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Indigenous Education Strategies in Higher Education 2001-2003

University of Wollongong

• Objectives
• Consultative Mechanisms
• Current and Continuing Strategies
• Planned New Activities
• Performance and Review
• Report on Expenditure
• Contact

Objectives

• To enhance recruitment and participation of A&TSI students in all disciplines, including improving and further streamlining admissions programs and pre-entry programs.
• To improve access and retention programs for A&TSI students.
• To deliver and further develop the Aboriginal Studies and Aboriginal Education programs, including flexible delivery modules for the Shoalhaven campus and centres at Batemans Bay and Bega.
• To contribute to the Aboriginalisation of other curricular areas and facilitate appropriate pedagogical practices in faculties to enhance learning.
• To increase opportunities for A&TSI staff employment in all areas of the University, through the EEO/AA Committee, the Office of EEO, Freedom of Information and Privacy, and other university departments.
• To broaden avenues through which Aborigines and Torres Strait Islanders can be actively involved in decisions made by the University.
• To facilitate the professional development of, and to establish career paths for, all A&TSI staff.
• To provide physical facilities and equipment commensurate with servicing teaching, research, student support and staff accommodation needs.
• To facilitate change in the organisational culture of the University to meet the needs of A&TSI staff and students.
• To provide research outcomes on A&TSI education, and improved academic outcomes for A&TSI students.

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Consultative Mechanisms

The University has a formal mechanism through its Aboriginal Education Centre Visiting Committee for consultation purposes, both within and outside the University, which has a majority of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander members. Its major functions include reviewing services offered by the AEC and advising faculties on desirable developments and improvements in meeting the education needs of Indigenous students; advice on opportunities for development of appropriate research; assisting in locating and recruiting the best possible staff for the AEC; furthering the development of appropriate learning assistance; enhancing the reputation of the University in Aboriginal Education; advising on the success in meeting appropriate objectives and development of desirable future objectives; and on future plans for Aboriginal education and research.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander consultative mechanisms include:

• formal and informal consultative processes through the NSW Aboriginal Education Consultative Group Inc. (AECG) (local, regional and state committees) for its validation and endorsement of teaching methodologies and content;
• the local Aboriginal Interagency Network for other government and community linkages;
• the Indigenous Australian Higher Education Association (IAHEA), of which the AEC has been an active member in the past, and its replacement;
• the newly formed Coalition of Indigenous Australian Directors of Higher Education;
• the NSW and ACT Higher Education Network Aboriginal Corporation (HENAC), of which the AEC actively participates, the Illawarra Area Consultative Committee, and its sub-committee ­ the Illawarra Aboriginal Employment Promotion Committee.

Involvement of Indigenous staff in University and Faculty decision-making processes through membership of various internal committees. These include: EEO & Affirmative Action, Equity and Student Support Sub-Committee, Academic Senate, Human Research Ethics Committee, Academic Staff Development Committee, Faculty of Arts committees (such as Faculty Education Committee, Board of Interdisciplinary Studies, South Coast Development Working Party etc.), and the South Coast Education Network (SCEN) Committee.

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Current and Continuing Strategies

The University of Wollongong remains mindful of the Goals of the AEP, recommendations by both NBEET and MCEETYA, and the New South Wales Aboriginal Education Policy (1996). Other university strategies, as published in Higher Education Indigenous Education Strategies 1999-2001 and information in the Higher Education Report for the 1999 to 2001 Triennium, have been perused seeking innovative ideas. The strategies outlined below were developed with the aim of ensuring Aboriginal participation in educational decision-making, equity in access to educational services, and in working towards equitable and appropriate educational outcomes, and their implementation is continuing:

1. Recruitment:

• The AEC recruiting program for 2000 continued to make full use of DETYA’s Wollongong Indigenous Education Unit’s VEGAS programmed events, and recruiting information visits to high schools careers advisers, students and community centres on the NSW south coast have been stepped up for 2001intake. Printed promotional materials were widely distributed and the Koori Mail newspaper continues to be a valuable tool for wide circulation of recruitment information. Student numbers have been maintained, with graduation numbers increasing. Due to reallocation of VEGAS funds by DETYA, planned two day Introduction to University program for Far South Coast pupils did not go ahead, but is considered valuable for in the near future.

• The AECs Web Page is becoming accessed by schools and potential students on an increasing basis, and the site address has been included on promotional materials. Resources will be input to new marketing strategies/mechanisms using existing resources from the University and other organisational networks, and into developing new promotional materials. The AEC promotes (through its marketing and community visits and through electronic and print media) the merits of the Centre and the advantages of studying at Wollongong for both undergraduate and postgraduate Indigenous students, and also for non-Aboriginal students into the Aboriginal Studies discipline.

2. Aboriginal Education:

• The AEC’s Aboriginal Education subjects offered in both the Bachelor of Arts and the Bachelor of Education program will continue to be taught by Aboriginal staff.

