Showing items 1 - 20 of 46

Your selections:

The frustrated career : Casual employment in higher education

  • Authors: Gottschalk, Lorene , McEachern, Steven
  • Date: 2010
  • Type: Text , Journal article
  • Relation: Australian Universities Review Vol. 52, no. 1 (2010), p. 37-50
  • Full Text:
  • Reviewed:
  • Description: The use of casual staff, including casual teaching staff, is a common practice in Australian universities and the numbers of casual staff in the sector has increased significantly in the last decade. The traditional profile for casual teachers was that of industry expert and students. Recent research has shown that the casual teacher is now more likely to be a person holding several casual jobs and seeking a career. Likewise, general staff in casual positions are often people who would prefer job security and a career. This research was conducted at a regional Australian university and used a questionnaire targeting staff in both the Technical and Further Education (TAFE) and higher education divisions in all occupational groups as well as in depth interviews of casual teaching staff. The findings show that the traditional profile no longer applies. Staff employed in casual positions often hold more than one job, at more than one institution and are seeking job security. They frequently, but unsuccessfully use casual work as a career strategy. The result is frustrated careers. [Author abstract]
  • Description: 2003008238

‘Working together’ : Public libraries supporting rural, regional, and remote low-socioeconomic student success in partnership with universities

  • Authors: Power, Emma , Partridge, Helen , Owen, Sue , Kelly, Kathryn , Jeffries, Sandra
  • Date: 2019
  • Type: Text , Journal article
  • Relation: Journal of the Australian Library and Information Association Vol. 68, no. 2 (2019), p. 105-125
  • Full Text:
  • Reviewed:
  • Description: University students living in rural, regional, and remote (RRR) areas of Australia face unique challenges including geographical isolation, lack of access to face-to-face support, and technological barriers. Additionally, RRR students from low-socioeconomic (low-SES) backgrounds experience multiple forms of disadvantage compared to their on-campus peers, and require additional study, learning, and social support. Partnerships between universities and local public libraries can enhance RRR low-SES student success through increased access to face-to-face support, reliable technologies, and study facilities. This exploratory research, led by five regional universities, presents the first national-level empirical data exploring how Australian public libraries and universities can work together to facilitate success for RRR low-SES students. Data were gathered through semi-structured interviews with public librarians from RRR low-SES communities across Australia. Thematic analysis findings explore themes of librarians’ perceptions of students as persons; the role of regional librarians in supporting RRR low-SES students; RRR low-SES students’ access to learning support; and the critical elements of sustainable partnerships between RRR public libraries and universities. Key recommendations are provided to guide future partnerships between public libraries and universities, including building the foundations of partnerships; professional development to support partnerships; and recommendations for good partnership practices. © 2019 Emma Power, Helen Partridge, Sue Owen, Kathryn Kelly and Sandra Jeffries.

A role for universities in sustaining regional ICT initiatives? Exploring the case of the University of Ballarat

  • Authors: Thompson, Helen
  • Date: 2004
  • Type: Text , Conference paper
  • Relation: Paper presented at the 2004 Community Informatics Research Networks Inaugural Conference and Colloquium, Prato, Itay : 29 September - 1 October, 2004 p. 175-188
  • Full Text: false
  • Reviewed:
  • Description: This paper discusses the important support role that universities can play in the establishment and ongoing sustainability of regional information and communication technology (ICT) initiatives. Three case studies are presented to explore the uptake of ICT in a regional and rural context. A common element in each of these initiatives is the active participation of the University of Ballarat throughout all project phases. The resultant combination of on-the-ground leadership, infrastructure, collaboration and multi-disciplinary research has not only created benefits for the individual communities but also through the generation of consultancy income, publications and community engagement of a type which is highly consistent with the University’s vision and mission.
  • Description: E1
  • Description: 2003000787

Perspectives on instituting change management in large organisations

  • Authors: Lawler, Alan , Sillitoe, Jim
  • Date: 2010
  • Type: Text , Journal article
  • Relation: Australian Universities? Review Vol. 52, no. 2 (2010), p. 43-48
  • Full Text: false
  • Reviewed:
  • Description: Abstract: Australian universities are currently undergoing significant and deep-seated change to their funding models through their relationship to Federal government social development and research agendas. Consequently, changes are being instituted at all levels of university activity. Such changes are often accompanied by considerable disruption to traditional and accepted practices. This has had the effect of introducing unanticipated institutional difficulties and is causing some significant levels of personal uncertainty for staff. We suggest that such difficulties might be mitigated by more effective, efficient and transparent change management strategies.

Whatever happened to gender equality in Australian and New Zealand universities?

