Teaching Writing in the Age of AI: Talking About Academic Integrity

https://leonfurze.com/2023/02/07/teaching-writing-in-the-age-of-ai-talking-about-academic-integrity/

Yes to all of this:
“Australian universities need fixing, not just a funding boost. The sector is engulfed in scandals, from excessive pay for management, to wage underpayments, to huge spending on things like consultants, travel and advertising.

These issues don’t just come from underfunding; they stem from how universities are structured and regulated. Most importantly, the management of universities needs to become accountable to students, staff and the public at large. Without fixing the sector’s governance issues, additional public money is at risk of being mismanaged, undermining the public confidence necessary to maintain higher levels of public funding.”
(Jack Thrower, Senior Economist -Australia Institute : 3 hours ago 15.30 AEDT Link: https://live.thepoint.com.au/2026/03/the-point-live-new-data-reveals-taxpayers-subsidising-fossil-fuel-companies-to-the-tune-of-16-2-billion-record-oil-release-to-ease-prices-husic-backs-gas-export-tax/?post=6a5561d50a#6a5561d50a )

#TertiarySector #FundingUniversities #Managerialism #EducationCorporateStyle

These words are not mine, but they do a good job at expressing my fears for the future of our #TertiarySector

“The university sector’s continued high spending on consultants and the uncertainty staff face may well be contributing to a crisis in higher education staff mental health.

Adelaide University’s own Professor Maureen Dollard published results of a university sector survey last week indicating what many have been saying for the past few years: psychological safety in Australia’s higher education sector is in very poor shape.

Universities are alike in high spending on consultants and alike in poor psychological safety for staff. The low state of staff morale at UTS and ANU in particular has received plenty of coverage in the press. What Professor Dollard’s work shows in this new study is how this phenomenon is present throughout the higher education sector.

It is past time for a re-evaluation of how universities engage with consultants and how they can be better employers and better providers of the education students need.”
Source:
https://thepoint.com.au/news/260219-was-the-adelaide-university-merger-really-worth-185-million-in-consultants

The truly frightening revelations is the cost of Consultancies — in this case AU (Adelaide University) merger costs:

“The contract, which ran from September 2023 to 5 January 2026, was worth around $399,000 per day, or equivalent to the annual salaries of a professor and a senior lecturer combined. Put another way, the consulting contract was the equivalent to the salary of 420 professors and 420 senior lecturers for a year.

Was the level of complexity of the merger enough to justify spending the same amount as it would on the annual labour of 840 highly educated academics?”

Truly gobsmacked by this one… meanwhile, the cost of an Arts Degree (BA) is daunting for all who enrol for one — thanks to the Morrison (#ScottyFromMarketing) Jobs ready Graduate scheme.

#UTS #AdelaideUniversity #ANU #Consultants #JRG

Sometimes, sorely needed social & progressive legislation takes an inordinate amount of time to enact due to an abundance of caution. If the Environment is a delicate area to address, Tertiary education is not — past legislative actions which f**ed the system were quick enough to be enacted without much consultation (if any at all, as the JRG disaster shows).

“The Productivity Commission joined the call for a “new funding model as a priority” given the “design flaws” of Job Ready Graduates. It said the “differences in student contributions by perceived labour market needs fail to meet their goals while arbitrarily increasing debt burdens on some students”. The Accord’s final report in February 2024, highlighting this unfairness, found the student fee structure needs to be replaced.

The government has yet to act on this. Instead, students must wait for the newly established Australian Tertiary Education Commission to design a new funding and fees model.”

Source: https://johnmenadue.com/post/2025/11/how-did-australian-universities-go-from-free-education-to-50000-arts-degrees-in-50-years/

#JRG #TertiarySector #AsuPol #ATEC #HelpHecs #StudentFees