Auditors of the managerial university: neo‐liberal business advisers or paternal controllers?

Universities are increasingly being seen as commercial enterprises, and are represented as particular types of business entities in manuals provided to university managers. Critical discourse analysis is employed in this paper to construct an analytical framework for the study of managerial advice, which is then used to examine the manual provided to Australian universities for the conduct of institutional audit by the Australian Universities Quality Agency (AUQA). Institutions are represented as businesses, but contrary to the rhetoric of universities being colonised by ‘new managerialism’, the manual constructs institutions more as localised and constrained businesses than globally networked entities.     

Using an External Quality Audit as a Lever for Institutional Change

Higher education in Australia is little different from university sectors around the developed world. It has experienced declining levels of public funding, increasing dependence on competitively sourced domestic and international income and increased consumer-style pressures from a growing fee-paying student body. The establishment of the Australian Universities Quality Agency (AUQA) in 2001 and the commencement of institutional quality audits in 2002 adds a new mechanism for public accountability. Five Australian universities of technology, members of the Australian Technology Network (ATN), are taking a collaborative approach to the development of institutional responses to the new quality agenda. A key theme of their collective response to this development is to focus on how the prospect of an external audit can provide a positive driver internally for improving institutional quality management.     

Changing the culture: The governance of the Australian pre-millennial university

Australian universities have undergone considerable reform in the past decade. What is seen as the 'unkindest cut of all' has been a more conservative federal government's substantial economic cut-backs in higher education from 1996 onwards. They have precipitated profound changes in its culture as the university becomes privatised, marketised, globalised and increasingly student-driven. In these shifts, the deregulated higher education sector is operating out of a 'busnocratic' rationality where choice and positional advantage are integral to market logic. This paper explores how universities are responding rapidly to fiscal stringency through the adoption of tactics and strategies which appropriate the operation of business for the governance of university culture     

Aligning Teaching Quality Indicators with University Reward Mechanisms

Teaching quality emerged as asignificant issue in higher education duringthe 90s. This led to the implementation ofnumerous quality control, assurance andenhancement schemes as institutions attemptedto stay abreast of demands from variousstakeholders in a rapidly changing educationalenvironment. More recently, with theestablishment of the Australian UniversityQuality Agency (AUQA) in 2000, there is nowfurther impetus to review quality schemes inAustralian universities. This paper describeshow a teaching award programme may impact onplanning and review processes within universitydepartments and highlights how the alignment ofteaching award criteria with external qualityaudit requirements can lead tocross-institutional benefits for enhancing thequality of teaching.     

The Australian University in a Multicultural Environment

This article describes how the Australian university system has become increasingly multi‐ethnic and multicultural as a reflection of the greater Australian society that is also increasingly multicultural and multi‐ethnic. As the universities have evolved from being elitist institutions, based on a British model and accessible to only a small proportion of the population, to units making up a mass system, they have had to contend with two contradictory forces: government mandated efforts to increase the representation on university campuses of disadvantaged groups and pressures to reduce government spending for higher education. Increasing efforts, after 1990, on the part of Australian universities to recruit full‐fee paying foreign students have intensified student multi‐ethnicity on Australian campuses while providing near windfall sources of extra funds. Yet there are voices being raised regarding the propriety and the ethics of selling higher education in this way.     

The Teacher Educator as (Re)Negotiated Professional: Critical incidents in steering between state and market in Australia

A dominant discourse in western higher education circles is currently concerned— even obsessed—with the marketisation of knowledge as a commodity to be purchased and traded [Healy (1998); Poole (1998); Richardson (1998)]. These developments are broadly allied with managerial changes that some have called ‘steering at a distance’ [Kickert (1991); Marceav (1993)] whereby the control by the state of individual higher education workers is maintained and intensified at the same time that pressure is applied to 'wean' universities from government funding. This paper explores a different kind of 'steering', the kind that is being engaged by Australian teacher educators confronted by developing competitiveness in higher education. We argue that these changes compel teacher educators to (re)negotiate their professionalisms; to re-examine their attitudes towards, and values within, education and its practices as they (individually and collectively) steer new courses through the state and the market. We illustrate our argument by referring to three critical incidents in the professional lives of teacher educators located within a globalised, multi-campus and provincial Australian university, yet with important implications also for teacher educators outside Australia. We posit the (re)negotiated professionalisms manifested in those incidents as a few among several potential kinds of steering by Australian teacher educators.     

