news
UNE reappoint Barber for another 5years
In announcing a second five-year term for the University of New England vice-chancellor, Professor Jim Barber, the chancellor praised his strategy to invest in online education.
The chancellor, Richard Torbay, will step down from his position in April to concentrate on his bid to win the federal seat of New England for the Nationals.
Barber will receive a 9 per cent pay rise. Based on UNE’ s annual report, his 2011 salary of about $ 585,000, ranks him at 29th on a vice-chancellor pay list compiled by Higher Education Services last year.
The increase in his remuneration package remained within the university sector benchmarks.
“ I am extremely proud of the achievements of the university during my tenure as chancellor and am confident the strategic vision of the university places it in a competitive and strong financial position,” Torbay said.
The chancellor said he will leave UNE confident in its future under the direction of Barber.
“ I speak on behalf of council when I say we are extremely pleased Professor Barber has renewed his contract for a further five years.”
“ We have in the vice-chancellor an outstanding leader with an extraordinary vision and understanding of how the higher education sector is changing in the new globally competitive environment.”
“ Professor Barber identified the need for UNE to invest in its online education offerings and become more competitive,” Torbay said.“ That has been the key to our success and will continue through
Barber’ s leadership.”
Barber was deputy vice-chancellor at RMIT University before taking up his role at UNE in 2010.
He received North America’ s Pro Humanitate Medal for his research in child welfare and the Vice-Chancellor’ s Award for Excellence in Teaching from Flinders University.
Before he moved to executive positions, Barber was reader then professor of Social Work( La Trobe University and the University of Tasmania), professor of Social Administration at Flinders University, and dean at the University of Toronto.
He has also been a company director on national bodies, such as Open Universities Australia, Jesuit Social Services Australia, and Graduate Careers Australia. ■
Social media shows privacy argument‘ fails’
Talk of privacy in a time of flourishing social media and technological advances is irrelevant, argues Professor Mirko Bagaric, Deakin University’ s law school head, in a book of essays launched in Canberra.
“ I suggest that based on that analysis there is no demonstrable need for a strong right to privacy, in fact it would damage society,” said Bagaric, who is an expert on legal and moral philosophy as well as regular media commentator and columnist.
In the book, Future Proofing Australia, The Right Answers for Our Future, Bagaric said privacy was an invention in the late 20th century until early 21st century and it reflected a highly individualistic society, which feared the technology it had developed itself.
“ The current legal focus and level of discussion concerning the right to privacy is an illustration of the human propensity to lose perspective,” Bagaric said.
He argued that modern technology undermines the very relevance of the need for more privacy as people are more inclined to seeking attention rather than hiding in anonymity.
As an example he referred to Facebook, which has more than 800 million users, more than half of whom log on every day.
“ Users select the amount and type of data they upload and commonly it includes photographs, often of a revealing nature, relationship status, work and study activity, likes and dislikes and intimate personal details.
“ Nothing it seems is out of bounds in terms of the information people share about themselves.”
Bagaric said privacy, a code for secrecy, was normally the refuge of the guilty, paranoid and misguided.“ It results in a less informed, less transparent and less enlightened community,” he said.
He also said less, not more, privacy benefits the community, arguing that“ the more we know about other people, the clearer it becomes that they are like us”. This, he said, reduces stereotypes and prejudices.
The book, compiled by Senator Brett Mason and Daniel Wood, also contains essays from other notable individuals such as Professor Peter Doherty, General Peter Cosgrove and Cardinal George Pell. ■
www. campusreview. com. au Issue 2 2013 | 11