The ATN believes
The universities forming the ATN are:
Curtin University of Technology
QUT
RMIT
USA
UTS
The ATN was formed by the five universities in order to capitalise on their distinct but complementary strengths and in the belief that this is in the best interests of the universities themselves, the industries with which they collaborate, and the international competitiveness of the nation.
The universities all have their roots in the technological education in their state. The current universities emerged as Institutes of Technology in the 1960s became universities in the late 1980s and each amalgamated with one or more institution in 1990. All of the universities are truly urban, being based within the capital city precincts of their state.
Each institution focuses on education for the professions and delivering it in ways useful to industry, such as, part-time, sandwich and intensive patterns of attendance. Their courses are characterised by an applied orientation and are valued not only by students but also by employers for this approach. "Applied orientation" is a simplification of the ATN philosophy of course design which combines: theoretical material, often from a range of fields; applications; and development of skills for professional competence, such as, teamwork, problem solving, oral and written communication, technological and, particularly, the inductive reasoning skills to enable graduates to construct new knowledge and applications from their professional experiences. That these skills make graduates highly desirable is evidenced by their employment rates with 68% of ATN graduates in full-time employment compared to 58% for the university sector as a whole.
ATN universities have been the fore-runners in the development of "cooperative education" programs.
Cooperative education has as its corner stone the belief that some professions can not be wholly expressed in the classroom or laboratory but must be experienced in the real world amid the pressures of time-scales, budgets, the uncertainty of business policy and public opinion and where the professional is responsible for their actions. Cooperative programs may be undertaken by part-time study or sandwich pattern involving alternating periods of full-time study and full-time work. Work experience is a formal requirement of the degree and is assessed by the university for its relevance to the course. In some programs the work experience component is supervised by the university, in other cases industry partners provide agreed types of experiences. The work experience may be as much as 90 weeks over a four year full-time equivalent degree. Such courses are typically found in engineering, architecture and computing science and individual course intakes may be as high as 130 students. Many of the new-style cooperative programs offered by universities are small scale courses involving industry sponsorship of students, eg. cooperative courses in accounting. Usually the cohorts of these programs do not exceed 30 students and industry experience is limited to two semesters.
The universities also engage in research. However, there is no strong demarcation between pure and applied research and research linked to teaching may range across the spectrum from pure to very applied.
ATN universities are in the vanguard, bringing higher education into the twenty-first century with their orientation to the changing needs of the professions and industry in the global economy.
The ATN comprises almost one fifth of the university sector with 19% of students (both headcount and EFTSU). 24% of all university part-time enrolments are located in ATN universities with no member of the ATN having less than 30 % of their enrolments part-time, and one, UTS, having 47% of its enrolment part-time.
The ATN believes that it is essential that government remain the major contributor of funds to higher education. As receivers of public funds ATN universities fully support public accountability for their activities but point out that government funds are contributing an increasingly smaller proportion of universities' budgets and are at a level which does not allow delivery of services without subsidy from other income sources.
There are several areas on which the ATN wishes to comment.
The role of teaching is highly valued in the ATN universities. It is a fundamental part of their role, and of any university's existence, to impart knowledge and skills to others. This function is typically undertaken through formal award programs.
The ATN believes that undergraduate courses should be publicly funded as they form one of the major ways in which a highly educated workforce can be created. Education is a major investment in Australia's future, and for its place, not only in a global economy, but also in a global society. The private and public benefits accruing from a highly educated workforce go hand-in-hand. Graduate salaries are typically higher than non-graduate salaries and employment rates among graduates are higher. Those in employment contribute to the public purse through income and sales taxes. If some contribution by the individual to the cost of their education is required the ATN believes that, to maximise equitable access, payments should be deferred until graduates are employed.
Support for students while undertaking study should be at a level higher than unemployment benefit to encourage individuals to study and forego for a period of time the benefits of full-time employment.
