University Sector Under Increasing Pressure -- Go8 Foresees Loss of Quality -- So What's New? (October 25, 2010)

Nine years ago (September 2001) the Senate Employment, Workplace Relations, Small Business and Education Reference Committee delivered its report on higher education: Universities in Crisis. Two of the signatories were Senator Jacinta Collins, currently Parliamentary Secretary for School Education and Workplace Relations, and Senator Kim Carr, currently Minister for Innovation, Industry, Science and Research. Senator Chris Evans, current Minister for Tertiary Education, Skills, Jobs and Workplace Relations, was not a member of the committee.

This past Saturday The Australian's Guy Healy told his readers "Universities facing crisis of confidence" and in today's issue of the broadsheet Julie Hare, the higher education editor, opens with: "Top unis warn on loss of quality".

Mr Healy warns: "THE university system is under severe stress on four fronts. Student-staff ratios are blowing out, export income is evaporating, access to research grants is at demoralisation levels and universities are struggling to replace an ageing academic workforce."

Ms Hare writes: "THE academic integrity and international competitiveness of Australia's universities faces being seriously compromised. This would occur if the Gillard government goes ahead with plan to approve thousands of additional student places without a corresponding boost to the sector's funding."

Mr Healy: "[Higher education consultant Vin] Massaro says the $5.4bn Labor promised is technically correct, but it's not all additional funding, which amounts to an extra $1.6bn, or just one-third the amount Bradley had suggested."

Ms Hare: "According to... the Group of Eight, the federal government's proposal to provide an additional 110,000 undergraduate student places by 2020, and 235,000 by 2030, is putting quantity over quality and will result in much higher fees or greatly diminished academic standards."

Mr Healy: "'There is no doubt Australia's staff-student ratio has increased and is too high . . . and is but one indicator of an underfunded sector,' Deakin University professor of higher education Marcia Devlin says."

Ms Hare: "The group [of Eight] yesterday called on the Gillard government to either commit to billions of dollars to fund the proposed boost in university places, or allow tertiary institutions to make up the difference with sharply higher fees... [otherwise] the quality of tertiary education provided by Australian universities compared with other advanced countries will slide."

Mr Healy: "[Lynn] Meek, who directs the L. H. Martin Institute for Higher Education Leadership and Management at the University of Melbourne, says 'no one can argue that quality and standards are not compromised' as [student/] ratios reach these levels [approaching 25:1 or higher].

Ms Hare: "The Group of Eight estimates the additional [student] places will cost an extra $3.6 billion a year (in 2008 dollars) by 2030. To maintain current staff-to-student ratios, among the highest in the world at over 20:1, will cost $1bn, while reducing them to 16:1 would cost further $7.5bn."

Mr Healy: "[I]n March a report on a looming crunch [of academics] from demographer Graeme Hugo of Adelaide University... made grim reading. A decline in PhD commencements in fields critical to Australia's economic sustainability and competitiveness is occurring at a time when the age profile of our academic workforce is older than the workforce as a whole, Hugo says."

Ms Hare: "A spokesman for Tertiary Education Minister Chris Evans said the government was committed to a review of cluster funding rates -- or what the government pays universities for enrolling students in different disciplines -- 'so that funding for teaching and learning remains internationally competitive'."

Mr Healy: "Poor morale is also an issue, Hugo adds, citing research released last year by the L. H. Martin Institute across 25 countries. Australia has the third lowest level of satisfaction with academic work and the highest proportion of academics who have considered taking action towards changing their jobs, or 33 per cent. And [Lyne] Meek says the Gillard government, and the Australian higher education sector are, 'just starting to wake up to the fact that it faces a crisis' of renewal of the workforce. The social and economic contribution of the nation's universities will be severely compromised if we end up with a second-rate academic workforce."

Ms Hare: "'There are a whole lot of students who could afford to pay more but don't because the government won't let them,' [Mike] Gallagher [,executive director of the Group of Eight,] said. [However,] Australia is already the third-highest in OECD nations in how much individuals contribute to tertiary education -- behind only the US and Korea.

     A spokesman for senator Brett Mason, who has carriage of higher education for the opposition, said: 'The Go8's paper raises many issues and ideas that are very important in developing... policy.'"

And finally Mr Healy: "Despite the government's talk of freeing the system, the options of increasing private funding through uncapping students' HECS contributions or a return to full fees for domestic students in future are not open for discussion, Massaro says. 'Surely these options must be canvassed fully given the lack of alternatives,' he says."

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Actually there is a simple answer: forget about trying to raise the proportion of Australians obtaining bachelor degrees; significantly raise student fees to be paid up front, and raise entrance standards markedly. That will cut down on the enrolments thereby reducing student:staff ratios. Simultaneously, reduce the number of replacements for staff attrition but not so much as to preclude student:staff reduction. Furthermore, by holding research funding constant, an increase in the percentage of successful grant applications would ensue, thereby increasing staff morale.

And if judiciously handled we might even see a reduction of the number of universities proffering their begging bowls.

Ergo:  RESOLUTION of PROBLEM.  In short RoP.

Or: Perhaps the government might entertain increasing the proportion of GDP supporting the higher education sector?

No, that might cause the sky to fall.