Federal Education Minister Alan Tudge’s push for better engagement between universities and industry signals renewed ambition and dynamism among higher education policymakers. Research commercialisation is being pitched as the way to rejuvenate a higher education sector plunged into crisis by the COVID-19 pandemic. Government has a crucial role to play in this process, and we have identified three specific steps it can take to help Australia catch up with the world’s best.
Australia’s public universities are world-class research bodies. But, unlike many universities in places like Europe and the United States, they are not good at building on that research for commercial returns. Australia’s level of research commercialisation is one of the worst in the developed world.
SLAM faces axe; two departments likely to be cut with job losses expected
The Departments of Studies in Religion and Theatre and Performance Studies are likely to be closed entirely.
April 29, 2021
In a meeting this afternoon, about 90 staff in the School of Literature, Art and Media (SLAM) were informed that their School could be abolished under a scheme codenamed ‘Operation Bluestar.’
SLAM faces extinction despite posting a surplus last year.
‘Operation Bluestar’ involves the complete disbanding of SLAM, reducing the number of FASS schools from six to five, while the Departments of Studies in Religion and Theatre and Performance Studies are likely to be closed entirely.
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CPI rose 0.6% in March 2021 quarter: Australia
The Consumer Price Index (CPI) rose 0.6 per cent in the March 2021 quarter, according to the latest data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS).
Head of Prices Statistics at the ABS, Michelle Marquardt said: “Higher fuel prices, compared with the low prices seen in 2020, accounted for much of the rise in the March quarter CPI.”
The most significant rises in the March quarter were automotive fuel (+8.7 per cent), medical and hospital services (+1.5 per cent), and pharmaceutical products (+5.3 per cent) due to the resetting of the Medicare and Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme safety nets. A rise in prices for accessories (+7.3 per cent) reflected high consumer confidence and demand for discretionary items such as jewellery, allowing jewellers to pass through elevated input costs.
Soft 1 1pc inflation eases pressure on interest rates afr.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from afr.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
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Seeing university “ghost” students
A quarter of university fail grades represent ‘ghost students’, who remain enrolled in undergraduate units but show no evidence of participation, new research has shown.
The study, led by Dr Bret Stephenson from La Trobe University and funded by the National Centre for Student Equity in Higher Education (NCSEHE) , found improved identification and support is required for ‘ghost students’, particularly Indigenous students who are at a high risk of ghosting behaviours.
“This form of student disengagement and unit failure frequently goes unnoticed at institutional and national levels and can be obscured by high-level metrics such as ‘success rate’,” Dr Stephenson said.