The changing environment in the 21st century may require individuals to retrain for new professions. It will not always be possible to predict the demise of a company or industry leaving workers redundant. The ATN therefore believes that public funding of undergraduate courses should not be limited to those completing their first degree but should be available to all.
Postgraduate courses are frequently used as a mechanism for updating, obtaining new skills or a new orientation on a particular area. The ability to charge fees for postgraduate courses for Australian students has now existed for several years. The only areas in which there has been wide community acceptance of fees is in highly competitive areas of employment where credentialism is believed to assist in the job selection process eg. MBAs. Areas where additional qualifications are not rewarded by employers through higher salaries or where the salary paid makes the cost of such qualifications unattractive, eg. science and teaching, have failed to attract many applicants, yet it is these areas on which much of the development of the future of Australia's educated workforce will depend. It is thus essential that a number of publicly funded places for postgraduate coursework students be retained.
Postgraduate research degrees form the training ground for academics and researchers employed in universities and industry. The cost of providing this research training differs substantially between disciplines but in all cases is higher than for undergraduate education because of the supervision and infrastructure requirements. These costs are far higher than can be afforded by the individual and research degrees should remain publicly funded. Moves to tax PhD scholarships would discourage some of the brightest minds in Australia from entering the research arena.
In all cases, in considering funding, care must be taken to ensure that the levels and mechanisms adopted do not form disincentives to study and incentives to be unemployed.
2.1.2 FUNDING THE PRACTICE OF TEACHING
The role of scholarship embraced by universities encompasses both teaching and research, with the former being informed by the latter. Government and universities need to achieve a balance between the two. The primary purpose for which the government funds universities is teaching, yet there appears to be disproportionate emphasis given to separate research funding, resulting in research being seen as the primary basis for promotion in some universities. Public recognition of the value of teaching by government support of separate granting mechanisms, such as CUTSD, which support not only best practice and innovations in practice, could be expanded to include the promotion of the teaching interface with the community eg. targeted lecture series and activities to introduce high school students to engineering or science, will have substantial benefits for the formation of the knowledge based society needed for the 21st century.
ATN universities ensure the importance of teaching in their universities by establishing practices to enhance the quality of teaching in the university eg. centres or institutes for learning and teaching, which run programs for academic staff on various aspects of teaching practice, conduct evaluations of teaching on an individual staff member or subject, and by incorporating teaching components in their promotions criteria (Appendix 1).
The opportunity to enhance the dynamics of learning by incorporating electronic technology is being eagerly embraced, allowing industry simulations ranging from laboratory work to management problems and financial forecasting and permitting students to participate from their home, workplace or campus at a time convenient to them.
There are significant costs in developing the technological infrastructure and collaborative arrangements are being developed. These costs must be recognised by Government through targeted funding mechanisms.
Load measures might form only one aspect of funding with performance measures forming another component. Performance measures related to teaching need to be carefully considered. Graduation, or minimum time completion rates are attractive but are difficult to interpret when flexible delivery is a major factor. Entrance scores such as the TER are also widely advocated yet are relatively poor predictors of success at university. Some universities which select students with lower entry scores adopt appropriate learning processes and are able to achieve outcomes which are equal to other universities as evidenced by accreditation of the graduates for professional practice.
Governments historically have offered funding incentives to achieve desired policy objectives, eg. API funding tied to the number of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students enrolled. These reward mechanisms are usually highly successful and could be incorporated more widely in funding strategies. Inclusion of factors, such as, `collaboration', `cooperation', `internationalisation', `diversity' and `addressing cross-cultural issues', in a composite index for formula funding is attractive.
The ATN welcomes the extension of funds to collaborative industry grants but notes that while the former institutes of technology relied on industry funds for their applied research activities, the scale of involvement as part of overall R&D was small, and that older universities, now moving into this area, will also be successful in attracting funds. Reduction in taxation concessions for industry R&D from 150% - 125% will inhibit expansion of this type of research.