Learning Strategic Planning from Australian and New Zealand University Experience

Initiating a strategic development plan is necessary for universities to be managed scientifically; a university's strategic development plan includes both the educational philosophy and development orientation as determined by the university, including the future reallocation of resources and measures for their integration. The development experience of Australian and New Zealand universities tells us that a scientific and rational university plan can promote the rapid development of the university; on the contrary, with an unscientific and irrational development plan, a plan that cannot be put into practice, or a plan that results in waste of resources, opportunities for development are missed. This article analyzes how Australian and New Zealand universities formulate their strategic development plans and presents the formulation and implementation of a strategic development plan by Wuhan University of Technology.     

Effective strategic planning in Australian universities: how good are we and how do we know?1

Strategic planning was introduced to Australian universities as part of the Commonwealth Government higher education reforms of 1988. The ‘Dawkins Reforms’ implemented extensive structural reform, changed executive leadership roles and responsibilities, commenced the ‘managerialisation’ of the Australian university sector, introduced the Higher Education Contribution Scheme and facilitated the transformation of Australian universities from collegial academies to modern, ‘enterprise’ universities.

There is an abundance of published marketing material celebrating ‘effective’ strategic planning outcomes in the myriad of strategic plans published by Australian universities. Yet, a recent study indicates that strategic planning remains a contested internal leadership function in Australian universities almost 30 years after traditional academic planning was replaced with commercially-focused strategic planning. This paper will review the effectiveness of strategic planning practices in Australian universities guided by the rhetorical question: ‘how good are we and how do we know?’     

Student voice: using qualitative feedback from students to enhance their university experience

Many performance indicators in Australian higher education are based on the quantitative data from student feedback surveys, while the qualitative data usually generated by these surveys receive relatively limited attention. This paper argues that these data, if collected and analysed in a systematic way, can be used as an effective and robust institutional performance indicator and can assist in the enhancement of the student experience. The paper describes a comparative analysis of qualitative data generated at a large metropolitan multi-campus university by the annual Course Experience Questionnaire during 2001–2011. In total, approximately 78,800 student open-ended comments have been analysed via CEQuery – a software tool that facilitates analysis of the written comments. The results compared across the years allow the university to identify key trends in student experience and areas that warrant an improvement focus. The paper provides examples on how the university uses the data. It concludes that to be successful, universities should include a focus on what students have to say in their own words and incorporate such feedback into their priorities.     

Executive power and scaled-up gender subtexts in Australian entrepreneurial universities

Deputy Vice Chancellor and Pro Vice Chancellor positions have proliferated in response to the global, corporatised university landscape [Scott, G., S. Bell, H. Coates, and L. Grebennikov. 2010. “Australian Higher Education Leaders in Times of Change: The Role of Pro Vice Chancellor and Deputy Vice Chancellor.” Journal of Higher Education Policy and Management 32 (4): 401–418]. Senior leadership is the sphere where academic and management identities are negotiated and values around the role of the university are decided. This paper examines the changing and gendered nature of the senior leadership setting and its implications for diversity in and of university leadership. The analysis draws from a three-year empirical study funded by the Australian Research Council on leadership in Australian universities. It focuses on executive leaders in three universities – one which is research-intensive, the second, in a regional site, and the third, university of technology. The article argues that the university landscape and its management systems are being restructured in gendered ways. It utilises the notion of organisational gender subtexts to make explicit how gender works through structural and cultural reform.     

The demise of the university in a nation of universities: effects of current changes in higher education in Australia

Australian higher education is currently undergoing great changes, a major aspect of which will be the disappearance of the binary system and the absorption of the advanced college sector into the university system. After a brief background discussion of the role of the university in contemporary society, this article examines the concept of the university now under very severe challenge in the Australian context and looks at some of the major responses to it through recent characterisations of the Australian university. It is argued that what I have typified as the Australian Comprehensive University (COMPUNI), will have responsibilities much more diverse and difficult than those which have hitherto been experienced by Australian universities - a reality not well appreciated at the present time.     

