Defining regionality for Australian higher education [Scholarly Article - Journal of Higher Education Policy and Management, August 2022]

Title:

Defining regionality for Australian higher education

 

Author:

Julie Shinners

Office of the Vice-Chancellor, University of Southern Queensland, Toowoomba, Australia

 

Published:

Journal of Higher Education Policy and Management, 7 August 2022

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/1360080X.2022.2109558?src=&journalCode=cjhe20

 

Abstract:

Within the higher education sector in Australia regionality is not well defined, which is a significant issue for regional universities, given the opportunities for development and growth stemming from the Australian Government’s focus on regional higher education. This paper contends that if regional universities are to operate successfully in an increasingly competitive sector, they need to centre their operations around a clear definition of regionality. Based on a review of definitions of regionality in international higher education contexts, and an analysis of how regionality is defined outside of higher education, this paper provides a definition of regionality for Australian higher education. Whilst acknowledging the differences in potential contexts and applications, this definition seeks to provide a basis upon which regional universities in Australia can determine the ways in which they may create a strong identity, achieve the Australian Government’s objectives for regional higher education, and reap the associated benefits.

 

Victoria University, Australia - Another day, another flood: Preparing for more climate disasters means taking more personal responsibility for risk

Title:

Another day, another flood: Preparing for more climate disasters means taking more personal responsibility for risk

 

Authors:

Celeste Young 

Collaborative Research Fellow Institute of Sustainable Industries & Liveable Cities/College of Business  

&

Professor Roger Jones 

Professorial Research Fellow Institute of Sustainable Industries & Liveable Cities

 

Published:

Victoria University, 7 April 2022

https://www.vu.edu.au/about-vu/news-events/news/another-day-another-flood-preparing-for-more-climate-disasters-means-taking-more-personal

 

From the article:

Climate change is making disasters more frequent and severe, so how should we be preparing for these inevitable events?

 

The University of Sydney, Australia - Japanese encephalitis in Australia: Lessons from the region?

Title:

Japanese encephalitis in Australia: Lessons from the region?

 

Published:

The University of Sydney, nd

https://www.sydney.edu.au/sydney-southeast-asia-centre/news/japanese-encephalitis.html

 

From the article:

The Japanese encephalitis virus has been detected in parts of Australia for the first time. But across much of Southeast Asia, the virus has long been a concern.

How should HE respond to the new geopolitical dynamics? [University World News, February 2022]

Title:   

How should HE respond to the new geopolitical dynamics?  

 

Author: 

Catherine Saracco   

 

Published:    

University World News, 8 February 2022 

https://www.universityworldnews.com/post.php?story=20220208142502416  

 

From the article: 

Over the past decade, the global geopolitical balance has undergone considerable upheaval. Will global competition between the United States, China and Europe continue to be the benchmark for student mobility flows? Will the Anglo-Saxon model of higher education be able to resist these challenges? Looking at four major trends.

 

The University of Sydney, Australia - Escalation of eating disorders during COVID-19, research finds

Title:

Escalation of eating disorders during COVID-19, research finds

 

Published:

The University of Sydney, 21 January 2022

https://www.sydney.edu.au/news-opinion/news/2022/01/21/escalation-of-eating-disorders-during-covid-19-research-finds.html

 

From the news article:

A major study by InsideOut Institute for Eating Disorders at the University of Sydney reveals a widespread escalation of eating disorder symptoms during COVID-19 lockdown in Australia, with 40 percent going undiagnosed.

 

ALSO SEE

 

Title:

The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and associated public health response on people with eating disorder symptomatology: an Australian study

 

Authors:

Jane Miskovic-Wheatley, et al

 

Published:

Journal of Eating Disorders, 17 January 2022

https://jeatdisord.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s40337-021-00527-0

Objective of study:

People with lived experience of eating disorders (ED) may be particularly vulnerable to the COVID-19 pandemic and associated public health response due to exasperating situations such as social isolation, presence of other mental and physical health conditions, disruptions to treatment, etc. This study investigates the association of the pandemic with ED symptomatology to consider impact and identify risk factors for clinical consideration.

