Systems Transformation Applied to Reforming Universites

Greeting from the Systems Thinking Forum, at the Australian National University, organised by Dr Charlotte Kendra Gotangco Gonzales. This week it is on "How does bad systemic behavior become the norm?" with PhD student, Gemma Young. One example presented was Australian clubs use of poker machines. While the cause is a systemic one of the club, the solutions tend to focus on the individual. I asked Gemma if we could apply this approach to addressing the issues with government of universities. She suggested that scholarly publishing is a field which could be addressed. 

Chinese Government Endorses Pratice Based Degrees

Reporting in the China Daily, Zou Shuo wrote "Practice-based degree assessments gain traction" (2026-06-16). They report that a class from East China Normal University submitted novels for their master's degrees, while China Agricultural University students submitted fertilizer and produce production plans. This is not that unusual in Australia, particularly at the masters level. As it happens, one of my students undertook a project to design a video learning system. They are now studying for a PhD, while also teaching students using this type of technology. 

Australia has introduced a Vocational Degree which will allow students to study more practical skills at vocational institutes, rather than universities. 

ps: What makes this significant is that the China Daily is an official government newspaper. I visited the HQ of the other official newspaper, the People's Daily, in 2003. 

pps: Curiously, the LinkedIn and Twitter links have swapped labels on the China Daily page: if you place your pointer over the LinkedIn icon it says "Twitter" and for Twitter it says "LinkedIn".

No Governance Crisis in Australian Universities

Julie Hare writes "It's a governance crisis, but why now precisely?" (The Hare Report, May 31, 2026). But is there a governance crisis? Some universities have very public problems, but only a tiny number. Other public & private organisations fail every day. Companies go into receivership, local government bodies are taken over by an administrator, public officials & private individuals are investigated for corruption. Provided these problems are addressed, no one says there is a "governance problem", just ordinary everyday hubris, incompetence and greed. Universities in Australia are almost all public non profit institutions, so more subject to public scrutiny. Perhaps that is why there seem to be more problems: they are more visible and we are expecting more of universities. 

In the mid 1990s, I looked at how Cambridge University did innovation (Cambridge live from a Double Decker Bus, 1999). In the process I talked to students, staff & leadership. One thing which struck me was that people who worked for the same institution had very different views, & in some cases a deep dislike for, each other. However, the place still worked, perhaps because, not dispute, this.

Australian universities had international students before the Dawkins reforms. However, these were on government scholarships, invited to Australia as part of a cold war hearts and minds campaign. More recently international students became a revenue source for universities, as well as a source of shovel ready migrants. This proved useful for government, offloading some cost of universities onto international students & providing a source of quality overseas workers. Universities failed to treat the international student fees as a windfall and bank the money for future need. 

There is no way to create a governing body for a university which will create harmony & perfect decision making. Be it federal cabinet, a company, or the bowls club, there is always conflict. Traditionally the VC ran the university, & the council grumbled about it. If you have a more active council, there will be more conflict. There is no solution, as such, except to select good people. But more staff & student representatives would be a start. 

COVID-19 and government controls on international student numbers have been challenges to universities. However, these will seem minor compared to shocks to come. In 2016 I warned that conflict in the region could result in most international students having to leave Australia. AI is challenging the way research and educaion are done. This may see the potential of online educaion, to be finally realized. These will require university councils to make difficult, rapid, existential decisions. 

Parliamentary Inquiry into the rise in the number of Australian university graduates who struggle to find work after graduating

The Australian Senate is inquiring into "The rise in the number of Australian university graduates who struggle to find work after graduating". Normally I would have to compose a short pithy summary into what an inquiry is about. But in this case that is a direct quote from the very short terms of reference. The Senate Education and Employment References Committee has called for submissions by 5 June 2026, aiming to report by 20 November 2026.

The full terms of reference is: 

"The rise in the number of Australian university graduates who struggle to find work after graduating, with particular reference to:

1. the state of the entry-level job market for graduates;
2. the quality of university education in Australia;
3. whether graduates of Australian universities are being taught the skills that employers are looking for;
4. the state of affairs in comparable jurisdictions;
5. the economic, social and psychological effect that this experience has on graduates; and
6. any other related matters" 

Some have taken this as an attack on universities, that they are not teaching the right things. But these seem reasonable questions. The Australian community spend a lot  on universities and need to be sure they are getting their moneys worth. 

