocation (Lyons & Ingersoll, 2010), characterised by a public funding, and increased administrative and fiscal high degree of personal commitment, intrinsic motivation

50 Placing a value on academic work, John Kenny, Andrew Fluck & Tim Jetson vol. 54, no. 2, 2012 AUSTRALIAN UNIVERSITIES’ REVIEW to succeed, self-regulation, flexibility and autonomy (Bel- Managing academic workload lamy, Morley & Watty, 2003), which is difficult to reconcile with the new managerial approach. The consequences Despite the difficulty of defining academic work, many include intensification, de-professionalisation, increased universities have developed models to allocate and moni- casualisation, along with a more demanding and diverse tor academic work (Houston et al., 2006; Lazarsfeld Jensen student cohort and greater use of technology in mass & Morgan, 2009; Soliman, 1999; Vardi, 2009). A National education (Barnett & Middlehurst, 1993; Bexley, James & Tertiary Education Industry Union (NTEU, 2011) report Arkoudis, 2011; Burgess, Lewis & Mobbs, 2003; Coates, et reveals that in 32 of 34 Australian universities, industrial al., 2009; Dearn, Fraser & Ryan, 2002; Kenny, 2008, 2009; agreements include an academic workload clause with Langford, 2010; Lyons & Ingersoll, 2010; McInnes, 2000; an upper annual time limit on academic working hours. Vardi, 2009; Winter & Saros, 2002) to the extent that ‘(t) Many also contain provisions for transparent, equitable ime for research appeared to be that remaining after and quantifiable mechanisms to determine academic teaching and administrative requirements had been met’ work, including the establishment of a committee with (Houston et al., 2006, p.25). union representation. Although intensification of academic work is an inter- Vardi (2009) described some advantages and disad- national issue (Altbach, Reisberg & Rumbley, 2009), it was vantages of three basic types of workload models: Con- observed by Coates et al. (2009, p.27) that by comparison tact hours model, based on actual time spent teaching; ‘Australian academics – both in junior and senior ranks – Actual hours model, which attempts to allocate time for report among the highest number of hours worked per various activities and; Points based model, which assigns week’, 43.8 and 50.4 hours respectively. Langford’s (2010) relative points to a range of activities. Another approach benchmarking survey of 17 Australian universities, 26000 not mentioned by Vardi (2009) is one based on Equiva- respondents, comparing 31 work practices and outcomes lent Full-time Student Load (EFTSL). She noted a trade-off with a range of other industries, is also pertinent. Over between complexity and simplicity in the models, adding half, 17, of the practices were significantly worse than in that ‘where academics are required to undertake a wide other occupations. It was concluded that ‘the high levels variety of duties, or where the work duties between aca- of stress’ reported by academic and general staff ‘are worse demic staff vary greatly within an area, greater detail in a than observed in many other industries’ (p.41) and, more model is often demanded.’ She therefore advocated using disturbingly, the levels of stress ‘may be the combined an approach with a blend of allocated times (presumably result of both high work demands and poor work con- for components such as teaching) and undifferentiated trol’ (p.50). Despite academic workloads being the second times for other duties (e.g. research) as a way of meeting worst of ‘all other measured practices and outcomes’, and these needs. experiencing the highest levels of stress the ‘dissatisfac- Research also links the success of academic workload tion with many management practices … is outweighed models to other factors such as the degree of collabora- by the belief...that they are involved in important work tion, transparency, credibility and regular review (Burgess and contributing to the community’ (Langford, 2010, et al., 2003; Houston et al., 2006; Vardi, 2009), but this p.52). Furthermore, academic staff were ‘moderately sat- provides no description of how the collaboration should isfied with their jobs’ (Langford, 2010, p.50). This sense occur, or to what extent academic staff had input into the of mission and commitment to work is also reported by development of the workload processes. A key goal of Houston et al. (2006, p. 27) with the qualification ‘that this research was to fill this gap. workloads allocation (is) underpinned by principles of The apparent failure of workload models to prevent equity and transparency.’ work overload is linked to factors such as the lack of unless workloads are managed well and… time is pro- credible time allocations and issues not usually covered vided for scholarship and research as well as teaching in workload models, such as the number of staff available, and service - those things that are valued by academ- the budget, and change initiatives within an organisation ics… the lifestyle of an academic will be affected and (Houston et al., 2006; Vardi, 2009): the original motivators for career choice may dissipate’ (Houston, et al., 2006, p.28). Some departments were simply attempting to do too much, leaving the achievement of objectives largely The previous quote implies ‘staff well-being, motivation dependent on the willingness of a dedicated workforce to add additional work without corresponding and work performance’ are central to the effectiveness of decreases in other duties. Concerns were also raised modern universities (Vardi, 2009, p. 500; Kenny, 2009). vol. 54, no. 2, 2012 Placing a value on academic work, John Kenny, Andrew Fluck & Tim Jetson 51 AUSTRALIAN UNIVERSITIES’ REVIEW

about the match between resource distribution and issues that arose during the development and implemen- work requirements (Houston et al., 2006, p. 25). tation of the model and address three key questions: Burgess (1996, p.69) noted that in time-based models 1. What factors impinge on academic workload? ‘workload hours which do not accurately reflect actual 2. What are the characteristics of a realistic and fair aca- hours are no better than utility values. In fact they may demic workload model? be worse since they foster a spurious sense of accuracy.’ 3. What are the future implications for academic work? Lyons & Ingersoll (2010, p.144) identified more general limitations: ineffectiveness in placing ‘limits on the exer- Methodology cise of managerial prerogative in the development of workload policies generally, and the resolution of disputes A case study approach, involving the study of a bounded concerning the allocation of academic workloads in par- system, (Creswell, 2008) was chosen because it provided ticular’. Kenny (2008, p.6) attributed managerial reluc- a rich description of the events which unfolded as the tance for meaningful engagement to an awareness that workload model was developed. ‘the process of truly quantifying what academics actually This account clearly reflects the authors’ perspective do would finally expose the extent of ‘good will’ associ- as participants and insiders, faculty members and elected ated with academic work’ and ‘would provide hard evi- academic representatives in the events. In acknowledg- dence … that many academics are working significantly ing this potential for bias, the authors point out that they over what might be considered a fair and reasonable drew extensively on a wide range of evidence such as cor- workload…’ respondence, minutes of meetings, records of emails and Although noting the inverse link between increased discussions with many academic colleagues and manage- complexity of workload models and transparency, Vardi ment representatives during the relevant period. Because (2009, p.506) commented on the comprehensiveness of the case study is localised, the findings are not necessar- time-based models’ coverage of academic work and their ily generalisable to other situations, but some factors may direct link to ‘human resourcing and costing of units’. have relevance. To explore how academic work can be managed in the The 2006 Enterprise Bargaining Agreement guidelines context of broader organisational and sectoral concerns, were very general, specifying the need for transparency, this paper reports on a case study in which academic staff equity and balance, whilst allowing faculty and school dis- took a leading role in the development and implementa- cretion in balancing the components of academic work, tion of a time-based academic workload model in a faculty teaching, research and administration/service. of education over the period 2005-2010. As there was no systematic analysis or evaluation of the The aim was to reflectively explore the situation in implementation of the workload clause at the University detail as the academics and faculty managers, often with during this period, the degree of staff input into the vari- competing priorities and perspectives, dealt with the ous models remains unknown.

A Case Study: Developing and hours in class. Workload was therefore spread unevenly implementing an academic workload between staff. model Workload balance, funding sources Context In accordance with the Academic Staff Agreement Prior to the case study period, the Faculty of Education (2006-2008) (ASA) and ‘Guidelines for the Allocation of operated a legacy system of workload allocation, largely Academic Work’ (The Guidelines), negotiations began based on effective full-time student load (i.e. teaching in 2005 between management and academic staff in duties only). Over the previous decade the load per staff the Faculty to devise a time-based academic workload member had slowly risen from about 15 EFTSL to 20-25 model. A model based on a workload balance of teach- EFTSL. In terms of workload, EFTSL did not adequately ing (40 per cent), research (40 per cent), and service/ distinguish between many related tasks related to teach- administrative related duties (20 per cent) (40:40:20) ing such as the time involved in preparation or actual was proposed. To be compliant with the ASA, the model

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had to be demonstrably fair, transparent and equitable Academic staff were soon disappointed in their hopes and ensure the annual workload for academics was no for a more collegial approach to the workload issue. The greater than 1800 hours. Acting Dean, appointed in mid 2006, proposed an alter- Problems soon arose when the then Dean disagreed native model (deemed the ‘Trust model’) describing it with the assumption of (40:40:20) and proposed an as a more ‘flexible’ approach to the ‘complex’ May 19th alternative, 50:30:20 model. Its implementation, without model.8 Despite the overwhelming vote in its favour, staff consultation, in 2006 increased staff teaching time many academics remained unsure about the time-based and reduced that for research. At the behest of staff, May 19th model, and were willing to try the Trust Model, the NTEU became involved and, in February, mooted even though it was not supported by any documenta- a ‘Workload Review Committee’(WRC) to develop an tion nor quantified academic work time in any transpar- ASA-compliant workload model. The brief of the WRC, ent way. Some well-established academics feared that a consisting primarily of academic staff, was to ‘consult time-based model would prevent them from pursuing widely with staff, … collect data and mak(e) workload their research and feared the focus on time would de- comparisons both within and external to the university’ professionalise their work. Other staff, generally those and offer advice to academics on workload.’1 less established in their careers or with large under- In response, the Deputy Vice-Chancellor and the graduate teaching loads, wanted the more transparent Director of Finance, asserted that academic research time-based model. should be self-funded so to justify a 35 per cent research NTEU sent an open letter to the VC expressing its allocation for staff: concern that there was still no academic workload ‘would need to generate approx (sic) 35 per cent of model compliant with the Academic Staff Agreement, their salary cost. A staff member earning $85000 (pa) ASA(2006-2008),7 and soon after the Acting Dean would need to earn block grant funding of $30000 released a one page description called ‘Workload Princi- (pa)…The faculty currently earns less than 5 per cent ples 2007’ proposing a balance of 80 per cent teaching of its income from research…I would suggest 15 9 per cent allocation to research at most. Within that and 20 per cent research. overall allocation of 15 per cent, some staff might be allocated much higher allocations for research and Tactics of delay others might dedicate most of their time to teaching.’3

Following this directive, the Dean then altered her The catalyst for further action was a letter from the NTEU proposal to (70:15:15), with teaching clearly to be the of intending formal dispute, 2 May 2007, on the grounds overwhelming priority for academics. 2, 3, 4, 6 It emerged of non-compliance with the ASA and citing underfunding from the development of a workload model that there of the Faculty as a cause.10 A response by the Director was a clear divide between staff and management on the of Human Resources rejecting both claims increased dis- place of research and the earning capacity of the Faculty. satisfaction11 and led to the initiation of a formal dispute Despite some further resistance, the WRC was by the NTEU. The Acting Dean proposed a series of fora established4 and with staff consultation, developed a for staff to discuss ‘further revisions to the current work- revised model, the ‘May 19th model’ which proposed load model which both reflect the needs of individual col- a (50:30:20 ) workload balance and provided for leagues and the Faculty and are consistent with the EBA’.12 more realistic times for teaching and related duties; However, these fora were delayed until late August due to but left research and administrative tasks less clearly the Acting Dean taking leave, meaning staff workloads for defined. At an extraordinary Faculty meeting, called by 2007 could not be revised. Two one-hour ‘workshops’ for the WRC under University ordinances, the May 19th staff were scheduled in September, with a decision on the model was overwhelmingly accepted by staff, with revised workload model to be made at a full faculty meet- one abstention. Again the Dean objected on financial ing on October 23.13, 14 The aim was to implement the grounds and insisted on the (70:15:15) model.5 Con- new model ‘…BEFORE the end of the year’.15 tinued opposition by the Dean resulted in academic The workshops and discussions were conducted staff protest, the Vice-Chancellor’s intervention, an in good spirit16 resulting in a report17 proposing some offer of another post for the Dean and the appoint- ‘Notional Reference Points’ (NRPs), or estimates of the ment of an Acting Dean.6 times to be allocated for a range of academic tasks. The

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report stressed the aspirational goal of having a 40:40:20 with the suggestion of the AIRC, the Dean agreed to the model implemented by 2010.17 To help staff calculate formation of an Academic Workload Review Committee workloads, the NTEU developed a spreadsheet with the (AWRC), to develop a time-based workload model compli- NRPs built in, which enabled academic staff to easily ant with the ASA. The AWRC comprised three representa- estimate their total workload on a holistic basis. tives of Faculty management (Head of School, Associate In December 2007, the Acting Dean accepted the Dean Teaching and Learning and a senior professor) and report and committed to its implementation.18 The three staff representatives (the authors of this paper). NTEU was prepared to work with the newly negoti- Fundamental differences between the two parties ated model, despite noting the limited range of NRPs were soon apparent. The appointed chair (the Head of for teaching duties. Unexpectedly, however, the Acting School) insisted that the workload allocation process Dean stepped down in January 2008 and was replaced had to operate within the constraints of the Faculty by another Acting Dean.19 Despite initially avowing to budget whereas staff representatives insisted that the implement the new model, adding that ‘our intention is model had to be able to quantify individual workloads to not just to fix the immediate issues but to put in place determine whether they were ASA-compliant. The staff better processes which will provide greater certainty representatives also argued that the model should allow and transparency’20, the new Acting Dean unilaterally for the aggregation of individual loads, so the Faculty reduced a key NRP, the preparation time for a 12.5 per would be better able to estimate the Faculty’s teaching cent unit, from 75 to 36 hours.21, 22 In arguing for this resource needs and thus help frame the budget. change, the new Acting Dean also indicated the need for The decision was made to build on the existing NRPs further changes ‘to ensure a more equitable distribution and to determine realistic time allocations for other tasks of workload across staff…’21 The NTEU raised concerns not covered in the earlier consultations. The workload about the lack of transparency and suggested a joint con- spreadsheet was used to calculate academic workloads, sultative committee of management and NTEU nomi- with individuals reporting estimates of 124 per cent, 168 nees to discuss the situation. 22, 23 This idea was dismissed per cent, 165 per cent, 130 per cent, 104 per cent (an on financial grounds, with the Acting Dean arguing the average of 138 per cent), equivalent to an average of over NRP was ‘not reasonable (or even sensible)’, without 50 hours per week, with a maximum of over 60 hours.29 presenting any evidence to support this claim. 24 Comments gave further insight into staff attitudes: Another formal dispute was initiated by the NTEU ‘I was worried that …(protesting about workload)… which was heard by an internal University ‘Dispute Reso- would make me visible, vulnerable and a target for lution Committee’ (DRC) on April 17, 2008. 25 NTEU pre- retribution. The track record of our management to date has been marked by vindictive responses to the sented specific examples of staff who were disadvantaged issue of workloads….at no point has my performance and argued that the level of trust of the workload process manager looked at my total workload with me and in the Faculty was very low. 26 The DRC did not reach a considered my research or admin needs…’29, 30 consensus about the dispute and recommended further ‘I face the dilemma of sacrificing my research while 27 consultation to resolve the problems. Following receipt I seek to maintain high standards of teaching. I’m of the report of the DRC27 the VC opined that ‘an average tired and saddened by a climate of despair amongst research workload component of 40 per cent in a voca- diligent staff members.’ 29, 30 tionally oriented discipline area sounds very high to me The staff representatives presented a draft document and it is something that the …Senior executive will need to the AWRC, including a rationale for the model, re- to discuss with Professor … (the soon to be appointed stating the commitment to a 40:40:20 balance by 2012, permanent Dean) shortly after his arrival.’28 It was at this defining key terminology and descriptions of academic stage that the NTEU decided to pursue the case in the activities. The teaching section expanded to cover tasks Australian Industrial Relations Commission (AIRC). not included in previous staff consultations and recognised gradations within teaching patterns. It followed a Going to court similar pattern for research and service/administration to ensure a holistic coverage of workload. The time allo- By the time the case reached the AIRC for the formal hear- cations were benchmarked against models collected ing, a new permanent Dean had taken up his post. In line from other universities and faculties. Management rep-

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resentatives opposed some time allocations but did not summary data for planning by identifying overloaded support their views by research or evidence. In regular staff or areas needing more resources. The data also re- meetings, the AWRC progressively refined the draft and confirmed that staff were working considerably over periodically presented it to staff for consultation and 1800 hours, (even allowing for a 10 per cent tolerance comment over the remainder of 2008.31 A negotiated margin), estimates indicated that 50 per cent of the staff revised workload model was eventually adopted for trial were working over 150 per cent of the annual limit, and at the start of the 2009 academic year. 31, 37 60 per cent of staff were working over 130 per cent.32 The revised model provided a rationale, a compre- AWRC meetings continued throughout 2009-2010, hensive set of transparent time-based allocations for consulting with individual staff, groups such as course key aspects of academic work, a common language to coordinators and new academic appointments. Gradu- discuss workload, and outlined a process to raise griev- ally the workload model began to be embedded within ances about workload. The spreadsheet was also further normal Faculty processes. Once again, however, finan- refined to enable individual academic staff and their per- cial considerations threatened the model. The centrally- formance managers to accurately estimate workloads on determined Faculty budget had not increased to support a holistic basis and negotiate adjustments as needed. . To the adoption of the new model and the Dean’s requests ensure transparency, the documentation was made avail- for more funds were unsuccessful. Early in 2010, with able to staff, along with the spreadsheet via the Faculty a $1 million deficit looming, University management website. For those less inclined to accept a time-based insisted that the Dean balance the budget. model, the notion of ‘allocated hours’ was introduced. In a specially convened meeting of senior Faculty staff This deemed that the time for which academic staff that followed, the AWRC managerial representatives, led could be held accountable was limited to 1800 hours by the Head of School, argued that the workload model p.a., thus enabling those who wished to work longer was unaffordable and had exacerbated the financial prob- hours to do so by choice. lems. However, the staff representatives pointed to other factors, such as the Faculty decision to initiate a full rede- Implementation of the workload model velopment of all degree courses during 2009-2011, which also involved duplication of all courses for delivery in a Implementing the model in practice, however, presented fully online mode in 2010 were more relevant. Arguing new problems. It was complex, and neither staff nor their that these course changes had created significant extra managers were used to looking at their work this way. The teaching work and required substantial additional sup- staff representatives designed and conducted a series of port staff and infrastructure costs, the staff representa- training sessions, including scenarios of typical cases, with tives claimed that the workload model simply quantified individual staff and performance managers to facilitate the increased teaching burden, but had not created the understanding of the model and use of the spreadsheet. problem. When it was revealed at the meeting that the As predicted, implementation of the model had con- Faculty had unsuccessfully applied for $1 million in stra- sequences for the Faculty budget, framed on the pre- tegic funds to finance the course redevelopments, the real sumption of 70 per cent teaching loads, resulting in an source of the financial stress became evident. increase in the expenditure on casual teaching. Some So at the start of 2010, after 18 months of meetings senior staff remained skeptical and uncommitted to the and a year of operation, rather than abandon or modify model, complaining of staff ‘double dipping’ or inflating the course re-development project, the AWRC manage- their workloads, and arguing that aspects of the model ment representatives targeted the workload model. They were ‘generous’. Staff representatives countered that expressed a lack of confidence in the model and with- these were training or performance management issues drew from the AWRC. The Dean re-structured the AWRC rather than faults with the model, adding that the pro- into an ‘Academic Workload Advisory Panel’ (AWAP) to cess was in trial so needed monitoring and evaluation. conduct further benchmarking and advise on changes Eventually, a table was compiled summarising the total to the model.32 and balance of workload for 95 per cent of the academic The benchmarking, however, re-confirmed the reason- staff and made available at a school meeting.32 Here the ableness of the teaching time allocations. Some minor Dean noted the ‘artistry’ of the model and usefulness of adjustments and improvements were made, based on

