Australian and New Zealand Student Services Association Inc

Submission Number 173

ANZSSA Inc.

The Australian and New Zealand Student Services Association Inc.

2 9 School St.

Kelvin Grove,

Qld. 4059

Ph. 07-3356-6635

email: b.whitelaw@qut.edu.au

April 29, 1997

The Secretariat

Review of Higher Education Financing and Policy

Location 728

GPO Box 9880

Canberra ACT 2601

Dear Sir/Madam,

Please find following a submission for the Review Committee from the Australian and New Zealand Student Services Association (ANZSSA) Inc.

Anzssa is an association of professionals whose members provide services to students in higher education in the university and TAFE sectors. Those services include counselling, careers, health, finance, learning and welfare. Members also provide specialist services to international students.

While the focus of the review is clearly on academic matters and associated funding, we believe that student services issues must also been carefully considered in planning for the future of tertiary education in Australia. We have commented on those themes which most affect student services personnel - themes one, two and four.

Anzssa would be pleased to provide further information should the committee so desire.

Yours sincerely,

Dr. Brian Whitelaw

President

Summary of Recommendations

Recommendation 1:

That the Review Committee carefully consider the needs of special groups in higher education and to ensure appropriate resourcing of student services.

Recommendation 2:

That the Review Committee ensure that adequate funding is provided for all student services and that provision is made to allow the development of student services resources to cater for changing enrollment modes and needs.

Recommendation 3:

That the Review Committee recommends the maintenance and enhancement of support services for all categories of fee-paying students.

Recommendation 4:

That the Review Committee ensure that provision is made for the management of change in the area of careers and employment and that government funding is maintained at such a level as to provide for the development of programmes and resources to enhance the employability of graduating students.

Recommendation 5:

That the Review Committee ensure that no additional financial burden be placed on students through moving qualified students to commercial loans.

Recommendation 6:

That the Review Committee recommend a review of the Austudy system with a view to simplification and clarity.

Recommendation 7:

That the Review Committee investigate the provision of funding for student loans systems operated by individual universities and that these schemes be exempted from the provisions of the Consumer Credit Code.

Theme One: The role of higher education in Australia's society and economy

1 Over the past few years and especially since the Dawkins reforms and a "Fair Chance for All", universities have moved from elitist to more representative enrollments. The socio-economicly disadvantaged, mature aged, the disabled, Indigenous Australians and those from non English speaking backgrounds are growing in numbers throughout higher education. Our expectation is that this trend will continue and grow further.
The needs of these new groups of students differ amongst themselves and are considerably different from students in the past. They are immensely more challenging for student services staff. While many services can be delivered to groups of students or simply through information provision, equity target groups tend to require more individual attention and are thus more labour and resource intensive.

2 While currently only a small proportion of students are officially external, presently they and many internal students attend their campuses infrequently, accessing information through email and the Internet. The likelihood is that this practice will increase with electronic classrooms replacing face to face lectures.

Student services will need to provide for this change from physical to electronic attendance. While off campus, students will require the same personal, welfare and learning support to which they currently have access. Increasingly, student services personnel will have to identify, create and manage new resources. They will have to develop new methods of delivering services and acquire new skills to implement them.

3 Learning at university requires a different cognitive approach and different learning strategies to that which succeeds at other levels of education. Learning how to learn is a major theme for both domestic and international students. Providing these services to off campus students adds an additional degree of difficulty.

4 Students entering university from high school are at a particularly critical time of their development. Many are in a completely new environment without the support of long term friends or their families. Many are entering into personal relationships for the first time. Many are dealing with independence and adult responsibilities for the first time. Many are confronted by health issues that were previously managed by their parents.

During this critical period, student services, particularly those in counselling and health, are vital resources that can assist new students in adapting to higher education and acquiring knowledge of themselves and others that will benefit them a lifetime.

