Visions for Australian tertiary education

At a fundamental level, the role of tertiary education is increasingly being questioned, revealing deep uncertainty about its broader purpose and value. The authors of this volume suggest that the impetus for a rethinking of many of the traditional features of the tertiary education system in Australia is already present, with concerns for, among other things, the transparency of information for prospective students, student retention and outcomes under the demand-driven policy settings, the lack of research-industry engagement, and the overall value of tertiary education to the economy...  [+] Show more

At a fundamental level, the role of tertiary education is increasingly being questioned, revealing deep uncertainty about its broader purpose and value. The authors of this volume suggest that the impetus for a rethinking of many of the traditional features of the tertiary education system in Australia is already present, with concerns for, among other things, the transparency of information for prospective students, student retention and outcomes under the demand-driven policy settings, the lack of research-industry engagement, and the overall value of tertiary education to the economy and society. The volume begins with a broad-brush overview of the current tertiary sector and the issues it is facing. The chapters then offer ideas for transforming Australian tertiary education. Each is grounded in current issues or trends but goes beyond present thinking to propose ways in which policy and practice might make major advances. The volume has been purposefully framed around tertiary education, rather than higher education, since a key decision for policy makers is how best to resolve current funding and regulatory anomalies created by the inefficiencies and complexities of the current system architecture.

The contents are as follows: Foreword / Richard James and Leo Goedegebuure; Futures for Australian tertiary education: developing an integrated, coherent policy vision / Sarah French, Paula Kelly and Richard James; A framework for differentiation / Leo Goedegebuure, Vin Massaro, Lynn Meek and Alan Pettigrew; Funding an expanded tertiary system: designing a coherent financing architecture / Gwilym Croucher, Jonathan Chew and Peter Noonan; Organising, leading and managing 21st century universities / Geoff Sharrock; To what degree?: alternative micro-credentialing in a digital age / Sandra Milligan and Gregor Kennedy; Engaging university teachers in design thinking / Kristine Elliott and Jason M. Lodge; Analytics of what?: negotiating the seduction of big data and learning analytics / Gregor Kennedy, Linda Corrin and Paula de Barba; Advancing equity in the Australian higher education system / Matthew Brett and Andrew Harvey; Universities and the evolving graduate labour market / Andrew Norton; Standards and quality in Australian higher education / Pip Pattison; Vocational education and the innovation agenda: towards the creation of effective innovation eco-systems / Leo Goedegebuure and Ruth Schubert; Internationalisation of Australian higher education: where for from here? / Douglas Proctor and Sophie Arkoudis; Redesigning the higher education workforce: a new architecture / Elizabeth Bare and Emmaline Bexley.

Edited excerpts from publication.