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the experience in 2009, and a revised model was used in guidelines which are published on the UTAS website 2010. No aggregate summary workload data was made and set minimum ‘thresholds’ for research, and standard available for 2010 because some senior staff expressed time allocations for teaching duties and administrative concerns about privacy. Without this information the roles.36 These are to be implemented across the Univer- staff representatives argued that transparency of the sity in 2012. process was compromised. In September 2010, a new industrial agreement was References – Documentary evidence implemented, ASA (2010-2012)34 which contained an 1. Email: NTEU to Dean, Feb 21, 2006. amended workload clause that stipulated a (40:40:20) 2. Memorandum: Dean to NTEU, Feb 21, 2006. model for most academics. This required some further 3. Email: Dean to Faculty of Education staff, Feb 21, 2006, 7:08pm. refinement of the model for 2011 because it also stipu- 4. Email: NTEU to Dean, Feb 28, 2006. lated a reduction in the total working hours to 1717 p.a. 5. Email from Dean to staff, Fri June 2, 2006. Aggregated workload summary data published at the 6. Memorandum: VC to Education staff, July 10, 2006. end of 2011 indicated the persistence of high overall 7. Letter: NTEU to VC, December 20, 2006. allocated workloads for individuals, with an average of 8. Letter: Director of Human Resources (HR) to NTEU, Jan 3, 2007 33 128 per cent (one as high as 183 per cent). On aver- 9. Document: ‘Workload Principles 2007’ Feb 2007. age, teaching loads had not reduced significantly but 10. Letter NTEU to Director of Human Resources, May 2, 2007. there was evidence of staff increasingly negotiating 11. Letter from Director of HR, May 23, 2007. teaching relief which was not presented in the data. 12. Letter: Acting Dean to the NTEU, June 7, 2007. However, with the 40 per cent teaching component 13. Letter: NTEU to Acting Dean, September 3, 2007 largely accepted, there was evidence that teaching loads 14. Email: Acting Dean to staff, September 5, 2007. reduced significantly in 2012. 33 15. Letter: Acting Dean to NTEU, September 19, 2007. 16. Email: Acting Dean to staff, November 13, 2007. The Future- beyond the Faculty 17. ‘Report to Head of School of the results of Consultation of Academic Staff concerning Their Advice as to Workload Arrangements for 2008’, (no date) While the model has undergone constant refinement, it 18. Acting Dean’s report, Faculty/School meeting, December 6, 2007. still needs reasonable time allocations for administrative 19. Email: Acting Deans to staff, January 24, 2008. tasks, and fair mechanisms to account for research. Grad- 20. Email: new Acting Dean to staff, February 13, 2008. ually, however, the idea of the workload model is being 21. Email: new Acting Dean to staff, February 18, 2008. 22. Email: person who led the workload discussion to one of the authors accepted. Reduced teaching demands through marking February 28, 2008. relief has enabled many staff to improve their research 23. Letter: NTEU to Director of HR, February 26, 2008. performance: a recent Faculty report noted 120 per cent 24. Email: the new Acting Dean to Director of HR and NTEU, March 13, 2008. increase in research output in 2011 and contributions 25. Letter: NTEU to Director of HR, April 7, 2008 to research by 75 per cent of staff, in contrast to the 26. Minutes: the DRC, April 17, 2008. 35 situation in 2006-2008, where research was in decline. 27. Final report of the DRC, April 24, 2008. 34 The new industrial agreement, ASA (2010-2012) , 28. Letter: VC to Director of HR and others, May 12, 2008. embedded the 40:40:20 workload balance across the 29. Various emails and workload documents submitted to NTEU by individual University and also mandated the University to negoti- staff members, May-June 2008. ate with the NTEU to establish common workload guide- 30. Collated staff responses sent to AWRC administration officer. lines for all academics, through the establishment of the 31. Academic Workload Model, draft for implementation in 2009. Academic Workload Development Committee (AWDC), 32. Minutes: the Academic Workload Review Committee (AWRC) with equal membership of NTEU and University man- August-Sept 2008. agement. This committee was to monitor compliance of 33. Summary of academic staff workloads, 2009, 2011, 2012. all workload models at the University to ensure that fair, 34. Academic Staff Agreement (2010-2012). transparent and realistic workload expectations apply to 35. Email: from Associate Dean Research to staff, March, 2012. all academics.34 Recently (April 2012) the AWDC and UTAS manage- 36. Academic Workload Guidelines, published and endorsed by NTEU and UTAS senior management, April 19, 2012. ment agreed on a set of common academic workload

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Discussion of the case study the industrial agreement underpinning the results was the same for 2011 and 2012, statistical comparison was The difficulties encountered in implementing an academic done and a two tailed t-test reveals (p = 0.0094) indicat- workload model in the Faculty, despite the existence of ing a significant decline in teaching loads at the 99 per a workload clause in the academic staff agreement, have cent confidence level. Overall, this shows the model has been used to illuminate a range of potential issues. Other been effective in reducing teaching loads, and, the authors faculties in the same university had managed to devise argue, this is a key factor in the improved research perfor- and successfully implement models in 2006, whereas the mance reported in the case study. Faculty took over five years. Thus, generalisations from The final part of this article explores the three research this case study may be difficult because of specific factors questions. and personalities involved. As Burgess (1996) and Burgess et al. (2003) warned, What factors impinge on academic the case study demonstrates that an inadequate Faculty workload? budget can cause conflict and affect the workload allocation process. In this case, differing priorities about The case study illustrates explicitly the potential for politi- resources to support research hindered the development cal tensions inherent in considering academic workload of the model. Whereas managers emphasised teaching priorities in a climate of resource limitations (Burgess, as the key source of funds for the Faculty, academic staff 1996; Burgess et al., 2003). In a higher education environ- valued their research time. Thus the allocation of aca- ment beset with insufficient funds and greater account- demic work raised concomitant issues such as the nature ability requirements, issues of power and control soon of the academic role and equity for academics. In this arose around the question of how to quantify the work of context, the industrial agreement was crucial because it academics. In this case, the main priority of management required academic as well as managerial input to ensure to meet a pre-determined budget clashed with the staff credibility of the workload allocation process. priority to develop a fair, transparent, quantifiable work- Ultimately, the case study demonstrated some improve- load model compliant with the ASA. ment in workloads. As teaching was the only quantifiable The research emphasising the importance of collabo- component of academic work during this period, an anal- ration in the development of a credible workload model ysis of the teaching workloads was undertaken using the (Burgess et al., 2003; Houston et al., 2006; Vardi, 2009) was published summary data. Based on teaching loads of 19 illustrated in the case study, by the key role of the staff staff who were continuously employed at the University representatives. They insisted on realistic time estimates, during this period (about 40 per cent of the on-going aca- a fair and a transparent mechanism to quantify academic demic workforce), Table 1 shows average teaching work- work, and other key aspects of credibility. Under pres- loads in 2009, 2011 and 2012. sure to meet an inadequate budget, and with teaching the The data collections in 2009 and 2010 were raw data major source of Faculty income, managers tended to focus derived from the workload spreadsheets. In 2011, there on maximising the teaching component at the expense of was anecdotal evidence of the workload model being other aspects of the work. used to negotiate lower workloads than indicated here. By The industrial agreement, and the willingness to use 2012, the data collection was more reliable and showed its legal status, provided the staff representatives with a the actual teaching time (percentages). degree of authority to back-up their insistence on an evi- The data reveal that the average time (percentage) allo- dence based process to determine realistic time alloca- cated to academics for teaching remained constant for tions. This avoided the situation noted by Vardi (2009, p. the first two years, then changed significantly. Because 502) that in time-based workload models ‘allocation often underestimates the real time it takes to complete tasks.’ Table 1: Available summary teaching workload data. Equal staff and management representation on the AWRC ensured that this point had to be taken account of and Year 2009* 2011** 2012** attempts to distort the process could be challenged. The Mean time estimated 1037 1035 850 meetings provided an opportunity to discuss the issues for teaching (hours) (58%) (60%) (49.5%) and present alternative arguments. Due to the demands of Note: two different industrial agreements applied as indicated: the role, the NTEU insisted that the staff representatives *ASA(2006-2009) and **ASA(2010-2012) were provided with some time release to do the neces- vol. 54, no. 2, 2012 Placing a value on academic work, John Kenny, Andrew Fluck & Tim Jetson 57 AUSTRALIAN UNIVERSITIES’ REVIEW sary background work and attend the meetings of the mance expectations on academics. Academic staff were committee. empowered to enter performance management with a With confidence that the model was realistic, due to the realistic estimate of their work and a tool to negotiate a consultation and benchmarking, the staff representatives fair and reasonable outcome within the limitations of the argued that the model should do more than simply ensure allocated hours. Staff, however, remained free to devote that everyone was equally overloaded. Rather, the mod- any extra hours they wanted to their passions, but this el’s validity should allow staff to confidently determine would be a personal choice rather than a requirement if their workload exceeded the annual limit, as provided driven by unrealistic expectations. This approach pre- for in the industrial agreement, and seek some reduction served elements of a vocation attitude approach (Coates accordingly. et al., 2009; Langford, 2010; Barnett & Middlehurst, 1993). The spreadsheet empowered academic staff to esti- The case study’s evidence indicates this approach has mate easily their workloads on a holistic basis for the contributed to a significant improvement in research first time. It provided objective quantifiable evidence output in the Faculty. rather than the more anecdotal or self-reported data in much of the research, and coupled with the release of What are the characteristics of a realistic the aggregated academic workload data, it provided evi- and fair academic workload model? dence which forced management to take genuine steps to reduce workload. Despite the need to quantify academic work, and the The case study revealed inherent doubts for some aca- fact that workload models from other faculties and insti- demics which impinged on the model’s development and tutions indicated that such a task was possible, the case acceptance. Consistent with Soliman (1999, p.4) some study documents a highly fraught process. This chiefly felt using time to quantify academic work compromised arose due to the different priorities of the management ‘the notion of professionalism.’ In particular for some and academic staff. more established in their careers, or some younger ambi- Staff AWDR representatives, supported by the NTEU, tious academics, it raised fears that a workload limit might were intent on meeting the requirements of the ASA prevent them from pursuing their research passions and (2006-2009) by working with the AWRC to develop a thus negatively affect their career or promotion pros- credible time-based workload model. Through an evi- pects. When the first estimates from the model appeared, dence based process of consultation with academic staff many academics and managers doubted the credibility and benchmarking against existing models, the AWRC was of the model. It also highlighted the inherent tensions able to identify the range of activities in academic work, between the traditional self-regulation that many aca- develop clear definitions, consistent terminology and real- demics wanted to retain over their work and the mana- istic associated time allocations. The model was framed gerial paradigm requiring control over the allocation of to included a range of measures including both input resources (Lyons & Ingersoll, 2010; Bellamy et al., 2003). (e.g. preparation for teaching) and output activities (e.g. The data revealed a degree of normalisation of work research publications, or number of students taught) and overload, probably flowing from the way in which many process guidelines for the allocation of work and internal academics approached their work as a vocation. The resolution of any grievances. authors argued, however, that in a managerial paradigm, Extensive consultations with staff and the benchmark- the quantification of this level of commitment is neces- ing against other workload models added considerable sary, as individuals, particularly younger academics, are validity to the figures in the model. In discussions about increasingly held externally accountable for performance the draft documentation in the AWRC, any attempts to and have less control over their work. The deterioration in adjust time allocations were met with a call for evidence working conditions for academics in the Faculty occurred to support their view. This prevented the previous prac- in the absence of a fair and transparent mechanism. The tice where time allocations were determined according to development of a credible model was the first step in put- financial considerations, rather than reflecting the actual ting limitations on ever increasing workload demands and nature and complexity of the tasks which would under- expectations. mine the model’s credibility (Houston et al., 2007; Burgess The dedication of 40 per cent of self-regulated work- et al., 2003). load time specifically to research, and the workload limit Ultimately, time based allowances were developed for on ‘allocated hours’, provided a means to limit perfor- all identifiable activities with a ‘catch-all’ allowance to

58 Placing a value on academic work, John Kenny, Andrew Fluck & Tim Jetson vol. 54, no. 2, 2012 AUSTRALIAN UNIVERSITIES’ REVIEW acknowledge a range of unforeseen minor tasks. By 2010- As the case study illustrates, the problems were largely 2011 the model had evolved into a hybrid of the models budget driven, but while the resource needs are more described and recommended by Vardi (2009). It contained clearly quantifiable, the constraints on the Faculty remain, detailed time-based elements for teaching, incorporat- as these decisions are made centrally by University man- ing allocations for tasks that were independent of stu- agement. At the time of writing, in early 2012, political dent numbers (e.g. preparing a lecture); some that were and economic factors within the Faculty and University dependent on student numbers (e.g. marking & consul- again threaten the implementation of the model. This tation); and undifferentiated time allocations for adminis- emphasises the importance of an institutional approach trative and research duties. Consistent with the research, to these matters and does not imply ineffectiveness of while this tended to increase the model’s complexity it the model. also contributed to its credibility (Vardi, 2009). Central to driving through these changes in the face Lazarsfeld Jensen and Morgan (2009) emphasised of contradictory cost pressures to increase teaching that a lack of understanding of the model could be a loads and improve research performance, a clear picture major source of dissatisfaction. In an attempt to allevi- of what the academic role entails is essential. The vision ate the unavoidable complexity of the model, training underpinning this model is that research and scholarship was organised to explain it and instruct staff and per- are fundamental to the role of academics. This view is also formance managers in the use of the spreadsheet. Indi- embodied in the industrial agreement ASA (2010-2012) vidual staff could quickly obtain an accurate and holistic which has required the formation of an joint committee estimate of their total workload, including breakdown of management and NTEU representation, to review and of the teaching, research and administration-service develop common standard guidelines for academic work components. This improved transparency of the process to apply across the institution. and enabled staff to approach their performance man- The case study indicates that the AWDC can be an effec- agement with a clearer picture of the demands on their tive way to develop a meaningful approach to allocating time, and led to more meaningful discussions about their academic work. It also has a monitoring role to ensure workload and career priorities. adherence to the ASA. The intention is to build on the Transparency and fairness was further enhanced by experiences of the last five years and improve on the the aggregation of individual workload data into a sum- existing situation by providing a common language to mary workload document showing the total workload discuss workload, common transparent time-based allo- and percentage of teaching, research and administrative cations and other measures to equitably determine aca- duties for every academic in the faculty. Consistent with demic workload across the Institution. This outcome will the research (Burgess et al., 2003; Vardi, 2009), the case ensure a more transparent link between the budget pro- study showed that this information could assist Faculty cess and staffing needs in all schools, and a more reliable managers to better determine the level of staff resources and fair platform to gauge the performance of academics. to meet the work demands and to identify gaps and staff This will lead to further research, as called for by Lazarfeld who may be overloaded. Jensen and Morgan (2009, p. 69) for ‘comparative information about the methods of (workload) calculation other What are the future implications for universities are using at schools level, and how agree- academic work? ments are invigilated.’ The authors also contend that tackling the widespread The case study illustrates the inherently political nature of deterioration in academic working conditions as reported developing a workload model because it raises tensions in the research, requires an urgent response from profes- between the managerial and collaborative paradigms. In sional bodies, such as the NTEU, to capture workload data this case, it manifested itself as the different priorities across the nation. Taking control of the development of a relating to meeting an existing budget model. The trans- set of common, credible, academic workload guidelines parency of the process involved a fundamental change in and practices for the academic profession as a whole will the way managers had to negotiate workloads with indi- be a step towards adequate resourcing of universities. The viduals. Gradually, as academics learned about the process proposition here is that in many ways this managerial and it became embedded in the normal operations of debate has been lost. In this reality, the only option is for the Faculty it changed the way many academics thought the academic staff to be actively involved in the develop- about their work. ment of credible workload processes that are designed to vol. 54, no. 2, 2012 Placing a value on academic work, John Kenny, Andrew Fluck & Tim Jetson 59 AUSTRALIAN UNIVERSITIES’ REVIEW retain the essence of their work, and serve the needs of Barnet, R. & Middlehurst, R. (1993). The lost profession. Higher Education in Europe, 18(2), 110-128. the institution. In a modern university environment, to be effective Bellamy, S., Morley, C. & Watty, K. (2003). Why business academics remain in Australian universities despite deteriorating working conditions and reduced job in their work, academics need credible and transparent satisfaction: An intellectual puzzle. Journal of Higher Education Policy and mechanisms to quantify and justify what they do and to Management, 25 (1), 13-28. place reasonable limits on the performance expectations Bexley, E., James, R. & Arkoudis, S. (2011). The Australian academic profession imposed on them. A credible workload model, developed in transition: Addressing the challenge of reconceptualising academic work and regenerating the academic workforce. Centre for the Study of Higher by genuine consultation, as outlined here, is an important Education, The University of Melbourne. step towards this outcome; one which will protect the Burgess, T.F. (1996). Planning the academic’s workload: different approaches to health and well-being of academics by limiting excessive allocating work to university academics. Higher Education 32, 63-75. demands on them. Burgess, T.F., Lewis, H.A., & Mobbs, T. (2003). Academic workload planning revisited. Higher Education, 46 (2), 215-233. Summary Coates, H., Dobson, I., Edwards, D., Friedman, T. Goedegebuure, L., & Meek, L. (2009). The Attractiveness of the Australian Academic Profession: A comparative analysis. A research briefing paper, Melbourne: ACER: University Our goal in this research was to use the case of the devel- of Melbourne. Retrieved from: http://www.lhmartininstitute.edu.au/about-the- opment of a quantifiable time-based academic workload institute/our-staff/2-assoc-prof-leo-goedegebuure ] model in an education faculty in an Australian university Creswell, J.W. (2008). Educational Research: Planning, Conducting, and to explore issues around academic workload. With increas- Evaluating Quantitative and Qualitative Research (3rd Ed.). New Jersey: ing managerial control, accountability and reduced funding Pearson Education. having a dramatic effect on the way universities operate, Dearn, J, Fraser, K. & Ryan, Y (2002). Investigation into the Provision of Profes- sional Development for University Teaching in Australia: A Discussion Paper. the quantification of academic work has become an impor- DEST programme. tant issue throughout the tertiary education sector. Henkel, M. (2007). Can academic autonomy survive in the knowledge society? If academic performance is to be properly evaluated A perspective from Britain, Higher Education Research and Development, 26 and universities are to be effective, then clear, credible and (1), 87-99. meaningful guidelines for defining and estimating reason- Houston, D., Meyer, L.H., & Paewai, S. (2007). Academic staff workloads and job able workload expectations are needed. These guidelines satisfaction: Expectations and values in academe. Journal of Higher Education Policy and Management, 28 (1), 17-30. must account for the nature and extent of academic work in Kenny, J. (2008). Efficiency and effectiveness in higher Education: Who is a credible and transparent way such that the processes for accountable for what? Australian Universities’ Review, 50(1), 11-19. allocating the work and measuring performance are demon- Kenny, J. (2009), Managing a modern university: is it time for a rethink? Higher strably fair and retain the essence of academic work. The Education Research & Development, 28 (6), 629-642. authors point out that the serious deterioration of academic Langford, P.H., (2010. Benchmarking work practices and outcomes in Australian work has occurred in the absence of clarity about how to universities using an employee survey. Journal of Higher Education Policy and quantify academic work within a managerial paradigm that Management, 32(1), 41-53 mandates accountability and measureable outcomes. Lazarsfeld Jensen, A. & Morgan, K. (2009). The vanishing idea of a scholarly life: Workload calculations and the loss of academic integrity in Western Sydney. The case study indicates that the development of a Australian Universities’ Review, 51(2), 62-69. quantifiable model is only the beginning. Implementing Lyons, M. & Ingersoll, L. (2010). Regulated autonomy or autonomous regula- a time-based model requires a significant cultural change tion? Collective bargaining and academic workloads in Australian universities. in how many academics, and their managers perceive and Journal of Higher Education Policy and Management, 32(2), 137-148. support academic work. The processes must link into NTEU (2011). Analysis of Round 5 Outcomes. Melbourne: National Tertiary broader organisational performance mechanisms and pro- Education Industry Union. vide credible data for planning purposes and to ensure Soliman, I. (1999). The academic workload problematic. Paper presented at HERDSA Annual International Conference, Melbourne, Australia, 12-15 July. adequate resourcing through the budget. [Retrieved from: http://www.herdsa.org.au/wpcontent/uploads/conference/1999/ pdf/Soliman.PDF] John Kenny, Andrew Fluck and Tim Jetson are academics in Vardi, I. (2009). The impacts of different types of workload allocation models on the Faculty of Education at the University of Tasmania. academic satisfaction and working life. Higher Education, 57 (4), 499-508. Winter, R. & Saros, J. (2002). The academic work environment in Australian References universities: A motivating place to work? Higher Education Research & Devel- opment, 21(3). 241-258. Altbach, P.G., Reisberg, L., & Rumbley, L.E. (2009). Trends in global higher education: tracking an academic revolution. A report prepared for the UNESCO 2009 World Conference on Higher Education.

60 Placing a value on academic work, John Kenny, Andrew Fluck & Tim Jetson vol. 54, no. 2, 2012 AUSTRALIAN UNIVERSITIES’ REVIEW

OPINION

Transfer of teaching materials between universities Where is the boundary between legitimate transaction and violation of moral intellectual property rights?

Matthias Maiwald KK Women’s and Children’s Hospital, Singapore, and National University of Singapore

Kathy Harrington National Tertiary Education Union, University of South Australia Branch, Adelaide, Australia

Intellectual property rights have various facets. The best-known one is copyright, enabling the owner to legally utilise intellectual materials. However, there is a separate set of legal entitlements, termed moral intellectual property rights. The purpose of these is to prevent false attribution, damage to an author’s reputation and some forms of plagiarism. In the current example, a teaching curriculum was licensed by one Australian university to several others. While this is consistent with copyright ownership, the moral rights aspect was overlooked. Teaching materials had the names of the original authors removed and were used at the receiving institution either without attribution, or with sole attribution to the other set of staff. This constitutes a breach of authors’ moral rights and would also fulfil common definitions of plagiarism.