  • Authors: Bönisch-Brednich, Brigitte , White, Kate
  • Date: 2021
  • Type: Text , Book chapter
  • Relation: Palgrave Studies in Gender and Education p. 93-115
  • Full Text: false
  • Reviewed:
  • Description: This chapter examines why progress towards getting more women into senior management has been slow in Australian and New Zealand public universities. It argues that despite implementation of gender-equality policies, the structural sources of gender equality have not been tackled. Most recently this has been reflected in merging gender equality with other initiatives, transforming it from a separate and stand-alone goal. The data is derived from senior managers who were responsible for gender equality during COVID-19 and an analysis of the strategic plans of all public universities. While such senior managers expressed a commitment to change, the university strategic plans revealed either an absence of gender-equality initiatives or their low priority. “Gender” has mostly been subsumed into crowded equity/diversity/inclusion portfolios, making gender inequality invisible. © 2021, The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG.

Collaboration in learning at university level? An initial investigation

Modelling choice : Factors influencing modes of delivery in Australian universities

  • Authors: Smith, Andy , Ling, Peter , Hill, Doug
  • Date: 2008
  • Type: Text , Journal article
  • Relation: Research in Post-Compulsory Education Vol. 13, no. 3 (2008), p. 295-306
  • Full Text: false
  • Reviewed:
  • Description: This paper reports the findings of a study of Multiple Modes of Delivery in Australian universities that was commissioned by Australian Universities Teaching Committee over the period 2001-2004. The project examined and described the various means of educational delivery deployed by Australian universities. It identified the pedagogical, organisational and environmental factors impacting on university decisions to diversify course delivery across more than one location or mode. In this paper the authors report briefly on the first matter - the modes of delivery employed by Australian Universities. The paper focuses on the second issue - factors influencing university decision-making about modes of delivery.
  • Description: 2003006065

Metropolitan universities : Serving the needs of adult students?

Driveway at the Federation University Australia Gippsland Campus, Churchill

  • Authors: Latrobe Regional Commission
  • Date: 1984-1995
  • Type: Still Image
  • Full Text: false
  • Description: 15 x 10 cm
  • Description: photograph : col.

The experiences of senior positional leaders in Australian, Irish and Portuguese universities: Universal or contingent?

  • Authors: O'Connor, Pat , Carvalho, Teresa , White, Kate
  • Date: 2014
  • Type: Text , Journal article
  • Relation: Higher Education Research and Development Vol. 33, no. 1 (2014), p. 5-18
  • Full Text: false
  • Reviewed:
  • Description: This article is concerned with the extent to which the leadership of higher education is a universally positive or contingent experience. It draws on comparative data from semi-structured interviews with those in senior leadership positions in public universities in Australia, Ireland and Portugal, countries which are differently located on the collegial/managerial continuum. It looks at their perceptions of the advantages/disadvantages of these positions. Universal trends emerge, arising from difficulties created by the shortage of resources consequent on neo-liberalist pressures; from the non-viability of a managerialist discourse as a source of meaning; from the positive character of the university as a knowledge-generating organisation; and from the gendered satisfactions derived by men and women from occupying these senior leadership positions. Contingent trends include the tension between academic and managerial roles, which is strongest in the Portuguese collegial structures; while the negative impact on personal well-being is most apparent among the Australian respondents in the most managerialist structure. The paper concludes that assumptions that senior leadership positions are universally positive is not supported. It suggests that the attractiveness of these positions - contested in a collegial structure - may be further reduced in increasingly managerialist contexts, with the challenge of diversity, so important to innovation and economic growth, being particularly acute.

What do we know about the chancellors of Australian universities?

  • Authors: O'Meara, Bernard , Petzall, Stanley
  • Date: 2008
  • Type: Text , Journal article
  • Relation: Journal of Higher Education Policy and Management Vol. 30, no. 2 (2008), p. 187-199
  • Full Text:
  • Reviewed:
  • Description: This research attempts to explore the key social characteristics and demographics of Australian chancellors to determine who they are and where they come from. The chancellor of an Australian university wields an enormous amount of power, from overseeing the appointment of the Vice-Chancellor (VC) to fulfilling various statutory requirements. Chancellors instil corporate values and they are pivotal to effective university governance and 'owner' representation. Yet, few have academic backgrounds. Chancellors are more than figureheads and ceremonial leaders and, as such, can have a significant impact on their individual universities and even on the higher education sector, overall. The research presented here demonstrates that it is possible to construct a reasonably accurate profile of the typical chancellor, based on factors such as occupation, age, academic field, gender and the undergraduate university that was attended. This research also mirrors similar research, undertaken by the authors, regarding Australian VCs.
  • Description: C1

Panoramic view of Federation University Australia Gippsland Campus, Churchill

  • Authors: Latrobe Regional Commission
  • Date: 1984-1995
  • Type: Text
  • Full Text: false
  • Description: 21 x 7 cm
  • Description: photograph : col.

