Equity indicators: measures of socio-economic status at an Australian university

After reviewing relevant literature on socio-economic status (SES) and the ways in which it is used for higher education institutional research and policy, a detailed data analysis of Victoria University (Australia) student data was undertaken. Between 10,000 and 15,000 domestic student addresses were ‘geocoded’ to Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) collection district level. A survey of individual reenrolling 2001 students that included parental occupation and education data was also analysed. The most important findings were: (1) The debate for practical reasons tends to focus on area versus individual measures, but SES is a richer and more complex subject and must be acknowledged as such. (2) It is apparent that VU’s student catchment is on average of lower SES than the Melbourne average, using various area measures of SES, including the DEST-Martin indicators. (3) There is only a very small difference between average area SES measures at the collection district and the postcode level. In practical terms this means that the postcode method is adequate, as well as being cheaper and more efficiently obtained, for analyses at an aggregated (or average) level. (4) Individual surveys of students do not prima facie add to the quality of aggregated institution level SES results delivered by area analyses. This again suggests that the postcode method is best for practical reasons.

Institution building problems in East Timor, 1999-2002

Institution building in East Timor from 1999 to 2002 was undermined by numerous ineffective practices. These ineffective practices were partly due to international organizations' conflicting priorities, including donors' preference for short program timelines, some individuals' preference for "the easy path", and UNTAET'S preoccupation with maintaining security and administering the territory.

Quality in flexible, online and distance education at Deakin University, Australia

This chapter presents an overview of the management of quality for flexible, online and distance education (off-campus education) at Deakin University in Australia. In 1974, Deakin University was established as a dual-mode institution educating large numbers of both on- and off-campus students. From its foundation it has increasingly sought to provide the same learning resources, equivalent learning experiences and parity of outcomes to students studying in all modes (Hay, Lowe, Gibb & Anderson, 2002). While this was the ideal on which Deakin was founded, in practice approaches differed across various schools and courses where in some areas integration was achieved through an open-campus model, while in others the tendency was towards separation of the modes of delivery by course. Deakin’s history can be characterised as moving from dual-mode approaches to educating its student cohorts, to a now well articulated, integrated and institution-wide approach to assuring and improving the quality of all modes of educational delivery for an extremely diverse and complex set of student cohorts. In this regard, it makes no particular distinction between these student groups in its policies, procedures and processes relating to educational matters.

The effects of major change : a case study of an Australian university

Organisational RestructuringLeading higher education organisational restructuring is not an easy task. It involves various degree of engagement, decision making and strategic alliances to make the change a success. Research has shown that organisational restructuring has impact on individuals of the organization and vice versa. Studies have shown that imposed change may create negative emotions such as fear of losing something important, anger and anxiety. On the contrary, planned change is accompanied by excitement and hope. Thus, the call for best practices in leading successful organizational change is greater than ever. Factors such as the fundamental characters and practices of higher education, as well as the presence of various human factors (academics and administrative) need to be taken into account. This paper presents the preliminary findings of a case study on organisational restructuring at a higher education institution in Australia. The restructuring in focus involves the amalgamation of two university faculties into one. This paper seeks to present the experiences and life accounts of faculty members with regards to leadership during the amalgamation process. Interviews were carried out with both the academic and administrative staff. Analysis of the interviews found a variation of views on leadership at different levels of the organisation, the emergence of leadership in times of crisis, the gap between the academics and administrative as well as the importance of organisational members to make the restructuring a success. The paper ends with useful suggestions for leaders and their role towards leading successful change in today’s complex higher education scenario.