Background and introduction Around 2006/07, it became known to academic staff at Flinders Medical School that the curriculum would be The Flinders University of South Australia’s School of licensed to other medical schools; the names of Deakin Uni- Medicine is a well-respected medical school within Aus- versity in Victoria, Griffith University in Queensland, and St. tralia. The curriculum is that of a four-year postgraduate George’s Medical School in the UK were mentioned. This entry medical course, whereby having a prior degree is was generally commented upon and viewed as a sign of rec- an entry requirement. The curriculum is also described as ognition and success for the School. It also made sense; the a hybrid course; a major emphasis is placed on problem- other medical schools were start-up medical schools at uni- based learning (PBL), but there are also more traditional versities that previously had only offered other disciplines. teaching elements, such as lectures, practical classes and A transfer of the Flinders curriculum would allow these electives. The typical intake of Flinders Medical School is other schools to become functional much more quickly 120-130 students per year. than if they had to develop their own curricula de novo. vol. 54, no. 2, 2012 Transfer of teaching materials between universities, Matthias Maiwald & Kathy Harrington 61 AUSTRALIAN UNIVERSITIES’ REVIEW

Situation observed Deakin academic staff. This pattern was characteristic of systematic usage. In late 2008, a Flinders academic staff member happened to see some of the teaching materials at Deakin University, Raising the issue one of the universities that had obtained the Flinders curriculum. The picture was intriguing. The PBL cases in use In September 2008, a Flinders academic staff member at Deakin were almost identical – except for very minor raised the issue in a letter to the Medical School, described adaptations – to the PBL cases that were in use at Flinders the findings and asked for appropriate attribution and University. However, what was missing was the attribution acknowledgement of authorship. It was stated that the to the Flinders academic staff who had been involved in hard work of Flinders academics should be appropriately writing and updating the cases. It is worth noting that the acknowledged and recognised. However, in a response in writing of good PBL cases is quite a demanding task, since July 2009, the School effectively declined this request. The it requires a combination of good clinical knowledge and letter stated that the teaching materials at Deakin were teaching skills. used appropriately and in accordance with the terms of A slightly different picture was seen for the lecture mate- the Licence Agreement (i.e. the one between Flinders and rials. The degree of identity of the Deakin lectures with Deakin concerning the transfer of teaching materials). In the Flinders lectures varied, addition, the letter stated that but generally one-half to two- only PBL cases but no lectures Most of the Deakin lecture slides were not thirds of the Deakin lectures had been transferred. It was direct digital copies; the text appeared to were identical with the cor- further stated that according responding Flinders lectures. have been retyped. However, some Deakin to a statement received from The rest were different by lectures also contained images that looked Deakin Medical School, the way of modification, exten- like copied and pasted images from digital lectures had been indepen- sion or shortening. There was files of the Flinders lectures. dently developed by Deakin also variation between differ- academic staff. ent lectures and between dif- However, what was evi- ferent Deakin staff; some lectures had very little similarity dent from reviewing the materials was that the Deakin to the Flinders originals, and a few were more than 90 per lectures were so strikingly similar to the Flinders ones cent identical to the originals. However, what was strik- (see description above) that independent development ing was that none of the Deakin lectures showed any of appeared to have been next to impossible. the names of the Flinders academic staff who were the original authors. Instead, the names of Deakin academic Involving the NTEU staff not only appeared on the title slides of the lectures (as was the practice at Flinders), but were recorded on In late 2009, the National Tertiary Education Industry every one of the lecture slides. Examples of lectures and Union (NTEU) became formally involved in the matter. PBL cases from Flinders and the corresponding ones from First, the NTEU provided an analysis and further infor- Deakin University are on file. mation. The legal situation is that there are different Some of the features seen in the teaching materials are requirements for copyright and authorship. While most worth noting. The lectures commonly contained text pas- Australian universities, including Flinders (Flinders Uni- sages that were either (i) word-for-word copies of the Flin- versity 1998; Reid 2004), assert the copyright to intellec- ders texts, or (ii) passages that were essentially the same tual materials developed by their academic staff, and with text but with some changed wording. Most of the Deakin it the right to utilise and market the materials, there are lecture slides were not direct digital copies; the text separate requirements for authorship. The latter is part of appeared to have been retyped. However, some Deakin Australian Commonwealth law, regulated in the Copyright lectures also contained images that looked like copied Act 1968 Part IX (Commonwealth of Australia 1968), and and pasted images from digital files of the Flinders lec- is termed Moral Intellectual Property Rights. Under the tures. That means it appears conceivable that Deakin had Act, a creator’s moral rights are defined as the rights: (i) been in possession of digital file versions of the Flinders to be attributed as the creator of their work; (ii) to take lectures. Overall, there was a clear pattern with significant action if their work is falsely attributed; and (iii) to take amounts of similarity or identity, but sole attribution to action if their work is distorted or treated in a way that

62 Transfer of teaching materials between universities, Matthias Maiwald & Kathy Harrington vol. 54, no. 2, 2012 AUSTRALIAN UNIVERSITIES’ REVIEW is prejudicial to the creator’s honour or reputation. While was still no path to authorship attribution on the actual moral rights cannot be sold or transferred, an author can lectures. The University also offered a formal apology, but consent to have his/her moral rights waived (e.g. elect not only to the single individual who had originally raised to be named as author). the issue. The situation at the other universities that had Effectively, the Copyright Act intends to prohibit some been recipients of Flinders materials was not addressed. forms of plagiarism: falsely claiming to have authored, Further, the University advised that it was now review- invented or created something that someone else has, ing its own processes and had engaged one of its deputy by omitting appropriate attribution to the appropriate vice-chancellors to ensure that the issues of copyright source(s), or by providing false attribution. This is also and attribution of authorship would be systematically consistent with the widely known principles of academic addressed when curriculum materials would be provided integrity that when the work of others is used, appropri- to third parties. ate credit and attribution should be given. At the time of writing, the matter is still under investigation and a full resolution is still pending. Further developments Further analysis In February 2010, the then NTEU President, Dr Carolyn Allport, wrote to the Vice-Chancellor of Flinders Uni- It was interesting to see that some of the lectures at Deakin versity, describing what was happening as a violation University contained material that looked like it had origi- of intellectual property moral rights. She asked the nated from digital file versions of the corresponding lec- University to seek a remedy of the situation. As part of tures at Flinders. A potential source is Flinders Learning the remedy, the University should: (i) acknowledge that Online (FLO), a digital repository of teaching materials there is a problem, (ii) take steps to rectify the situation, at Flinders University. Flinders academic staff regularly (iii) apologise to any academic staff whose moral rights deposited their lecture files in FLO, which was meant as had been violated, and (iv) undertake a review to ensure a resource for students. Could this have made it possible that all teaching materials contained appropriate attribu- to transfer digital lecture files to other universities? This is tion of authorship. unknown, but none of the Flinders University academics Flinders University responded in June 2010. A path to were informed that such a transfer would take place. acknowledge the authors of the PBL cases was agreed There is another interesting aspect to this case. Staff to. However, other concerns that had been raised were members of the receiving institution would be expected still not resolved. This included a failure to provide a clear to be familiar with basic academic principles. What trig- path to appropriate attribution of authorship of lecture gered anyone to think that it is acceptable to have the materials to their original authors, a failure to address the names of originators removed from the materials and to situation at the recipient universities other than Deakin replace them with other names as if they were the authors? of Flinders materials (despite the fact that this had been This is despite the common negative notions surrounding raised and queried in earlier correspondence), and a fail- plagiarism, and the fact that Deakin University apparently ure to provide a formal apology to academic staff. The has a strong anti-plagiarism policy in place towards its stu- University’s response also contained a number of factual dents that is also frequently highlighted to them by aca- inconsistencies, such as a claim that only materials from demic staff. While the actual reasons are again unknown, a one teaching block were affected and a claim that the sim- potential explanation comes from what has been defined ilarity between the lectures only pertained to images and as ‘institutionalised plagiarism’ (Martin, 1994). According to other components that were in the public domain. In fact, this definition, there may be a hierarchical or contextual materials from other blocks were part of the observed framework at some institutions that suggests that certain pattern and extensive identical written text passages ways of dealing with authorship and intellectual property were present. Subsequent correspondence in which the issues are convenient and acceptable. University’s response was criticised ensued. There is an interesting potential twist to the typical In January 2011, the University responded again and scenario whereby universities can lay claim to copyright advised that steps had now been taken by Deakin Uni- ownership of intellectual materials generated by academic versity to provide, on their internal website for students, staff employed and paid by the university. In most Austral- a list of original Flinders lectures and their authors, and ian medical schools, including Flinders, there is often a sig- also, in the lectures, a reference to that list. However, there nificant number of hospital-employed medical specialists vol. 54, no. 2, 2012 Transfer of teaching materials between universities, Matthias Maiwald & Kathy Harrington 63 AUSTRALIAN UNIVERSITIES’ REVIEW who have unpaid academic joint appointments and teach principles of academic integrity and to respect the moral at the schools. Whether universities own the copyright to intellectual property rights of academics. These issues these authors’ work appears unclear and is untested in may ultimately need to be addressed by way of national or Australian courts. In the Flinders example, materials gen- international standards or codes of conduct. erated by hospital-employed specialists were clearly also a significant part of what was transferred and in use at Matthias Maiwald was an Associate Professor of Medical Deakin University. Microbiology at Flinders University School of Medicine, There are a number of other examples of Australian and is now a Consultant Microbiologist at KK Women’s and universities that have transferred curriculum materials to Children’s Hospital, Singapore, and an Adjunct Associate Pro- other institutions. Some universities have involved their fessor at the Department of Microbiology, National University academic staff in legal arrangements concerning these of Singapore. transactions, and in some instances, monetary arrangements were made with the authors (source: unpublished Kathy Harrington was the NTEU Flinders University Branch observations coming from casual conversation with aca- Division Industrial Officer, and is now at the University of demics from other universities). However, the extent to South Australia Branch of the NTEU. which moral intellectual property rights of academics from other institutions are respected or not respected is Acknowledgements unknown. It appears that there are no publicly available data in Australia concerning these kinds of details pertain- The authors thank Paul Kniest, NTEU, for insightful discus- ing to these transfers. sions and helpful comments on the manuscript, and Brian Martin, University of Wollongong, for other useful informa- Conclusions tion surrounding questions of academic integrity.

This report provides an example of a transfer of teach- References ing materials between universities where the way in Commonwealth of Australia. (1968). Copyright Act 1968. Retrieved from http:// which the materials were handled constitutes a breach of www.austlii.edu.au/au/legis/cth/consol_act/ca1968133 authors’ moral intellectual property rights. The case was Flinders University. (1998). Intellectual Property Policy (amended January raised with Flinders University by the NTEU. 2011). Retrieved from http://www.flinders.edu.au/ppmanual/policySecretariat/ A number of conclusions and interesting viewpoints ip.htm emerge from this case. First, it needs to be pointed out Martin, B. (1994). Plagiarism: a misplaced emphasis. Journal of Informa- tion Ethics 3 (2), 36-47. Retrieved from http://www.uow.edu.au/~bmartin/ that academic staff have a legal entitlement to be named pubs/94jie.html as authors or creators of their work, even if the copyright Reid, T. (2004). Academics and intellectual property: treading the tightrope. (and with it the right to engage in commercial licence Deakin Law Review 9 (2), 759-774. agreements) lies with their employer. Second, the way in which the teaching materials in this case were handled is clearly against the established principles and common notions surrounding academic integrity, even aside from a legal framework. Third, it even meets the common definitions of plagiarism. This case also has broader implications for Austral- ian academia than just being an incident between Flin- ders University and Deakin University. Potentially, there are also implications for academics in other parts of the world. Transfer of intellectual property between institutions is increasingly becoming an important part of academic interaction. Entire curricula are being transferred between institutions via licensing arrangements, and there are usually benefits on both sides. However, as the level of commercialisation of intellectual property increases, it is also becoming clear that there is a need to maintain the

64 Transfer of teaching materials between universities, Matthias Maiwald & Kathy Harrington vol. 54, no. 2, 2012 AUSTRALIAN UNIVERSITIES’ REVIEW

Grand crews Tasting notes on the Group of Eight universities

Arthur O’Neill Retired gentleperson

The intentions of makers and the experiences of drinkers are brought into a concert by quaffing wine. Likewise, the bouquets of universities are fruitful sources of appreciation for teachers and consumers. Here, in a selection of offerings, reds and whites are presented for tasting by each of the self-styled ‘great growths’ of Australian higher education. Supplemented by the author’s comments, the body of the paper consists of extracts from appraisals of these wines (sources of quotations are given at the end). The author suggests that tasting panels, call them focus groups if you will, be established by the Quality and Standards Agency; and that a bibulous candidate, such as himself, has strong claims for membership.

Introduction So little is measurable, and nothing is reproducible, about the senses of smell and taste. Language serves them only lamely, leaning on simile and metaphor for Of course, to talk of ‘teachers’ is old hat. The brave new almost everything illuminating that can be said. higher education enterprise is conducted by coaches and mentors; and to fit them for work, new chums must The wonder is, as he notes, that there is so much undergo coaching and mentoring by those who used to common ground between several people tasting the same be employed in Education Resources and like-named wine. There is a more-or-less shared language of appre- support units. Since there are new tricks of trade, modes ciation because varieties of grape can be related to their of discourse will alter. Rather than learning to be coach aromas and to bouquets of the wines made from them. and/or mentor, the tyro academic must, as the celebrated In providing a catalogue, Max Lake says that ‘These [the Australian comedian, Mo MacCackie (Roy Rene 1892- words he uses to refer to typical grape aromas and wine 1954), used to say, ‘suck it and see’. In-service taste train- bouquets] are memory hooks only. You may well perceive ing is required. them differently. Not all occur at the one time’ (1989, p. The same applies at the consumer end: student course 123). A lexicon of sorts is made by associating wine smells experience questionnaires, with their reliance on Likert and tastes with what are held to be typical smells and scales, will need to be replaced with tasting scorecards tastes of animals, minerals, fruits, vegetables and some like the one produced by Michael Broadbent and Hugh manufactured products; and so, I argue, the senses can be Johnson in 1975 (Johnson, 1991, p. 555). Some extensions employed in higher education. are needed in order to allow report of scarcely realised To assist the preparation of guides to the appraisal of olfactory repellents and attractants – not only ‘did the quality, I put together tasting notes on some Australian course stink or smell like roses?’ but also ‘what subtle universities, members of the self-styled Group of Eight odours does the place give off?’ (Go8), that distinguish themselves from the rest by their It can be argued that objectivity is not well-served by superior characteristics, like: ‘Go8 universities have nur- the senses. Hugh Johnson (1991, p. 552) says: tured every Nobel Prize winner educated at an Austral- ian University’; and ‘Go8 universities count among their vol. 54, no. 2, 2012 Grand crews, Arthur O’Neill 65 AUSTRALIAN UNIVERSITIES’ REVIEW alumni 83 per cent of all current Australian Government However, one wrote: Ministers including the Prime Minister, Deputy Prime Min- I was curious about this brew with shiraz but nothing ister and Minister for Innovation, Industry, Science and like a shiraz here. Only the faintest tartness. Almost Research’ (Group of Eight Australia, 2011, p. 3). We must watery pale ale like, and then the high carbonation with giant bubbles making it more like pale ale with smack our lips and get stuck into these bottlers. coca cola.

Tasting Notes A few codgers from colleges still feel like that about amalgamating with universities. Adelaide Since the University’s administrative actions in recent Australian National years are said by disaffected staff to have been marked A hard one, but where better to start than with a Merlot? by rigidity and heavy-handedness, it is fitting that we are – ‘Yet another well-made wine in the Ministry Series offered a red made in South Australia by the outrider of releases; has unequivocal varietal character from the cassis an Austrian winery. Its Syrah and Virgonier blend offers fruit and spicy tannins.’ A Reserve Shiraz from this winery, ‘syrupy black fruit aromas with an overlay of exotic described as being ‘all about controlled power’, might be spice, earthiness and maybe a hint of Vegemite …’. I am closer to the University’s mark; but we must work with reminded by the ‘hint’ of a reviewer finding a Barossa the Merlot we are given. Shiraz to have ‘… a concentrated essence-like assembly Like the ANU, this variety does not take easily to dif- of rich, ripe dark black fruits, leather, tar, black cherry ficult conditions. As Hugh Johnson says, Merlot ‘is a preco- and hoisin sauce …’; and of Max Schubert repeating cious grape that buds, flowers and ripens early, making an unnamed taster’s comment about his early vintages it more vulnerable in spring … Unfortunately, at harvest of Grange Hermitage: ‘A concoction of wild fruits and time its tight bunches need only a little rain to start them sundry berries with crushed ants predominating’. Withal, rotting’ (Johnson, 1991, p. 50). There are folks at the Uni- many have remarked on unlikely tastes left with them versity who reckon Canberra is an unseasonable place. after encounters with the University. But back to the They cop the frosts of government expenditure reviews Syrah and Virgonier blend: ‘A long finish and finely bal- and endure showers of indignation from colleagues in the anced tannic grip complete the picture’. Is this akin to States over supposedly preferential treatment given to the the Masonic grip practised at the Temple on the other ANU by federal authorities. side of North Terrace from the University? Methinks they do complain too much. But if life is not A second red was considered. I give an extract from the all Merlot and Skittles beside Lake Burley Griffin then we opinion of those promoting it: ‘This delicious Shiraz has must seek out a means of relief. How about a glass or two hints of chocolate, menthol and tobacco leaf on the nose’. of a local chardonnay that captures (or maybe causes) the I recollect those dear old days when someone was always feistiness that is so often encountered at University House, chewing cough lollies in the Staff Room, and you could at a nearby dining place in the University’s grounds, and smoke a pipe in there. Smells of wet wool and leather on the surrounding highways: ‘Bold barrel ferment wine are also common in tasting notes, perhaps because Harris with ripe peachy fruit, and just enough acidity to keep the Tweed jackets with leather elbows used to be de rigeur show on the road’. for academic chaps taking their beverages. The University’s reputation was much improved by the Melbourne incorporation of oenology courses after the Roseworthy A promotion sheet for the Shiraz says that it has the ‘Typi- College of Advanced Education joined it in 1991. A white cal One Eye nose of black fruits, tar and violets. A hint from Roseworthy does not offer itself and instead, an of gum leaf and spice lifts and complexes the bouquet’. interesting substance casts symbolic light on the merger Some assert that the University’s foray into postgraduate process. A label says, coyly, that the product ‘… brings professional education is one-eyed and on the nose; and, together the best in craft brewing and contemporary somehow, the combined smells of black fruits, tar and Barossa winemaking’; and that contents include the pro- violets does accurately convey mixed opinions about this ducing winery’s ‘… very own Barossa Valley Shiraz’. While institution. That it is well endowed is made plain: ‘Mid sticking Shiraz grape concentrate in beer sounds like pallet [sic] richness is a hallmark of One Eye’. mixing theory and craft, academic toffs and vocational One taster described the Sparkling White as exhibit- proles, beer tasters have been positive about the blend. ing ‘a kaleidoscope of mega-rich citrus flavours, minerals,

66 Grand crews, Arthur O’Neill vol. 54, no. 2, 2012 AUSTRALIAN UNIVERSITIES’ REVIEW wet slate and divine nuttiness’. Who can resist divine nut- New South Wales tiness, especially when political scientists and psycholo- As they say at Kensington, you can take ‘Technology’ out of gists have their feet in the crushing, and when mouthfuls the title but you can’t take the University out of technology. of unadulterated lemon flavour emanate from Law and It may have absorbed a Paddington arts mob but an indus- Social Work? trial strength university deserves an industrial strength I’ve had to eat crow in my time but felt obliged to savour winemaking company. One brand fits the University’s bill: that roofing staple of august institutions – wet slate. I did ‘…whilst proud of heritage, [the company] lies still at the so by climbing atop Old Arts at night in order not to draw cutting edge of modern winemaking technology’. attention and found it wet and cold, which fits the presen- Besides, this winery has undergone more takeovers, tation of a sparkling white. But wait! I made a mistake! A mergers and makeovers than ever Dawkins dreamed of. wine expert lists the aroma of slate in the course of advis- Its latest incarnation is as one of numerous brands owned ing that names be matched to smells (Schuster, 2000, pp by a newly-minted Australian company with a majority of 12-14). Smelly Old Arts … private equity backing. Its Chief Executive Officer says: ‘Our mission is about being global, our global brand and Monash our global footprint’. The mission is quite in line with a Here, the long lunch was perfected as a device for real- reason given for the existence of the Group of Eight: ‘[To] ising amalgamations. Mind you, the Greater Monash pro- strengthen Australia’s capacity to engage in and benefit vides timely reminder of the error promulgated by some from global developments and opportunities to respond in its Business School (in business schools more generally to global and local challenges’ (Group of Eight, 2011, p. 2). and amongst purported management experts): that silos The massification of Australian higher education runs are an organisational no-no. I say: long live departmental parallel to output: fermentation vats! The winery now has an impressive 45,000 tonne A Shiraz Mourvèdre whose ‘intensity and length are crushing capacity and ‘state of the art’ technology, prodigious’ suggests the thrusting style of the University’s which allows 12 million litres of grape juice to be cold fermented fortnightly during vintage. negotiators during merger discussions. But the wine was ruled out of contention because it did not come from Vic- The product is four litre bladders of wine in cardboard toria and, surprisingly, Monash has not sought out univer- boxes. Since tasters do not write about wines produced sity brands from near-by Australian States for takeovers. in large volumes and at low cost, the task fell to me, at high Something grand is required, to match the University’s cost to my liver. Of the thirteen sorts at last count, I chose ambitions; and something sweet, to convey the veneer the Shiraz Cabernet, described on the box as ‘An appeal- of its bonhomie. As perfumers relay their international ing medium bodied dry red wine exhibiting vanillin oak credentials with location statements in advertisements characters and ripe berry fruit flavour’; and what is called (‘London – Paris – Tokyo’) so also does Monash tell read- a Fresh Dry White, described as ‘An aromatic, fresh, fruity ers of its global reach: ‘Australia –Malaysia – South Africa dry white wine’. – Italy – India’. A Victorian-made varietal, Sagrantino, reso- A taster only can go so far at one sitting when faced nates with the University’s foothold in Italy – a holiday with eight litres of wine (or eight universities, for that retreat in Prato; and fits in with labyrinthine workings of matter). My rather indecipherable notes say that the red its managers at headquarters in Clayton: ‘There’s a mix of and white were fruity and on the bland side; eminently berries and a foxy, almost feral, gamy complexity here; and drinkable, mind you, but unmemorable. Both improved there’s herbs in the mix too’. In the good old days, there by being made sparkling with the infusion of soda water. used to be an abundance of herbs in the Student Union Tasting them accords with my limited experience of the building too. University: a bit overripe but reliable. Blended whites from a South African producer capture the university’s global pretensions: ‘Reputation is slightly Queensland ahead of quality at this stage’. To think local for a moment, I have but vague memories from youth of a Port from a Noble Riesling from Gippsland ticked all the boxes. It Bassett’s Romavilla winery: of a next-morning aftertaste delivered ‘sweet, fragrant floral aromas, lime marmalade, of dry fur on the tongue and of pervasive, sickly aromas. quince and spiced apple’. The palate is ‘underpinned by The sensations reminded me of post-examination experi- brisk, crunchy acid that ensures the sweetness doesn’t go ences when attending this University as an undergradu- unchecked’. ate. In those days we may not have been very selective vol. 54, no. 2, 2012 Grand crews, Arthur O’Neill 67 AUSTRALIAN UNIVERSITIES’ REVIEW but we drank exceeding deep from the demijohn of for- no aroma other than a minerally tingle and perhaps the tified knowledge. faintest wisp of grass or herb … ‘; after five years, ‘the The University is represented by wineries that dem- wine will start to open up, the colour moving to pale onstrate its preference for family-owned and family-run green-gold, the bouquet releasing lemon-citrus, herb businesses, and this may affect judgment. There is a no- and a hint of toast …’; and after another five years, ‘the doubt biased but long-standing opinion that winemaking, colour will intensify, glowing green-gold as if lit from like intellectual work, does not prosper in the tropics. As within by a tiny unseen light bulb’ (surely the Eureka! our taster said about a Stanthorpe white: ‘Vibrant colour; moment at the end of doctoral studies); the bouquet lifted and smoky tropical fruit bouquet; quite juicy on the will have ‘a mix of honey, grilled nuts and lightly palate; a little simple’. browned toast’; and the palate ‘will be a magical com- The 2005 Cabernet Merlot drew similar reserve, with bination of honey, fig and buttered toast on the one the same taster reporting: hand, and lively acidity on the other’. There you have An altogether strange feeling when you pick up the it: doing an Arts course at this University is all about plastic bottle – is it empty? No, it’s full. Also it has nosing armpits and scoffing toast. the positive statement ‘best before 30 June 2010’. The wine itself is not as remarkable as the package. Western Australia One is left with the impression that the University In comparison with the rest, this University is the ‘Quiet is resting in the shade of its membership of the Grand Man’ of the Group of Eight; and the first selection goes Crews. The best that can be gleaned from tasting authori- some way to explain why: ‘A light- to medium-bodied ties is that, as an external assessor might say, ‘promising spicy/savoury red, with good balance but not a lot of advances have been made from a poor start but more thrust or character’. How could this be? There are pretty work needs to be done to meet entry standards’. interesting characters at the University (not least, the Vice- Chancellor). However lively the inner person the trick for Sydney lower academic growths, like tutors, is to keep their heads Lusty Hermitage and Semillon wines from the Hunter down. Sticking them up is to risk pruning. Valley represent a university with historic links to the The white does indicate that staff can hide their talents Push. The amorous red – called Kiss Shiraz – is rated under a barrel: amongst ‘The Best of the Best’ wines made from this grape … an engaging combination of grapefruit, sandal- variety. A reviewer says that it is impressive wood, bacon bones and ginger are all evident on the bouquet; the palate is lacy and fine, and while oak for the depth, ripeness and weight that it carries – is present the fruit handles it with ease; surprisingly even the first impression bowls you over. Aromas of powerful and precise … ultra-ripe dark plums and spice here: cola, toasty oak and dark cherries, super-concentrated…. Will cellar When such a combination of odours invades their nog- like a trooper . gins, we can understand why a few staff have been heard From a panel report on the frisky white: ‘Lemon and to refer to their university as the piggery, and why others ruby grapefruit zest are striking upfront and very inviting; have supplicated for the taste of fried eggs. leading to buttered toast with lots of complexity and well woven richness throughout’. Here, it is timely to remem- Conclusion ber what Max Lake had to say about the powerful sexual influence of bodily odours. He goes on: As Dan Murphy insists, ‘It is the vineyard that matters … There are other pheromones in wines. Some great Top quality wine is obtained only from top quality vine- rieslings and semillons occasionally have a ‘sweaty’ yards’; and ‘… tasting is the only criterion which should tone among the fragrances. Not a five-day unwashed be used’ to decide on the overall quality of wines from labourer, rather the freshly bathed underarm of an particular areas (Murphy, 1974, pp. 20 & 21). However, excited and nubile female, or male, if you wish. Not everybody denies this attraction (Lake, 1989, p. 30). ‘not every wine from a great wine area is a great wine’, the reason very often being ‘that the maker does not know The formation of students as they move through this how to use the first class material that is available to him’ august academy is in line with the maturation of Semi- – which suggests that ‘wines should be classified accord- llon from the Hunter Valley. To quote James Halliday ing to their makers as well as according to their districts’. (2004, pp 63-64): ‘When bottled there will be little or But ‘a classification according to winemakers and labels