As one of those teaching work integrate learning and "soft" skills to students, in accordance with professional accreditation requirements, we have a good story to tell. However, in my submission to a previous inquiry, I suggested universities could offer nested online programs with more work integration. My academic colleagues may not like the idea, but I suggest applying more of the techniques from the Vocational Education sector. This would also improve the economic, social and psychological impact of study, as students could undertake it in smaller, cheaper chunks, mostly while employed.

Improved assessment design can also help reduce the stress of study. I am one of those students who suffers stress in formal paper based examinations. As a result I spent my early university years failing, until I realized I could select courses and programs which did not have exams. This limited my choice, buy I was able to help expand the options in my own designing of courses and setting policies for accreditation for my profession.

Reflecting on What a university is and can do

One of the ways I teach students is via reflection. The student is usually asked what they have achieved, what they aim to achieve in the future and what they will need to do to get to their goals. The university where I teach is now asking itself similar questions. What have been the achievements in the past, what do we aspire to in the near future and what makes us different from others. I have been teaching at the institution for more than a quarter of its life, so am in a reasonable position to suggest some answers.

Past Achievements

Australian universities were, from the start, created to train professionals and conduct useful research. In the act establishing the university, the functions included:

"(a) To encourage, and provide facilities for, post-graduate research and study, both generally and in relation to subjects of national importance to Australia;

(b) To provide facilities for university education for persons who elect to avail themselves of those facilities and, are eligible so to do; and

(c) Subject to the Statutes, to award and confer degrees and diplomas."

The University was originally envisaged having research schools for Medicine,  Physical Sciences, Social Sciences; and Pacific Studies. Another priority was specialist training for the Public Service. 

My university later added undergraduate students and more areas of research and training, but the emphasis remains on research and training for national priorities. Some of this is done formally, such as through the ASD-ANU Co-Lab, where staff from the Australian Signals Directorate work with academics and students to better protect the nation's digital infrastructure. Some is less formal, as when people from the Department of Defence, where I used to work, drop in for some advice. One achievement is that this mostly happens out of public view.

An achievement was that, along with other Australian universities, was the ability to switch over to online learning in a few weeks due to the COVID-19 pandemic. I was able to help with this having been trained for such a situation and then being able to train others. Perhaps an equally important achievement is that universities did not throw away this investment in e-learning skills and infrastructure. Universities have made efforts to incorporate the useful aspects of online learning with the campus experience. 

One earlier achievement was the role universities had in establishing the Internet in Australia, educating politicians and key public servants on its use, through what has been called the Internet Cabal.

The Near Future

The immediate challenge for the universities is to redesign leaning and assessment in response to AI. This is not just about stopping student cheating. It is about teaching staff learning how to teach using AI and teach students to use AI. 

A less intimidate challenge is to design programs to suit the needs of today's students. This requires short programs which can be assembled into the equivalent of traditional degrees. It also requires work integrated learning and recognition of prior learning. I learned how to teach and design programs for this in the vocational sector. 

Being Distinctive

The longer term challenge for Australian universities is to get away from comparing themselves with each other. Students seeking an education can increasingly choose more widely, ranging from local vocational institutions, which can now award degrees, to global online universities.

When I decided to affiliate with a university, early in the previous century, I wrote to every one in Canberra. The first to response came within five minutes, with a very simple offer: "Turn up Monday, we have an office for you". The other universities wanted to have meetings, and discuss pay and conditions. It is that flexibility which I suggest is a winning feature for a university. Students should have flexibility in how and what they study. Also, there should be an emphasis on the human element, even with most students studying mostly online. 

When I wanted to learn to teach online (for international students and in case  students could not get to campus), I started locally, then interstate, and finally worldwide. I wanted an education, the quality of which is unrelated to the research conducted at an institution. I started locally, the an Australian regional teaching university, then a similar one in Canada. 