The development and pilot of the university student embeddedness (USE) scale for student retention within universities: validation with an Australian student sample [Scholarly Article - Higher education, January 2022]

Title:

The development and pilot of the university student embeddedness (USE) scale for student retention within universities: validation with an Australian student sample 

 

Authors:

Brody Heritage, Christopher Ladeira & Andrea R. Steele 

 

Published:

Higher Education, 31 January 2022

https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10734-022-00813-z

 

Abstract:

A significant number of university students are leaving their institutions before completing their degrees. The present research project applied embeddedness theory, from organizational research, to understand student retention in a tertiary student population, and develop a quantitative instrument that measured university student embeddedness. In Study One, a mixed-methods approach was employed to determine whether the Fit (similarity between the student and the university), Links (count of relationships at university), and Sacrifice (losses upon leaving university) dimensions of embeddedness related to students’ self-reported reasons for remaining enrolled at their university. Qualitative results from 15 undergraduate students indicated that intent to remain could be understood within the embeddedness dimensions of Fit, Links, and Sacrifice. These themes were employed to build the University Student Embeddedness (USE) scale. The measure was examined against Rasch measurement model assumptions for each of its subscales using data collected from 299 Australian tertiary students. Study Two sought to examine exploratory evidence of the concurrent validity of the scores from this developed measure. Responses from a separate sample of 196 Australian tertiary students showed only the Fit scale significantly related to student intentions to stay at university. All USE scales correlated with academic-related skills and motivations. These results suggest that the Fit scale may be valuable in identifying students at risk of dropout. Early identification of “at risk” students may lead to the development of targeted retention interventions. However, the USE’s role in detection requires further validation and the development of consistent findings within other student cohorts.

 

Australia’s new research direction is a road to nowhere [Times Higher Education, January 2022]

Title:

Australia’s new research direction is a road to nowhere 

 

Author:

Duncan Ivison

 

Published: 

Times Higher Education, 7 January 2022

https://www.timeshighereducation.com/blog/australias-new-research-direction-road-nowhere

From the article:

Pushing the ARC to focus on commercialisation neglects the complex interdependency between basic and applied research, says Duncan Ivison

 

Note: 

ARC = Australian Research Council

https://www.arc.gov.au/

 

AUSTRALIA - Australian Strategy for International Education 2021‑2030

Title:

Australian Strategy for International Education 2021-2030 

Published:

Department of Education, Skills and Employment, Australian Government, 2021

https://www.dese.gov.au/australian-strategy-international-education-2021-2030

 

From the website:

The Australian Strategy for International Education 2021‑2030 charts a path to sustainable growth for Australia’s international education sector, with a focus on diversification, meeting national skills needs, students at the centre and global competitiveness.

 

ALSO SEE

 

Launch of the Australian Strategy for International Education 2021-2030 (Department of Education, Skills and Employment, Australian Government, 26 November 2021)

AUSTRALIA - Study finds 40,000 tertiary jobs lost during pandemic [University World news, September 2021]

Title:

Study finds 40,000 tertiary jobs lost during pandemic 

 

Author:

Karen MacGregor  

 

Published:

University World News, 17 September 2021 

https://www.universityworldnews.com/post.php?story=20210917061003607

 

From the article:

The National Tertiary Education Union launched a week of action as a study it commissioned revealed that a shocking 40,000 tertiary education staff across Australia – nearly one in five – have lost their jobs during the pandemic. And, says the study: “Job losses are getting worse, not better.” Higher education has been hit harder by COVID-19 than any other industry.

 

Also See

 

Title:

An Avoidable Catastrophe: Pandemic Job Losses in Higher Education and their Consequences

 

By:

Eliza Littleton & Jim Stanford

 

Published:

The Australia Institute / Centre for Future Work, September 2021

https://d3n8a8pro7vhmx.cloudfront.net/theausinstitute/pages/3830/attachments/original/1631479548/An_Avoidable_Catastrophe_FINAL.pdf?1631479548

Charles Sturt University (CSU), Australia - Australia plans first completely hands-free robot farm [Horti Daily, June 2021]

Title:

Australia plans first completely hands-free robot farm

 

Published:

Horti Daily, 7 June 2021

https://www.hortidaily.com/article/9327763/australia-plans-first-completely-hands-free-robot-farm/

 

From the article:

Australia's Charles Sturt University (CSU) has announced plans to create a "hands-free" smart farm where robots will do all the work – no human laborers required. 

 

The challenge: The majority of the food we eat comes from farms, and as the population grows, so does the amount of food needed to feed it. However, there's a lot of work that needs to be done around a farm, and many farmers are having trouble finding people to do it. Labor shortages have been a chronic problem in farms throughout the developed world.

