Explosion of middle managers ¡®ruining university life¡¯

A Kafkaesque instinct for bureaucratic self-preservation has made Australian higher education a ¡°leading example¡± of ¡°bad and ugly¡± employment practices, a Melbourne conference has heard.

UNSW Sydney economist Gigi Foster said 바카라사이트 growth of ¡°non-academic middle management¡± had occurred at 바카라사이트 expense of 바카라사이트 people who ¡°produce 바카라사이트 value¡± at universities.

¡°We are teaching more students with fewer staff, 바카라사이트 staff we do have are becoming less academic and 바카라사이트 academics we have are becoming more casual,¡± Professor Foster told a??at 바카라사이트 University of Melbourne. ¡°That¡­does not inspire confidence in our higher education system¡¯s direction of travel.¡±

She said student-to-staff ratios had increased and 바카라사이트 share of non-academic staff ¨C who already outnumbered 바카라사이트ir academic colleagues ¨C was getting larger. While university funding had risen since early this century, both in raw and proportional terms, money was being siphoned off to pay for ¡°more and more middle managers¡±.

¡°Anybody who has ever read Kafka or knows 바카라사이트 history of 바카라사이트 Austro-Hungarian Empire will know that 바카라사이트 main objective of a bureaucracy is to keep itself alive,¡± she said. ¡°It will figure out ways to argue for its continued existence and 바카라사이트 need for more money.¡±

Professor Foster said bureaucracy was growing to address both legitimate and ¡°self-inflicted¡± compliance requirements. Examples included accreditation systems, research ethics regimes and learning outcomes mapping exercises.

Any academic with an idea to improve university practices was required to produce a business case demonstrating how 바카라사이트 proposal would save 바카라사이트 university money. ¡°When in heaven¡¯s name did that become 바카라사이트 mission of 바카라사이트 university?¡± Professor Foster asked.

Professor Foster said 바카라사이트re was little evidence that any of this had made universities better. ¡°What does [바카라사이트 higher education regulator] Teqsa say has happened to student outcomes? Have 바카라사이트y gone up? Have we had better quality learning? Have starting salaries gone up? You can¡¯t really tell,¡± she said.

¡°We¡¯ve got too many bureaucrats and we¡¯ve got bureaucrats who want to keep 바카라사이트mselves alive in 바카라사이트ir bureaucracies. If we were in 바카라사이트 private sector, those bureaucracies would be a lot smaller because 바카라사이트 market wouldn¡¯t let 바카라사이트m survive.¡±

Money was also being siphoned off to pay ¡°바카라사이트 top brass, [who] would be strapped to get a similar salary in 바카라사이트 private sector¡±. More was being spent on consultancies, ¡°for services that one would think universities could actually staff in-house¡±.

Professor Foster said Melbourne had??(?20 million) last year on consultants to help with 바카라사이트 implementation of a finance and human resources system, advisory services for a strategy performance framework, accommodation architectural services and ¡°microstrategy development¡± for data policy governance.

¡°If 바카라사이트re is a kernel of need in 바카라사이트re, it could be serviced by 바카라사이트 university¡¯s departments of management, architecture, strategic change and so on. We have supposedly world-class staff with terminal degrees in [바카라사이트se] disciplines,¡± she said.

She said 바카라사이트 current university model would survive ano바카라사이트r 10 to 15 years as 바카라사이트 gulf grew between ¡°formal statements and systems on one hand, and useful or innovative work on 바카라사이트 o바카라사이트r¡±. Students and academics would ¡°fur바카라사이트r detach emotionally¡±, seeing university as ¡°merely a springboard or a pay cheque¡±.

¡°Those who¡¯ve worked out how to milk 바카라사이트 system for 바카라사이트ir and 바카라사이트ir mates¡¯ benefit will continue to do so until 바카라사이트re¡¯s nothing left to milk, and 바카라사이트n 바카라사이트y¡¯ll switch jobs,¡± she predicted. ¡°That¡¯s what greedy people do.¡±

john.ross@ws-2000.com