Undergraduate Certificates are not qualifications for dropouts

The media is portraying Swinburne University of Technology's announcement of an Undergraduate Certificate of Higher Education Studies, as a qualifications for dropouts. But this is a positive move, which is an extension of current practice by universities. When a student is unable to complete their program of study it has been usual to offer them a lesser qualification. With postgraduates this could be a graduate certificate. But until recently there was no equivalent for undergraduates, the shortest qualification being a diploma (one year of study). With the advent of undergraduate certificates, students can be offered recognition for their effort. 

My preference would be for universities to go further and offer nested qualifications. That is, rather than receiving a generic certificate, they would get a qualification in their specific field. This would be done by designing their program as a certificate, followed by diploma, advanced diploma and then degree. The student would be awarded each without having to withdraw. I have had the wrenching experience of having to decide should I take the qualification now, or go on to further study. I chose to take what I could get, as I suspect many from low SES backgrounds would. 

Western University Brands on Asian Higher Education?

Kim, Lee, and Byun (2025) have charted the rise of Korean campuses of US universities. Could we see something similar in other countries, emulating the success of western car brands, on models made in Asia? The authors argue that korean students, and their parents, are hedging their bets by choosing prestige of a a US degree, but a lower cost one delivered locally. 

China adopted an approach to develop its industry base by requiring foreign manufacturers to partner with local industry. In the car industry this was followed by support for development of electric vehicles (EVs). In a later stage local Chinese companies were able to buy up western car brands and apply these to their own local EVs. Could something similar happen with higher education? Asian governments and investors could apply new educational techniques, such as online and experiential learning, which western universities are reluctant to use at scale, to provide superior reasonably priced education. Western brands could then be used to market this programs.

Reference

Kim, K., Lee, H. & Byun, K. Choosing a U.S. branch campus in Korea: a case study of Korean students’ decision-making through the trilateral push–pull model. Asia Pacific Educ. Rev. (2025). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12564-025-10089-4

University Cybersecurity

Recently I was interviewed by Patrick Brischetto about emails sent to university graduates saying their degrees had been revoked ("What we know about the latest university cybersecurity breach - and how to protect yourself", 9 News, Oct 8, 2025). As I explained, this form of attack exploits fear, reducing the reader's normal critical abilities.

Improving the quality of governance at Australian universites

The Senate Education and Employment Legislation Committee released an Interim report on the Quality of governance at Australian higher education providers, 19 September 2025. The report makes 12 recommendations. While all useful, the recommendations are very narrow and modest in scope. Australian universities are key to the economic future and security of Australia, deserving a much more wide reaching investigation by Parliament. Our universities face threats far larger than in the recent past, including from COVID-19. 

The recommendations call for universities to publish minutes of council meetings, disclose spending on consultants, publish a  conflict-of-interest register and executive annual remuneration reports, and the composition of governing bodies. The Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency's (TEQSA) would then enforce these. None of that seems particularly onerous. 

The third recommendation is a bit more vague, with universities to adopt best-practice meaningful consultations. The fourth is for government to set vice-chancellors and senior executive remuneration. This might be challenged by higher education providers which are private institutions and particularly for-profit companies.

Recommendation 5 & 6 are for a set proportion of members with public administration and higher education expertise, as well as staff and students on councils. Recommendation 7 is for universities ensure respectful treatment of staff and students on governing bodies. However the Australian Parliament is hardly in a position to lecture on workplace culture, given its own poor track record.

One reform I suggested, which was for senior university positions, including VCs, to be elected by the student and staff bodies, was not adopted in the report. 

Bill Shorten doesn't need to re-imagines universities

In "Bill Shorten ‘re-imagines universities’, with specialist institutions and bespoke degrees", Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra, reports on a speech by their new Vice Chancellor (VC). In this the VC is reported as  calling for a “fundamental re-imagining” of Australia’s universities. But much of what the Canberra VC is describing is routine in the Vocational Education and Training (VET) sector. Students from the Canberra Institute of Technology already undertake their initial training there, before transitioning to University of Canberra. However, there would be value in universities adopting some of the VET approach themselves. The 3 year degree model can be modified to make it more flexible, rather than "broken". 