68 Grand crews, Arthur O’Neill vol. 54, no. 2, 2012 AUSTRALIAN UNIVERSITIES’ REVIEW will be entirely variable’ as makers come and go, and the Here is as plain a ‘buy me’ hook as the gold disc stuck management of wineries changes for good or ill. Besides, on a wine bottle, announcing First Prize in Class 11 at the they produce many blends from disparate areas and from Bindiwallop Agricultural Show. vineyards in their own areas (pp. 53-54). When it comes to choosing what and where to study, Here are guides to classification in a grape skin. First, I’d forget the Group’s marketing hoopla, the institutional the system has to be relatively stable in its application. hype of slate and hoisin sauce, and head for the place Second, criteria for placement will depend on location running a course that has, as Len Evans wrote (1973, p. while giving due heed, if not recompense, to smelly under- 292) about a Morris Imperial Dry Red from Rutherglen: armed labourers in the vineyard. Third, though blends can ‘a very good straightforward flavour, with plenty of it, and turn out trumps, they are best ignored for the purposes of finishes agreeably crisp and firm’. maintaining the classification. So it is with the Group of Eight. Age is on their side. Acknowledgements They have what real estate agents call ‘position’ in their favour. Occasionally they pay heed to hired hands, at least, This article owes much to the assistance of and com- to the ones who they can boast about. By and large, they ments by: Bob Speechley, long-suffering member of the have avoided mixing the product with the fruits of more wine tasting panel at University House, The University of recent higher education plantings; or if they have, like Melbourne; and Jon Burfurd, with Antoinette, proprietors Monash, then a glossy blue label will serve to cover a mul- of the Lincoln Hotel, Carlton, Melbourne. Opinions about titude of Terroirs. the universities are all my own. But there must be a spring to a classification, to the manner it which facts and objects are assembled. Darwin Arthur O’Neill is a retired gentleperson, and regular imbiber says he learnt a good lesson from an early error: ‘never to of a fine drop or three. trust in science to the principle of exclusion’ (Darwin, 1995 [1876], p. 31). That is just the principle followed by References the Group of Eight: members establish themselves as a Darwin, C. (1995 [1876]) ‘Autobiography’, pp 5-54 (Ch. II), in Darwin, F. (1995 group by making other universities into a class apart. For [1902]) The Life of Charles Darwin, 2nd ed. London: Senate. example, a graph is presented to support the characteristic Evans, L. (1973) ‘Wine of Australia’, in Evans, L., comp. (1973) Australia and that ‘International students [at Go8 universities] succeed New Zealand Complete Book of Wine, pp 173-384. Sydney: Paul Hamlyn. at a similarly high level as Australian students’. Universities Group of Eight Australia (2011) ‘Characteristics of Go8 Universities’ in Brochure, are plotted as dots (or as stars for Go8 members) on x Group of Eight Australia. www.go8.edu.au and y axes of ‘International student progress rate (%)’ and Halliday, J. (2004) Varietal Wines. Pymble, Sydney: Collins. ‘Australian student progress rate (%)’ (Group of Eight Aus- Halliday, J. (2009) Australian Wine Companion, 2010 Edition. Melbourne: tralia, 2011, p. 3). Some dots intermingle with stars. In other Hardie Grant Books. words, there is a degree of overlap, with some non-Go8 Johnson, H. (1991) Hugh Johnson’s Modern Encyclopedia of Wine (3rd rev. ed.). New York: Simon & Schuster. universities doing as well as or better than some Go8 universities in comparative international/local progress rates. Lake, M. (1989) Scents and Sensuality. The Essence of Excitement. London: John Murray. It is only by lumping the eight together that a principle Murphy, D (1974) Dan Murphy’s Classification of Australian Wines. Mel- of exclusion can be applied and a binary classification of bourne: Sun Books. universities can be presented. For all their terminological Schubert, M. (1979) ‘The Story of Grange’, pp 260-270. In Caillard, A. (2004) shortcomings, wine writers do not fall into this trap. The Rewards of Patience. A Definitive Guide to Cellaring and Enjoying In sum, members of the Group of Eight define them- Penfolds Wines, 5th ed. Adelaide: Penfolds. selves, and hawk for recruits, by the sweet smell of their Schuster, M. (2000) Essential Winetasting. London: Mitchell Beazley. success. Collectively, they are in the Grange range; and Stock, N. (2011) The Age/The Sydney Morning Herald Good Wine Guide 2012. they sing their individual praises on house labels. The Uni- Camberwell: Penguin. versity of Melbourne has posters on one of its street walls that announce in big bold lettering above and small type Tasting Notes below: Passages in quotation marks come from the following sources: No. 1 In Australia* Adelaide Melbourne’s world standing reaffirmed ‘… offers syrupy black fruit … ‘, Salomon Fleurieu Peninsula Syrah Viognier * 2011 Academic Rankings of World Universities Shanghai Jiao Tong University vol. 54, no. 2, 2012 Grand crews, Arthur O’Neill 69 AUSTRALIAN UNIVERSITIES’ REVIEW

2009, Salomon Estate, McLaren Vale, S. A. Ralph Kyte-Powell, ‘Wine of the week’, New South Wales The Age, Epicure, 11 October 2011, p. 23. ‘… the Stanley Wine Company, whilst proud of heritage, lies still at the cutting ‘… a concentrated essence-like assembly … ‘, The Laird Shiraz 2005, Torbreck edge of modern winemaking technology’. www.cwines.com.au Vintners, Marananga, S. A. Stock, 2009, p. 335. ‘Our mission is about being global, … ‘. Troy Christensen, CEO of Accolade ‘A concoction of wild fruits and sundry berries with crushed ants …’. Schubert, Wines, in ‘New Name, New Vision, New Mission’, 27 June 2011. www.accolade- 1979, p. 267. wines.com ‘This delicious Shiraz has hints of … ‘, Heartland 2006 Shiraz, Langhorne ‘The winery now has an impressive 45,000 tonne … ‘. www.stanleywines.com.au Creek/Limestone Coast, S. A. In a flyer promoting the wine, n. d. (2011). ‘An appealing medium bodied dry red … ’ & ‘An aromatic, fresh, fruity …’. On ‘… brings together the best in craft brewing … ‘ and ‘… very own Barossa cask labels for Shiraz Cabernet & Fresh Dry White, The Stanley Wine Company, Valley Shiraz’. From neck label on bottle of Pepperjack Hand Crafted Ale, Saltram Buronga, N. S. W. Wine Estate, Angaston, S. A. Queensland ‘I was curious about this brew with shiraz … ‘. Review by jesperhammer – ‘An altogether strange feeling … ‘, First Step Reduced Carbon Footprint Cabernet Copenhagen, Denmark, on 14 February 2011 & posted the next day on www. Merlot 2005, Sirromet Wines, Mount Cotton, Qld. Halliday, 2009, p. 592. ratebeer.com/beer/saltram-of-barossa-pepperjack-hand-crafted-ale/78565 ‘Vibrant colour; lifted and smoky tropical fruit … ‘, Co-inoculated Granite Belt Australian National Verdelho 2008, Witches Falls Winery, North Tamborine, Qld. Halliday, 2009, p. ‘Yet another well-made wine in the Ministry Series … ‘, The Backbencher Merlot 707. 2006, Capital Wines, Weetangera, ACT Halliday, 2009, p.142. Sydney ‘… all about controlled power … ‘, Kyeema Vineyard Reserve Shiraz 2007, ‘The Best of the Best’ & ‘…for the depth, ripeness and weight … ‘, Kiss Shiraz Capital Wines, Weetangera, ACT Halliday, 2009, p.142. 2009, Thomas Wines, Hunter Valley, NSW. In Stock, 2011, pp. 16 & 334. ‘Bold barrel ferment wine … ‘, Canberra District Chardonnay 2006, Lambert ‘Lemon and ruby grapefruit zest … ‘, Mount Pleasant Blue Label Hunter Valley Vineyards, Wamboin, N. S. W. Halliday, 2009, p. 369. Semillon 2006, McWilliams, Pokolbin, NSW. Dan Murphy’s Fine Wine Buyer’s Melbourne Guide, 10th ed. (October 2011), p. 5. ‘Typical One Eye nose … ‘, One Eye Shiraz, 2005, Heathcote, Vic. In a promo- Western Australia tion sheet for this wine, n. d. (2011). ‘A light-to medium-bodied spicy/savoury … ‘, Margaret River Classic Red 2007, ‘… a kaleidoscope of mega-rich …’, Blanc de Blancs, Yarra Burn, Yarra Valley, Evans & Tate, Wilyabrup, W.A. Halliday, 2009, p.231. Vic. In brochure: Dan Murphy’s 20 Recommended Sparkling Wines, n. d. (2011). ‘… an engaging combination of grapefruit …’, Cherubino Chardonnay 2010, Monash Larry Cherubino Wines, Margaret River, W. A. James Halliday (winecompanion. com.au), quoted in Dan Murphy’s Fine Wine Buyers Guide, 10th ed. (October ‘… intensity and length are prodigious … ‘, Private Cellar Barossa Valley Shiraz 2011), p. 5. Mourvèdre 2009, Hewitson, Mile End, S. A. ‘James Halliday’s Top 100 Wines’, The Weekend Australian Magazine, ‘The Wine Issue’, November 19-20, 2011, p. 35. ‘There’s a mix of berries and a foxy … ‘, Chalmers Sagrantino, 2008, Chalmers Wines, Mildura, Vic. Stock, 2011, p. 375. ‘Reputation is slightly ahead of quality at this stage’, about wines of the Boschen- dal vineyards, Groot Drakenstein, South Africa. In Johnson, 1991, p. 515. ‘… sweet, fragrant floral aromas …’, & ‘… underpinned by brisk, crunchy acid ... ‘, Friends of Punch Berrys Creek Vineyard, Noble Riesling, 2009, Gippsland, Vic. Stock, 2011, p. 403.

70 Grand crews, Arthur O’Neill vol. 54, no. 2, 2012 AUSTRALIAN UNIVERSITIES’ REVIEW

Uncapped university

Andee Jones

Apart from the odd compulsive student, like me, or the the academic equivalent of a chockers London Under- odd obsolete teacher (also like me), few people know that ground lift. For the first tutorial, 25 students sidled into what now passes for a university isn’t a university. a 35-degree, airless closet. I scored a seat at a back table, More than a decade ago, philosopher Raimond Gaita straddled the corner, balanced a notepad on my knees, (1997) reported an exchange between UK philosophers wedged my pen and specs on the table between my and a Minister for Education about the closure of univer- neighbours’ clipboards — and waited. My joy of joys is sity philosophy departments. The philosophers said that a new course brimming with the promise of passionate no institution that lacked a philosophy department could intellectual engagement. rightly call itself a university. The Minister — described by As in the petri-dish question on biology exams, within Gaita as a cultured man — listened carefully but finally five minutes the class had doubled. The latecomers sat replied, ‘In that case, we will call it something else!’ on the floor, backs against the walls, knees jammed into They haven’t had to bother. Penny pinching by federal the behinds of the lucky sods that’d scored chairs. Just governments has destroyed everything but the name. By as any semblance of humanity was long gone from the 2007, compared to public university education in the rest London Underground lift, so all vestiges of teaching had of the OECD, Australian students paid amongst the highest fled the uncapped classroom. tuition fees in the world and their governments contrib- The airless closet was a taste of things to come. From uted less than half the amount they once did per student. 2012, the Australian government will fund universities for Over the decade to 2005, student fees increased by 70 as many students as they can enrol (excepting postgradu- per cent and resources per student fell, saving the govern- ate and medical students). In the three years prior to the ment the equivalent of $1 billion (NTEU, 2007). anticipated uncapping, Australian universities increased Staff cuts and student increases have forced universi- their enrolments by 20 per cent (DEEWR, 2012). At RMIT ties into a two-stream system this year, places report- in which islets of senior aca- edly increased by 1,343 As in the petri-dish question on biology demics supervise shoals of while the cut-off scores for exams, within five minutes the class had research students, while a sea admission to some courses of casual staff — desperate to doubled. The latecomers sat on the floor, plunged. For one business make landfall before they hit backs against the walls, knees jammed into course the entry rank fell retirement — carry the vast the behinds of the lucky sods that’d scored from nearly 70 last year to bulk of the teaching load. As a chairs. 50 this year; for one civil university teacher last century, engineering course, 79 to I learnt to teach while treading 62; and for one psychology water and also on dry land but nothing prepared me for course, 81 to 68 (Topsfield & Butt, 2012). my experience as a student in 2011. As enrolments skyrocket and cut-off scores plummet, Last year I enrolled in masters-level courses at two many universities are slashing staff numbers — and play- self-exulted Australian universities. I wanted to choose ing the old blame tune. Announcing cuts of 340 at Sydney the one that better suited me. I didn’t realise I’d entered University, Vice-Chancellor Dr Martin Spence said the vol. 54, no. 2, 2012 Uncapped university, Andee Jones 71 AUSTRALIAN UNIVERSITIES’ REVIEW university could no longer carry those staff members References ‘not pulling their weight’ (Bennet, 2011). In the university DEEWR (Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations). context, ‘not pulling their weight’ is executive-speak for (2012). Demand driven funding for undergraduate student places Fact ‘publishing fewer papers than Canberra wants’. To Can- Sheet, Canberra: DEEWR Retrieved from: http://www.deewr.gov.au/HigherEduca- berra, only numbers count. It doesn’t matter to an auditor tion/Resources/Pages/FundingUndergradStudent.aspx that one timely, substantial paper might contribute more Bennet, J. (2011). Sydney University confirms job losses. Campus Review 21 Nov. Retrieved from: http://www.campusreview.com.au/blog/news/sydney-university- to scholarship than four light-weight pieces put together. confirms-job-losses/ Muttering ‘not pulling their weight’ in the general direc- Gaita, R. (1997). Truth and the Idea of a University. Australian Universities’ tion of academics keeps them treading water. The slogan Review, 40(2), 13-18. taps into community suspicions — already trained by the NTEU (National Tertiary Education Union). (2007). The Funding of Austral- tabloids — that university teachers don’t have enough to ian Universities 1996-2005. Retrieved from: http://www.nteu.org.au/library/ do. But on Canberra’s publish-or-perish showboat, the sur- view/id/477 vivors try to keep the sharks at bay. Sometimes against Topsfield, J. & Butt, C. (2012). 3000 more uni places. The Age 17 Jan. their better academic judgment they publish prematurely or turn one paper into several. After all, why feed Jaws a single prey when tossing him two halves has him behaving as if he’s twice as full? Under-the-knife and under- published academics join forces, set up new journals and publish each other. Meanwhile, in vain, scholars scour the literature for something that’s still breathing. Back in the airless closet, the masters-level subject comprised a series of unpaid visitors ad-libbing on ‘what I do to earn a buck in this industry’. At both universities the justification for the absence of teaching was that we masters students were already proficient. What we’d get out of the course was the know-how to sell our wares in the marketplace. So why wouldn’t we just do a marketing course? ‘Indeed,’ said one lecturer, ‘some of our best students have’. In his article, philosopher Raimond Gaita mourned the loss not only of a serious conception of the value of learning for its own sake, but also of the very language with which to articulate such a conception. He quoted Hazel Rowley: ‘Never before has there been so much talk of “excellence and quality assurance” and never before [has there been] so little concern for either’, and added, ‘For a long time we did not notice what we had lost’. Not that it’ll worry the auditors; they’ll just call it something else.

Andee Jones is a retired psychologist and academic.

72 Uncapped university, Andee Jones vol. 54, no. 2, 2012 AUSTRALIAN UNIVERSITIES’ REVIEW

Déjà vu all over again: what next for universities?