Inclusion of output measures as a component in allocating Research Quantum (RQ) funds is supported but care must be taken in choosing measures because of potential bias. Publications are a case in point. They are one type of output from research, however, grants are usually required to enable the research to be undertaken. The traditional form of publication considered as an output measure is refereed journals, yet practitioners in the newer fields may not find that method of disseminating research findings appropriate. In some cases the emphasis is to communicate findings directly to practitioners who can use them in their work, in others it may be that the appropriate form of output is a video or other form of composition or it may be a product. Increasingly electronic forms of publishing will be used. A serious constraint on the reliance on refereed journals is the lead time which may be involved between awarding a grant, completing the research and publishing. The last phase may take five years from writing the article, sending it to the Journal's editor, awaiting review and then, if successful, joining the queue for publication. If views represented in the research are contrary to those of the establishment in the field there is greater difficulty in getting published.
The ATN urges a greater degree of recognition of the diversity of ways in which research can occur and the appropriate outputs than exists at the present time. The range of fields in which research can occur needs to be acknowledged and sophisticated measures adopted for evaluating output which does not exclusively favour one type of field or institution. Publications should be only one form of output measure adopted as a basis for research funding.
The ATN urges government in considering research funding to see the potential for innovation by increasing the ability of institutions to compete with each other for research funding. Universities, of whatever age, have the potential to create their own research strengths by deliberately building teams of researchers through internal allocation of funds. This can open opportunities for multidisciplinary teams which cross frontiers in their research, leading to new knowledge and innovation.
The current structures for evaluation of research grant proposals need to be broadened. The discipline base of the assessment panels results in an extremely broad range of research applications being considered by the panels which can not have expertise in all areas covered, particularly in the humanities, or in the research methodologies deemed appropriate for the research.
Historically governments have separated higher education and vocational education through different funding mechanisms and legislative provisions. The demarcation between the two areas is less clear cut today than it has ever been. Many university courses must include training components - architecture, engineering, science. There are calls for university courses to be more industry relevant, to include more skills and knowledge applications than have been common in many courses.
Institutions which were formerly restricted to vocational education now offer higher education courses. The boundaries have blurred.
There are numerous examples where the two sectors interface.
Students are becoming more sophisticated in choosing courses, particularly as they move into the continuous learning mode. They will increasingly choose courses based on the types of learning processes and outcomes associated with a course. Demand factors and institutional profiles will lead to development of a diversity of responses to the interface of the sectors. This is an advantage.
EXTRACT FROM UTS PROMOTION TO PROFESSOR POLICY
CRITERIA FOR PROMOTION
a) qualifications
b) performance and standing
c) leadership within the University
Qualifications
3.5.4 Applicants must possess high academic and professional qualifications, appropriate to their discipline or field. A Professor will normally be expected to hold a higher degree and/or professional qualifications at a high level, such as Fellowship of an appropriate professional body.
Performance and Standing
3.5.5 Applicants' performance and standing will be assessed in three areas of activity:
a) teaching and educational development
b) scholarship, and the advancement of knowledge and its applications
c) contributions to the University and the community.
To attain promotion to Professor, an applicant must be able to demonstrate outstanding contributions to any two areas and a major contribution to the third.
3.5.6 Performance and standing in the three areas will be judged on evidence based on the following:
a) Teaching and Educational Development. An outstanding contribution would be demonstrated by superior standing in the area of teaching and educational development, with clear evidence of recognition and standing at national and preferably international level unless this is demonstrably unrealistic. It would include some or all of:
i) acknowledged excellence as a teacher both within UTS and more broadly within the discipline or field
ii) ability to inspire students and to impart to them a desire to learn
iii) a leading role in the development and introduction of new courses or educational programs which is recognised beyond UTS
iv) development of new or exemplary teaching materials or facilities, or approaches to teaching or assessment
v) high level contributions to educational developments in professional bodies or learned societies
vi) encouragement of critical thinking, and innovative approaches by students
vii) attraction of significant funds in the area of educational development, for example, through the Committee for the Advancement of University Teaching (CAUT) and the National Priority Reserve Fund (NPRF)
viii) significant referred publications of national or international standing in the area.
