SUBMISSION TO
REVIEW OF HIGHER EDUCATION
FINANCING AND POLICY

By

M A CLINCH

14 May 1997

1. Background

There have been years of rapid change to higher education, based largely on a combination of political policy to increase access and a succession of serious funding constraints.

Many institutions have been left punch drunk, and or seriously damaged by attempting to keep up with a succession threats whilst at the same time delivering education to students. Institutions with fewer resources behind them, such as the newer ones in regional Australia have been particularly hard hit. Bare survival creates a competition of interests which rarely produces stability and maturity of vision. Stress levels are high.

The speed of decision-making necessary in this environment has led to concentration of power in the hands of managers and money holders, rather than in the hands of the teaching and researching academics. Academics gravitating to administration have done relatively well, compared with those delivering more and more for less in the lecture room. Some of the latter have become marginalised, or even unemployed, as a result of the actions of the former. Some have become victims of baseless formulae and/or feel threatened and powerless. Obviously, this is not a positive working environment and needs improvement.

The Review is timely. Future directions in higher education need to be established considering first of all, what needs to be achieved, before financial aspects are considered. The Review aims at greater flexibility in higher education. Hopefully this would not be inconsistent with greater stability in the industry, and a greater emphasis on moral treatment of employees.

2. Recent directions in higher education

In the last ten years, I have noticed the following trends in higher education:

A blurring of the distinction between education and training

A broadening of the role of universities away from their central role of educating for the professions, and educating the well informed democratic citizen.

A gravitating of qualifications up the academic scale, ea. diploma to degree, for reasons other than difficulty of its content.

The elimination of prerequisites, articulation and use of cross credits, in such a way as to weaken the quality of educational experience of some graduates

The granting of degrees which include only vocational subjects, rather than including some theoretical disciplines.

Training of school teachers in universities, sometimes creating two levels of acceptability in subject disciplines, in different degrees.

A new emphasis on training for jobs being more important than a liberal or general education.

A new emphasis on work related courses in universities at the 'higher degree' level such as courses for experienced administrators, more relevant in attracting a ready paying market than to providing a university level education.

A proliferation of 'protest', and 'anti-establishment' courses which have more to do with predetermined de-constructing than disciplined academic endeavour and enquiry. The prolonged attack on Anglo Saxon/British culture has been a major example of this.

A weakening of the value of higher degrees in general.

A blurring of the traditional path for qualifying research scientists in universities through the higher degree process.

A change in the nature of student life, so that there is less intellectual exchange outside the lecture room/laboratory

The starvation of important non-teaching functions such as libraries and archives, so that they are no longer an effective part of teaching and research, either by building their collections or user services. This is beyond what can be compensated for by technology.

Universities being less of a resource for the community and interacting less the community, except for fundraising purposes.

One positive new direction seems to be increasingly relevant research.

3. Summary of Recent Directions

The range of offerings at universities has become greater than appropriate, resulting in excessive overheads, particularly related to staff costs.

Many courses should be provided elsewhere, freeing the universities for education for the professions, and the educated democratic citizen.

The universities are for those who need to know WHY, rather than HOW.

4. Economic rationalism and liberal education

Control by economic rationalists has led to value systems in management based on money alone, with a predominance of short term outcomes. Complex organisations are being modelled, as if they are commercial franchises turning out widgets. Employees are discarded, regardless of their experience and commitment, as if they were so many uniform lifeless pegs. Insufficient attention is being paid to long term outcomes, and impact on the wider community.

There is an emphasis on economic needs, particularly training for industry, presumably in response to commercial demands. Skills training is migrating from lower technical levels to higher levels, displacing the essential purpose of the university. The education of scientists, and scientific research are two important roles for universities.

Australia's social and cultural needs are being neglected, through excessive use of the tools of economic rationalism to prioritise higher education courses, particularly in the universities. The availability of a good liberal education is necessary, particularly for professional people, to ensure an awareness of values, other than monetary values. Professions often requires the application of such values, and professionals often become leaders in community affairs. A narrow education is not enough.

This situation has been exacerbated by changes in the school system over the years, so that in many defined subjects like history, have disappeared in favour of an activity approach favouring the exchange of information which is often superficial, rather than a disciplined study approach. A growing lack of stability in home life in recent years, makes education which instils social terms of reference and cultural values in students even more important.

University education, with liberal content, should not be restricted to those who are planning a particular career. Women play a particularly important role as mothers in instilling values into their children in the home. We expect growing numbers of people to be unemployed. They too should have opportunities for a good education, so that they do not feel worthless, and can make a contribution to society.

5. Isolated/regional universities

Isolated/regional universities have significance in the areas they serve.

• People living in such areas have few educational alternatives

• Most institutions are newer with less resources behind them

• They have come to be a cultural centres for the community

• The community has come to depend on sharing university resources such as libraries, museums, archives, orchestras and theatres, in a way that has benefited both

• They are centres of research which is applicable in the region

• They are major employers for the region

• They have a role in stabilising population movement

• The application of national economic rationalist formulas alone, can mark whole institutions as not viable.

• Flexibility of staffing is not feasible.

• When experienced staff are lost, a major asset to the region is lost

In the case of some regional institutions, the effort to save them is by concentrating student numbers into a limited number of courses, leaving other courses with insufficient numbers to justify the retention of staffing. Some of these specialist staff have been employed for many years, and are an asset to the region.

What is left is an institution which is crippled by economic rationalisation, weakened by a loss of expertise, which cannot offer a full range of basic courses, particularly liberal education courses, and which is no longer sharing its resources with the community, and supporting it in other ways.

6. Financial considerations

Considerable economies could be achieved if many of the skills courses, which have been gravitated to universities, were returned to the technical level where the overheads are less.

If after the review, it is felt fees are necessary, they should be reasonable. Scholarships should then be available. This would be comparable to the late 1950's, when there were fees, but a reasonable percentage of matriculants gained Commonwealth scholarships which covered fees. To suggest the re-introduction of bonds for teachers, and perhaps for doctors (for the country) might be unpopular, but may have some merit again in present times.

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