Warren Bebbington University of Adelaide

Unter den Linden is old Berlin’s most picturesque boule- many, and the rigorous secondary schools (Gymnasien) vard. Its west end is marked by the imposing Brandenburg that still exist today. But he had already implemented his Gate, and the aisle of lime trees for which it is named runs plan for a new kind of university. down the centre to Schlossbrücke, bridge to the palace Humboldt did not want his university to offer a rigid gardens in the east. Frederick the Great sits in stone on curriculum like the vocational Stuttgart Hochschule horseback at the centre, glancing towards the rebuilt State where his friend the poet Schiller had passed a miserable Opera he inspired, his eyes averted from the neo-Baroque time. Nor did he want the traditional university pattern, State Library, for which he cared little. where the focus was on the study of often ancient books, It is a street redolent with history. Napoleon’s troops transmitted by the professor in lectures for students to paraded through the Gate in 1806 after defeating Prus- copy, summarise and memorise, for he was sceptical of sia; Hitler led a torchlight parade there when he became granting any book unquestioned authority. One modern Chancellor. The Berlin Wall still divided the city in the early book he was in more sympathy with was Diderot’s lively 1980s when I came to study in the State Library, and armed Encyclopédie (1751-80), which invited readers to educate border guards watched from gun turrets at the Gate to see themselves in any branch of knowledge, all contained no-one approached too closely. All that has changed now. in a single work. But Humboldt believed the discovery Yet one thing that has survived two centuries is in the of knowledge was an unending scientific process, and rebuilt palace next to the Library: Berlin University, opened doubted it could be codified in this way. Scientific dis- in 1810 and now renamed after its founder, whose statue covery was pursued at meetings of the Royal Society in graces the entrance—Wilhelm von Humboldt. London and the Prussian Academy of Sciences in oral Philosopher, diplomat and admirer of the Enlighten- demonstrations, but those he felt lacked the stimulation ment, Humboldt had travelled to Paris in 1789 during dealing with students would bring. His aim was to bring the storming of the Bastille. He was amongst the circle of objective scientific discovery and subjective student reformers who, in the wake of Napoleon’s occupation of learning together as one (McNeely & Wolverton, 2008). Berlin, were charged with rebuilding Prussia as a modern In his 1810 paper ‘On the Internal and External Organi- state. In 1809 he was appointed head of culture and educa- sation of the Higher Scientific Institutions in Berlin,’ tion of the Prussian Ministry of the Interior, and he imme- Humboldt explained his vision of ‘work on knowledge diately proposed a reform of the entire Prussian education [Wissenschaft] in the deepest and broadest sense of system, arranging it into three tiers. He resigned after just the word.’ Around a seminar table, students would orally 16 months, too soon to see the lower tiers come to reality: report on projects they had chosen to work at under the 30,000 free primary schools that spread across Ger- their own guidance. The successful work of one would vol. 54, no. 2, 2012 Déjà vu all over again: what next for universities?, Warren Bebbington 73 AUSTRALIAN UNIVERSITIES’ REVIEW thus inspire the others: it would be ‘a collaboration that attraction of science was especially great; flushed from is uninterrupted, constantly self-renewing, but unforced wartime achievements in the hour of national need, and and without specific purpose.’ There would be no curricu- confident of ongoing government funding for the Space lum, no exams, and no grades; the learning would be stu- Race and other ambitions, science seemed to offer limit- dent-centred, with professors present not to lecture but less horizons. Staff members were free to work at applied to guide these ‘inherently undetermined and in a sense research or choose to follow their curiosities into long- accidental activities.’ The credential would be a new term basic research, some of which was funded in the degree, the PhD, awarded for a dissertation demonstrating research and development departments of commercial original research, orally defended in a seminar. Students companies as well. And not all needed to pursue research: would graduate as rational, critical and independent think- it was accepted that some would be immersed in teachers, ready to follow careers in law, medicine, education ing instead. Universities catered for the traditional profes- or the church. The professors, appointed and salaried by sions, while training for the growing number of skilled the State, would be required to give public lectures, but occupations and for teachers—where employment otherwise had ‘solitariness and freedom’ to pursue topics opportunities and demand were now strongest—were as their curiosity dictated. The State was to refrain from handled by technical institutes and teachers’ colleges. It prescribing them particular technical problems: it was to was a steadily expanding binary system of higher educa- have ‘the inner conviction that when they achieve their tion, a divide legislated by the Menzies Government in final purpose, they will also fulfil its purposes, namely 1958, as it later was in the UK in 1963 (Larkins, 2011). from a much more elevated perspective.’ Basic research No-one much complained that just four per cent of school would take time, and the university’s autonomy was leavers attended a university: concerns over social restric- important (Humboldt, 1809). tion in university participation were yet to become a Needless to say, the student who could at once embark major preoccupation. on independent research under his own guidance would Contrast this with the present situation. Numbers in require rigorous high school preparation to ‘bear within Australian universities now are huge—more than 1 mil- himself a yearning to lift himself to science.’ And thus a lion students are enrolled. The student: staff ratio aver- problem was entrenched: while Humboldt had sought to ages 20:1, and classes of 1,000 or even 1,500 students are end aristocratic privilege, the Gymnasien remained all-male, not unknown in first-year subjects. Few campuses have elite fee-charging institutions throughout the 19th century, grown in proportion to accommodate such numbers, and and thus admission to the university was socially restricted. not surprisingly, students are unhappy with their expe- Still, Humboldt’s university attracted brilliant professors rience, expressing in the national Course Experience and students from across Germany, from Schopenhauer Questionnaire and other surveys often modest levels of and Hegel to Karl Marx and Albert Einstein. It inspired overall satisfaction. Few of them are on campus full-time, the German research university which, by the Great War though most are enrolled as if they were, for the average in 1914, was admired throughout the world. To be sure, student is now employed 12-15 hours a week, and a size- it was not the only locus for research at the time: Louis able minority over 20. Not at the kind of work they want Pasteur in France had shown that important and useful in the future, however: they are well aware that over a science could thrive in free-standing research institu- third of all employment in Australia now requires a profes- tions too. But many British and American scholars were sional qualification, and most worry that their courses are attracted to study in Germany in the 19th century, and not specifically preparing them for work after graduation. the German research university model eventually came to They sit in classes often overtired from work, distracted reshape their own universities, from Harvard in the USA by texting from friends on ever-present laptops or smart- to Oxford in the UK (Anderson, 2009). phones, or even online gaming which, as one recent study In Australia, the German research university model was shows, some believe is a legitimate activity in lectures. more slowly assimilated, the PhD at last adopted in the The digital world impacts students in other ways too. late 1940s and 1950s. The early 1960s were halcyon days: For a decade now fewer have bought prescribed text- student: staff ratios were a luxurious 8:1 and many classes books, believing that if the lecturer’s online materials fail were small, offering close encounter with a lecturer. The to serve, then they can always make do with searching students arrived at university generally well prepared by Google or reading Wikipedia which, despite its own dis- school matriculation classes, and being supported by their claimers, many treat as if it were no less reliable than a text families or on scholarships most had no need to work. The by academic experts. They are thus ill equipped to read or

74 Déjà vu all over again: what next for universities?, Warren Bebbington vol. 54, no. 2, 2012 AUSTRALIAN UNIVERSITIES’ REVIEW understand the research literature in their field, and when they find more attractive rewards and more stimulating an enterprising lecturer refers them to a research article, work outside universities. those that read it come away often mystified and irritated Yet despite their massive size, universities cater for a at its obscurity, and seldom energised by the idea of the participation rate of no more than 32 per cent in Australia, search for new knowledge. The chance that independent so some social inequity remains. To achieve the goal of 40 research would play a significant role in such undergradu- per cent set by government since the Bradley Report, let ate teaching seems remote. alone the 50 per cent aspiration in the UK, requires yet Moreover, the promises of e-learning have not yet cap- further expansion. Subjects with 2,000 students perhaps? tured their attention in ways we might have hoped. They Anything Humboldt would have recognised will then be love downloadable lectures, for they like being able to very hard to find. review and revise through that format, being free to skip, How did our universities come to this? The turning highlight, or replay passages as they wish—just as their points were in the 1970s. The Oil Shock and the western forebears did with a textbook—or even play at double economic crisis that followed brought the first significant speed, to make the droning of a particularly ponderous constraints in government block grants to universities in lecturer more interesting. They also like on-line drills and Australia, and with those came the development of more quizzes where there is instant response. But they com- rigorous selectivity measures and quality assurance con- plain that other kinds of online learning resources are trol in national research grants. It was the worst possible often poorly executed, boring, or only vaguely related to moment for universities to expand, and a tidal wave of baby the subject. Their lecturers are too often not skilled in the boomers reaching school leaving age had already struck: full potential of digital resources, using them simply to the capacity to accommodate more students was at an reinforce or substitute for face-to-face lectures. end. Entrance quotas based on school scores were intro- For these staff meanwhile, the pressures of research duced, and for the first time, high school matriculation no have come to dominate teaching. In an environment longer meant a place at university. Tension rose over social where available grant funding is far from adequate, com- inequity in universities, and it was clear the binary systems petition is fierce, and calls for measures of ‘impact’ alarm would not last much longer. The end approached in 1988 those committed to long-term basic research where no (and in the UK around the same time) when under John impact may be detectable for many years. Pressure to Dawkins a ‘Unified National System’ came into law. Fund- climb the university ranking tables adds to the focus on ing would now significantly increase, but the colleges and research, for most such tables rank research rather than technical institutes would all combine or be merged with teaching, which they cannot seem to measure directly existing universities; henceforth all higher education insti- (Rauhvargersm, 2011). tutions would be called universities, and thus all would be Meanwhile, the cost of researching some of the most required to adopt a research-intensive mission. In Australia important problems has exploded beyond the capacity of and the UK, all higher education institutions were now any single university to afford. What Australian university shaped by a single mould. could purchase a $200 million Synchotron, or run a Very Some countries had more nuanced ways of manag- Large Array at $15 million a year? In one of the welcome ing the enrolment explosion of those years. By far the developments of the past decade, this has led to signifi- most impressive was in the USA, where in California, the cant partnerships, where universities, research institutes, State’s university, teachers colleges and junior colleges governments and corporations have formed consortia to had been coordinated under a Master Plan for Higher jointly purchase and operate research facilities none could Education in 1960. The Plan mandated a tripartite system afford alone. Some such partnerships have brought insti- under a California Postsecondary Education Commission, tutions together around the world, constructing global in which the University of California would take the top research capacity of impressive size. But ‘Big Science’ eighth of school leavers, the state teachers colleges (now demands large numbers of staff too: a particle collider renamed California State University and focussed on may need a hundred research-only staff to run it, and this applied research) the top third and the vocational junior stresses further the tension between research and teach- (now community) colleges would be open to all who had ing. Such facilities often offer too few properly-funded finished high school and are 18. All three tiers would be opportunities for students. Research-Only staff numbers tuition fee-free, and each would have its separate gov- have grown strongly, while nationally research higher ernance. It was a bold, quintessentially democratic solu- degree student numbers have now started to decline, as tion, which allowed significant and ongoing expansion vol. 54, no. 2, 2012 Déjà vu all over again: what next for universities?, Warren Bebbington 75 AUSTRALIAN UNIVERSITIES’ REVIEW of higher education, but based on academic merit rather also needs to be made more attractive, finding ways to than social class. improve its rewards and widening opportunities for stu- In the past few years the Master Plan has been revised, dents pursuing higher degrees by research to work along- the California Postsecondary Education Commission abol- side staff in our most exciting research frontiers, including ished, the global financial crisis (GFC) has brought finan- even the most complex of our ‘Big Science’ projects. cial crisis, and the gap between access to a university and We need to embed cultivation of the character we wish local junior college is substantial. But it remains a hugely for in our graduates. Most universities have statements of admired model, (Douglass, 2000) and several other US graduate attributes, some only thinly connected with the states followed suit: in New York, the State University and actual learning. Every course needs to contribute in some the City University (CUNY) systems were created, bring- way to producing independent, critical, tolerant and open- ing together senior and community colleges, and creating minded thinking; to learning the skills of acquiring knowl- a hierarchy of merit which serves between them over a edge by navigating, analysing, and discerning credibility in million students. At CUNY, despite its staggering size, the information sources; and to developing interpersonal and hierarchy of course types and teaching modes means that communication skills, motivation, and the personal atti- most undergraduate classes are under 30, and its graduate tudes and work ethic essential to successful collaboration, seminars usually less than half that. discovery and—as it happens — to graduate employment. What would Humboldt have made of Australia’s uni- We will also need to develop e-learning resources that versities today? No doubt he would have marvelled at better support discovery and collaboration. Beyond pres- the complex questions and imaginative methods of our entation software like PowerPoint we need easily-usable research, while likely censuring government for attempts design tools and software that enable interactive discus- to influence research autonomy. In large research centres sion environments, runnable simulations, guided analysis he would have thought the lack of a teaching programme tools, process change exercises for example. These will the same shortcoming he saw in the science academies enrich face-to-face teaching, and enhance flexible learn- of his own day. Likely he would have thought the set cur- ing, improving a university’s ability to cut loose from set ricula and limited scope in many courses a step back to class timetables to serve the growing number of students the vocational institutions he disliked. He would have whose work commitments or geographical location pre- seen the current uses of online resources as little more vent them from attendance (Laurillard, 2002). than continuation of the text transmission model he Inevitably we will also need to intensify academic staff sought to supersede, and in Wikipedia a compilation of development in teaching, to equip staff with small group, information no closer to spreading true knowledge than collaborative teaching strategies and new IT skills. Aca- the encyclopaedias of the 18th century. Everywhere he demics typically spend most of their time teaching yet are would have seen an urgent need to reconfigure teaching least trained for it, and often least rewarded for it too. Uni- for small group seminars, to liberate curricula and timeta- versities need to professionalise teaching and its rewards, bles for flexible learning, and to reinvent anew the close so staff who choose to pursue teaching excellence may interaction of teacher and students in an uninterrupted, enjoy the same status as those who pursue research excel- self-renewing collaboration of discovery. lence (Seldin, n.d.). So what can be done? Fundamentally, we need to Finally, we need to share the excitement of discovery affirm the vital importance of small-group learning and with the public, by more often placing our leading aca- close encounter with a teacher in high-quality university demics on the public lecture podium or in the media to learning. By this I mean finding a place in our courses for speak of their work. the self-renewing, open-ended collaboration Humboldt Of course, no single model is right for all students: in described—the oral seminar or interactive group encoun- a truly inclusive university we are unlikely to have Hum- ter where students take part in content design, peer boldt’s restriction to rigorously-prepared students ready assessment, and quality evaluation and where the teacher to work independently. As they move towards 40 per cent is a guide and partner rather than a lecturer. participation rates, Australian universities will increasingly We need to recapture the excitement of discovery need to adapt to students of varying aptitudes, achieve- in undergraduate programmes. There should be some ments and interests. And in any case, ratios of 8:1 are chance even for the first year undergraduate to experi- unlikely to be seen again. How then do we simulate the ence learning through independent inquiry and sharing small cohort experience where it is appropriate in the their findings in a small group. Graduate research training midst of a diverse, mass enrolment?

76 Déjà vu all over again: what next for universities?, Warren Bebbington vol. 54, no. 2, 2012 AUSTRALIAN UNIVERSITIES’ REVIEW

Some are trying to address this. At the University of munism that followed; today it does not feature among the California–Santa Barbara, a university ranked No. 32 in the Top 100 of the ranking tables. And across the world the uni- world (ARWU – Academic Ranking of World Universities) versity model it inspired has all but drowned in the flood with five Nobel Prize winners on its current staff, there of massed enrolments and the weight of research demands. are dual paths through undergraduate degree. Most stu- Sensibly, the way forward is going back to Humboldt’s ideal. dents choose from amongst majors taught in the custom- Thus history repeats itself. Search for ‘historic recur- ary classes; a smaller group, having met additional entry rence’ and Google will lead you to long lists of sayings, requirements, take independent work from the outset, including ‘There is nothing new under the sun,’ ‘Those working closely with full professors. Santa Barbara calls who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it ‘graduate school for undergraduates’; it does not let all it,’ and ‘Its déjà vu all over again.’ Wikipedia will tell you have a taste of small cohorts, however. the authors of these are respectively Ecclesiastes, Santay- Ultimately, governments need to sanction a broader ana, and Yogi Bera. But to grasp the different context and variety of missions from universities, instead of the single, significance of each—the ancient pronouncement whose research-intensive mould. Universities elsewhere choose power transcends translation from Hebrew, the ironical their characteristics based on their location and their envi- aphorism of the Spanish-American poet, or the comic ronment: in the USA over half the 4,400 degree-granting malapropism of the American baseball legend—requires institutions focus entirely on teaching. Australian universi- knowledge not so easily extracted from an online search ties need to be able to choose where they wish to place engine. Which to choose to summarise this paper and themselves on the continuum between teaching and why? Perhaps the question for a seminar. . . research, between transmitting known knowledge and discovering the unknown, between short-term applied Warren Bebbington is the recently-appointed Vice Chancellor and long-term basic research, between cultivating stu- and President of the University of Adelaide, and this paper is dents’ character and deepening their specific expertise, as his inaugural address, delivered on 18 July 2012. well as between building international scholarly reputation and building national identity, between serving the References professions as they exist and changing their social shape, Anderson, R. (2004). European Universities from the Enlightenment to 1914. between partnering with the community and standing London: Oxford University Press, 2004. apart as its independent critic (McNeely, 2002). Anderson, R. (2009). The ‘Idea of a University’ Today. In K, Withers, ed., First In Australia, we have not suffered from the model Class? Challenges and Opportunities for the UK’s University Sector. London: described by Harry Lewis in Excellence Without a Soul, Institute for Public Policy Research, 2009. where in some elite US universities the leading profes- Douglass, J. A. (2000). The California Idea and American Higher Education 1850 to the 1960 Master Plan. Stanford, Cal.: Stanford University Press, 2000. sors are seen only in graduate seminars, while green doctoral students handle the bulk of undergraduate teaching Humboldt, W. von. (1809). Schriften zur Politik und zum Bildungsesen [Writings on Politics and Education]. Darmstadt: Wissenschaftliche Buchgesells- (Lewis, 2006). Yet at present Australian staff are not much chaft, 3rd ed., 1982, IV, 253-65. Translated by Thomas Dunlap, German History motivated about teaching. In a survey of academics in in Documents and Images, vol. II. 18 countries, US academics had the highest preference Larkins, F. (2011). Australian Higher Education Research Policies and for teaching, while Australian had the fourth lowest. Aus- Performance, 1987-2010. Melbourne: Melbourne University Press, 2011. tralian students report much less frequent communica- Laurillard, D. (2002). Rethinking Teaching for the Knowledge Society. EDU- CAUSE Review 37/1 (Jan-Feb 2002), 16-25. tion with staff than American students, they are less likely to receive prompt feedback, and thus are not motivated Lewis, H. (2006). Excellence Without a Soul: How a Great University Forgot Education. New York: Public Affairs, Perseus Books, 2006. to work as hard to meet their teacher’s expectations McNeely, I. (2002). The Unity of Teaching and Research: Humboldt’s Educa- (Norton, 2012). All in all, American universities offer stu- tional Revolution. Oregon Humanities (Fall 2002), 32-35. dents closer interaction with a lecturer. The single mould McNeely, I. & Wolverton, L. (2008). Reinventing Knowledge: From Alexandria of government funding which has concentrated Austral- to the Internet. New York: W.W. Norton. ian focus on research means staff struggle to see teaching Norton , A. (2012). Mapping Australian Higher Education. Melbourne: Grat- as a satisfying alternative. tan Institute Report, 2012. Like much else on Unter den Linden, Humboldt Univer- Rauhvargersm, A. (2011). Global University Rankings and Their Impact EUA sity suffered from the years of Nazism. Einstein and other Report on Rankings. Brussels: European University Association, 2011. distinguished professors fled and its academic standing Seldin, P. (n.d.) Improving College Teaching. Retrieved from: www.olemiss. edu/depts/vc_academic_affairs/improve.html. plunged, to be rebuilt only slowly during the years of Com- vol. 54, no. 2, 2012 Déjà vu all over again: what next for universities?, Warren Bebbington 77 AUSTRALIAN UNIVERSITIES’ REVIEW

Quality in teaching and learning One path to improvement

Geoff Sharrock L H Martin Institute, University of Melbourne

In response to the concerns raised by John Buchanan in his recent article about the uses and abuses of student surveys (AUR vol. 53, no. 1), this paper outlines one method for using student feedback to inquire into the quality of teaching and learning in classroom settings, and identify improvements to this and other aspects of a program of study at the subject level.