3. Aboriginal Studies:

• AEC staff have responsibility for co-ordination of the complete Aboriginal Studies program and in teaching of the core subjects. The major was developed and written by Aboriginal academics and systematic inclusion of decision-making by AEC has been a key component of the program. The first graduates with a Bachelor of Arts in Aboriginal Studies will receive their awards in December 2000.
• One first year subject has been converted to a format suitable for flexible delivery at remote campuses and second and third year subjects will follow.
• Ongoing consultation between the AEC and Arts regarding redevelopment of existing Arts subjects for inclusion in the elective stream of the Aboriginal Studies major, and for Aboriginal Studies subjects being utilised in other majors.
• Aboriginal Studies is being used as a tool to enhance marketing and internationalisation of the University and is included in the International Studies degree program. It also acts as a vehicle for increasing Aboriginal employment.
• The Aboriginal Studies program will be consolidated as an integral part of the University’s movement towards cross-faculty offerings and within its home Faculty (e.g. joint majors).
• Aboriginal staff involvement in the development of the new South Coast Education Network, including the Arts degree curriculum, is continuing and one new staff member has been appointed to the Shoalhaven campus.
• An investigation of options for ongoing development of undergraduate to postgraduate Aboriginal Studies offerings is continuing.

Strategies to be evaluated through Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal student numbers completing subjects, entering joint majors and the numbers of new enrolments at South Coast campuses. It is envisaged that the new South Coast initiative will improve access, participation and success in the future.

4. Curriculum, Pedagogy, Supervision:

• AEC staff continue to be involved in co-supervision of relevant postgraduate students’ projects and theses, and to participate in joint ventures with faculties and other departments in the development of culturally appropriate curricula and pedagogy.

Ongoing evaluation through students’ responses to course offerings and to quality of supervision.

5. Employment and Affirmative Action:

• The EEO and Affirmative Action Committee, with Aboriginal representation, will continue the development of a new Aboriginal employment strategy.

6. Research:

• Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander staff and students are being encouraged to participate in research activity, including publication, and to utilise the work of the AEC as a basis for research and publication. This includes increasing the participation of AEC academic staff in Research Groups and Institutes, utilising ARC scholarships to mentor the development of Aboriginal researchers, and in supporting/mentoring AEC staff to undertake research and higher degrees.

• AEC staff will continue to provide advice where relevant to the Human Research Ethics Committee.

7. Indigenous Health:

• The Bachelor of Health Science in Indigenous Health undergraduate degree program has been rewritten. Delivery is to be shared between TAFE and the University, and new students enrolled in 2000.

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Planned New Activities

1. Employment:

• One Aboriginal staff member has been employed through funding secured from DETYA to coordinate a work experience program for Aboriginal women in the University in 2000.

2. Retention:

• Negotiations are under way between the AEC, NSW DET, DETYA and the Wollongong University College (WUC) to develop an Indigenous University Entrance Program through WUC, which would offer another pathway for entry to university and should better prepare selected Indigenous students for higher education studies.

3. Aboriginal Studies:

• Development of a new Honours year program in Aboriginal Studies has commenced, which will be offered from 2001, as the first students are nearing completion of the undergraduate degree.

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Performance and Review

According to the Lin Martin indicators, the Access rate for Wollongong continues to hover below the state and national indicators, but has dropped only very marginally from 1.09 in 1998 to 1.08 in 1999, and the lack of Indigenous enabling/bridging courses at Wollongong may be a factor. The Participation rate has also dropped slightly from 1.06 in 1988 to 0.94 in 1999, but continues to rank well above state and national figures. At the same time, the apparent Retention rate rose from 0.68 in 1997 to 1.00 in 1998 and has settled back to 0.811 in 1999. The Success rate has risen from 0.85 in 1998 to 0.89 in 1999 and, although both state and national rates have also risen, the Wollongong figure remains above both. All 1999 figures, with the exception of that for Access, are above the national averages. Participation and Success for Wollongong rank above the NSW state average, while Access and Retention rates are below the state average.

The only field of study offered at Wollongong that Indigenous students had no commencements for 2000 was in Engineering, which traditionally attracts very few Indigenous applicants. Although the greatest actual number of Indigenous students (in any field of study) are enrolled in Arts, the greatest percentage of Indigenous students compared to non-Indigenous students are in Health. The reinstatement of the Indigenous Health degree at Wollongong has assisted in this. Commencing student numbers remained fairly steady, with a very slight increase in postgraduate students and a similar slight reduction in undergraduate students. For the first time, no students in the aged-pensioner bracket commenced at Wollongong in 2000. It is felt that the dramatic reduction in the Pensioner Education Supplement allowance under Abstudy has had some impact on this.

A total of 15 Indigenous students graduated from the University of Wollongong in 1999 with both undergraduate (11) and postgraduate (4) degrees.

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Report on Expenditure

STATEMENT OF INCOME AND EXPENDITURE FOR THE YEAR ENDED

31 DECEMBER, 1999

(1) This income has been earned from teaching Aboriginal Studies students on behalf of UoW faculties
(2) CIDESAR - Centre for Indigenous Development, Educational Support and Research (Special Project)
(3) This deficit has been met by the University of Wollongong

• Teaching income to the Aboriginal Education Centre will vary from year-to-year depending upon numbers of students enrolled in subjects taught by the AEC and on faculty requirements. Expenditure by the AEC on casual teaching will increase in proportion to any increase in students enrolled in those subjects.
• The Centre for Indigenous Development, Educational Support and Research (CIDESAR) operates independently of the Aboriginal Education Centre (AEC), but is funded by the University for its work in Indigenous Research.

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Contact

Professor Robert Castle 
Pro Vice-Chancellor (Academic)
Tel: (02) 4221 3960
Fax: (02) 4227 1771
Email: rob_castle@uow.edu.au

Mr Bill Harrison Head
Aboriginal Education Centre
Tel: (02) 4221 4924
Fax: (02) 4221 4244
Email: bill_ harrison@uow.edu.au

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