 

COVID-19 impacts of inbound tourism on Australian economy [Scholarly Article - Annals of Tourism Research, May 2021]

Title:

COVID-19 impacts of inbound tourism on Australian economy

 

Authors:

Tien Duc Pham, Larry Dwyer, Jen-Je Su & Tramy Ngo

Published:

Annals of Tourism Research, Volume 88, May 2021

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0160738321000414

Abstract:

The pandemic COVID-19 has severely impacted upon the world economy, devastating the tourism industry globally. This paper estimates the short-run economic impacts of the inbound tourism industry on the Australian economy during the pandemic. The analysis covers effects both at the macroeconomic as well as at the industry and occupation level, from direct contribution (using tourism satellite accounts) to economy-wide effects (using the computable general equilibrium modelling technique). Findings show that the pandemic affects a range of industries and occupations that are beyond the tourism sector. The paper calls for strong support from the government on tourism as the recovery of tourism can deliver spillover benefits for other sectors and across the whole spectrum of occupations in the labour market.

BANGLADESH - Private universities oppose Australian ‘study centre’ [University World News, May 2021]

Title:

BANGLADESH - Private universities oppose Australian ‘study centre’ 

 

Author:

Mushfique Wadud  

 

Published:

University World News, 29 May 2021 

https://www.universityworldnews.com/post.php?story=20210528134020510

 

From the article:

Bangladesh’s private universities are opposing a decision by the education ministry to give conditional approval for an Australian university to set up a ‘Study Centre’ in the country, which has also caused concern at the country’s higher education authority, the University Grants Commission (UGC).

 

AUSTRALIA - University income from foreign student fees collapses [University World News, April 2021]

Title:

University income from foreign student fees collapses 

 

Author:

Geoff Maslen  

 

Published:

University World News, 28 April 2021 

https://www.universityworldnews.com/post.php?story=20210428132839972

 

From the article:

Australia’s universities face a collapse in their income from foreign student fees, with AU$20 billion (US$15.5 billion) of the value of the international education sector expected to disappear by the end of 2022.  

 

Higher education institutions are already facing financial upheaval as the flood of foreign students enrolling in Australian courses dries up. 

AUSTRALIA - Universities unite for consistency in research data management [Australian Research Data Commons, March 2021]

Title:

Universities unite for consistency in research data management

Published:

Australian Research Data Commons, 24 March 2021

https://ardc.edu.au/news/universities-unite-for-consistency-in-research-data-management/

From the article:

In an outstanding collaborative success, 25 of Australia’s 42 universities are coming together to develop a framework to bring consistency to the management of research data across the university sector.

AUSTRALIA - Australian universities ‘still in dark’ over grant vetoes [Times Higher Education, 2021]

Title: 

Australian universities ‘still in dark’ over grant vetoes 

 

Author:

John Ross

 

Published:

Times Higher Education, 19 March 2021

https://www.timeshighereducation.com/news/australian-universities-still-dark-over-grant-vetoes

 

From the article:

Internal vetting found nothing wrong with rejected research projects, vice-chancellors tell parliament’s security committee.

 

AUSTRALIA - Ages for Australia’s oldest rock paintings [Scholarly Article - Nature Human behaviour, 2021]

Title:

Ages for Australia’s oldest rock paintings 

 

Authors:

Damien Finch, Andrew Gleadow, Janet Hergt, Pauline Heaney, Helen Green, Cecilia Myers, Peter Veth, Sam Harper, Sven Ouzman & Vladimir A. Levchenko 

Published:

Nature Human Behaviour, 22 February 2021

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41562-020-01041-0

 

Abstract:

Naturalistic depictions of animals are a common subject for the world’s oldest dated rock art, including wild bovids in Indonesia and lions in France’s Chauvet Cave. The oldest known Australian Aboriginal figurative rock paintings also commonly depict naturalistic animals but, until now, quantitative dating was lacking. Here, we present 27 radiocarbon dates on mud wasp nests that constrain the ages of 16 motifs from this earliest known phase of rock painting in the Australian Kimberley region. These initial results suggest that paintings in this style proliferated between 17,000 and 13,000 years ago. Notably, one painting of a kangaroo is securely dated to between 17,500 and 17,100 years on the basis of the ages of three overlying and three underlying wasp nests. This is the oldest radiometrically dated in situ rock painting so far reported in Australia.

