As one-liners go this one was a dead set certainty to hit the fan. But note the
commentator was careful to say "seldom". That could be written just about any
first world university system outside the United States.
A spokesperson for
Tertiary Education Minister, Chris Evans. |
Professor Ed Byrne,
Vice Chancellor, Monash University. |
Professor Simon
Marginson, Centre for the Study of Higher Education, The University of
Melbourne. |
Dr Glenn Withers AO,
Chief Executive, Universities Australia. |
The Economist is sadly misinformed both about Australian wine
and our universities. Australian wine, and especially Western Australian
wine, is among the best in the world.
And the fact that so many international students choose to come to
Australia to study – notwithstanding the state of the dollar – shows
that the benefits of an Australian university education continue to be
valued internationally.
And that’s to say nothing of the world class research that our
universities turn out.
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Those comments may have been true in the past, quite some years ago. But
they are now totally historical. The Australian university system is
very vibrant. We are going forward in leaps about bounds in teaching,
research and innovation.
Morale is high across the sector, we have the support of the federal
government and we have people coming here, both students and academics,
from all over the world.
The Australian university system has never been in better shape. For
many positions that we advertise we have stellar applicants from across
the globe.
The comment is historical only and shows a lack of familiarity with the
really exciting events in the Australian university sector in recent
times.
The tertiary sector can always do with more money and funds are tight
but we have the support of federal government, which met pretty much
every commitment it made made in the recent budget. Contrast that to the
UK where university funding is being cut in a major way.
The sector was delighted with the funding we got in the recent budget.
It included full funding of uncapping and the best indexation that we
have had for many years, probably a full percentage point higher than
many VCs had expected. It included the fulfillment of a promise to
increase research infrastructure funding.
Contrast that to the UK, where the recent budget was dismal.
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It’s absolutely spot on. It’s a really good piece. I hope a lot of
people read it.
Australia spends less in public funding on universities than almost
every other country in the OECD. Australia spends 0.7% of GDP and the
OECD average is 1.1% of GDP.
We take on a lot of international students but they don’t add to the
total teaching and research capacity, it goes back into the running of
the business.
There’s been no increase in Australian Research Council funding for
about 10 years. There was a major report in 2001 which led to a doubling
of research funding over the next four years but there has been nothing
since then.
We’ve been swamped by every other university in Asia pouring money into
research in the last decade. We are going to be outstripped by the
region. Hong Kong, China, Taiwan, Korea are really pouring money in.
They know it’s about money. You get what you pay for.
The Americans of course have probably overfunded their university
sector. They are at 2.6% of GDP, its higher than anyone else in the
world.
In Australia, total student fees are amongst the highest in the world –
even the HECS places. In a lot of Europe they pay $500 or $1500 per
year. It’s quite different.
We have really struggled to realise our potential. We could have
universities as good as Canada. The University of Toronto is
outperforming ANU on research. We could do as well as that if we were
funded properly. We are as rich as Canada now.
We are a good place to live. Researchers say, ‘I’d like to live in
Australia but there’s no funding, there’s no opportunity.’ We could
attract high quality people if we funded research infrastructure
properly.
The University of Toronto is in the top 20 in the world. ANU is number
56 and the University of Melbourne is 62 and they are the best two we
have. Sydney is in the top 100.
It really is just about investment. That’s what the article is saying —
the government has to get serious about those things. Universities are a
long term thing. You put money into research now and it shows itself in
15 years.
The Australian political culture has a small vision, it seems smaller
than ever right now and universities are suffering because of that.
If you put another $500m into research you’d make an enormous
difference, whereas that’s a drop in the ocean in the transport sector.
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The Economist is right in emphasising the achievements of
Australia. It has delivered more than most in creating a country that is
fair, prosperous and free. But, as ever, there is much more that can be
done and, The Economist is also right in saying that the nation’s
universities are a key to this happening.
Economic studies certainly demonstrate, by the methods appealing to
economists and sometimes to governments, that full implementation of the
(Bradley) Higher Education Review recommendations alone would pay off in
productivity and employment by as much or more than the whole of the
COAG productivity reform agenda, with far less cost and political pain.
And that is before we factor in the additional social opportunity gains
and environmental and cultural benefits and the even spread of these
pay-offs across Australia.
Yet The Economist does seem to underestimate the real quality
of the Australian universities currently, just as it does Australian
wine. The Lisbon Council went beyond individual university rankings and
ranked higher education systems – and guess which country ranked first?
Australia. And we are right now in the throes of reforming the system
further with improved regulatory arrangements and review of base
funding. If we get these right we underpin national progress even more,
and avoid slipping back as has indeed been happening.
Individual universities nevertheless still do rather well. By the Times
world rankings we have five universities in the top 50. By the new QS
discipline rankings we have universities in the global top ten in many
fields. By the Government’s ERA rankings, we are at world level or
better across 60% of our research activity. And by any of these
rankings, imperfect as they can be, we consistently have a higher share
of our universities in the top 100-500 than any other country. We have
twice as many universities in the top University 500 as there are
Australian businesses in the Fortune Global 500.
This platform should be built on to sustain and enhance the national and
higher education achievement, both across the board and in our very top
achievers. We actually do not have to choose between support for some or
all universities as the return on investment is there for both
approaches. A wave of investment can lift all. We can then ensure a new
national balance by better combining the luck of natural bounty with the
even greater skills and smarts of our people.
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