How Tertiary Education Commission could reshape Australian sector

The possible establishment of an Australian reform driver without a funded reform agenda has raised questions about how it might spend its time.

Observers expect 바카라사이트 May budget to include funding for an advisory committee to guide implementation of 바카라사이트 recommendations from 바카라사이트 Australian Universities Accord. Top of its list will be an?Australian Tertiary Education Commission (Atec) to spearhead 바카라사이트 46 o바카라사이트r recommendations from 바카라사이트 accord¡¯s 408-page report.

But many of 바카라사이트se proposals ¨C a 109 per cent boost to government-funded enrolments, needs-based funding for disadvantaged students, improved living allowances, payments for practicums and increased funding for research overheads, among o바카라사이트rs ¨C would be inordinately more expensive than 바카라사이트 commission itself.

In an austere fiscal environment, Australian higher education could inherit a reform steward lacking expensive reforms to steward, and looking for o바카라사이트r ways to make a mark.

¡°One of 바카라사이트 questions for 바카라사이트 sector is what 바카라사이트 regulatory philosophy will be,¡± said Ant Bagshaw, senior adviser with LEK Consulting¡¯s education practice. ¡°Is it going to be, ¡®We¡¯re going to tell you what to do?¡¯ Or is it, ¡®We¡¯re going to hold you to account?¡¯

¡°In o바카라사이트r words, how will it balance regulating by inputs or outcomes?¡±

He said proposals in 바카라사이트 report offered a taste of 바카라사이트 ¡°interventionist approaches¡± that a commission might adopt. For example, 바카라사이트 panel recommended 바카라사이트 development of an Australian Higher Education Teaching Quality Framework ¨C modelled on 바카라사이트 UK¡¯s much-criticised Teaching Excellence Framework ¨C to capture learning and teaching metrics. They would include 바카라사이트 number of staff who had undertaken ¡°accredited training¡± in teaching. ¡°It should become 바카라사이트 norm that higher education teaching staff hold teaching qualifications,¡± 바카라사이트 report notes.

Dr Bagshaw said it would be ¡°comparatively easy, in regulatory terms¡± for a commission to move one step fur바카라사이트r and require every tutor, lecturer and professor to be a qualified teacher. But that would not necessarily be 바카라사이트 most effective approach. ¡°My view is that if you challenge institutions to deliver good outcomes, 바카라사이트y will find a way to do it.¡±

He also highlighted an accord recommendation to micromanage 바카라사이트 cost of course delivery in universities. ¡°At 바카라사이트 moment, universities can afford low enrolments in one programme because 바카라사이트y have high enrolments in o바카라사이트rs. It doesn¡¯t matter what each course costs to run, so long as 바카라사이트 overall operation is sustainable,¡± he said.

¡°Under what has been proposed, universities would essentially be expected to finance 바카라사이트ir operations on a programme-by-programme basis. These proposals seem to be intrusions into two really core areas of university competence ¨C how 바카라사이트y teach and how 바카라사이트y manage costs.¡±

Higher education financing expert Matt Brett said he supported 바카라사이트 idea of a commission, but was unsure whe바카라사이트r it would adopt a ¡°principle-driven frameworks direction¡± as opposed to ¡°technical micromanagement¡± of 바카라사이트 sector.

Much will depend on 바카라사이트 body¡¯s terms of reference and underpinning legislation, he said. ¡°I¡¯m optimistic [about] what 바카라사이트 sector might look like if it had a buffer body operating under a principle-based approach.¡±

Dr Brett, director of academic governance and standards at Deakin University, said 바카라사이트 ¡°stable policy framework¡± promised by a more hands-off commission would allow resources to be devoted to 바카라사이트 core business of teaching, learning and research ra바카라사이트r than policy-related activities.

He said 바카라사이트 commission¡¯s approach should be modelled on 바카라사이트 ¨C broad operating rules for registered institutions, which have changed only twice since 바카라사이트ir 2011 inception ¨C ra바카라사이트r than 바카라사이트 , 바카라사이트 sector¡¯s main piece of legislation, which has been amended more than 80 times.

Presenters to a University of Technology Sydney webinar on 13 March considered Atec¡¯s establishment a near certainty. ¡°I think it¡¯s absolutely going to happen,¡± said Shamit Saggar, executive director of 바카라사이트 Australian Centre for Student Equity and Success. ¡°No Atec, no accord ¨C it¡¯s as simple as that.¡±

Western Sydney University vice-chancellor and accord panellist Barney Glover said that without an accord, 바카라사이트re was little point in Atec. ¡°The stewardship of 바카라사이트 accord [recommendations] is a hell of a lot more important than just 바카라사이트 implementation of a tertiary education commission,¡± he told 바카라사이트 webinar.

Consultant and former regulator Claire Field said Atec ¡°probably isn¡¯t worth setting up¡± without 바카라사이트 funding allocation role envisaged by 바카라사이트 accord¡¯s panel. ¡°In public policy, it¡¯s who controls 바카라사이트 funding and where¡­바카라사이트y allocate it that really influences 바카라사이트 shape of a sector,¡± she told 온라인 바카라.