Introduction to reaffirm my own sense that all was indeed well, and to reassure my programme coordinator of this. But, as a I read John Buchanan’s article just after receiving the results systematic way of using survey-based student feedback to of a short ‘quality of teaching’ survey with nine items and a gain insights into the dynamics of a specific teaching and rating scale, widely used at my own institution, for a subject learning situation, and generate meaningful improvements I had taught in 2010. I had given the survey to my students in that situation, the approach taken here was too static, in their final class, in October. The completed forms were too anonymous, too slow and too simplistic. On the last mailed off to be processed, and I received the summary point, for example, the content of the survey propositions results back in March, with an average score for each item underplayed the extent to which aspects of the learning on the list, and some supplementary comments where stu- environment, positive or negative, are co-produced by students had elected to offer these. As a relative newcomer to dents themselves (for example, by doing the reading, turn- academia, and as someone new to this programme, teaching up, asking questions, engaging in thoughtful and open ing a subject with few pre-existing course materials, I was discussion - or failing to do these things). happy to see that, having scrambled to be ready for many of In practice, a quality of teaching survey designed to be the classes, my student ratings weren’t bad: there was room short, sharp and simple to administer too easily becomes to improve, but no cause for concern. a blunt instrument, wielded slowly and indiscriminately, to Clearly this process serves reporting purposes of value yield data that are, diagnostically speaking, dead on arrival. to a university (particularly one such as mine which, Student survey processes like this seem designed to suit having made big changes to its curriculum, can now pre- the needs of central planners, faculty managers and policy sent aggregated ‘quality of teaching’ survey data captured researchers far more than those of front line practition- over several years which show that, despite what some ers, raising the kinds of ‘fitness for purpose’ concerns that critics may claim, the Melbourne Model has merit). How- Buchanan highlights. No doubt the delay I experienced ever, while recognising these benefits, I can also say that between seeking and getting student feedback can be mini- at the front line of teaching, the information generated by mised by adopting an online approach to administering this survey was not much help to me at all. It did serve surveys, as some institutions have done (and as my own insti-

78 Quality in teaching and learning, Geoff Sharrock vol. 54, no. 2, 2012 AUSTRALIAN UNIVERSITIES’ REVIEW tution now does). And a longer, more detailed list of survey cational quality than do their teachers’ and misguidedly propositions, with some optional extras, would yield a more privileges the ‘student as client’ (2011, p. 67). The more fine-grained snapshot of students’ experiences of a particu- nuanced view offered by James, for example (2002, p. 79), lar programme or subject (as my own institution allows for). seems more persuasive: Typically, however, fixing one problem exacerbates Since student expectations must have some bearing another. Depending on how it is administered, a sig- on their motivation and satisfaction, expectations must nificantly longer survey may lower the response rate in turn influence the quality of higher education for students are co-producers of this quality…Students are where participation is voluntary. As Buchanan notes, a well-equipped to judge the quality of certain aspects survey administered in class is more likely to have a high of higher education…Students can be expected to be response rate than one undertaken out of class and online. reasonable arbiters of the impact on them of the avail- How then to ensure that the process will be systematic, ability of computers, the quality of teaching spaces, the teaching skills of academic staff, and so on… transparent, user-friendly and also detailed and nuanced They expect the fundamentals of effective teaching enough to be of use to practitioners seeking meaningful — clear goals, feedback on progress, and transparent improvements from meaningful feedback? The conven- assessment requirements and grading practices — and tional processes for capturing, consolidating and sifting they welcome personal interaction with teaching staff and being treated as individuals by staff who show through student feedback seem to offer little scope for a concern for their progress…But the student expecta- lecturer or programme coordinator to: tion-quality relationship is not altogether this straight- • engage students in a conversation that elicits the story forward…There are deeper dimensions to quality in behind their individual responses; higher education, such as the overall coherence of the curriculum, into which students have fewer insights. • assure students that their specific concerns are under- These aspects of higher education quality are usually stood and taken seriously; less tangible, less intuitive and require a longer term • assure students that where it makes sense to do so, view. Students are not necessarily in the best position changes can be made; or to judge these aspects of quality, creating potential clashes between individual student preferences and • communicate to students why a proposed change is what is educationally desirable… unnecessary, infeasible or unwise. In sum, many of the methodological concerns that Common indicators of ‘quality’ or ‘excellence’ in higher Buchanan and others have raised about the uses of stand- education are well represented by the Australian Teaching ardised teaching quality, course experience or student satis- and Learning Council (ALTC) criteria which have ‘become faction surveys to improve the quality of provision remain accepted as a proxy list of skills and practices of effective unresolved. The survey items may be clear, their relevance university teaching in Australian higher education’ (Devlin to student learning may be well supported by research, & Samarawickrema, 2010, 115-118). The ALTC list high- and the ratings produced may, in aggregate, be statistically lights engaging and motivational teaching; coherent and valid. But this is small consolation for the fact that, from up to date course material; both formative and summa- an improvement point of view, the information produced tive assessment and feedback; support for individual stu- by these processes offers little of immediate value to the dent development; and reflective and evaluative practice. practitioner. The indicators produced are not very informa- Also, several universities have excellent material available tive, and tend to be all ‘lag’ and no ‘lead’: if a problem needs online to guide teaching and learning practitioners, sol- attention, the survey data flagging this tends to land too late, idly based in a wide range of scholarship. The University and when it does land, offers few clues as to what exactly of New South Wales, for example, has a framework based should be done differently, by whom and for whom. Where around 16 principles (UNSW, 2004), and the University of the prompt for change is expressed by a minority of stu- Melbourne, has one based around nine principles (Uni- dents, the lecturer has no firm basis for knowing whether versity of Melbourne, 2007). Both frameworks are widely a particular change of approach will suit the majority of referenced, well-articulated and user-friendly, translating students in that class, let alone the next. robust principles of teaching and learning into detailed All that said, Buchanan’s critique of the uses and abuses lists of good practice that practitioners can use to reflect of student surveys does not go on to propose a more effec- on their own approach, and build their repertoire. tive and appropriate alternative, which would enable the The student surveys I have seen are not inconsistent more constructive, formative uses of student feedback he with any of this. But the basic design problem, which seeks. Nor is it enough to object that a reliance on student Buchanan’s analysis illustrates so well, is that the system- surveys ‘presumes that students know more about edu- atic, standardising and summative aspects of conventional vol. 54, no. 2, 2012 Quality in teaching and learning, Geoff Sharrock 79 AUSTRALIAN UNIVERSITIES’ REVIEW student feedback processes tend to trump the local practi- • Volunteer explanations as to why they scored particu- tioner’s need for more individualised, context-specific and lar items as they did. formative processes - just as they do with other university • Discuss whether low scoring items represent a signifi- management processes, such as quality assurance gener- cant problem for the whole group, a problem for a few ally, or staff appraisal. Hence the difficult balancing act, individuals, a minor concern, or a misunderstanding. where the design of student feedback processes fails to • Volunteer suggestions as to how any serious concerns bridge different educational and administrative priorities, discussed might be dealt with. and formative and summative purposes. As Biggs observes • Consider whether any changes proposed are feasible (2001, pp. 231-232): and beneficial, and would not downgrade some other Many institutions have mandatory SFQs [student feed- valued aspect of the subject. back questionnaires] as summative evaluations at the • In some cases, adjust expectations that, on closer exam- end of each course, using standard questions across ination, seem unrealistic. all courses, where the lecture is assumed to be the By the end of such a discussion we may have identi- norm. Ratings then vary according to students’ own conceptions of teaching, and penalise teachers using fied two or three issues that warrant attention, and (unless other methods… Used formatively, however, SFQs a problem is too intractable to resolve easily) agreed on make eminent sense where questions are tailored to what kind of change would offer benefits, if adopted. The specific courses on aspects [where] the teacher wants immediate follow-up action is to report to the group with feedback… a snapshot of the most relevant parts of their survey data, None of the observations I have made so far is new: I have with some brief notes that state the problem(s) identified no grand solutions to offer, that would resolve these issues and the solution(s) to be tried. Usually I can do this a day at an institutional level. However, the rest of this paper will or two after the discussion takes place, while memories outline an approach to working with student feedback are still fresh, by copying a selection of screen shots into a at the subject or programme level, which goes some way Word document, and then emailing or posting the report. toward bridging the summative-formative gap. For the past The follow-up action is to implement any changes agreed few years I have been using this in programmes where I on, and see if these improve the learning situation. have played a coordinating or lecturing role. How interactive survey data summaries Using an ‘interactive survey’ as a basis for are presented to students shared inquiry Figure 1 gives an overview of the seven themes used to Figures 1-9 below present sample images of an ‘interactive organise and present summary scores for my 42 survey survey’ approach I use to capture, graph, play back and propositions, with each theme representing a set of six discuss student feedback data in a live group setting. The propositions. The Overview shows the average score aim of the exercise is to map, disclose and examine how across the whole group for each theme, in this case for students, individually and collectively, experience various a class of 24 students at an early stage in the programme. aspects of the subject, and the approach taken to organis- Since all 42 survey propositions seek to represent ‘good ing and teaching it. My toolkit for doing this is a one page practice’, higher scores are seen in principle as positive (9 survey with 42 propositions and a nine point rating scale; = Always), and lower scores as negative (1 = Never). But a Windows based software platform to capture and graph this is not always so. In discussing the examples people the data; and a laptop and data projector to present it. had in mind when rating a particular item, I can invite For small groups of (say) 20 students, the process takes up to 60 minutes: 10 to fill out the forms, 15 to enter the data (usually in a short break), five to give the forms back, and 30-40 minutes for the group to explore the results, identify issues, diagnose causes, and consider possible improvements. As the summary results are played back, students are asked to compare notes and interpret their ratings of the survey items. Their main tasks are to: • See how their individual ratings of items compared with those of others in the group. Figure 1: Overview

80 Quality in teaching and learning, Geoff Sharrock vol. 54, no. 2, 2012 AUSTRALIAN UNIVERSITIES’ REVIEW

Figure 2: Student Workload Figure 4: Student Workload them to challenge the survey’s assumptions, and suggest However, the volume of set reading may not be the better propositions that would help to pinpoint the issue issue. Clearly, a large part of students’ experience of course we are seeking to diagnose. This summary view gives a quality is essentially administrative. Their learning experi- first impression of whether a group’s overall experience ence will often depend on things like: the course materi- has been positive; and if not, it indicates roughly where als being available well in advance, and in a clearly set out problems might be found. Usually there is no need to and accessible form; ready access to the physical venues discuss the Overview summary beyond noting that the where classes take place; having enough power points in survey data is arranged according to these general themes: the room to plug in laptops; and getting assistance with the discussion points come later, when considering and the technical aspects of online procedures. In Figure 4 comparing data at a more detailed level. for example, the discussion of workload associated with Figure 2 gives an overview of propositions for one of the ‘keeping up with all the reading’ in a different class turned seven themes, Student Workload. This second level of data out not to be a concern with the volume of reading, as shows average scores across the group (in this case, 16 stu- the students found it relevant and did not want less. The dents) for each of the six items in the set. Here I ask students real concern for some was how soon they would have to note which items have low average scores. This is where access to the material, to prepare for classes and study the issues are likely to emerge, to be probed and interpreted. tasks. The context for this group of 16 students was that Figure 3 shows the third level of data: how students’ as busy managers, studying part-time, often they had only scores for each survey item are distributed across the small windows of time for study, due to business trips and group, as a percentage of all scores for that item. Typically, the like. In response the first batch of course materials in this screen highlights how diverse student experiences the next subject was made accessible online some weeks within a group can be. Here I ask students to check back ahead of the complete set. (Normally this became avail- to see if their scores are above, below or in line with the able only after the complete set was revised, with updated group. In this case, in a group of 11 students, two were course notes, after different contributors had all had their always able to keep up with the reading, two were able to input, so that hard copies in folders could be mailed out). do so less than half the time, and the rest sat somewhere in between. Since nearly half the group had struggled Implications with the reading load, we discussed this. I found that my reading list comprised a larger load than in their previous These examples illustrate two simple points about the subject, which had set expectations. (Next time, listing reliability of student survey data: core and non-core readings may help.) • as shown in Figures 3 and 4, different classes may give the same average score for an item for quite different reasons (in this case, 6.4 and 6.3 for the same proposition); and • without a group discussion of survey results, the salience of the issue of timely access to course materials may not appear on the lecturer’s radar at all, unless a survey item expressly seeks this information. Regarding pedagogy, much depends on the preferred learning styles of students themselves. In the case of item 21 (Figure 5), I asked the lower-scoring respondents, who Figure 3: Student Workload had rated my style of teaching as less engaging than it vol. 54, no. 2, 2012 Quality in teaching and learning, Geoff Sharrock 81 AUSTRALIAN UNIVERSITIES’ REVIEW

Figure 5: Teaching Quality Figure 6: Improvement Processes might have been, to volunteer specific comments and sug- discounted in discussion with those who did the rating. gestions. I found that some would have liked me to widen • Sixth, individual students learn whether their own con- the mix of activities, and rely less heavily on a ‘show, tell cerns and judgements are widely shared, or are out of and discuss with PowerPoint slides’ routine. This I can do. step with the experiences and perspectives of others. • Seventh, there is scope to use a collective ‘differential diag- Discussion – limitations and benefits nosis’ of the data to challenge individual students’ assumptions or perceptions in a methodical, constructive way. This kind of process won’t be for everyone, obviously. If • Eighth, the feedback process tends to evolve rapidly things are going badly, it may be too hard for the lecturer to from one-way feedback to the lecturer, to two-way process the feedback alone in a live group setting. It relies dialogue between lecturer and student, to multi-party on a fair bit of trust between the lecturer and the students, dialogue across the group, creating the conditions for since students may otherwise fear that any criticism they mutual adjustment. make may cause offence and come back to haunt them later, • Ninth, there is scope to test with the group whether when the lecturer assesses their work. And it has some tech- a proposed change of approach seems likely to offer nical limitations, particularly if used in larger classes, where the kind of benefit sought, without collateral damage to the process of collecting and entering the data can consume other benefits of value to the group (or to wider con- too large a chunk of the time available to the class. (In the stituencies), that flow from the existing approach. always-online, iPad world now emerging, a technical solu- • Tenth, there is scope to report quickly and easily in tion for this is likely to be one where students enter their some detail to the students, and to colleagues or super- scores directly, get individual profiles of results on their own visors, on how students are experiencing a subject, screens, and view the consolidated results on a large screen). what concerns they have raised, and what steps can But for someone in my kind of situation, teaching fairly small sensibly be taken to improve their learning experience. groups of postgraduates in a fairly low-tech seminar format, • Eleventh, having detailed and verified quantitative data where there is typically a fair bit of open discussion, and with at one’s fingertips offers scope for a lecturer or depart- well-motivated students who usually display the ‘amicable ment head to respond readily and credibly to any unin- co-operation’ that Buchanan so rightly recommends (2011: formed or unfair criticisms that may be circulated by 69), there are perhaps a dozen potential benefits: disaffected students on Facebook, unsupportive col- • First, the process is inherently educative, with the survey leagues in faculty networks, or overly competitive rivals results used as a qualitative instrument of active inquiry, in other institutions. not (just) as a passive, quantitative measurement. • Twelfth, the discipline inherent in the process, of gath- • Second (unless class attendance is unusually low), a ering and handling student feedback responsibly and high response rate is guaranteed, leading to high confi- transparently, cuts both ways: the lecturer must take dence that the summative data is representative. student views into consideration, but the views that • Third, it is not hard for the lecturer to make the process will carry most weight are those that represent well- of mapping and probing student feedback an engaging considered feedback – and ill-considered feedback is and inclusive one for students. soon revealed as such. • Fourth, the process is extremely transparent, because Overall, the process allows reasonable scope to bridge the data are collated in front of respondents, and the the formative and summative purposes that student results are available almost immediately. surveys are supposed to fulfil, while leaving room for • Fifth, the findings are highly reliable, since interpreta- practitioners to exercise professional discretion in their tions of the various ratings are confirmed, qualified or handling of student expectations and concerns.

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Figure 7: Assessment and Feedback Figure 9: Student Orientation

As Figure 6 indicates, the lecturer can demonstrate that In Figure 7 for example, most of the group rated item 25 student feedback is valued, without having to accept it highly. Those who rated it lower had to consider whether uncritically. The lecturer can make judgements and give they had taken the same steps as their fellow-students to reasons as to: read and absorb all the information made available to them. • Which student concerns warrant a response as a matter of priority. Applications and adaptations • Which should be recognised as relatively unimportant, given the context. Early interventions • Which should be recognised as valid concerns that may There is also scope for the lecturer to use this kind of not be resolvable given other priorities or resource con- process as an intervention, perhaps half way through a straints, and subject, to check how students are faring and to clarify • Which reflect an unrealistic expectation. matters or make minor adjustments. (In the masters pro- Further, as the person controlling the technology, the lec- gramme I coordinate, organised as a series of three to four turer can clarify the stories behind the data, unravel mixed day residential schools, we run this process at the end of messages, and test whether any particular viewpoint is as each residential.) In the example at Figure 8 from a group representative of the group’s experience as its proponents of 24 students, those who have given a lower score to claim. (Without fine-grained data at its fingertips, it is not item 33 may be struggling with the course material, or hard for a group to slip into relying too much on the asser- confused about the rules of the game, or unwilling to disa- tions, impressions or anecdotes offered by one or two vocal gree with their more assertive classmates, or shy in group individuals). Because students review in a group setting situations. Or with a group this size, there may simply not how they rated their individual experiences of the subject, be enough airspace for everyone to have their say on a the process tends to help individuals moderate their own topic before the discussion moves on. In a setting where sense of which aspects or the current situation are wholly people are invited to declare how they experience a class, positive or wholly negative, and how much weight to give it is (sometimes) possible to sensitise more vocal students these. This takes pressure off the lecturer to defend and to the need of less vocal students for airspace, so they can justify his or her approach in the face of any strident or find their voice when they have something to contribute. dogmatic claims about how things should be done, why Likewise, in the example at Figure 9, taken at an early something is not working, or what the lecturer should do. stage of a subject, most but not all students were fairly This applies particularly where a student’s negative view of clear about what was expected of them. Having heard some element of their experience is due, at least in part, to what these students were uncertain about, it was not too a misconception, or their own inattention. difficult for the lecturers to give clearer guidance to these students on the matters they raised (in this case, mainly assessment tasks and assessment standards), so they could proceed without undue anxiety.

Larger groups Meanwhile, for larger groups using a low-tech approach like the one outlined here, it would make sense to get a colleague or student to enter the data while the lecturer engages the class in a separate activity, and then play back Figure 8: Learning Outcomes and discuss results. (Alternatively, students can be asked to vol. 54, no. 2, 2012 Quality in teaching and learning, Geoff Sharrock 83 AUSTRALIAN UNIVERSITIES’ REVIEW email their results to the lecturer during the week prior engaged in a detailed discussion of this one. It is possible to the class to allow for data entry before the class begins. that doing this led to a better result in the official survey, But, the risk with this is that some students will forget since in the process outlined here, the lecturer is auto- to email their results, or do so but then fail to attend, or matically seen as responsive to student feedback, and stu- forget to bring their completed forms for reference, or dents have had a chance to share and discuss their views. forget why they scored things as they did a week earlier.) Finally, the process I have outlined here does not leave lecturers in a position where students can easily adopt Varying the survey content the role of passive consumers of their education, or Further, given control of the technology, the lecturer or assume that the lecturer’s primary purpose is to satisfy programme coordinator also has scope to vary the content them by catering to every preference they express. As and wording of the survey items over time, in the light of students, their relations with their lecturers, each other, experience. These things need not (and should not) be set and the wider institution are more complicated than this. in stone, since in a process designed primarily to identify As I have argued elsewhere (Sharrock, 2000) university localised problems and possibilities, statistical precision is students play multiple roles when they attend an institu- not the main game. The main trade-off here is the one iden- tion to study for a qualification. They may be identified as tified at the start of this paper, between a high level of con- customers, clients, citizens or subjects, depending on who text specificity (where flexibility to customise is a virtue), and what they are dealing with at any given moment. As and a high capacity to benchmark student feedback results educators, we mediate a rather complicated set of insti- across contexts (where standardisation is a virtue). tutional responsibilities in our dealings with students, While it makes sense to design this kind of interactive blending detachment and concern as we balance student survey in a way that will mirror the main elements that interests with those of third parties (such as employers) standardised instruments already in use in one’s institu- beyond the student-teacher transaction. To balance the tion seek to measure, it is at least as important to reflect range of obligations this relationship entails, we need sup- the specifics of the resources available to people in this portive systems and discretionary space to define quality programme, the aims and requirements of this subject, the in ways that make good sense, and tools that are fit for issues presented by this teaching and learning situation, purpose in a wide range of contexts. and what this lecturer is trying to accomplish. Geoff Sharrock is Programme Director at the LH Martin Conclusion Institute for Tertiary Education Leadership and Management, University of Melbourne. Given the institutional need for standardised and summative information for planning and reporting purposes, References the kind of process outlined here can only supplement, Biggs, J. (2001). The reflective institution: Assuring and enhancing the quality of rather than replace, the passive surveys that are already in teaching and learning. Higher Education 41, 221-238. use. Institutions need summative measures of their teach- Buchanan, J. (2011). Quality teaching: means for its enhancement? Australian ing and learning performance, not least because when- Universities’ Review, 53(1), 66-72. ever they make changes to programmes, they are at risk Devlin, M. & Samarawickrema, G. (2010). The criteria of effective teaching in of being accused of dropping standards or ignoring the a changing higher education context. Higher Education Research & Develop- ment, 29(2), 111-124. needs of students or both, on the basis of impressionistic James, R. (2002). Students’ Changing Expectations of Higher Education and the or anecdotal evidence. Consequences of Mismatches with the Reality. In Coadrake, P. (ed.), Responding But even so, there appear to be benefits all round in a to Student Expectations. OECD Paris, 71-83 supplementary approach such as this one. In the situation Sharrock, G. (2000). Why Students Are Not (Just) Customers. Journal of Higher outlined at the start of this paper, where I received the Education Policy and Management, 22(2), 149-164. results of the official student feedback survey undertaken University of Melbourne. (2007). Nine Principles Guiding Teaching and Learning. Retrieved from: http://www.cshe.unimelb.edu.au/resources_teach/ some months earlier, there were no surprises or questions framework_teach/docs/9principles.pdf that I might have struggled to answer if my programme UNSW (University of New South Wales). (2004). Guidelines on Learning that coordinator had asked me why I was getting this kind of Inform Teaching at UNSW. Retrieved from: http://www.guidelinesonlearning. result. Why? Because on that day in October, I also used unsw.edu.au/ the approach outlined here. When asked to complete the official quality of teaching survey, my class had already

84 Quality in teaching and learning, Geoff Sharrock vol. 54, no. 2, 2012 AUSTRALIAN UNIVERSITIES’ REVIEW

REVIEWS

Am I still yearning? University Unlimited: The Monash Story by Graeme Davison and Kate Murphy ISBN 978 1 74237 866 4 (paperback) 978 1 74331 056 4 (hardcover). Allen and Unwin, Sydney, 2012 xxix + 385 pp.