The effects of major change: a case study in an Australian university

The current context of higher education is dynamic with various demands for change. Among catalysts for change are competition, market orientation, globalisation and technology. Nevertheless, the fact is, implementing major change in higher education is not an easy task. Higher education as an entity is unique unlike business organisations. A university has distinctive fundamental characters and practices such as the presence of diverse and ambiguous objectives and semi-autonomous organisational structures. Another issue is the presence of the human factor. In this aspect, the problems, views, experiences and knowledge of faculty members need to be taken into account. All these aspects may contribute to the success of the major change. Yet, some might also resist change. In this light, literature has shown that organisational change impacts individuals of the organization and vice versa. In addition, an imposed change may create negative emotions such as fear of losing something important, anger and anxiety. On the other hand, planned change may be accompanied by excitement and hope. In all these developments, literature has shown that studies on post change era are scarce. This is interesting because scholars have argued that post change era is an important time since it determines the success and failure of the change. This paper is about the effects of major change in an Australian university. Major change is defined as an amalgamation in a higher institution. In this case study, interviews were carried out to extract experiences of leaders and co-workers who had lived through the major change. These multi perspectives provide a rich description of the why, how and what aspects of the major change that may prove useful to leaders and staff of an academic organisation. The paper ends with some suggestions on improving institutional amalgamation.

Graduate attributes as a focus for institution-wide curriculum renewal: innovations and challenges

Curtin University's Curriculum 2010 (C2010) initiative aimed at ensuring degree programs were excellent and sustainable. Before C2010, graduate attributes were not universally emphasised and indicators showed room for improvement in generic skills. C2010 focused on embedding graduate attributes through three strategies. The first was embedding graduate attributes in degree programs and mapping for constructive alignment of outcomes and assessments. The second strategy was related: programs were reviewed drawing on evidence including perspectives of graduates, employers and program teams on the relative importance of graduate attributes and the extent to which they were generally demonstrated or developed. The third strategy was a university-wide eportfolio system enabling students' self- and peer-assessment of graduate attributes. Since completion of C2010, proxy indicators show improvement. However, this paper highlights the challenges associated with graduate attributes and renewal. These include: academic staff engagement, the time needed for innovations to come to fruition and evidencing achievement of graduate attributes.

Food insecurity among university students in Victoria: A pilot study

Aims: Susceptibility to food insecurity can vary over a life course; however, a potential period of particular vulnerability is while studying at a tertiary institution. This pilot study aimed to assess the prevalence, severity and potential determinants of food insecurity among tertiary students attending a Victorian-based institution. Methods: The present study employed a cross-sectional design, involving use of a self-reported questionnaire. The survey, conducted in 2012, was administered to a sample of 124 Deakin University students and contains measures of food insecurity status, demographics and other potential explanatory factors. Descriptive and regression analysis was undertaken to investigate the prevalence of food insecurity and associations with factors that may support or hinder a student's ability to procure food, such as living arrangements, income and knowledge of support services. Results: Food insecurity without hunger was reported by 18% of Deakin University students, while an additional 30% reported experiencing the more severe form of food insecurity (with hunger). A lower odds of being food insecure was reported among students living with their family (without hunger OR 0.35; 95% CI 0.12-0.99; with hunger OR 0.29; 95% CI 0.12-0.70), while a higher odds was found among those receiving government support (with hunger OR 2.52; 95% CI 1.05-6.04). Conclusions: The reported prevalence of food insecurity among the tertiary student sample was greater than the general Australian population, suggesting they are a vulnerable group. This may be attributable to financial pressures faced when students are not living with their parents.

Models of Community Investment and Partnership Strategies and Processes for Ensuring Mutual Benefit between Institution and Community

Institutions continue to face increasing pressure from faculty, students, and other concerned constituents to divest endowment holdings from perceived social injustices. In this report, investment officers and advisory committee members offer insight into institutional practices used to respond to these concerns through the adoption of socially responsible investment policies and other socially responsible investment options. Contacts offer recommendations on balancing the administration’s fiduciary responsibility to ensure maximum endowment returns with the social concerns of institutional constituents.

The University and its libraries: Reactions and resistance to scientific publishers