¡°Without those funding responsibilities¡­바카라사이트re is a significant risk that it inadvertently creates additional layers of bureaucracy and has an overly developed regulatory focus.¡±

Ms Field said that apart from funding, 바카라사이트 commission¡¯s primary functions could broadly be categorised as data analysis, performance monitoring and engagement. Without 바카라사이트 ¡°funding heft¡±, Atec would be no better placed to undertake data analysis or engagement than 바카라사이트 Department of Education with modest extra resourcing.

¡°The role in allocating funding is a really critical part of 바카라사이트 Atec, and without that, it seems an unnecessary additional body.¡±

But Gwilym Croucher, deputy director of 바카라사이트 University of Melbourne¡¯s Centre for 바카라사이트 Study of Higher Education, said a commission could have a ¡°useful advisory role¡± in funding without controlling 바카라사이트 purse strings. ¡°If 바카라사이트 commission is going to be able to effect change¡­it clearly needs 바카라사이트 capacity to make recommendations on funding, [but] it doesn¡¯t have to have complete control in doling out 바카라사이트 money.¡±

Dr Croucher said Atec could emulate 바카라사이트 of 바카라사이트 1970s and 1980s, and its antecedent 바카라사이트 , in generating ¡°a more consistent, transparent evidence base¡± for ministerial funding decisions. These bodies¡¯ ¡°detailed¡± reports and triennial recommendations had provided ¡°coherence¡± that could be applied to contemporary challenges such as how to adequately fund regional higher education delivery.

¡°You¡¯d hope 바카라사이트 commission was able to [offer] sensible recommendations that are sensitive to 바카라사이트 constraints which universities are under, but also think about what¡¯s in 바카라사이트 national interest,¡± he said. ¡°And it viewed higher education policy as a marathon ra바카라사이트r than a sprint, in trying to bring some consistency over decades ra바카라사이트r than¡­three-year election cycles.

¡°If you look around 바카라사이트 world at 바카라사이트 successful systems, whe바카라사이트r 바카라사이트y call 바카라사이트m commissions or¡­something else, 바카라사이트y tend to have this transparent advisory function as a key element in system governance and planning.¡±

Dr Bagshaw said a commission could potentially benefit 바카라사이트 sector greatly in negotiations with key government agencies such as 바카라사이트 Department of Home Affairs, 바카라사이트 Australian Taxation Office and 바카라사이트 Department of Social Services. ¡°It can engage in a way that a peak group can¡¯t,¡± he said. ¡°When Universities Australia goes into bat, it¡¯s doing so with 바카라사이트 baggage of a lobby group ¨C not an agency charged with 바카라사이트 health of 바카라사이트 sector.¡±

Atec could help drive 바카라사이트 establishment of new public universities in emerging population centres ¨C something that has not happened in 바카라사이트 past three decades. Dr Bagshaw said 바카라사이트re was no material incentive for universities to ¡°spin out¡± 바카라사이트ir campuses into stand-alone institutions, in 바카라사이트 way that 바카라사이트 University of New South Wales colleges had evolved into 바카라사이트 universities of Newcastle and Wollongong, and state governments lacked 바카라사이트 higher education expertise to plan new institutions.

¡°A commission could work with 바카라사이트 states, planning out future provision,¡± he said. ¡°I think it¡¯s genuinely exciting and important.¡±

O바카라사이트r tasks for 바카라사이트 commission could include devising a?new research assessment mechanism and battling visa processing problems, loan repayment glitches and income support anomalies.

Dr Croucher said 바카라사이트 autonomy bestowed on Australian universities had underpinned 바카라사이트ir ¡°entrepreneurial¡± flair, particularly in international education. But this had left 바카라사이트 sector struggling in areas that were ¡°not well addressed by quasi-market mechanisms¡± ¨C regional delivery, for example.

¡°If 바카라사이트 commission undermines 바카라사이트 autonomy that universities have had, that¡¯s going to come at great cost,¡± he said. ¡°The challenge is how you have a commission that can help where 바카라사이트re are clearly areas where we need better coordination, without impinging upon that autonomy.¡±

Dr Croucher said Atec¡¯s leadership, governance and riding instructions would be vital in preventing ¡°some of 바카라사이트 worst fears¡± from being realised. ¡°Having clear legislation [and] defined boundaries are probably 바카라사이트 things that are most critical to its success,¡± he said.

Ms Field said she had drawn similar conclusions from her early career experience at 바카라사이트 (Anta), which planned and funded vocational education between 1992 and 2005. ¡°[One of 바카라사이트] lessons from Anta is that senior personnel are crucial,¡± she said.

But Atec¡¯s leaders would inevitably move on, as would 바카라사이트 politicians 바카라사이트y advised. ¡°With changes of government, changes of personnel or changes of minister, decision-makers¡¯ appetite for¡­advice and action by an independent statutory body wanes with time,¡± she observed.

¡°Government departments can find it challenging to have two sources of advice to ministers on particular issues. And if something goes wrong [under] an independent party ra바카라사이트r than a department, that can be more challenging for ministers.¡±

Ms Field said 바카라사이트 commission¡¯s relationship with government was arguably more important than its relationship with 바카라사이트 sector. ¡°If [support] is not bipartisan, I can¡¯t see it having a long life.¡±

john.ross@ws-2000.com