Australian law already allows for specialist higher education institutions, both universities and vocational education, offering degrees, and run by not-for-profit government and non government bodies, as well as for-profit companies. However, most universities have chosen to expand by offering a broad range of programs and government have allowed them to duplicate what is already available from nearby institutions. At present some specialisation appears to be taking place, with universities shutting down unprofitable programs. However, this might result in them all offering the same limited range of business and STEM.

A more diverse education sector would, as the VC suggests, help with economic resilience and national security. However, our universities need to look to their own resilience first. COVID-19 might just be a small taste of the shocks to come. Our universities need to be ready with online teaching techniques and financial reserves, in case most of the international students leave Australia suddenly due to geopolitical tensions.

Australia's higher education sector already has considerable flexibility. in 2012 I was studying how to teach at the ANU. As part of this I wanted to learn how to teach online, which was uncommon at Canberra's university. With the approval of my ANU supervisor I enrolled for two terms at the University of Southern Queensland, a leading provider of online education. To learn about vocational education techniques, I later enrolled at the Canberra Institute of technology. To learn how to teach international students online, I enrolled as an international student in North America. 

As well as bolstering the economy with well trained workers, our universities can provide technology for defence. One team of students I was tutoring were testing the advanced phased array radars for Australian warships, and this technology will form the core of Australia's anti-ballistic missile shield. 

Higher education can strengthen the economy by being ready with the research inventions and trained staff needed to respond to threats and exploit opportunities. 

The VC suggested a "new architecture for learning was needed in today’s world". However, I suggest this is one of those areas where our academics have anticipated the need and already have what is needed developed and ready to implement. Some Australian educational institutions already have fast and flexible programs. These are mostly in the vocational education sector, but universities can quickly be brought up to speed. 

The monopoly of the 2 year degree was broken early this year, when the "vocational degree" was introduced. This allows government, private and for-profit vocational institutions to issue job-ready degrees. Those institutions can apply their nested, competency based and  work integrated learning techniques. In this way someone can enroll in a short program to get just enough of a qualification to get their first job. They can then build on that, getting course credit for skills gained at work, progressing through more advanced qualifications to a degree. The worker can then consider postgraduate studies at university.

The VC gave the example of quantum mechanics for defence applications. Australian universities have research programs in this area. The Australian National University spun off a company to provide quantium products for industry and defence.

The Graduate Certificate in Strategic Technologies proposed by the VC is an interesting idea. Canberra already has several institutions with experience in this area. As a defence employee, I attended short training courses at Australian Defence Staff College, and later helped teach at ADFA, through the use of hackathons. 

As the VC points out there is scope for using AI for Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL). At CIT I learned techniques for evaluating what students already know. I apply these skills at ANU processing applications for course exemptions and credit. This is a very complex process, already computer supported, and requiring teamwork from professional and academic staff. Some AI support would assist. 

In the past I have suggested a portfolio based program, where the student is given a table showing all the skills and knowledge they are required to demonstrate top graduate and all the ways they could do this, including RPL and work integrated learning. But this would be overwhelming if presented as a large spreadsheet and careful step by step help would be needed. There would still be the need for specialist advice to students. I vividly remember using USQ's pre-enrollment system to work through options. I scratched my head and though "what now?". At that point the phone on the desk beside me rang and it was USQ's staff offering help. This was a little spook, but they said they had saw I was having difficulty.

The VC's proposed re-imagining of university I suggest need to look further. The VC suggests areas of teaching STEM, artificial intelligence, & trauma-informed health care. However, these are already areas investigated, researched, planned and being implemented.

Government already subsidies higher education and this model can be applied to micro and shorter credentials. Where there is a shortage government can offer direct subsidies and incentives for industry. However, there is a risk of government and industry micromanaging skills and pushing students into programs which will be obsolete by the time they graduate.

All Australian universities are required to be a bit general. They can't specialise in just one discipline. But they are not required, as the VC suggests, to do everything. Recent criticism of several institutions has been because they are making painful cutbacks, dropping some discipline areas to focus on fewer. 

It is true that Australian universities use prestige in research to market education which has very little to do with that research. However, they do this because it is a very successful marketing strategy. Regional and education focused universities have difficulty coming up with an alternative approach. As a mature-age student from a first-in-family, low SES background I experienced some of these contradictions first hand. 

