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Indigenous Education Strategies in Higher Education 2001-2003

University of Tasmania

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

Objectives

The University is committed to the following equity objectives: improving access for students from a variety of ethnic and cultural backgrounds; providing an open, equitable, responsive and meritocratic educational system; pursuing an active policy of equal employment opportunity; and providing employment opportunities for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in the University.

These objectives are operationalised in the Riawunna Strategic and Operational Plan, and in the University’s Equal Opportunity Policy, Equity Plan and Aboriginal Recruitment and Career Development Strategy. The University widely disseminates its strategic and operational plans and reports on performance outcomes.

• To develop and maintain a comprehensive policy of self-determination in relation to Aboriginal higher education at the University of Tasmania;
• To increase the participation of Aboriginal students at the University to rates commensurate with those of all Australians in higher education;
• To provide University students and staff and the wider Tasmanian community with opportunities to gain an awareness of Aboriginal cultures and histories;
• To increase the number of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people employed at all levels within the University;
• To encourage the publication of Tasmanian Aboriginal perspectives on Indigenous issues and to facilitate original research;
• To increase Aboriginal participation and success in postgraduate courses.

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Consultative Mechanisms

A Riawunna Advisory Board is being established to provide advice on the Murina and Aboriginal Studies teaching and research programs. An Aboriginal Student Services Committee is also being established to provide advice on Indigenous students support mechanisms. These bodies will provide advice to the University through the Dean of Arts. Riawunna Advisory Board membership will include representatives of the Aboriginal community, Aboriginal students, Riawunna staff, DETYA, and the Tasmanian Aboriginal Education Association, and University and national Indigenous academic community representatives. The Riawunna Advisory Board will have a majority of Indigenous members and will play a pivotal role in fostering Indigenous self-determination within the University.

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Current and Continuing Activities

The following activities are expected to continue into the 2001-2003 triennium:

Participation

Riawunna will continue to maintain and develop the Murina Program as an alternative avenue for Aboriginal students to enter higher education and as a support program for Aboriginal undergraduate students. Orientation and assessment programs will be continued in the three regions to assist Aboriginal people to access University courses.

Riawunna will continue to administer and promote ATAS to all Aboriginal students enrolled in University courses as a means of improving retention and success rates.

As part of its Equity Plan the University will continue to identify places reserved for Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander applicants, for example, in the School of Law where two places annually are allocated to Aboriginal students. Riawunna will work to further develop this concept across a range of academic disciplines.

Research

The Centre will promote postgraduate opportunities for Aboriginal students and create opportunities for Aboriginal people to pursue academic careers requiring postgraduate qualifications.

Riawunna will encourage all staff to undertake continuous professional development and to pursue further qualifications.

The University will continue to extend employment opportunities for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as guest lecturers, tutors, consultants and short term or casual appointments. A register of Aboriginal people with expertise and knowledge in educational areas and Aboriginal issues will be maintained. The University has identified an ATSI recruitment officer as a liaison/contact person and will co-ordinate the register with the Office of Aboriginal Affairs. The University will ensure that all vacancies are advertised through Riawunna for dissemination within the ATSI communities.

The Murina Program and the Aboriginal Tutorial Assistance Scheme will continue to increase the employment of Aboriginal tutors and guest lectures.

The University will undertake an annual survey of Aboriginal employment.

Major achievements to date in 2000

• Honours program commenced in Aboriginal Studies. Currently three Aboriginal staff participate in the program.
• Larissa Behrendt, ANU Research Fellow, presented a seminar to honours students and a University forum, which was well received.
• Sponsorship of an International Symposium on Native Solutions: Indigenous Knowledge and Today’s Fire Management, July 2000.

• Appointment of an Associate Professor as Director of Riawunna.
• Completion of an innovative new Riawunna facility on the Launceston campus designed in collaboration with the Aboriginal community, students, and staff, providing enhanced services and increased accessibility to Indigenous students.
• In 1999 Riawunna delivered a full Aboriginal Studies major. The five academic staff also jointly developed and presented a number of new Indigenous studies units, some of which have been included in other majors.
• Dr. Peter Read, ARC Senior Fellow at the ANU Centre for Cross Cultural Research, visited Riawunna Launceston and Hobart to work with staff and students and present public seminars.
• The University Teaching Excellence Award, the University’s most prestigious teaching award, was won by Dr Shayne Breen, a Riawunna lecturer, reflecting the emphasis placed on high quality teaching.
• Fifteen Elders from Victoria visited Riawunna Hobart campus for an afternoon of sharing in a visit facilitated by Jim Everett, a high profile Tasmanian Aboriginal and guest lecturer in Riawunna’s Murina and undergraduate courses.
• Riawunna organised activities on both campuses to mark Sorry Day and to foster the Reconciliation process through joint Community and University meetings.
• Riawunna staff facilitated workshops in both Launceston and Hobart at the Tasmanian Aboriginal Education Association Conference and also assisted with the development of cross cultural training for the Department of Environment and Land Management

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Planned New Activities

The following new activities are planned for the 2001-2003 triennium:

Review of Riawunna’s Strategic and Operational Plan

Goal- Review of the Strategic and Operational Plan commenced in 2000, with the revised policy document to be forwarded to Riawunna Advisory Board in 2001.

