The attacks on tertiary education around Australia continue to escalate. The University of Wollongong has announced it would reduce the current 11 faculties into five “super-faculties” aimed at putting the university in the “top 1%” of global institutions.
“The proposal is merge faculties, it’s not about laying down activities, it’s about a reorganisation to maximise the assets that we've got.”
the super-faculties plan meant “[in terms of courses] we will be expanding our brief rather than reducing our brief. It’s about enhancing the student experience and creating more opportunities for interdisciplinary courses and joint degrees across subject boundaries.’’
However, Wollongong Undergraduate Students’ Association President Peter Hughes told ABC Radio that students still have big concerns about the subjects that will be on offer.
He said: some of the degrees offered to especially undergraduate students may be watered down. There are concerns that the more profitable, more vocational degrees will be given priority over perhaps more classical degrees such as humanities.”
The university’s is open for consultation until the end of next month.
Elsewhere around Australia, universities have been criticised over arrangements to allocate the proceeds of
Students at Sydney's Macquarie University held a public forum on August 7, hearing from postgraduate and undergraduate students who have faced impediments and frustration from university management.
Student member of the Macquarie University Council, Gemma Brooks, outlined big problems she had with the body drawn up to determine allocation of SSAF funding, including the poor representation of women and the small minority of representatives directly elected by students. Brooks was the convener of Macquarie University Student Representative Association (MUSRA) last year.
At the University of Queensland (UQ), students have expressed outrage after every major ticket competing against the incumbent “Fresh Union” group was declared invalid for upcoming student union elections. The tickets were excluded from the election under constitutional changes made just days before the elections were announced.
An . About 60 candidates have withdrawn from the election to protest Fresh’s moves.
Students have called a protest in the Great Court on August 29. will “demand free and fair elections and a more transparent UQ Union”. The group has also
As neoliberal attacks on tertiary education and the right to independent student organisations grow around Australia, so does resistance. Students, academics, educators and campaigners from around the country will gather at the Australian National University for
The conference calls for “students from far and wide to converge at the home of the Australian political class and build a strong student movement”. Register for the conference on its website.