Moving towards professionalism: The strategic management of international education activities at Australian universities and their Faculties of Business

Universities around the world are increasingly focusing on entrepreneurial activities (Slaughter and Lesley 1997; Clark 1998). In Australia, the growth of international entrepreneurial activities has resulted in the creation of a significant export-oriented sector. These activities include the recruitment of international students to Australian campuses, the development of Australian university campuses in offshore locations, and the delivery of Australian degree programs at both onshore and offshore locations in partnership with universities, professional associations and private corporations. In 2000, Australian universities received A$770 million from international student fees (Maslen 2000a, p. 10). Australian universities currently receive on average around eight percent of revenues from these sources, with some depending on international entrepreneurialism for as much as one-third of revenues (DETYA 1998a). Managing these activities in an efficient, effective and sustainable manner has thus become critically important to virtually every institution in the Australian higher education sector. As is the case when businesses become international, universities are faced with the need to manage the complexities, risks and challenges associated with international operations. To date, little empirical work has been undertaken which explores and examines how Australian universities are managing their international entrepreneurial business operations. The aim of this study is thus to respond to this research gap by exploring how Australian universities, particularly in terms of their Faculties of Business, organise and manage international entrepreneurial activities. The research examines management approaches, practices and processes at five Australian universities. A Strategic Advantage Model of Internationalisation is presented representing a theoretical and conceptual synthesis of the findings.     

The attainability of university degrees and their labour market benefits for young Australians

I used data from the 1995 cohort of the Longitudinal Surveys of Australian Youth to investigate the factors associated with the attainment of Australian university degrees and estimate their domestic labour market benefits. I considered vertical and horizontal stratification in education and examined monetary and non-monetary benefits. The probabilities of attaining a university degree differed significantly by individual and family background. Individual’s family backgrounds significantly predicted the prestige of their universities, but not their fields of study. University graduates enjoyed higher income and occupational prestige relative to non-graduates. Among university graduates, income and occupational benefits differed significantly by fields of study but less by the prestige of universities. These findings indicate that vertical stratification in education plays an important role in the intergenerational transmission of social status in Australia. My findings suggest that policies should ensure equal access to higher education for young people from disadvantaged backgrounds. Strategies to reduce inequality in higher education are discussed.     

Academic ‘place-making’: fostering attachment,belonging and identity for Indigenous students in Australian universities

Place is a concept used to explore how people ascribe meaning to their physical and social surrounds, and their emotional affects. Exploring the university as a place can highlight social relations affecting Australian Indigenous students’ sense of belonging and identity. We asked what university factors contribute to the development of a positive sense of place for these students. Findings are presented from two Australian universities, based on focus groups with Indigenous students, and interviews with Indigenous and non-Indigenous staff. Students prioritized relationships with academics as a key theme, stressing academic’s flexibility and understanding enabled their persistence at university. Students situationally manage self-identification, requiring academics to engage effectively with diverse students, but staff felt they required further professional development. We argue that academics can ‘make’ university places in their pedagogies and mentoring roles, but require universities to recognize this pedagogical caring as a legitimate and valued element of their work.     

Does Auditing HE Against Standards Encourage Masterpieces or Paint-by-numbers?

The quality of higher education in Australia is often described in terms of national and international standards. A new entity called the Australian Universities Quality Agency (AUQA) has been established to audit the manner in which universities, self-accrediting institutions and state accrediting agencies achieve quality higher education. Designing such an audit framework requires consideration of a number of variables, not least being the term 'standards', with a view to recognising the ways in which they affect behaviour within the sector. A framework is presented that addresses the types of standards, the effects of different standards-setters, the manner in which auditees respond to the audit requirement, the manner in which the auditees undertake their task, and a consideration of what effects the audit process has. The paper is presented in two parts; the first develops the analytical framework, and the second uses the framework to explain AUQA's approach to audit.     