Activity - Review will be undertaken through working party, staff meetings and University and community consultations.

Marketing Strategy

Goal - Riawunna will undertake extensive promotion and marketing within the Aboriginal communities in Tasmania and interstate, to recruit students.

Activity - Development of promotional material and targeting of students in secondary colleges, TAFE, government agencies and Aboriginal organisations.

Statewide forum to promote the University/Riawunna to the community 2002/3.

Goal - Establish Riawunna research higher degree programs and promote enrolments.

Activity - Hosting of research seminar series, a collective research summer school and an Indigenous Research Forum in 2001.

Facilitate staff participation in, and completion of, an academic research publication on identity and place for joint publication.

Establishment of Aboriginal Staff Committee

Goal - To improve Indigenous content in courses across the University.

Activity - Riawunna will establish a committee comprising all Aboriginal staff in the University to provide advice and make recommendations to the wider University community on Aboriginal content within different disciplines.

Review Enabling Program ­ including distance education

Goal - An integrated and more effective support program will be available by 2001, with improved access opportunities for isolated students.

Activity - A review of the Enabling Program (Murina) will be conducted on both Hobart and Launceston campuses during 2000 and completed by 2001. The review process will include focus groups, individual discussions and a survey.

Distance education material will be developed for the Murina program to improve access for Aboriginal people living outside commuting distance of the University’s campuses and study centres. Distance education programs will utilise innovative teaching technologies including accessing the WWW and video-based delivery.

National Conference

Goal - To organise and host an Indigenous National Forum to facilitate discussion on the formulation of Aboriginal theoretical frameworks for use in Aboriginal Studies courses nationwide.

Goal - Regular program of Indigenous writers, scholars and spokespeople to be developed and supported to enhance the research culture of Riawunna and foster the development of Indigenous paradigms and perspectives.

Activity - Two visitors per semester providing guest lectures, tutorials, teaching in Murina program, liaison with Aboriginal students across the University, public seminars and interaction with and presentations to Aboriginal community.

Goal - Increased awareness of Indigenous Australian people and their culture and history.

Activity - Riawunna will contribute to the University staff development program aimed at increasing staff awareness of the diversity of the student population and the issues which most affect Indigenous success in higher education.

Goal - Provision of adequate information to inform the development of faculty specific strategies within the Indigenous Education strategy.

Activity - In association with the University’s planning section, develop data reporting and analysis systems to enable more accurate understanding of the performance of Indigenous students.

Arrangements for Monitoring and Evaluation

All strategies will be monitored and evaluated by the Riawunna Advisory Board.

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The analysis of the Indigenous population in Tasmania is based on the formally collected census data (1996 census) which provide the necessary demographic and social indicators. The distribution of Indigenous people shows three approximately equal concentrations in Hobart, Launceston and the North-West Coast. Smaller communities are also located on the islands, particularly Flinders and Cape Barren Islands. In 1998 the proportion of Indigenous people resident in the State in the 17-64 age range was approximately 1.7% of the equivalent State population, however, this is likely to have increased.

Education participation in the State remains lower among the Indigenous population than the non-Indigenous population, which is itself lower than the national average. In 1999 the Indigenous population continued to be over-represented in enabling courses, proportionately represented in undergraduate courses and under-represented at postgraduate levels.

Whilst annual fluctuations based on small numbers makes analyses of trends unreliable, there continue to be positive indicators. Access and participation rates continue to be significantly higher than the national rates. (The access rate of 3.07% is well above the national figure.) The majority of Aboriginal students continue to commence award courses in the Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences, however, Aboriginal students have also enrolled in Medicine, Fine Arts, Economics and Law as a direct result of individual support and advice provided by Riawunna staff and following their participation in the Murina bridging program.

The retention rate for 1999 is above the national figure and it is anticipated that this increase will continue.

Academic success, while higher than the national figure at 0.82%, is slightly lower than in the previous year. The success indicator is variable due to small numbers across different schools and disciplines. However, a review of academic units with larger Aboriginal enrolments (Humanities, Social Work, Education, Fine Arts) indicates that Aboriginal students recorded levels of success better than, or comparable to, those of all other students. Nursing, Law and Sociology continue to record relatively low levels of success for Aboriginal students and these areas have priority for strategic action in the 2001-2003 triennium.

Notes:

1. Ratio of equity group share of student population to equity group share of general population.
2. Ratio of progress rate for equity group students to that for other students.
3. Ratio of apparent retention rate for equity group students to that for other students.

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Report on Expenditure

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Contact

Associate Professor Ian Green
Director, Riawunna
Tel: (03) 6324 3030
Fax: (03) 6324 3483
Email: Ian.Green@utas.edu.au

Ms Clair Andersen, Assistant Director
Riawunna, Centre for Aboriginal Education
Tel: (03) 6226 2517
Fax: (03) 6226 2575
Email: Clair.Andersen@utas.edu.au

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