The VC's proposal for specialist universities, would be part of a Dedawkinsation, which is perhaps already underway. However, Australian governments have a poor track record at picking winners. It might be better to have policy and funding settings which encourage institutions to further specialise.

The VC also suggested creating a pre-Dawkins two-tiered system, with some institutions focused on teaching. I suggest instead policy and funding to promote teaching skills for academics, wherever they teach. It is one of the dirty little secrets of universities that their teach staff are less qualified to teach than those in vocational education, or schools. As a university academic I am one of the exceptions having a MEd. During COVID-19 I was able to quickly pivot to online teaching and assessment. When I colleagues asked me how I could do this with little apparent effort I said "I have a degree in this".

Higher education is important to national security. However, I suggest caution in the VC's suggestion of focusing exclusively on sovereign capability. Australia does have a lead in some areas, such as phased array radars and high speed multi-hull vessels. However, our two most successful current defence projects are partnerships with US companies: the Ghost Bat robot fighter jet and Ghost Shark robot submarine. However, there is no corresponding Ghost Geco robot tank project, and that might be an area for exclusively sovereign capability.

The Future of Higher Education

In 2022 I made a submission to the Higher Education Review. As a relatively junor part time academic, this might seem presumptuous. However, the topic I chose to focus on for my MEd in 2013, was how to teach at a research oriented Australian university, like the Australian National University. The easy part of this was learning how to deal with a regional crisis which could keep students from campus. So I was ready, three years before COVID-19 to teach online myself and teach my colleagues. What was, and is, harder is the nature of a university and how to balance competing priorities, between education and research, community interest and finance. This a pressing issue not only for ANU and Australia's other universities, but for institutions around the world. 

Nanyang Technological University (NTU) and Singapore Management University (SMU) recently announced Mandarin MBAs, targeting international students. Unlike Australia, where international students were gradually added to the domestic cohort, this is a very clear targeting of a market. The questions arising about what effect this will have on local students and how the influx of student fees will change what the university does will be familiar to Australian academics.  

While I read many research papers on education, two books have had the most influence on my thinking: Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance (Robert M. Pirsig, 2006) and "The Open University: History and Evaluation of a Dynamic Innovation in Higher Education" (Walter Perry, 1976). Pirsig, was a technical writer and educator (I role I seem to have fallen into) and wrote of the philosophy of study. Perry was the first Vice-Chancellor of the UK's Open University, which challenged many of the ideas of what a university is and how it is run. 

Zen and the Art of Motorcycle
Maintenance, Robert M. Pirsig, 2006

"... the real university exists not as the physical campus, but as a body of reason within the minds of students and teachers ..." From Chapter 13, Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, Robert M. Pirsig, 2006

Both Perry and Pirsig, wrote about the vocational end of education and would appear to have little to do with research oriented universities. However, Australian universities were founded explicitly with practical aims in mind: to train professionals and carry out research of value to the community. 

VET Option Can Lower Student Stress

Ben Edwards & Jessica Arnup have detailed the stresses Year 12 students face in choosing a career in"New research shows Year 12 students face many pressures – far beyond study and exams (The Conversation, September 8, 2025). However, the situation is not as bleak as the researchers depict. The key to this optimism is the the last part of the article, where the authors note more interest in Vocational Education and Training (VET). This aligns with the government's target for study, which is not for 80% completing university by 2050, but "... 80 per cent of the workforce will have a TAFE qualification or a university degree" (Jason Clare, 18 December 2024). 

More young people want to, and can, go to VET, instead of, or as a preparation, for university. Having a VET option reduces the stress for young people, providing a lower cost option, without high stakes exams, with nested, nationally standardised programs. 

VET students can take a low cost, or free, short course to get an entry level job. They know study & what they do at work, will count towards further qualifications. VET competency based assessment removes the pressure to excel, which exams induce.

There is still an important role for universities. But they should learn from the VET approach. 

Has Australia passed peak degree?

Andrew Norton

Could Australia have reached, or passed, peak degree? Andrew Norton has asked why demand for mature age undergraduate education is shrinking. Perhaps we have passed the point where everyone who needs a degree has one.

If employers instead demand specific skills, which can be evidenced by industry or VET certifications, or by a direct AI administered test, will university qualifications be as important?