A major contribution might involve a slightly lower level of achievement in one or more of these aspects, or less breadth of achievement across the area of teaching and educational development.
Applicants are advised that non-anecdotal material on teaching ability greatly assists the Committee in its assessment.
b) Scholarship and the Advancement of Knowledge and its Application. An outstanding contribution would be one of unusual depth and significance, or a series of contributions sustained over an extended period of time, with clear evidence of international recognition and standing unless this is demonstrably unrealistic. A major contribution would be demonstrated by original authorship of works describing advances in knowledge in the applicant's discipline or field, or the application of new knowledge in original ways to problems of acknowledged importance or new expressions of knowledge or creative insight; and would require evidence that the applicant is recognised nationally and preferably internationally.
Evidence under this heading of scholarship and the advancement of knowledge and it applications could include:
i) authorship of highly regarded books, articles, papers, patents or inventions, preferably either refereed or supported by other evidence of peer recognition
ii) authorship, direction or execution of performances, productions, exhibitions, or designs appropriate to the discipline or medium concerned
iii) record of successfully conduction, promoting or leading research and development activities or groups related to the aims of the University
iv) performance in professional practice, acknowledged by appropriate peer recognition
v) achievement in consultancy work in terms of its contribution to the advancement of knowledge and/or its applications, and of professional practice
vi) appointment to external bodies, or invitations by other institutions to act in an expert capacity. Contributions of a scholarly kind to the affairs of a professional organisation or learned society
vii) editorial contributions to scholarly journals and other professional publications
viii) ability to attract support in the form on internal and/or external research grants, research and development contracts and the like
ix) invitations to address scholarly or professional meetings and conferences etc.
The level and quality of the work will be the critical aspect; quantity alone will not be sufficient.
c) Contributions to the University and the Community. This areas relates primarily to the need for academic staff, particularly at senior levels, to make a sustained contribution to the management and corporate life of the University including, for example, an involvement in the awareness of equity and access issues; and also to the general role of the University in the community where this is not covered by the specific headings above.
A major or outstanding contribution would relate at the levels implied by those terms, to some or all of:
i) the management of a substantial unit or function
ii) evidence of substantial contributions to policy formulation
iii) contribution to entrepreneurial work in the University's interest
iv) level of achievement in consultancy work in terms of its contribution to public policy or other major community issues
v) where appropriate, initiation or active maintenance of major linkages between the University and external groups of employers or graduates
vi) sustained and high level contributions to professional organisations, learned societies, Government and industry policy advisory bodies, or major community groups in areas relevant to the applicant's academic expertise.
3.5.7 In the two areas of activity other than teaching and educational development, claims of outstanding or major contributions should be supported, in cases where it is appropriate, by evidence that the applicant's work is known and highly regarded beyond the confines of the University. In the area of teaching and educational development, for an outstanding contribution, the applicant's work normally should be known and highly regarded at national and preferably international level It will be appreciated that hard and fast boundaries cannot always be drawn between the three areas, and that some activities could legitimately be counted under more than one heading. For example, publication of an introductory text may not constitute an advance in knowledge in the discipline concerned; but it might well constitute an advance in knowledge in the discipline concerned: but might well constitute either a work of scholarship, or the production of new or exemplary teaching material, or both. In the professional field of Education it may be difficult or inappropriate to distinguish between the areas covered by "teaching etc" and "scholarship etc" In fields closely concerned with creative expression it may be difficult to distinguish between professional practice and the advancement of knowledge; although it is suggested above that the attempt to do so is worthwhile.
In each individual case, the Promotion Panel will attempt to interpret the criteria as appropriate to the discipline or field concerned."