 

See also:

Title: Australia: Oldest rock art is 17,300-year-old kangaroo

Published: BBC News, 23 February 2021

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-australia-56164484

 

Facing the pandemic: Considering partnerships for widening participation in higher education in Australia [Thought Piece - European Journal of Education, 3 February 2021]

Title:

Facing the pandemic: Considering partnerships for widening participation in higher education in Australia

 

Author:

Kylie Austin

 

Published:

European Journal of Education, 3 February 2021

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/ejed.12432

 

From the article:

This thought piece provides reflection on how universities can better engage with diverse learners and support underrepresented student groups, in the face of a pandemic.

AUSTRALIA - Vice-chancellors slash more than 17,000 university jobs [University World News, 3 February 2021]

Title:

Vice-chancellors slash more than 17,000 university jobs

 

Author:

Geoff Maslen

 

Published:

University World News, 3 February 2021

https://www.universityworldnews.com/post.php?story=20210203140358652

From the article:

Australia’s financially troubled universities have been forced to slash the jobs of more than 17,000 staff after losing an estimated AU$1.8 billion (US$1.37 billion) in revenue.

Mental health of people in Australia in the first month of COVID-19 restrictions: a national survey [Scholarly Article - The Medical Journal of Australia, November 2020]

Title:

Mental health of people in Australia in the first month of COVID-19 restrictions: a national survey 

 

Authors:

Jane RW Fisher, Thach Duc Tran, Karin Hammarberg, Jayagowri Sastry, Hau Nguyen, Heather Rowe, Sally Popplestone, Ruby Stocker, Claire Stubber & Maggie Kirkman 

 

Published:

The Medical Journal of Australia, 213 (10), pp. 458-464; 16 November 2020

https://www.mja.com.au/journal/2020/213/10/mental-health-people-australia-first-month-covid-19-restrictions-national

Abstract:

Objectives: 

To estimate the population prevalence of clinically significant symptoms of depression, generalised anxiety, thoughts of being better off dead, irritability, and high optimism about the future, and of direct experience of COVID‐19, loss of employment caused by COVID‐19 restrictions, worry about contracting COVID‐19, or major disadvantage because of the restrictions; to examine the relationship between these experiences and reporting mental symptoms.  

 

Design, setting, participants: 

Anonymous online survey of adult Australian residents, 3 April – 2 May 2020.  

 

Main outcome measures: 

Self‐reported psychological status during the preceding fortnight assessed with the Patient Health Questionnaire 9 (PHQ‐9; symptoms of depression) and the Generalised Anxiety Disorder Scale (GAD‐7). Optimism about the future was assessed with a 10‐point study‐specific visual analogue scale.  

 

Results: 

13 829 respondents contributed complete response data. The estimated prevalence of clinically significant symptoms of depression (PHQ‐9 ≥ 10) was 27.6% (95% CI, 26.1–29.1%) and of clinically significant symptoms of anxiety (GAD‐7 ≥ 10) 21.0% (95% CI, 19.6–22.4%); 14.6% of respondents (95% CI, 13.5–16.0%) reported thoughts of being better off dead or self‐harm (PHQ‐9, item 9) on at least some days and 59.2% (95% CI, 57.6–60.7%) that they were more irritable (GAD‐7, item 6). An estimated 28.3% of respondents (95% CI, 27.1–29.6%) reported great optimism about the future (score ≥ 8). People who had lost jobs, were worried about contracting COVID‐19, or for whom the restrictions had a highly adverse impact on daily life were more likely to report symptoms of depression or anxiety, and less likely to report high optimism than people without these experiences.  

 

Conclusions: 

Mental health problems were widespread among Australians during the first month of the stage two COVID‐19 restrictions; in addition, about one‐quarter of respondents reported mild to moderate symptoms of depression or anxiety. A public mental health response that includes universal, selective and indicated clinical interventions is needed.

 

Centre for Independent Studies, Australia - Advancing Indigenous Education Outcomes (Webinar Video - panel discussion: 1:07:11)

Title of video:

Advancing Indigenous Education Outcomes 

 

Published:

Centre for Independent Studies (CIS), Indigenous and Education programme, 11 January 2021

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pMrz4VDjD94&feature=youtu.be

From the video description:

Indigenous educational disadvantage has persisted despite countless initiatives, programmes, and spending from governments and communities. For solutions to help truly close the gap, CIS hosts a stellar panel in our latest webinar: Dr Lorraine Hammond AM, Nyunggai Warren Mundine AO, and Jacinta Nampijinpa Price.