This paper addresses the relationship of copyright and the right of universities on scientific production. Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) are causing many changes in the system of scientific communication, such as the creation of Institutional Repositories that aim to gather scientific production in digital format. The University needs quicker ways of spreading academic production and many questions are emerging due to contexts such as the Open Access movement. Thus, this paper questions the positioning of Universities, especially Public Universities, which despite having policies related to intellectual property to protect the transferring forms of research results to society; many times do not have a positioning or a mechanism that regulates the self-deposit of scientific production in these Institutional Repositories. In order to develop this paper, the following issues are addressed: lack of interest of the University in storing scientific production; reports on the relationship of the library with scientific publishing houses; the participation of faculty members and students in supporting the Free Access movement; and initiatives aimed at greater flexibility of copyright to the context of scientific production. In order to follow the development of these issues at international level, it was opted for qualitative research with non-participating direct observation to carry out the identification and description of copyright policy of important publishers from the ROMEO SHERPA site; therefore, it can be observed that there are changes regarding the publishers' flexibility before self-archiving of authors in open access institutional repositories in their universities. Given this scenario, we presente reflections and considerations that involve the progress and mainly the integration of the University and its faculty members; the institution should recommend and guide its faculty members not to transfer their copyrights, but to defend their right of copy to Institutional Repositories along with Publishing Houses.

The University and its libraries: reactions and resistance to scientific publishers

This paper addresses the relationship of copyright and the right of universities on scientific production. Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) are causing many changes in the system of scientific communication, such as the creation of Institutional Repositories that aim to gather scientific production in digital format. The University needs quicker ways of spreading academic production and many questions are emerging due to contexts such as the Open Access movement. Thus, this paper questions the positioning of Universities, especially Public Universities, which despite having policies related to intellectual property to protect the transferring forms of research results to society; many times do not have a positioning or a mechanism that regulates the self-deposit of scientific production in these Institutional Repositories. In order to develop this paper, the following issues are addressed: lack of interest of the University in storing scientific production; reports on the relationship of the library with scientific publishing houses; the participation of faculty members and students in supporting the Free Access movement; and initiatives aimed at greater flexibility of copyright to the context of scientific production. In order to follow the development of these issues at international level, it was opted for qualitative research with non-participating direct observation to carry out the identification and description of copyright policy of important publishers from the ROMEO SHERPA site; therefore, it can be observed that there are changes regarding the publishers' flexibility before self-archiving of authors in open access institutional repositories in their universities. Given this scenario, we presente reflections and considerations that involve the progress and mainly the integration of the University and its faculty members; the institution should recommend and guide its faculty members not to transfer their copyrights, but to defend their right of copy to Institutional Repositories along with Publishing Houses.

University of Nebraska Board of Regents/ Academic Affairs Committee: Engagement with Community

Board of Regents and President Smith: It's a real pleasure to be able to discuss the University's role in engagement with you today on behalf of the four campuses that comprise the University of Nebraska. In preparing this presentation I've drawn heavily upon the Kellogg Commission's report, entitled: "Returning to our Roots - The Engaged Institution," and the Michigan State University guidebook for planning-and-evaluating quality outreach, which is entitled: "Points of Distinction." I think both publications offer valuable insights as we explore the University's role as an engaged-partner with Nebraska.

Teaching the History of Civil Rights at A Predominantly White Institution

Building on a 2003 pilgrimage to a dozen sites important in the Civil Rights Movement of the 1950's and 1960's, and conversations with movement leaders of then and now, the authors created an initiative at their 93% white campus to educate today's students about the heritage the civil rights struggle

I want to be my own person: the meaning-making and psychosocial processes of legacy students at Bucknell University

This study examined the meaning-making and psychosocial processes of five female legacy students at Bucknell University, each of whom having had at least one parent graduate from the institution. With a research philosophy, design, and methodology rooted in qualitative inquiry and phenomenology, inductive data analysis led to three primary categories that underscored legacy identity development. The first, Paradox of Influence and Identity, revealed through six themes nuanced experiences of separation-individuation. Second, Teaching and Learning, comprised of five themes, illuminated the impact of family — and of Bucknell parent alumni in particular — on their children’s internal working models. Lastly, Bucknell — the Environmental Contextand the five themes grouped therein highlighted the contributions of University community members, and of the campus culture and climate itself, to the co-construction of psychosocial formation. A tentative outline of grounded theory was offered, which explored categorical relationships; Paradox of Influence and Identity emerged as thedominant phenomenon, informing and being reinforced by the data of Teaching and Learning and Bucknell — the Environmental Context. Provisional intervention strategies for student affairs practice, in the contexts of academics, residential life, and career development, were discussed. Further, triangulated research is needed to substantiate and evolve the findings and theoretical model of this thesis.