Review by Jim McGrath

Writing recent institutional history must be hard. Dust is University Unlimited tells its story in two strands. still settling. Evidence has yet to be collected or ‘declas- One strand offers an account of how Monash came to be sified’. Writers are therefore often dependent on inter- as it is. It begins with the Victorian Government’s deci- viewees, who are likely to admit to having been virtuous sion, in the 1950s, to establish a second university in the and close to the action but unlikely to be representative – state, together with subsidiary decisions about when and unlikely because, even aside from the silent majority, there where, and what its purpose and flavour were to be, and are two large classes of participant likely to ‘decline to be who was to run it. Later chapters cover the ambitions and interviewed’: those who have left the institution unhap- achievements of successive vice-chancellors: Matheson - pily and now refuse to reconnect; and those dissidents over sixteen years the builder, who chose an impressive still on the payroll who think it safest to lie low. There is collection of Young Turks as the first professors; Scott – therefore a danger that some, at least, of the end product who filled in for a year; Martin – the collegial facilitator will be what RG Collingwood called scissors-and-paste and servant-leader; Logan – the political animal, salesman history: he said ...; she said.... and first expansionist; Robinson - the impatient imperial- Writing the recent history of Monash University must ist, brought down in dramatic circumstances; Darvall, who be harder still. The writers have to get their heads and also filled in for a year; and Larkins, who maintained – those of their readers around the shape and purpose of a temporarily, at least– the Robinson ‘strategy’. Most of this most complex organisation. Monash is not only Australia’s strand of the story is told in a balanced way: in other largest university but also its most scattered, and the one words something is said on either side of nearly every comprising the most, and most disparate, elements: a sci- controversy, including the controversy about Robinson. ence secondary school, a feeder college for international There are frequent expressions of concern and occasional students, ten or so mutually dissimilar tertiary campuses, expressions of regret, but this strand usually stops short of and innumerable other entities, operations, franchises providing judicious and specific evaluations. and alliances. The blind men who tried to describe the The second strand describes various aspects of the stu- elephant had it easier. dent experience. Some of these impressions are of life on On top of that there is already a standard-setting history a particular campus – usually Clayton – and understand- of the University: Simon Marginson’s Monash: Remak- ably so given that most current Monash alumni were once ing the University (2000) – a book which, after a short Clayton students. Along the way you see that every new but punchy account of the beginnings, covers the Logan Monash campus seems to have opened prematurely, and years– the first period of Monash expansionism. that Monash pioneers have always done it hard. There is So writers of another history of Monash have two a full account of Clayton student radicalism in the years options. One is to extend the Marginson approach – or a 1967 to 1974. Some reminiscences, and especially those briefer version of it – over the whole of the first fifty years, that relate to very recent times, are – if you omit the updating the story of 1985-1996 and judgments thereon proper names – as much about the experience of students in the light of new information and intuitions. The other is at any Australian university. This is as it should be: modern to do something else. Emeritus Professor Graeme Davison students, unless they live on campus, spend less time there and Dr Kate Murphy have chosen the latter course. than did their predecessors, and have more and stronger vol. 54, no. 2, 2012 Am I still yearning?, Review by Jim McGrath 85 AUSTRALIAN UNIVERSITIES’ REVIEW forces shaping their lives. The book provides a little sta- Some sentences seem, for different reasons, out of place tistical information about student life but relies mainly in a work of History: on reminiscence. This reliance again raises the question A decade of stability under Martin meant that Monash of whether the sources are representative. The elements was ready to match the form of its more experienced of the second strand are, regrettably, interspersed loosely competitors while retaining some of its youthful speed and vitality (p.181). among those of the first. I kept losing my place. The authors’ frequent reliance on a single source can pro- The best antidote to nostalgia is to imagine what duce embarrassing results. The book reports (pp. 207—8) Monash might have been without the mergers. At a the complaint by some Science Faculty staff that Deputy time when the middle classes were moving back to the inner city, it could have been marooned in a dying Vice-Chancellor John Hay’s expertise in the field of English industrial suburb (p. 216). Literature didn’t qualify him to design a new classification system for general staff, and an endnote tells you the source One day, surely, the dream will come true (p. 227). of the story. Now if some staff had that concern then the Diligent and grateful, Sunway students are a delight to fact is significant. But the significance changes hugely if teach, says lecturer Cathy Yule (p.324). you add a second fact which the source seems not to have To students and teachers in Kuala Lumpur and Johan- known. The missing bit is that the Hay review of general nesburg, as well as in Clayton and Gippsland, Monash staff classifications had nothing to do with John Hay but is more than a brand or a logo; it stands for common got its name from Hay and Associates – the American firm standards and ideals (p. 328). of management consultants that supplied the methodology. The authors are sometimes guilty of Excessive Personi- (Just imagine: John Hay – an innocent bystander!) fication: they repeatedly use ‘Monash’ as the subject of University Unlimited takes a biographical approach verbs such as ‘feared’ or ‘aspired’ or ‘resolved’. But when to history. It tells you each vice-chancellor’s family back- they do so, they are presumably talking about the Vice- ground, secondary school, hobbies and pastimes, wife’s Chancellor, or the Vice-Chancellor and his henchpersons, name (usually), and more. It provides biographical detail or the Palace, and not suggesting unanimity, or even a con- for other protagonists (including several student pro- sensus, among members of the University. On p. 326 they tagonists), sometimes saying more about an individual’s write ‘Reaching outwards, rather than gazing inwards, is background than about what the individual actually did. [the University’s] natural disposition.’ Ouch! On p.327 we It provides so much detail that I initially suspected the read that Monash has been ‘a university in a hurry’. But authors of taking the pseudo-psychological approach that universities don’t hurry: people do. Where Monash vice- you find in AC Bradley’s Shakespearean Tragedy (1904) chancellors and their lieutenants have made quick deci- or Manning Clark’s A History of Australia (1962 – 1987), sions, the decisions have been a mixture: some the results where every major personage displays a ‘character’, often of government pressure; some deft; and some daft – ill- with a ‘fatal flaw’, and then proceeds on rails, like a tram, considered, and excessively costly in the long run. Even towards an ‘inevitable’ destination. But they have actually if the authors had evidence that Monash vice-chancellors done something else: they have tried to engage their read- have never procrastinated, they would have no grounds ers by providing the sort of ‘human interest’ flavour that here for inducing a generalised university character. many magazine editors and producers of television docu- Because there are two authors one should expect at mentaries believe that their markets require. Some read- least two styles. But the predominant style is chatty and ers will enjoy this approach: some will not. repetitious. Metaphors abound. Try this: For all their commitment to ‘human interest’ the authors Two years after the release of the Dawkins Green sometimes miss dramatic possibilities. The book tells us Paper, the season of frenzied merger negotiations was who suggested the University’s motto (Ancora imparo – coming to an end. The band was playing the last waltz, and most of the dancers had paired off. Monash had ‘I am still learning’ – a statement implying both humility pledged itself to Chisholm and Gippsland. After a brief and a determination to keep improving) but they push courtship it had suspended its courtship with Victoria the information back into the Introduction. In the olden College, which had then paired up with Deakin, leav- days, not only because of the nobility of the motto but ing the fate of its Rusden campus still in the balance. Only a few lonely hearts were waiting, with mounting also because of the repeated staff resistance to repeated anxiety, for a suitable partner. Then Logan received an Palace attempts to bury or replace it, someone would urgent phone call from Minister John Dawkins: ‘We’ve have employed a painter to depict the moment when the got to do something with Pharmacy; no-one will take motto was acclaimed and approved. it’ (p. 210).

86 Am I still yearning?, Review by Jim McGrath vol. 54, no. 2, 2012 AUSTRALIAN UNIVERSITIES’ REVIEW

This is 110 words. You could say as much in fifteen if dancy and ‘dis-appointment’ that broke out in various parts you omit the information about Chisholm and Gippsland, of the University from time to time. When asked what he already imparted on earlier pages. (It would be good to had done in the French Revolution, Sieyès famously said omit it because the passage asks you to imagine Monash that he had stayed alive. (‘J’ai vécu.’) The Monash equiva- pairing off with two girls at the same time). You could lent, for survivors, was ‘I am still earning’. The issue has mention the other still-independent colleges without exercised many minds. using more than thirty. The story wouldn’t suffer if you Not enough is heard from or about staff who do not cut the whole paragraph. have academic roles. The omission is regrettable, and not There are digressions. The longest of them is six pages just because these people have been interested parties (in about an English academic who accepted the vice-chancel- both senses), and formed part of communities, and lived lorship in 1975 and then decided to stay in England. It tells the (sometimes precarious) life. The main reason is that us nothing about Monash. (On the other hand a paragraph many of the unities and continuities within the current about the reasons for Ian Young’s withdrawal in 2008 – ‘Greater’ Monash result from the services, systems and before acceptances – might have been informative). procedures that have been provided or imposed by those Taken together, the biographical detail, the style and who are not academics working across the Empire. the digressions fill a lot of space. So do the nearly 100 I wish that University Unlimited had more about Lar- pictures, not every one of which is worth the words that kins. It tells us that his lieutenants sent him several pro- it has displaced. The publisher has left pp. 87 and 217 posals for making Monash more rational and governable strangely blank. And I wish that the authors had used – by subdividing it, or reconfiguring it, or even relinquish- some of this potentially available space for other things, ing one or more of the three disappointing campuses – including things that they say, in their Introduction, that and that he rejected every proposal. It makes no mention they didn’t have room for. of his approach to organisation, and the fact that he had, A timeline would have been helpful. So would statisti- by the end of his term, three academic vice-chancellors cal tables, showing – at the least – changes over time in and vice-presidents, three non-academic vice-presidents, the sizes of faculties and campuses. So, too, would charts sixteen pro-vice-chancellors, ten deans, and various other showing the structure of Victorian tertiary education hangers-on – every one of whom was determined to make before and after the amalgamations. a difference – as well as to maintain a busy travel sched- They could have said something about how other uni- ule. And all it tells us about Larkins’ leadership is that he versities and colleges responded to Dawkins. For years wrote a regular column in the University’s weekly ‘news’ University propagandists insisted that Monash was ‘Lead- bulletin. A few extracts from the column would have been ing the Way’, and implied that those vice-chancellors who enlightening. declined to follow, and those college directors and princi- The book indicates that some vice-chancellors were pals who declined to let their colleges be acquired, were more committed to collegiality than were others, but timid and their institutions doomed. But was it really so? there is still not enough about leadership or the lan- The book says a little about the tug of war between guage of leadership. And sometimes the book gets it badly those academics – mainly at Clayton – for whom research wrong. Consider this: was an indispensable part of academic life, and those – ... centralised planning may have been the most effec- mainly in the acquired institutions – for whom teaching tive, if not the most inspiring, form of leadership for was the main or sole concern. (The debate seems odd now, the times (p. 266). when universities increasingly recruit full-time research- But ‘planning’ is not a form of ‘leadership’. The classi- ers and increasingly delegate teaching to casual staff.) It cally recognised ‘functions of management’ are planning, acknowledges that the acquisition process was painful. organisation, leadership and control. ‘Leadership’ involves But it might have said much more about the long process clarifying goals, communicating a sense of urgency, of amalgamation as it was lived and felt in individual fac- making people feel stronger, and getting them to follow ulties: the tensions, the eventual arrangements that were you. ‘Planning’ is about spelling out steps and processes. made, the sorts of people who gained and lost because of The book mentions that Don Watson (the author of these arrangements, the staff redundancies, and the effect Death Sentence) thought poorly of Robinson’s pub- on course structures. As it is the acquisition stories stop – lished vision statement, but provides no examples of the or nearly stop – when the agreements are signed. language that Watson deplored. Yet it seemed to many It could have said more about the epidemics of redun- observers that Logan, Robinson and Larkins, together with vol. 54, no. 2, 2012 Am I still yearning?, Review by Jim McGrath 87 AUSTRALIAN UNIVERSITIES’ REVIEW the various euphemistically-titled propagandists to whom don’t tell you what the respective chapters are about. they delegated much of their leadership role, all thought Sequencing the book must have been hard because of the that they were leading an inert but credulous staff who number of sub-plots and because there are two strands to needed regular injections of facile inspiration. It seemed the story, but it could have been done better: a first part, like this partly because of the repeated attempts to bury with a preamble and a chapter on each vice-chancellor, ‘Ancora imparo’ and to replace it (if at all) with a succes- and then a much-subdivided second part about the stu- sion of jingoistic and know-it-all slogans: ‘Leading the Way’, dent (and even staff) experience. As it is, authors, as well ‘Equity and Diversity’, ‘Engaging the World’, ‘Improving the as readers, can lose their places: the quotation from JH Human Condition’, ‘Go Boldly’.... A bigger reason was the Newman that appears on p.6 is then introduced, as if for contemptuous and patronising awfulness of the weekly the first time, on p.82. The indexer has omitted names and ‘news’ bulletins, which used to remind me of MASH (the references that deserved inclusion, hasn’t used enough great Robert Altman film, as distinct from M*A*S*H – the sub-entries, and doesn’t know the difference between good television series that followed it), where (mainly) State College of Victoria and Victoria College (neither of clever people do (frequently) noble things while inane which, of course, had anything to do with Victoria Univer- and cynicism-provoking announcements gush from the sity). The 1,100 end-notes are truly valuable but painfully loudspeakers. difficult to access because they are placed at the end of I wish that the authors had said more about changes in the book and classified under chapter numbers (without the ways in which the University has presented itself to titles), while the running heads in the text itself are, as you the public, and about what it has done to make itself more would expect, chapter titles without numbers. ‘relevant’, and more ‘responsive to market demands’, and The first half of the story is, unsurprisingly, more coher- about how Monash is therefore different both from other ent and better managed than the second. Perhaps the universities and from what it used to be. difficulties outlined at the beginning of this review are The authors mention that Monash had a subsidiary insuperable. Some Monash Memories would fit better as company, Montech, which ‘never thrived’ and was eventu- a sub-title than The Monash Story. ally wound up. But there were many other ‘bold and excit- Monash people who read the book will still find out ing new University initiatives’, some of them corporate or things that they hadn’t previously known, including much pseudo-corporate, some of them academic or quasi-aca- that is worth knowing, and be reminded of important demic, which were born under bright lights amid fanfares, things that they have forgotten. In particular the authors kept alive for years by artificial means, and eventually have reminded us that Monash has often been much more buried surreptitiously. Every institution has its failures. than M**ASH. But if we are ‘still learning’, we still have a Members of an institution that is ‘still learning’ need to lot to learn. know about them. The book is printed in a clear typeface on good Jim McGrath is a former Manager of the former Monash Uni- paper and handsomely bound even in paperback, but its versity Bookshop, a former President of Monash University arrangement is still unkind to the reader. The chapter titles Club, and the author of all 27 issues of The Monash Gazette.

88 Am I still yearning?, Review by Jim McGrath vol. 54, no. 2, 2012 AUSTRALIAN UNIVERSITIES’ REVIEW Multicultural muddles Transforming a ‘White Australia’: Issues of Racism and Immigration by L. Jayasuriya. ISBN 81-902282-9-3 SSS Publications, New Delhi, 2012,

Review by Katharine Betts

Australia is a deeply racist nation, burdened by a blood- stained bigoted past, and now stumbling into a multiracial, While he claims that the old racism of the white Aus- Asia-centric future. This is the image of his country Laksiri tralia policy still has a deep hold on Australians much of Jayasuriya holds and his book is a record of his struggle to the book is devoted to new racism. This is based on the make sense of it. idea of difference: new racists prefer to be with their own It is an image at one end of a continuum marked by kind and tend to exclude and ignore people who are dif- two poles. Towards one pole is a vision, long-held by ferent. Where old racists worried about hierarchies of many voters, but not often found in the scholarly litera- worth based on skin colour, and fussed about racial purity, ture. It values a cohesive nation of equal citizens, com- new racists focus on exclusion and ‘the denial of “differ- mitted to each other’s welfare and the stewardship of ence”’ (p. xiii). They prefer to mingle with people like their shared continent. Those who hold it see a nation themselves, perhaps those brought up on Beatrix Potter where migrants who want to join the national team and and Winnie-the-Pooh. They do not despise people who are share its fate are welcomed and accepted. It is the patri- different; they just ignore them because they feel more otic vision. comfortable with people like themselves. But this prefer- The view towards the other pole sees the former as ence is not as harmless as it looks. It leads to the exclusion oppressive. In contrast to the patriots’ ideal of identifi- of outsiders, people construed as the other. Members of cation and belonging, proponents hold that minorities the dominant group should suppress their sense of differ- should be helped to maintain their differences. Encourag- ence and expand their social circles to include people and ing them to make common cause with their fellow citi- groups who are different. zens is assimilationist, racist, and a sign of bullying from But what about differences seen from the point of view the dominant group. (See for example Jayasuriya 2012: of minorities? These differences are different. Rather than 21-2, 32, 39-40, 107.) Now that Australia is ethnically het- being suppressed and ignored they should be recognised, erogeneous any emphasis on the emotional ties which preferably in law. The problem with multiculturalism in hold us together is dangerous or just code for a ‘shallow Australia so far is that it has concentrated on culture, the Anglo-centric sense of Australian consciousness’ (p. 120). culture of individuals. We have had the ethnic-identities The only principles that can govern us are those of com- model of cultural multiculturalism, focused on the individ- monly accepted laws and procedures. This is the proce- ual. This springs from political liberalism and the idea of dural vision, and Jayasuriya takes it as his starting point the universal equality of individual citizens; an individual’s (pp. 17, 114, 117). culture should be honoured but, in the final analysis, we Given his title it is understandable that the book are all equals. Such a philosophy turned out not to be the focuses on racism: the old racism of hierarchies based best way of incorporating immigrants because, though it on skin colour, and the so-called new racism of inclu- ‘proved eminently functional for newcomers’, it restricted sion and exclusion. Both in his view are closely linked their striving to the private realm. In this way it regulated to nationalism, especially in Australia (pp. 3, 21-22, 39-40, and controlled them and it did nothing to prevent the rise 49, 52). But he is particularly concerned with their origin of new racism (p. 9). in what he terms ‘British racism’. This is a unique form, Instead of cultural multiculturalism we need structural based not on skin colour alone but also on ideas about multiculturalism (pp. 5, 7-8) with political recognition of stock or origin. Nevertheless, it is still exceptionally group rights for ethnic minorities. ‘Put simply, by refram- colour conscious (pp. 25-30, 51). (The British did initiate ing citizenship in this manner we acknowledge that when the abolition of slavery, a point which Jayasuriya men- a society is socially differentiated, citizenship must equally tions, but does not dwell on (p. 30).) be so’. This means differentiated (or multicultural) citizen- vol. 54, no. 2, 2012 Multicultural muddles, Review by Katharine Betts 89 AUSTRALIAN UNIVERSITIES’ REVIEW ship (p. 15) and, having gained it, minorities will be able and particularisms which are implicit in a multicultural to participate as groups in the public realm (pp, 2, 90-92). society’ (p. 85). Equality oppresses minorities because it is But for this outcome to be achieved the new form of citi- based on individual rather than group rights. It is oppres- zenship must be incorporated into a Bill of Rights (p. 18). sive partly because a person’s culture is not static (if it Such a change would mean a thoroughgoing restruc- were that would imply essentialism) but mostly because it ture of the country’s political institutions (p. 17). But what does not recognise structurally-based disadvantage. Only is the problem that this upheaval will resolve? Despite differentiated citizenship can remedy the injustice of indi- two chapters devoted to the history of laws against racial vidual equality. discrimination, Jayasuriya presents little evidence on the There are some strange elisions in Jayasuriya’s story. current prevalence of racism. Rather he suggests that his How was it, for example, that the deeply racist nation he new model will help us move towards ‘the knowledge describes so readily developed a policy of multicultural- based economy of the Asian century’ (p. 19) and that it ism, even if it was of the wrong kind? There is no mystery may help migrants. For example, too few of them occupy here; it just happened, because ‘it was readily acknowl- the ‘commanding heights’ of Australian society (p. 122). edged that the conventional anglo-assimilationism was And they are disadvantaged and suffer inequalities (p. 8). in need of some modification’ (p. 4). And the history of (Oddly enough they are also seen as flouting Australian multiculturalism he presents comes to an abrupt end in norms by working too hard and trying to get ahead (pp. 2007. There is nothing about its revival under the Gillard 10, 49).) Government, and almost no mention of public concern Though the nature of the problem is unclear, we need about Muslim immigrants. In Jayasuriya’s eyes it is Asians, to move away from the ‘narrowly conceived’ idea of uni- marked by their skin colour, who are the victims of exclu- versal citizenship and embrace citizenship differentiated sion. This is despite his claim that the consciousness of by ethnic group (pp. 14-15). But this bold plan leads to a difference fuelling new racism is ‘not constructed in dilemma of difference that Jayasuriya does not confront. racial or biological terms but in terms of group norms and When practiced by the dominant group, reacting to dif- attitudes’ (p. 10). He also claims that reservations about ference is racist (p. 52). In contrast, insisting that differ- immigration are not about the size of the intake but about ence be enshrined in law is anti-racist when advocated by settlement policy and multiculturalism (p. 115), and that a minority group, or by scholars who claim to speak for concern about its impact on the economy and environ- such groups. ment is ‘in reality code for anti-Asian racism’ (p. 48). Given How would the new plan be received by the major- this, it is odd that he does not mention the big Australia ity? Jayasuriya does not discuss this directly but he does debate and the 2010 election. write that for Australians, as for many Europeans, racism Jayasuriya’s book is not only about racism; it is a work has entered a new phase and takes ‘the form of a plea for of general political theory. He sets his story within a the identity and respect for the rights of majority’ (here framework bounded by patriotism (conceived as xeno- he is quoting Parekh) (pp. 10, 47). ‘Racist’ pleas for respect phobic nationalism) on the one side and proceduralism could escalate if the recognition longed for by the major- on the other. But he moves the story beyond this frame- ity is denied to them, but readily conferred on minorities. work, advocating not a proceduralism based on universal Indeed, the formal institution of group rights for minori- rules, but one based on differences. This is a stimulating ties could result in group-based competition for resources approach. If at times it seems a little incoherent this may and considerable disharmony. be because the patriotic view that he contests has not And then there is the dark side of equality. Cultural mul- been sufficiently clearly expressed in the circles in which ticulturalism, Jayasuriya claims, is based on the individual, he moves. not the group. It is based on the principle of equality and this is ‘problematic for Australian multiculturalism’, Dr Katharine Betts is Adjunct Associate Professor, Sociology, because its advocates insist on universalism and treating in the Faculty of Life and Social Sciences, Swinburne Univer- people in the same way. This leads ‘to a denial of difference sity of Technology.

90 Multicultural muddles, Review by Katharine Betts vol. 54, no. 2, 2012 AUSTRALIAN UNIVERSITIES’ REVIEW Every home should have one! The Joy of English: 100 illuminating conversations about the English language by Jesse Karjalainen ISBN 978 1 84528 478 7. Oxford, UK, How To Books Ltd, 2012. 237 pp.