This week I ran a mentoring circle for computing interns as part of their degree program. One student could not attend as they had a job interview. So I asked them to write a paragraph about their experience. Last time I had a job interview this involved a panel of three people asking me questions for about 30 minutes: one HR expert, one technical specialist and one from the client area. But the student recounted a multi hour battery of tests, where they had to write computer code and solve problems. This was just one phase of a multi-step process. They reflected there were several areas they needed to study up on. That they were also about to get a degree from a world leading university would also count, but it was those tests which would decide if they got the job.

Andrew suggested that more bachelor-degree graduates increases the market for postgraduate study. However, universities don't require a first degree to enroll for a second. A few months ago I was in a meeting of the board which sets education standards for my profession in Australia. During a break we were discussing our own educational paths. We each though we were unusual because we had gone straight to postgraduate study without a bachelor's degree. However, we all had done this. 

Proposals to decouple learning from qualifications due to tech are not new

Miriam Reynoldson

Digital learning specialist Miriam Reynoldson has written a thoughtful article on how universities should change in response to AI. However, proposals to decouple learning from qualifications are prompted by each new technology in education. This happened with paper based correspondence courses, radio & TV education, the Internet and now AI. Each time promoters of the tech say that learning can be made cheap (or free), available to all. Each time the early promise is not realized and traditional education institutions incorporate and bureaucratize the process.

Universities are not the only places learning and qualification are done. In terms of the needs of society they are perhaps the least important. The vocational education and training (VET) sector keeps the lights on, literally, by training our electricians. That sector has long separated learning from qualifications.

Because lives depend on having competent technicians, grades in the VET sector are not quantified, aggregated or averaged. To receive a qualification, the student must pass each and every test, which is binary: either they are not yet competent (fail) or are competent (pass). Until the student can pass every test, they don't graduate. Doing exceptionally well in something doesn't count for anything.

Immediately after completing a Graduate Certificate in Higher Education at the Australian National University, I enrolled in the VET equivalent, a Certificate IV in Training and Assessment at Canberra Institute of Technology. There were some similarities. In each case I could receive credit for prior learning and experience gained in the workplace (RPL). However, at university the RPL is limited, and at a coarse course level of granularity.

At VET every little skill is separately evaluated for RPL and this can be for your entire qualification so you need do no courses. I obtained 80% of my VET qualification by RPL. But this is unusually high, as I had just completed a university qualification in education, had a decade of experience teaching, and had headed my profession's national learning unit.

There are also industry certifications which have assessment but no learning component. Major computer companies have certifications in specialized skills. Whole industries have grown up providing students with preparations for these tests. Some universities and VET institutions integrate preparation for these tests into their curricular.

It is difficult to untangle the purposes of learning. As an example, I enrolled in video production for training at ACT TAFE (which CIT used to be called). This was because I wanted to learn to make training videos. At the end I was surprised to be handed a certificate, as I didn't know this was a formal program and I had been assessed.

While I have referred to VET, vocational elements of university programs have some of the same assessment principles. There are knowledge and skills which every professional need and accreditation required that each and every graduate has these.

Separating permission to practice from the learning and teaching at universities would plunge them into a much deeper crisis. If the university is not undertaking one of its key role: providing trained professionals, there will be little reason to find them, or for students to enroll. Universities emphasize the value of their graduates to the economy as, apart from research, that is all they have to offer.

My preferred approach would be for school graduates to undertake the minimum of VET training to get a job. We they find a field they like they would do more VET training, if needed up to the degree level. If they needed more education they would enroll at university. If they showed exceptional ability, this could be at the doctoral level. 

Wine Culture & Psychological Health for College Students

In processing international student's applications for credit I realise how limited the choices the average Australian university student has. Can they study "Wine Culture & Appreciation", scuba diving, poetry, or flower arranging, as part of their degree? Another course which might be applicable more widely is "Psychological Health Education for College Students".

