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NEWS
CAN THIS STRUCTURAL FRAGILITY OF THE AUSTRALIAN SECTOR BE FIXED ?
While Pelizzon told Campus Review that the current pandemic was obviously impossible to predict , he also explains that the threat of such a crisis was considered by many in the sector .
“ For this reason , over the past decade or two , many have advocated a reduction of excessive spending and capital investments , a reduction of both the numbers and the salaries of the managerial cohort , and a more judicious management of universities ’ budgets , to lessen their reliance on the international student market ,” hesaid .
“ Moreover , a huge portion of universities ’ budgets is dedicated to domestic marketing . However , such an investment of ultimately public funds is profoundly wasteful , as it creates a somewhat cannibalistic competition for the same pool of students .”
Another key impediment Pelizzon highlights in fixing the structural fragility of the sector is that the current commercial corporate model “ does not incentivise increasingly autocratic managers to be thrifty ”.
“ However , since universities are not private institutions , they are not allowed ( nor should they be allowed ) to fail , as they still provide an essential service to the nation . As a result , the lack of ultimate accountability for what are now clearly identifiable as previous mistakes suggests that the commercial corporate model is not serving Australia in providing an effective university sector .”
CAN THE SECTOR RETURN TO THE TRADITIONAL MODEL OF OLD ?
Despite the pervasiveness of the corporate commercial model , Pelizzon is optimistic the Australian university sector can return to its “ original legislative intent ” through the readoption of transparency , accountability and collegiality .
“ Transparency could be achieved rather promptly , as it could be rapidly legislatively mandated that all budgetary decisions , as well as all university council meetings are made public at all times ( unless issues of individual privacy require confidentiality , of course , but these instances are relatively rare ),” he said .
“ Accountability requires a more significant change , which can still be achieved through legislative action : university council and governance could be regulated more rigorously , limiting the ability of councils to autocratically regulate themselves , and limiting the salaries paid to managers and executives .”
Finally , Pelizzon contends that collegiality could be achieved through either of two means : again legislation , or , perhaps more pragmatically and democratically , “ reorganising the internal structures of each university … allowing its members to participate in the selection , nomination and election of all academic managerial roles .”
“ In all cases , the will to reassert the ultimate intent of universities ( to be the ‘ collegial collective of all students and scholars ’, as the etymological meaning of ‘ university ’ suggests , focused on the pursuit of research , academic inquiry , and advanced pedagogy ) must be the driving force behind any of the proposed changes .” ■
Matter of opinion
UNSW faces criticism over deleted social media posts .
UNSW landed in hot water over its
decision to take down social media posts and temporarily remove an article from its website following an online backlash .
The article in question detailed UNSW Law lecturer Elaine Pearson ’ s belief that “ the international community must put pressure on China to wind back recent infringements on human rights in Hong Kong ”.
It was posted to the university ’ s Twitter below a quote from Pearson , who is Australia director at Human Rights Watch ( HRW ), which read : “ Now is a pivotal moment to bring attention to the rapidly deteriorating situation in Hong Kong .”
Later , a further tweet was posted explaining that the opinions of academics shared on the official account do not always represent the views of the university .
“ We have a long & valued relationship with Greater China going back 60 years ,” it read . “ UNSW provides a welcome & inclusive environment & is proud to welcome students from over 100 countries .”
After receiving complaints about the article , the university took down all tweets related to the story and the article was , for a time , removed from its newsroom . It was briefly taken down for a second time but is now available on UNSW ’ s law page , labelled as opinion .
The university said the decision to remove the tweets was made because they were not in line with its policies and the views of an academic were being misconstrued as representing the university .
In an opinion piece for Sydney Morning Herald , Pearson said she worries that other academics and students from China or who write about China may be afraid to raise their voices .
She wrote : “ Students from China are watching to see how UNSW responds to the pro- [ Chinese Communist Party ] students ’ threats .
“ What if my experience makes students or other academics think twice before speaking in class on topics like Xinjiang , Hong Kong or Tibet ? What if academics think twice about taking a media call on Hong Kong because of the potential backlash ?
“ Universities need to protect the academic freedom of all students and scholars , not cave to pressure from those with little apparent regard for academic freedom ’ s importance .”
The university ’ s reaction to the backlash was met with criticism from Chinese students as well as politicians , like Liberal MP Dave Sharma , who said , “ UNSW has some serious explaining to do ” and Labor senator Tony Sheldon , who suggested “ we have a big problem ”. ■
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