Review by Ian R Dobson

The first thing that attracted my attention to this book right, wrong or preferable. ‘The bite-sized chapters are was that it was advertised in the Helsinki Times, Finland’s not complete guides to, say, how to use an apostrophe. English-language weekly tabloid. This paper provides Fin- Instead, they look specifically at those parts that usually land-residing English speakers like me with a refreshing goes (sic) wrong, such as getting “its” and “it’s” wrong…… and regular link to Finland and the Finnish view of the Each chapter is ordered so that the most important infor- world. Perhaps this was the ideal place for such a book mation is at the beginning’ (p. xv). to be promoted. For me, the book starts well, with the first chapter The second thing was that the author had a Finnish sur- being devoted to the overuse of ‘very’. ‘Avoid using very, name. After you have read as much Finglish as I have in which can be removed from most sentences without any recent years, one would not have expected to come across real loss of meaning…’ (p. 5). a book about English usage and grammar written by a Finn. A few of the chapters that particularly resonated: Finnish is about as different in structure from English as a less versus fewer, a distinction that continues to be lost language that uses the same alphabet could be. It quickly on those in charge of the express checkouts in most if not becomes clear to a native speaker living in Finland that all Australian supermarkets (Chapter 5). writing in English is difficult for most Finns. Of course, compare to [something similar]; compare with [some- many native speakers of English also struggle with the writ- thing dissimilar] (Chapter 8). ten language; just have a look at any recent text that has different from (Chapter 9). come from your own university’s marketing office! male/female versus men’s/women’s (Chapter 33): ‘Use As it turns out, the author, Jesse Karjalainen, is a person male/female to say what gender something is; use mascu- with a diverse personal history: he was born in Sweden to line/feminine to describe the attitude of people or things; Finnish parents, but grew up in Australia; he studied jour- and men’s or women’s for “belonging to” or “intended for”’ nalism in Scotland, but now lives in England. He also runs (p. 78). Spot on! No more ‘male toilets’ or ‘female clothes’. the whichenglish.com website. Clearly this author is ide- But no more ‘women professors’, either, I hope. ally qualified to write a book about English. I wonder why that versus who and whose (Chapter 41). his Finnish parents called him ‘Jesse’, rather than the more And so on, up to Chapter 100 ‘Spell check and proof’. common ‘Jussi’? Did they pronounce it ‘Yessie’, the way Has Microsoft Word made automatic ‘corrections’ for you? a Finn or a Swede would? His surname, as is explained ‘It is handy to have Word change a word that you have spelt on the publisher’s website, should be pronounced some- incorrectly…but not when it makes unwanted changes. thing like ‘carry your lion in’, said quickly, with rolled Rs. This feature is bound to introduce inconsistencies and Enough with the introductions! American spelling.’ (p. 230). Annoying, to say the least! This is a book for most desks or studies. In his Preface, Books such as this are highly dependent on their index, Karjalainen notes that ‘There are hundreds of books about and the index seems to cover the book’s contents well. This English, so why write another one?...The Joy of English is isn’t a book to read from cover to cover at a sitting, and if aimed at a popular audience and intended as an antidote your book shelves are anything like mine, you will already to [English grammar] books that put people off or put have several guides to writing and using English. Can one them to sleep’ (p. ix). have too many? The Joy of English is a worthy addition. I’ve The organisation of the book is simple: 100 short chap- been recommending it to my Finnish colleagues! And don’t ters, typically one to three pages in length. Each chapter forget to check out whichenglish.com. starts with a few correct and incorrect examples, fol- Ian R Dobson is a co-resident of Finland and Australia, a lowed by several lines that explain the content of that research director with the University of Helsinki, and editor chapter, followed by descriptions and more examples of of the Australian Universities’ Review. vol. 54, no. 2, 2012 Every home should have one!, Review by Ian R Dobson 91 AUSTRALIAN UNIVERSITIES’ REVIEW Inter (sic) the future? Interdisciplinary Higher Education: Perspectives and Practicalities by Martin Davies, Marcia Devlin and Malcolm Tight (Eds.) International Perspectives on Higher Education Research Vol. 5. Bingley, UK, Emerald Group Publishing, 2011. ISBN: 9780857423713

Review by Neil Mudford

This book is a valuable resource for university staff wish- This is consistent with the notion that the main function ing to engage in interdisciplinary research or teaching, of the work is as a guide for those running interdiscipli- or to design or manage interdisciplinary teams or degree nary activity. programmes. It provides extensive theoretical discussion A shortcoming of the work is that there are no dis- of the nature of interdisciplinary activity and a treasure senting or critical voices. The volume and the series titles trove of thoughtful reports from Australian and inter- claim to provide Perspectives but it seems that only per- national practitioners on the practicalities of engaging spectives that advance the message of a greater role for in such work. These two offerings are presented in that interdisciplinarity appear here. By contrast, the Practicali- order in the two sections of the book. This greatly helps ties of the volume title are thoroughly explored. the clarity of the presentation. The sectional divide is not The justification for interdisciplinary research and strict. The theoretical section uses plenty of general exam- teaching in higher education, and problem solving in the ples to present the theory and the ‘vignette’ authors of wider society, is given only brief attention. The support- Part II relate their experiences back to theory. ing argument, advanced a number of times, is that the The theoretical sections of the work explain and dis- problems and challenges of the world we live in are com- cuss in great detail the taxonomy of the numerous shades plex and require the knowledge and skills found across a of interdisciplinary collaboration in research. There are number of disciplines. Therefore interdisciplinary teams a number of schemes presented by various authors. The are necessary for finding problem solutions and answer- first degree of movement away from entirely discipline ing the challenges. based work is to multidisciplinarity in which each team Brief though it is, I find this argument persuasive when member produces their contribution to the joint effort used to justify interdisciplinary research in which team using skills, knowledge and methodology drawn from members with deep knowledge and skills in their disci- within their home discipline with minimal interaction plines contribute their expertise. This practice is wide- with those from other disciplines. Beyond this, there is spread outside higher education. Any large or complex a scale of increasingly integrated interdisciplinary activ- engineering design or construction project works this ity in which staff engage more intensely with colleagues way. Indeed, any large organisation works this way, includ- from other disciplines. At the far end of the spectrum ing universities in which there are academics, administra- participants are deeply involved in each other’s methods, tors, librarians, technical officers and so on. culture and mind-set. A number of authors stress that an important pre- There is some irony to be found at this ‘extreme’ or 100 condition for engaging in interdisciplinary research is a per cent end of the spectrum. If the collaboration is close pressing need to do so or rewards that make it well worth- enough and the outcomes productive enough, a new dis- while. A good deal of the book is devoted to discussing the cipline may be produced. If this is the case then the con- significant barriers to such collaboration, such as the contributing authors may shortly find themselves drawn into siderable effort required to get to know and understand a new discipline of interdisciplinarity, a development that cultures and approaches in other disciplines, the admin- may have its awkward aspects. istrative overheads of having staff from several Schools/ The theories concerning the psychology of team inter- Departments participating and so on. Clearly, with aca- actions including leadership, group dynamics, identity, demic workloads high everywhere, there need to be some belonging and so forth are well covered in this book. pretty compelling incentives.

92 Inter (sic) the future?, Review by Neil Mudford vol. 54, no. 2, 2012 AUSTRALIAN UNIVERSITIES’ REVIEW

Davies and Devlin make the point that it is hard to non-existent heartfelt need would explain the reported convince researchers to engage in interdisciplinary work tendencies of staff to let the programmes slide. because recognition is most readily received for pro- There is considerable discussion on the obstacles to gress made by staying narrowly and deeply focussed on interdisciplinary research posed by the cultural and meth- research within one’s own discipline. Additionally, those odological differences between disciplines. This is cited initiating a deep engagement in interdisciplinary work as one of the barriers to the more integrated forms of may feel that making this transition would deprive them interdisciplinary collaboration. Some authors see interdis- of their base in their home discipline and that they are ciplinary education as at least a part cure for this prob- taking a risk that the project will fail to produce outcomes lem because students in such programmes are exposed valued by their peers. to alternative intellectual approaches and cultures from A critical voice is particularly needed when what we the outset. might call the complex world argument, outlined above, An alternative to thoroughgoing interdisciplinary pro- is applied to justify interdisciplinary teaching. The argu- grammes is to organise such exposure through having ment’s possible shortcoming for this purpose can be students in a disciplinary programme take a few courses appreciated by first accepting the need for an interdis- in other disciplines on their way through. This would not ciplinary team approach to world problem solution then significantly dilute their exposure to their core discipline. wondering what role interdisciplinary degree programme This is the practice at the University of New South Wales graduates might play in such a team. What expertise (UNSW) where I did most of my teaching. I am unsure could these graduates bring to the team that could not how well it works. The UNSW website states that students be more comprehensively supplied by a sensible mix of report ‘greatly valuing’ their two General Education (GE) graduates from discipline-based degree programmes? If courses, as they are known. This is at odds with my experi- the problem to be solved is difficult, then surely it needs ence but, then, I am well accustomed to being at odds with deep knowledge in the relevant areas. Perhaps the answer website claims. The engineering students I taught consist- lies in having the interdisciplinary degree graduates bring ently reported resenting the GE courses, doing their best their cross-disciplinary cultural understanding to bear to to choose the easiest options and generally treating them fill facilitating, communications or management roles. The as a distraction, more’s the pity. Only the wisest used them point is that questions such as this need answers from as an opportunity to experience some wider intellectual those advocating interdisciplinary teaching. diversity in their programme. Still, such an alternative, A related area that needs more attention is the balance peppered with more encouragement of some sort, might between disciplinary depth and interdisciplinary breadth permit continued deep learning in a discipline while pre- in interdisciplinary teaching programmes. Davies and paring students for the wider world of thinking rather Devlin (p. 23-4) pose the question but the answer only than have it come as a shock after graduation. goes as far as pointing to the need for care in balancing In conclusion, a good book for the theory of interdisci- the mix. The paucity of guidelines or suggestions in this plinary activity and how to do it well but a bit weak on area contrasts with the considerable practical help given critical analysis of the questions of why you would want in the work in relation to other areas such as programme to do it. It may be a canny purchase if you work in a uni- management etc. versity in which the CEO’s edict may arrive unexpectedly Little is said in the work about the genesis of the at any time. I understand that there are approximately 38 interdisciplinary teaching programmes examined. Often such universities in Australia. what is said is along the lines that interdisciplinary programmes are becoming more popular or widespread and Dr Neil Mudford is a Visiting Fellow with UNSW and a Casual our university is joining in the shift. It would not surprise Specialist Lecturer with the University of Queensland. Prior to me in the least if a decent fraction of the growth were his retirement in 2011, Dr. Mudford was a senior lecturer in being driven by intervarsity competition for undergrad- aerospace and mechanical engineering with UNSW Canberra. uate students with the decision to introduce the pro- He is a member of the Australian Universities’ Review Edito- grammes being announced in an edict from on high. The rial Board. consequent increase in workload coupled with weak or

vol. 54, no. 2, 2012 Inter (sic) the future?, Review by Neil Mudford 93 AUSTRALIAN UNIVERSITIES’ REVIEW Hil of discontent Whackademia: An insider’s account of the troubled university by Richard Hil New South Publishing. University of New South Wales Press Ltd. 2012; ISBN 978 1 74223 291 1 (pbk)

Review by Ian R Dobson

When I was first exposed to a wonderfully satirical but readiness, professional careers and the promise of hefty painfully true article in Campus Review about the state of incomes…students have come to expect a product – some aspect or other of Australian university life by Joseph degree, diploma or doctorate – that will equip them to Gora, I wondered who this brave and reckless soul could compete for jobs in the employment market place’ (p. 17). be. I sought out Joseph to see if he would write an opin- Whackademia in turn considers marketing, mottos, slo- ion piece for Australian Universities’ Review. However, gans, websites (‘Invariably, university websites are plastered it transpired that there was no ‘Joseph’, but I arranged for with hi-definition coloured photographs of youthful student e-contact with his alter ego. From that encounter in 2009, shoppers in varying states of bliss…, p. 63) and ‘defending AUR subsequently ran Joseph’s thoughts on ‘sexy’ mottos, the brand’ (p. 68). Academic ‘busyness’ is discussed, and HCS the ‘TEQSA juggernaut’, university rankings, and the name- (headless chicken syndrome), ‘whereby constant regulated less and faceless ‘ERA 149 club’ that seemed unable to see motion leads to various psychological problems….HCS has the stupidity of ranking journals to assess the quality of been known to lead people to drink excessive quantities of the papers in those journals. That he should eventually cheap red wine’ (p. 72). So it’s not all bad, then! turn his hand to a book was obvious, a necessity, even. Subsequent chapters consider production-line teaching, Richard Hil has an excellent turn of phrase when it research (including dodgy metrics), workload formulae, comes to explaining that elements of our universities and the graduates universities are churning out. Teach- have become a bit silly, and his targets deserve all the deri- ing workloads to provide for so many students, distance sion he can heap on them. ‘Although this book records education (‘teaching 24/7’) and the ‘ceaseless gaze’ of a lot of complaints about the things that academics find the various bodies and committees that want to measure disagreeable, odd, boorish, stifling, restrictive, irritating everything are considered. Research, including the ‘grants and downright toxic in today’s university system, it has a lottery’ (with the 75 per cent miss rate for Australian higher purpose: namely, to highlight the parlous state of Research Council Discovery Grants: now there’s a good Australia’s higher education sector…’ (p. 19). The trouble return on time investment), the great ERA (Excellence is that it’s all real; this is not a work of fiction. The past in Research Australia) delusion and the journals ranking 25 years have produced bureaucratisation, marketisation fiasco are all put under the microscope. Of course, the and casualisation, while all around is the rhetoric of excel- Minister had the good sense to junk journal ranking in lence. Some think that if we say how excellent our uni- May 2011, but it represented an obviously flawed system versity is often enough, it will somehow become so. By that generated ‘an aura of false objectivity’ (p. 153). Yes, we now, many of us are dizzy from the spin. The number of were sold a pup with that one. Within universities there is students over that period has increased from fewer than too much administration, and that’s just what academics 400,000 to over 1.3 million, and one might have expected have to do themselves these days. a roughly commensurate increase in the number of teach- In the end, are universities succeeding? ‘Despite indus- ing staff. Unfortunately, growth in the number of full time try-relevant curricula, vocationally orientated teaching, and fractional full time teachers has been modest, leaving “graduate attributes”, swanky student portfolios and the the slack to be taken up by staff with the most precarious rest, many business leaders think that universities are proof casual contracts. Excellent? I don’t think so. ducing one-dimensional graduates incapable of good com- Hil introduces us to the concept of the ‘student shop- munication, teamwork and independent creative thought’ per’: ‘Australian university education is delivered through (p. 195). The answer to that question is probably ‘no’. a quasi-market mixture of public and private funding I have a couple of observations (rather than criticisms) that is tethered to particular instrumental goals like job of Whackademia. First, I would have liked it to have had

94 Hil of discontent , Review by Ian R Dobson vol. 54, no. 2, 2012 AUSTRALIAN UNIVERSITIES’ REVIEW an index. To me, it matters not that ‘this book strikes a Go and buy a copy of Whackademia; most of you will polemic rather than an academic tone’ (p. 23). I would still enjoy reading it. Using humour to point out the foibles have liked something to help me find the gems within. in government policy and institutional reactions to those The second observation is that there is a tendency by aca- policies isn’t as easy as is it sounds, but Richard Hil is demics to link the efforts of hard-working administrative extraordinarily good at it. By the time the second print run staff with those responsible for university governance. comes out, the copy editors will have corrected the odd With few exceptions, the big bosses started out as aca- spelling errors, such as by adding the second ‘l’ to my long- demics. I’m not convinced that Hil is guilty of this sin, but time friend Arthur O’Neill when he is mentioned, and put- it would have been worth making sure that the major- ting the apostrophe into Australian Universities’ Review. ity of the university labour force realised that they were But on that front, let those free of sin cast the first stone! not being lumped in with the mega-salaried ex-academic Personally, I hope that Richard Hil moves his creative decision makers nor even the fat cat administrators they talent forward. Perhaps he could create ‘Whackademia: hired to do the critical things like write next season’s silly The Musical’. He could take inspiration from Professor slogans. (Dream large? Go Boldly? Yeah, right). In a perfect Quincy Adams Wagstaff President of Huxley College, USA. (university) world, there would be fewer administrative To see what might be possible, invest three minutes of staff, but it isn’t their fault. With so much diversity, compe- your life and search YouTube for ‘I’m against it (Horse Feath- tition and accountability, someone has to fill in the forms. ers)’. You might even learn Spanish. Or is it Portuguese? Blame the government! Ian R Dobson is editor of AUR.

Keeping it in the family Europeanizing Education: Governing a new policy space by Martin Lawn & Sotiria Grek, 2012 ISBN 978-1-873927-61-8, Oxford: Symposium Books Ltd

Review by Raj Sharma

This book examines the Europeanisation of education, of the twentieth century were studying with Professor focusing on the intended and unintended consequences Rein, the great interpreter of Herbert, and travelling back of European processes and the relational effects of dispa- to their own countries to spread the practices of the rate but powerful European agencies and players in the new educational sciences. Similarly it is noted that edu- field. The authors make the point that European education cational research also transcends national boundaries. The started before the 1992 Maastricht Treaty. For instance, authors relate that from the 1950s, and based in western even during the nineteenth and early twentieth century Europe, new European research institutions such as the European societies were constructing their educational International Association for the Evaluation of Educational systems and displaying their innovations and educational Achievement (IEA) were established to draw together key services in international exhibitions or being observed by policy actors and educational research specialists. But is travelling researchers. The latter became associated with this ‘Europeanisation’ or globalisation or possibly both in the emergence of such specialist educational centres as terms of educational research? For instance, the authors the English Board of Education Department of Special state that some of these bodies were at least partially Inquiries that produced major publications on European funded by the USA with active participation by American education during the late nineteenth/ early 20th century. researchers. It is therefore ironic to note that European It is observed that the phenomenon of exporting of organisations that developed later, such as the European educational goods and services also emerged across Centre for the Development of Education, were focused Europe during the twentieth century. For instance, this inter alia on ‘protecting Europe against globalisation’. publication states that around one-third of the students These more recent developments included the signing in the university city of Jena, Germany in the first decade of the so-called Maastricht Treaty on 7 February 1992 that vol. 54, no. 2, 2012 Keeping it in the family, Review by Raj Sharma 95 AUSTRALIAN UNIVERSITIES’ REVIEW acknowledged for the first time that education and culture in the knowledge economy goals of Europe. Thus educa- were an inherent part of the European integration process. tion in Europe shifted from its pre-2000 institutionalised This provided a boost to existing programmes such as and ordered sequences to become a new fluid, flexible Erasmus where the number of exchange students across and cross-national phenomenon, namely, that of learn- Europe during the 1990s increased to hundreds of thou- ing. More particularly an interest in developing measures sands. Further, other new educational programmes such as of educational performance related to learning through Socrates and Leonardo were also formed by the late 1990s. numerical data gained in prominence in order to assure The authors note that around the time of the Maastricht the quality of European education. This also required Treaty, the idea of the European educational dimension the establishment of benchmarks; for example, in May began to focus much more on mobility of students and 2003 the European Commission set a benchmark to be teachers across Europe; the recognition of national diplo- achieved by 2010, namely, in respect to higher education mas; cooperation between educational institutions and there was a requirement for an increase of at least 15 per the rise of data about education systems of constituent cent in graduates covering the disciplines of mathemat- states. However, the 1996 White Paper on Learning Soci- ics, science and technology. Due to economic and other ety transformed the focus on the use of technology and environmental factors, such benchmarks and measures the creation of European educational software towards subsequently required updates and changes. The book the idea of the Information Society. provides comments that European organisations such as The book next turns its attention towards the issue of Eurydice (responsible for qualitative indicators) and Euro- governing education using, at least in part, the example stats (responsible for statistical information) have pub- of the European Educational Research Association (EERA). lished measures associated with developments across the The authors observe that EU governance is associated European educational systems. with the management of certain key spaces including The book acknowledges that one of the most power- regions, cities, networks and borders. They indicate that ful agents in the momentum towards Europeanisation is networks represent a common form of governance in not a European body but a global organisation, namely, Europe, crossing national boundaries, old government the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Develop- divisions and traditions of work and administration. EERA ment (OECD). An example given of the OECD’s influence was formed in 1994 with the aim of including all national and role in terms of the European educational systems educational research associations in Europe. reform is the Program for International Student Assess- The authors suggest that governance is a new paradigm ment (PISA) which has had an enormous impact through representing a shift from hierarchy, and referring to a set the establishment of a new kind of measuring logic about of institutions and actors that are drawn from, but also governing education in Europe. It is suggested that the beyond, government European networking. The book OECD’s transformation into a powerful agent of transna- notes that European educational governance is character- tional governance follows from the comparative focus ised by ‘soft governance’, use of persuasive power, expert towards a scientific approach to political decision making, influence and an instrumentalisation of new forms of which builds on data collection, ranking and rating of non-state power to govern at a distance. This ‘governing member countries. The authors observe that the PISA pro- by standards’ relies on experts and excludes politics. Edu- ject has helped to consolidate the OECD’s role as the pre- cational standards in the European context have shifted eminent global organisation for developing and analysing from being descriptive specifications of objects into per- comparative international educational performance data. formance requirements, checked through systematic qual- The book is of relevance to those interested in the ity management. Indeed the book notes that the major Europeanisation of education and the broader theme of processes of standardising European education have globalisation of education. No doubt scholars in the Aus- occurred through the development of benchmarks and tralasian region and indeed those from other regions of indicator data. For example, the European Credit Transfer the world can learn from the processes adopted within and Accumulation system in higher education created a Europe to achieve greater cohesion in terms of policies common standard, the credit, consisting of learning out- and planning of education. comes and its workload time, which has enabled student mobility across the EU. Dr Raj Sharma is a higher education consultant and former It is noted in the book that following the signing of the Associate Director (Resource Planning & Analysis) and Senior Lisbon Strategy in 2000, education became the key feature Research Fellow at Swinburne University, Australia.

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