The Hon Dr Brendan Nelson MP

The Australian Government will provide $2.84 million to fund 24 projects in the competitive funding round for the Higher Education Innovation Programme (HEIP).

The projects, often involving collaboration between universities and other education partners, will promote innovation in the higher education sector and improve the quality of the student learning experience.

This investment will lead to many new and exciting research and learning opportunities in higher education in Australia. A list of the successful projects is attached.

This is the last year of the HEIP’s operation. It will be replaced on 1 January 2005 by the Collaboration and Structural Reform (CASR) Fund with $37 million to be allocated over three years.

The CASR Fund will support projects that will achieve better higher education outcomes in teaching, learning, research and innovation through collaboration or structural reform. In 2005 the initial priorities for collaboration are:

Applications from universities and other incorporated bodies, for CASR funding in 2005 are now being accepted. Information on CASR and an application form can be found at http://www.dest.gov.au/highered/programmes/casr.htm.

In addition, universities and students will also be benefiting from other elements of the reform package as they begin to flow through over the next five years including:

Media Contacts:
Dr Nelson’s Office: Yaron Finkelstein 0414 927 663
Dept of Education, Science & Training: Virginia Cook 0412 971 323

Name of Leading Organisation	Project
Gippsland Education Precinct	Development of a Collaborative Institutional Model for the Gippsland Education Precinct.
Macquarie University	Establishment of a student exchange program in Environmental Science and Environmental management between leading universities across Australia.
Macquarie University	Academic Leadership and Management: Developing Strategies for Support, Enhancement and Succession Planning - This is the first stage of a collaborative R&D project to be undertaken by Macquarie and Flinders universities
Macquarie University	Redevelopment of Macquarie Customised Accessibility Services (M-CAS) - a service to universities that provides individually tailored learning experiences for students with disabilities.
Macquarie University	Breaking the Barriers between TAFE and University - developing a model for collaboration around higher education and VET pathways in Environmental Sciences and Management.
Monash University	Frankston Peninsula Health and Wellbeing Precinct. – a feasibility study into the establishment of a multi-disciplinary Regional Health and Wellbeing Centre.
Murdoch University	A review of alternative entry systems into Australian universities - will document existing admissions and enrolments systems for non TER applicants into Australian universities with a view to sharing information and strategies which will lead to a fairer, more open and consistent access system for students entering higher education
Office of Training and Tertiary Education	Reporting requirements in dual sector institutions - to assess reporting requirements across the VET and higher education sectors in Victoria’s dual sector higher education providers.
RMIT	Koori Cohort program – to increase the access, participation and achievement of Indigenous postgraduate researchers and students.
Statistical Society of Australia Inc	To conduct a review of statistics education in Australian universities and what needs to be done to enhance the quality of this education.
Swinburne University of Technology	Business Link - a new service that will actively connect undergraduate and postgraduate students to short term, paid work based projects related to their area of study.
Universities Admission Centre	CLS Central - centralised application and assessment of Commonwealth Learning Scholarships (CLS) for institutions participating in the Universities Admission Centre.
University of Adelaide	Australian Chemistry Enhanced Laboratory Learning project – A central resource of chemistry laboratory exercises developed and tested by staff from 32 participating Australian universities and members of the Royal Australian Chemical Institute.
University of Adelaide	Development and implementation of a new cooperative automotive engineering degree, involving partnerships with industry, University of South Australia and TAFE.
University of Queensland	PhD Graduates 3 to 5 years out: Employment Outcomes, Job Attributes and the Quality of Research Training - the first phase of a longitudinal study of PhD graduates from 7 Go8 universities.
University of Queensland	The Development and Implementation of a Curriculum Articulation Model for Nursing between the University and TAFE Sectors.
University of Southern Queensland	Establishment of the Australian Graduate School of Engineering – a Collaborative venture between four universities.

University of Southern Queensland	Beyond education: graduates into the workforce - to identify the skills necessary for the effective transition of graduates to the workforce and to assess whether universities are effectively meeting corporate/business needs.
University of Tasmania	EdEquity Website Redevelopment – to bring together the information and resources required by those working for higher education staff and student equity across Australia.
University of Technology, Sydney	Enhancing Student learning through formative assessment - to improve the quality of assessment across the Australian Technology Network (ATN) universities
University of Western Sydney	Accessing the student voice: using comments on the course experience questionnaire to improve the quality of learning programs in Australian universities.
University of Western Sydney	To formalise and disseminate the work the Australian Universities Community Engagement Alliance (AUCEA)
University of New England	Cross-Institutional Rationalisation of Language Teaching - Provision of German at the University of Newcastle by the University of New England.
University of New England	The Education Alumni Support Project – web-based support for beginning teachers aimed at improving retention rates for teachers in their first five years of service.

Media Release

$3 MILLION FOR INNOVATION IN HIGHER EDUCATION