Governance at Australian Higher Education Providers

The Senate Education and Employment Legislation Committee is holding an inquiry into the "Quality of governance at Australian higher education providers". I made a submission on 3 March. The Committee has not approved the publication of my submission yet, but it was along the following lines:

1. TEQSA Powers Adequate: The Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency (TEQSA) can investigate corporate governance issues at Australian higher education providers, where relevant to the quality of education provided. Compliance with workplace, employment practices, executive remuneration, and the use of consultants are covered by other agencies.  
2. Introduce Real Time Monitoring: TEQSA could use real-time analytical techniques to detect unusual behavior in an organization in days, rather than having to wait for an annual report.
3. Focus on more important issues: Australian universities face challenges adapting to online education and competition from offshore providers. These are more pressing issues than governance.

University Efficiency Through Better Trained Academics

The Senate Education and Employment Legislation Committee is inquiring into the "Quality of governance at Australian higher education providers". However a more important question, I suggest, is the skills which academics need. Rather than worrying how much Vice Chancellors are paid, I suggest more attention and resources be put into ensuring academic staff, at all levels, have the skills needed to work efficiently, in administration, project management, and education. This could be done by offering courses and qualifications which can be undertaken by staff and students. This would also address the demand for quick up-skilling in industry and government. It will reduce costs through more efficient academic work and improve revenue through more course fees.

When I accepted an invitation to join ta university as a Visiting Fellow 25 years ago, I expected to be mostly conducting research, and thinking great thoughts. What I had not realized was the importance of administration, project management and teaching to a university. The Australian Public Service had trained me in administration & project management, however teaching was new to me.

I was reluctantly talked into undertaking the free basic teacher training provided by the university. To my surprise, I found it reduced the stress of teaching and assessment, as well as made the process much more efficient. Also, I discovered that lectures and examinations were not the only way to teach and assess, and were some of the least useful. I went on to further education studies, first at my own university, then at an affiliated one, and then on the other side of the world in North America (Worthington, 2018). This education made teaching easier, particularly when COVID-19 struck, as I had trained for that contingency (Worthington, 2020).

Universities could introduce teaching techniques that provide better, more efficient, and more realistic learning for students. Examples of this are the Australian Crisis Simulation Summit run from ANU by Professor Barrie (ANU, 2025), project work in the ANU Techlauncher program (Awasthyet al., 2017) and internships of the ANU School of Computing (Sweetser, King, & DeWan, 2020). Such intensive programs have typically required large teaching staffs, but with technology, this can be reduced (Birt et al., 2024).

Rather than grade sounding large-scale initiatives, I suggest introducing better administration, project management, research management, and teaching, by teaching these to the students as part of formal assessed courses. Staff can undertake modules from the same courses as offered for students, take the same tests, and be awarded qualifications as a form of "dogfooding" (Worthington, 2018). These modules can also be offered to industry and public service staff.

References

Awasthy, Richa, Shayne Flint, and Ramesh Sankaranarayana. "Lifting the constraints—closing the skills gap with authentic student projects." 2017 IEEE Global Engineering Education Conference (EDUCON). IEEE, 2017. https://doi.org/10.1109/EDUCON.2017.7942964

ANU, "Australian Crisis Simulation Summit",2025, https://australiancrisissimulationsummit.com/

Birt, James R., Thomas Cochrane, Elisa Bone, Mehrasa Alizadeh, Paul Goldacre, Vickel Narayan, Todd Stretton, Robert Vanderburg, and Tom Worthington. "(Re) defining Mobile Learning in the Post COVID-19 and GenAI Era." In 2024 ASCILITE Conference: Navigating the Terrain: Emerging frontiers in learning spaces, pedagogies, and technologies, pp. 551-555. Australasian Society for Computers in Learning in Tertiary Education, 2024. https://doi.org/10.14742/apubs.2024.1336

Sweetser, P., King, A., & DeWan, T. (2020, February). Setting students up to succeed in computing internships. In Proceedings of the Twenty-Second Australasian Computing Education Conference (pp. 114-121). https://doi.org/10.1145/3373165.3373178

T. Worthington, "Blended Learning for the Indo-Pacific," 2018 IEEE International Conference on Teaching, Assessment, and Learning for Engineering (TALE), Wollongong, NSW, Australia, 2018, pp. 861-865, https://doi.org/10.1109/TALE.2018.8615183

T. Worthington, "Being a Mature Age University Student: 2011 to 2017", Higher Education Whisperer (Blog), January 2, 2018 https://blog.highereducationwhisperer.com/2018/01/learning-university-teaching-2011-to.html

T. Worthington, "Responding to the Coronavirus Emergency with e-Learning", Athabasca University, April 17, 2020. https://web.archive.org/web/20200811064635/https://news.athabascau.ca/beyond-50/responding-to-the-coronavirus-emergency-with-e-learning

The Senate Education and Employment Legislation Committee is holding an inquiry into the "Quality of governance at Australian higher education providers". Submissions are invited by 3 March 2025, with a report due 4 April 2025. 

