news
Caps off means overcrowding
Although the uncapping of Australian university enrolments has opened up university education to thousands more people, the NTEU says it has also resulted in overcrowded lectures and staff cuts.
NTEU national president Jeannie Rea said that while removing caps was a positive change in policy direction, it has also come with some drawbacks.
“ While the federal government funding of universities has increased, the amount per student hasn’ t kept up. Universities are having to do more with less,” Rea said.
As a result, universities are cutting back on teaching staff and the number of classes previously offered.
“ Administrative and support staff are also losing their jobs,” said Rea.
“ Universities are also cutting the number of classes formerly offered as part of courses, so the opportunity for interaction between teaching staff and students is increasingly limited.”
She said that half of undergraduate teaching is now undertaken by casuals, with casuals making up about 40 per cent of academic staff.
Casual academics spend limited time on campus and are often unavailable for students seeking feedback.
“ That’ s why the NTEU is attempting to address casualisation through this year’ s enterprise bargaining round.”
Rea said the creation of teaching fellow positions across the sector to replace work that is currently casualised would be a positive development for both staff and students.
“ At the same time, the government also needs to boost the amount it pays universities for Commonwealth Supported Places.
“ The increase in student numbers shouldn’ t come at the cost of students’ learning and a casualised, over-worked, and overstressed university workforce,” said Rea. ■
National program to increase
RADIATION THERAPY
Cancer patients are set to get improved access to radiation therapy as Monash University leads a new program across Australian universities to be implemented by the middle of next year.
The national program will help improve access to radiation treatments that could be delayed due to increasing demand from the ageing population.
Funded by the federal Department of Health and Ageing, the educational program aims to train radiation therapists to become advanced practitioners, to reduce the pressure on radiation oncologists, who prescribe radiation therapy.
The $ 777,000 grant is expected to allow radiation therapists to acquire a new set of clinical skills.
They can then do traditional medical tasks on behalf of the oncologist, thus generating a more efficient service.
Led by Caroline Wright and Kristie Matthews of the school of biomedical sciences at Monash, the program is being developed in collaboration with the University of Sydney, RMIT University, University of Newcastle, Queensland University of Technology, and the University of South Australia.
“ What we are trying to achieve in the advanced practice roles is a method of restructuring the workforce to streamline the anticipated increase in demand,” said Matthews.
“ The demand on radiation oncologists’ time is enormous and as radiation therapists, we see the impact even minor treatment delays can have on the patients’ health and well-being,” she said.
“ We’ ve seen a similar model developed in the UK to address these challenges and we know it works.” ■
6 | February 2013