Student poverty at the University of Ballarat

  • Authors: Newton, Janice , Turale, Sue
  • Date: 2000
  • Type: Text , Journal article
  • Relation: Australian Journal of Social Issues Vol. 35, no. 3 (2000), p. 251-265
  • Full Text: false
  • Reviewed:
  • Description: This article draws together the findings of two recent studies at the University of Ballarat which suggest that poverty is experienced among a considerable minority of students. In a pilot study of 54 students and a phenomenological study of 17 students. different ways of measuring poverty were considered: the Poverty Line, dependence on a government allowance, cultural criteria and self-perception. It was found that undertaking part-time work failed to protect students from poverty, with significant indebtedness affecting all. Those under the Poverty Line were more likely to he young and male and less likely to he living in a family. Poor students saw their well-being and self-worth affected by poverty as they struggled to escape a cycle of indebtedness and risked academic standards by working longer hours. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] Copyright of Australian Journal of Social Issues is the property of Australian Council of Social Service and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Marketing curriculum - The missing jigsaw piece

Distant view of the Federation University Australia Gippsland Campus, Churchill

  • Authors: Latrobe Regional Commission
  • Date: 1984-1995
  • Type: Still Image
  • Full Text: false
  • Description: 7 x 7 cm
  • Description: slide : col.

Just for them to understand better : The impact of learning difficulties at university

  • Authors: Ryan, Janette , Brown, Maryann
  • Date: 2005
  • Type: Text , Journal article
  • Relation: Australian Journal of Learning Disabilities Vol. 10, no. 1 (2005), p. 19-24
  • Full Text: false
  • Reviewed:
  • Description: There has been much attention given to the needs of students with learning disabilities in Australian schools in recent years. The needs and experiences of university students with learning disabilities have received less attention. This article reports on the results of a small study of students who identified as having a range of difficulties with learning at one Australian university. Eight students across a range of discipline areas and year levels were asked about the nature of their difficulties, the kinds of adjustments they receive and their effectiveness, and for their suggestions about how these adjustments could be improved. The results pointed to the need for university lecturers to better understand the kinds of learning difficulties experienced by such students. Such an understanding can assist lecturers in knowing how to adjust their teaching and learning practices so these students can more fully participate and be successful in their university studies.
  • Description: C1
  • Description: 2003001321

A comparative study of perceptions of gender and leadership in Australian and Turkish universities

  • Authors: White, Kate , Özkanli, Ozlem
  • Date: 2011
  • Type: Text , Journal article
  • Relation: Journal of Higher Education Policy and Management Vol. 33, no. 1 (2011), p. 3-16
  • Full Text: false
  • Reviewed:
  • Description: This paper analyses differences in perceptions of gender and leadership though qualitative interviews with 45 senior managers in Australia and Turkey. The literature suggests that masculine models of leadership are changing with both women and many men preferring transformational leadership styles. The research found that there were different perceptions about gender and leadership in Australian and Turkish universities, reflecting different economic and social contexts. Turkish respondents mostly did not engage in discussion on the topic and did not consider women experienced discrimination as managers. In contrast, Australian respondents acknowledged discrimination and supported interventions by Vice-Chancellors (VCs) to increase women in university management. Perceptions of leadership in Turkish universities were aligned with a predominantly masculine/transactional model, and in Australia had moved from heroic masculinity to more inclusive leadership styles, consistent with a transformational leadership model.

Distant view of the Federation University Australia Gippsland Campus, Churchill buildings and carpark

  • Authors: Latrobe Regional Commission
  • Date: 1984-1995
  • Type: Still Image
  • Full Text: false
  • Description: 7 x 7 cm
  • Description: slide : col.

Similarities and differences in collegiality/managerialism in Irish and Australian universities

  • Authors: O'Connor, Pat , White, Kate
  • Date: 2011
  • Type: Text , Journal article
  • Relation: Gender and Education Vol. 23, no. 7 (2011), p. 903-919
  • Full Text: false
  • Reviewed:
  • Description: In the collegial model the basis for appointment to senior management in the collegial model is nomination by a community of scholars, whereas it is by line management in the managerial one. This article focuses on the basis of appointments in universities and the gendering of such structures. Data are drawn from qualitative interviews with both men and women senior manager-academics at Dean level and above in Ireland and Australia (N = 44). In both countries the power of the President/Vice-Chancellor (VC) was very much as a Chief Executive Officer in the managerialist model, rather than the 'primus inter pares' of the collegial model. Moreover, Presidents/VCs controlled the appointments of Vice-Presidents/Deputy VCs and Deans and were seen as being able to affect the gender profile of senior management. However, in the Australian system (in contrast to the Irish one) there was no ambivalence about the VC actively rectifying gender inequalities in management. In a context where hybrid forms of management are emerging, this article questions the relevance of collegial/managerialist models in understanding the gendering of universities. © 2011 Taylor and Francis Group, LLC.

The recruitment and selection of Vice-Chancellors for Australian universities : An overview