Recommendation 1:

That the Review Committee carefully consider the needs of special groups in higher education and to ensure appropriate resourcing of student services.

Recommendation 2:

Theme two: factors affecting the demand for and provision of higher education over the next 10 to 20 years.

1 Australia has been particularly successful in attracting fee-paying students from overseas. Although the market may change through competition or the countries of origin of overseas students may alter, it would appear that for the next decade or two, that fee paying students will continue to form an important and growing segment of Australian higher education.

While marketing skills and promotions initially attract students, Anzssa believes that it is the calibre of education received and, importantly, the quality of support that overseas students have available that ensures the continuation and growth of this programme. The AVCC have, in part, recognized that support is vital to the recruitment and retention of overseas students through the issuing of guidelines to universities for levels and quality of support.

From next year, universities will be able to offer places to fee-paying domestic students. It would appear that some universities will thus offer places to lesser qualified applicants. While Anzssa is not opposed to the introduction of domestic fee paying students, it is concerned that appropriate support mechanisms may be overlooked for these relatively less able students.

Although the two groups of fee-paying students are vastly different, they are similar in respect to their need for specialist support services to ensure their success at university.

2 With technological change, work patterns, careers and the labour market have also rapidly changed. The future would appear to be one which will hold more change and to speed and broaden the effect that such change will have.

The skills and attributes that graduates require extend beyond the gathering of academic knowledge and course related training. Careers counsellors and advisers work with students and employers, linking students with careers with which they are unfamiliar and linking graduates with appropriate employers. Careers counselling provide training in job search skills for graduating students who are seeking employment in an increasingly complex and changing environment. They also provide direction and advice on post-graduate study opportunities.

Careers counsellors/advisers must constantly monitor, prepare and educate themselves in order to deliver quality services to their clients. As the employment environment changes, so must the career personnel.

Recommendation 3:

That the Review Committee recommends the maintenance and enhancement of support services for all categories of fee-paying students.

Recommendation 4:

Theme four: financing higher education teaching and research training

Within theme four, one of the areas for consideration is that of student loan schemes. While the intention may be to focus on alternatives to the present HECS system, student loans have other implications.

1 Anzssa believes that higher education should not be considered a commercial activity but rather a societal obligation. All who are qualified should have access to higher education without undue financial burden.

At the moment, through Austudy, those who do not have the financial resources to access higher education, are supported by the government. Within Austudy, students have the opportunity to convert their Austudy entitlement to a larger loan. This should continue.

While Austudy is of great benefit, Anzssa believes that The Austudy system is unnecessarily complicated. Anzssa continues, through its Student Finance Advisers Network, to work with the government to deal with and solve Austudy problems. It appears clear now that Austudy needs its own review, aiming at equity, clarity and simplicity.

Those who are better off financially should not be forced into commercial loans but should continue to have access to the HECS system which is itself a form of government loan.

Domestic fee-paying students will be drawn from those who have not met the requirements for public support for higher education - these students may be ones who could have access to either government or commercial education purpose loans.

2 Many universities maintain their own internal loan schemes. These provide very low cost or completely interest free loans to needy students. Funds for these loans were largely provided during the Whitlam government period but no additional funds have been made available by subsequent governments despite inflation and rising educational costs.

Students who may not have the capacity or guarantors to acquire a commercial loan are greatly assisted by these university schemes. Many loan schemes provide interest free periods which allows the student to repay after they have had the opportunity to earn money through university break periods.

Recently the new Consumer Credit Code has had unexpected impact on the provision of loans to students. Most universities cannot comply with the requirements of commercial lenders at which the legislation was aimed. Consequently, many loan schemes have been suspended or loan amounts reduced to impracticable levels.

Recommendation 5:

That the Review Committee ensure that no additional financial burden be placed on students through moving qualified students to commercial loans.

Recommendation 6:

That the Review Committee recommend a review of the Austudy system with a view to simplification and clarity.

Recommendation 7:

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