13 December 2009

CCAE aka UC to be on notice thanks to new overseer

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The polytechnic with tickets on itself out at Bruce (no, not CIT!) is on notice. A new body modelled on ASIC is being formed – I think it’s to be TEQA or TEQSA (Tertiary Education Quality something-or-other).

Basically, there is a lot of concern that Australia’s less-than-finest universities are concentrating on anything other than teaching standards, and they are dragging down the whole sector – and they will be required to lift their game or else.

With University of Canberra’s chancelry touting bizarre plans to capture students from the early primary school years by partnering and part-owning a school (just imagine for a moment the culture of a student body composed of UC ticky-tacky zombies), and partnering on odd marketing exercises like their “Public Service Cheesecake Charity Calendar” with a local commercial FM station, and purchasing Sieglinde Karl jewellery, er, “for the collection”, there’s no doubt the UC managers are distracted.

We should all wish the remaining talented (and oftentime bullied) UC staff all the best in their (albeit losing) battle for credibility and a focus on teaching.

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The new body is pretty much an amalgamation of 2 existing bodies.

UC has been digging itself into a hole for many years.

Re OP.
A disgruntled ex-employee or an ANU Grad??
Why not tell us what you REALLY think. Don’t hold back.

Wow. Gratuitous UC bashing much? I’m an ANU grad who likes to enjoy a bit of a tongue-in-cheek poke at my Belconnen-educated friends as well, but this article reads like “Wow, a news story that loosely involves UC. Time to get the boot in!”.

Not to mention that no source is linked, and the original author doesn’t even know the name of the new body…

On the other hand, a body to monitor university teaching standards seem like a great idea. Potential students deserve some reliable indication of the standard of education they are buying^M^M^M^M^M enrolling for. That goes for more universities than just UC.

neanderthalsis10:20 am 14 Dec 09

It is called TEQSA (Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency) and will impose similar standards concerning minimum governance and quality compliance that VET providers (including all the dodgy international colleges currently being shut down) are currently subjected to. It came about as a result of the Bradley Review into Higher Ed.

It is replacing AUQA, a bit of a toothless tiger when it comes to actually enforcing quality outcomes (loonies in charge of the asylum type scenario)

As for TEQSA having power to shut down underperforming universities, that isn’t likely… According to MCTEE (the MinCo for Tertiary Education and Employment) Universities will remain autonomous institutions created and maintained under state-based legislation. Whilst the actual roles of TEQSA are not fully determined it is generally believed by all stakeholders that TEQSA will not be given the authority to establish or deregister universities. It is generally thought that it will however have control over a significant amount of the discretionary funding available to universities and could, if necessary, withhold funding from an underperforming institution.

luther_bendross9:36 am 14 Dec 09

Ummm… do you have any references for this?

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