Senate Inquiry into the Quality of Governance at Australian Higher Education Providers

The Senate Education and Employment Legislation Committee is holding an inquiry into the "Quality of governance at Australian higher education providers". Submissions are invited by 3 March 2025, with a report due 4 April 2025. 

 The terms of reference of the inquiry are:

"The adequacy of the powers available to the Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency to perform its role in identifying and addressing corporate governance issues at Australian higher education providers, with particular reference to:

a. The composition of providers' governing bodies and the transparency, accountability and effectiveness of their functions and processes, including in relation to expenditure, risk management and conflicts of interest;

b. The standard and accuracy of providers' financial reporting, and the effectiveness of financial safeguards and controls;

c. Providers' compliance with legislative requirements, including compliance with workplace laws and regulations;

d. The impact of providers' employment practices, executive remuneration, and the use of external consultants, on staff, students and the quality of higher education offered; and

e. Any related matters."

Some points in the submissions so far

So far five submissions have been published:

1	Dr Fiona Martin (PDF 60 KB)
2	Mr Ian Gray (PDF 1310 KB)
3	Mr Robert Heron (PDF 56 KB)
4	Dr Raffaele Ciriello (PDF 93 KB)
5	Emeritus Professor William Maley (PDF 328 KB)

Dr Martin expressed concern about universities being more about business than education and research and high Vice Chancellor salaries. Mr Gray is concerned about TEQSA's powers to do their job, lower entry and pass standards at universities & a lack of reporting & auditing of research grants. Mr Heron proposes public reporting on accredited courses & is concerned about conflicts of interest where academics require students to purchase the books they wrote. Dr  Ciriello is concerned by "a managerial elite that prioritises profits over academic integrity".  and proposes adopting the European model, where university executive are elected by faculty. Dr Maley expresses concern about the decay of ‘faculty governance’, with decision making concentrated in Deputy and Pro-Vice-Chancellors, and Chief Officers. 

Change processes at an Australian university

Greetings from the lawn outside the maths building at the Australian National University, where the new Provost, social scientist, is taking about how to integrate tech and people. They are qualified to talk on this, being an engineer and social scientist. This is opportune with the ANU engineering just renamed "Systems and Society".

Australian Universities Need to Prepare for Post-pandemic Risks

This morning I voted not to freeze Australian National University staff pay. This proposal, formally called "Pay Variation to The Australian National University Enterprise Agreement 2023-2026", was put to staff by the management of the university in response to financial difficulties. I have every confidence the new Vice Chancellor can make changes to improve the university's financial situation, in circumstances not of their making, while meeting commitments to staff. But there will need to be changes to the way education is delivered to meet coming challenges.

A decade before the COVID-19 pandemic, the then ANU VC strongly suggested staff learn to teach better. So I set about learning how to teach students at a research intensive university using modern technology. One issue I identified in my studies was the need to be ready to teach online in the event students were unable to get to campus due to a regional crisis. Having investigated this topic at three universities, I urged Australian universities to put in place contingencies, as had been done at other universities in our region. I was able to help ANU, but unfortunately, Australian universities mostly chose not to follow the example of their regional counterparts, and were less than prepared for a foreseeable and foreseen crisis. University staff did the best they could under difficult circumstances, but not as well as they could have done with proper planning.

Australian universities face ongoing challenges, from international competition, new technologies, a deteriorating international strategic situation, climate change and potential economic shocks. Having failed to prepare for a pandemic has proven to be a poor strategy, as will failing to prepare for these other foreseeable contingencies. In my submission to the Higher Education Review I set out some approaches which could be applied. Recently I visited Singapore institutions, seeing the way they very effectively integrate vocational education.