The writing on the wall: responses of Australian public universities to competition in global higher education

Australian public universities are struggling to maintain parity with international counterparts in an environment that is becoming increasingly competitive globally. While most universities are now heeding calls from sector leaders to become more competitive, any strategies that they implement to effect change in this regard might be too late to save some. A systematic content analysis of published strategic plans of Australian public universities, undertaken during 2005–2007, indicates that universities were not taking the threat of rapidly intensifying competition seriously enough at a time when foreign competitors were making inroads into their markets and when deregulation and new communication technologies were spawning rivals in many new forms. This research has three principal implications: all Australian public universities need to re‐examine their strategic planning processes to determine whether (1) adequate attention is being paid to rapid intensification of competition; (2) strategies already implemented in response to increasing competition are appropriate; and (3) more can be done to develop better models to guide competitive behaviour in a university sector with unique characteristics.     

Towards a framework for aligning learning outcomes,academic literacies and assessment criteria

Although Australian students spend three or more years studying they can seem quite unaware of any of the expected learning outcomes of their course. They are often single unit focused, paying most attention to individual assessment items thus not developing a holistic view of their course. This paper presents a theoretical framework to support staff and students to recognise, scaffold and achieve learning outcomes and academic skills at unit level and to recognise how these contribute to course and graduate learning outcomes, within the boundaries of Australian university and professional accreditation requirements. A case study is described that demonstrates the manual implementation of the framework. The complex nature of the implementation suggests that a software solution is required to ease the process and ensure the resulting mapping will have some longevity by being maintainable.     

Globalisation and its Consequences for Scholarship in Philosophy of Education

A manifestation of globalisation as an economic imperative has occurred at the national level in Australia.This manifestation is in the form of political policies, administrative practices and funding distribution ostensibly aimed at creating a more competitive national economy.Philosophy of Education, as a practice and product of some employees in the higher education industry in Australia, is being influenced by this manifestation of globalisation.Reflection on ways in which established concepts are being reshaped to suit the agenda of globalising political policies may assist those engaged in philosophising about education to enhance their practice in ways they desire.It is argued here that such reflection should lead many academics in Australian universities to the conclusion that they should not undertake research and that research should not be part of the job specification for most academics employed in Australian universities.
The argument in this paper is based on a set of epistemological assumptions about the nature of academic practices or traditions (cf.Toulmin, 1972).Philosophy of Education is one such academic tradition or practice.A university may be conceived of as a community of academics engaged in a range of traditions or practices.A university may also be conceived of as a quasi-governmental administrative entity employing workers to value-add to customers intending to maximise personal economic rewards from future engagement in a more competitive national economy.     

‘Students that just hate school wouldn’t go’: educationally disengaged and disadvantaged young people’s talk about university education

This paper contributes to a growing body of literature on widening university participation and brings a focus on the classed and embodied nature of young people’s imagination to existing discussions. We interviewed 250 young people living in disadvantaged communities across five Australian states who had experienced disengagement from compulsory primary and secondary schooling. We asked them about their education and their educational futures, specifically how they imagined universities and university participation. For these young people, universities were imagined as ‘big’, ‘massive’ alienating schools. The paper explores how the elements of schooling from which these young people disengaged became tangible barriers to imagining and pursuing participation in university education. The primary barrier they described was their relationships with school teachers. Our analysis shows how relationships with teachers can impact the imagined improbability/probability of university participation. We offer suggestions for how barriers to university created by poor relationships with teachers may be overcome.     

Changing academies: exploring international PhD students' perspectives on ‘host’ and ‘home’ universities

As students move between universities on different continents, they are expected to adjust rapidly to the academic and cultural practices of their host university. Many of these students are higher educational professionals in their home country and on their return home they are faced with the challenge of how to fit back into – or whether to make changes in – their institution's established academic practices. I explored international PhD students' understanding of, and responses to, the perceived differences between academic cultures of host (UK) and home universities. Whereas some students regarded the changes made in how they conducted and wrote up educational research as temporary and strategic in order to pass the PhD course, others saw themselves as change agents. They were keen to transform academic practices once they returned home and were already actively working out politically and practically how to go about this. By reflecting on how educational research practices are changing and being influenced by the movement of academics between countries, I suggest how UK university departments can respond positively to the differing research practices in which international students engage in their home institutional contexts.