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This report is the result of a committee enquiry into the government’s higher education package. The report, from the Employment, Workplace Relations and Education References Committee, outlines the committee’s opposition to the higher education package. The committee feels that the proposed legislation will remove universities’ rights to academic freedom. Chapters in this publication include: Introduction; Shifting the costs of higher education; University governance and management issues; Precipitating industrial conflict; and Student participation in student organisations. Also included in this publication are: Government Senators’ report; Australian Democrats’ supplementary report; and Australian Greens’ report. Show less

Accreditation is an imperfect and evolving system of quality and assessment for higher education and has been the subject of federal investigation and ridicule. Thus the Higher Learning Commission responded by creating the Academic Quality Improvement Project (AQIP), a modern form of accreditation designed to assist higher education with the quality assessment of programs and services to ensure student success. In seeking to understand the impact of AQIP on higher education accreditation, the researcher will explore the following questions: How do administration, faculty, and professional staff view AQIP as compared with previous traditional accreditation practices? How do the two views compare? Is the mission of the institution affirmed and advanced by AQIP's quality criteria? Is each AQIP activity clearly linked to teaching and learning and its impact realised? Is the district making use of external feedback that goes beyond the confines of its own experience and faculty?

Three focus groups including administrators, faculty, and professional staff generated findings in regard to accreditation and AQIP. Most agreed AQIP is a process that is better suited to the culture of the institution but there was some disagreement on the level of involvement when compared to traditional regional accreditation. The impact of the first three-year cycle is difficult to determine, however, most agree there are residual impacts within the college including cross-district teams, the creation of common assessment procedures across the three colleges, and more faculty involvement in assessment.

Edited excerpts from published abstract. Show less

This issue of the journal, entitled 'Trends in quality assurance in the Bologna context', presents some recent experiences in quality assessment in Europe in the context of the Bologna Declaration of 1999 on the creation of a European space for higher education, which is a pledge taken by 29 countries to reform the structures of their own higher education system in such a way that overall convergence emerges from the process at the European level. The papers offer a broad vision of how different aspects related to quality are approached from an international or inter-regional perspective.

The first article, 'Quality assurance/accreditation in the emerging European higher education area: a possible scenario for the future' by Guy Haug (p. 229-240), reviews European developments regarding quality assurance and accreditation and discusses what may be feasible in the European context in regard to a more international approach. 'Quality and European programme design in higher education' by Julia Gonzalez and Robert Wagenaar (p. 241-251), summarises the Tuning project, a project which involved more than a hundred universities and surveyed graduates, academics and employers across Europe. In 'Higher education, quality evaluation and accreditation in Latin America and MERCOSUR' by Norberto Fernandez Lamarra (p. 253-269) the author looks at recent developments in Latin America, in particular Mercosur, which is an agreement between most countries in Latin and South America intended to make the education systems compatible, and gives a detailed analysis of the developments in quality assurance in that context. In 'Quality assurance before and after Bologne in the central and eastern region of the European higher education area with a focus on Hungary, the Czech Republic and Poland' by Christina Roznyai (p. 270-284) an overview is given of interesting developments that have occurred in those countries in the context of regime change. 'Recent quality assurance activities in Germany' by Angelika Schade (p.285-290) describes the 'inter-regionalisation' of some quality assurance processes. The aim of the article 'Common standards for programme evaluations and accreditation?' by Kauko Hamalainen (p. 291-300) is to analyse the standards, criteria and indicators used in evaluation and accreditation of programs in Western Europe. The final article, 'Quality assurance, legal reforms and the European higher education area in Spain' by Javier Vidal (p. 301-313) describes the developments of quality assurance through a collaborative approach among the different parties involved in the process in Spain. Show less

The author seeks to identify trends in the German education system with respect to the acquisition of qualifications, training upgrades and courses that provide the qualifications for entrance to higher education studies. In the case of training upgrades, the numbers are declining, since fewer mastercraftsman qualifications are being granted. Individuals who have received training in the dual system of vocational education and training (VET) and have fulfilled the requirements for admission to higher education studies are more likely to complete a training upgrade course than those with dual training only. The number of courses preparing for higher education study has been constant, although such courses are increasingly being taken by school graduates. The author concludes that employees who have completed their general education without acquiring qualifications required for higher education study choose to take advantage of training upgrades to improve their qualifications rather than to retroactively complete the requirements needed for higher education study and then begin a course of study. Show less

This report describes the information obtained in the recent research visit to three francophone African countries [Cameroon, Senegal, and Mali]. The aim of the research visit was to contribute to an international 'knowledge base' on distance education and open learning. The knowledge base is a consolidated information system and database on open learning and distance education in higher education, which the South African Institute for Distance Education (SAIDE) has been commissioned to develop for UNESCO.

Excerpt from publication. Show less

This article is one of a series on cross-national comparisons of higher vocational education. The series presents case studies of the higher vocational education systems of Scotland, the Netherlands, Finland, Taiwan and the American state of Virginia. The article provides a comparative view of these five national/sub-national higher vocational education systems. The author examines information drawn from the articles and other sources and discusses some of the common and unique elements of these five higher vocational education systems.

The series of articles is indexed from TD/TNC 76.253 to TD/TNC 76.258. Show less

Unlike a number of overseas institutions, Australian universities generally received the largest share of their revenue from government. Also, a greater share of their revenue was from students (accounting for [Higher Education contribution Scheme] HECS). Full-fee-paying international students contributed up to 50 per cent of total student revenue in the Australian sample. For over a third of the overseas universities studied, revenue from other (private) sources - such as, donations, investments and commercial activities - accounted for a greater proportion of revenue than revenue from either government or students.

Major differences in the approach to funding among the countries studied include Australia's system of future income contingent student loans (HECS) to meet tuition fees, the use of independent funding allocation agencies in some other countries and the performance-based allocation of research grants in the United Kingdom. In 1999 (the latest year reported by the OECD), expenditure on tertiary education as a proportion of [gross domestic product] GDP was higher in Australia than in the United Kingdom and some other European countries, but was lower than in Canada, the United States and Sweden.

Excerpt from publisher's website. Show less

In the context of lifelong learning, the author argues for the development of an independent education and vocational education and training (VET) system that also encompasses higher education on the institutional level. The core of the author's recommendations for the organisation of the entire system of lifelong learning is a set of principles dedicated to the following objectives: the distribution of learning times over the entire course of an individual's training, occupational and working life; the modularisation of all training offerings and acquisition of qualifications; the plurality and interconnection of all sites of learning; the dual system as the principle behind working and learning; the recognition of informal skills; and connections to specialised technical schools and higher education. Show less

This article arises out of a research project that sought to assess the development of regulation within the public sector. It examines the forms and impact of the regulatory systems that now operate within the public sector focusing on the further education sector. The research project developed out of an awareness that the increase in various forms of regulation and control by central government, that was begun under the Conservative government prior to 1997, has continued under successive Labour administrations. The project sought to assess current forms of control, to examine the relationship between the regulators and the regulated, and to consider various alternative accounts of this relationship. It examined the regulatory regimes in such areas as health care, personal social services, policing, further education, probation, social security and housing. The project used a range of methods, including documentary research, questionnaires to local level managers and officers, and semi-structured interviews with key individuals involved in the implementation of regulated services.

Published abstract reprinted by permission of the copyright owner. Show less

The Australian Universities Quality Agency (AUQA) was an independent national agency set up to promote, audit, and report on quality assurance in Australian higher education. AUQA was a not-for-profit company, limited by guarantee, and was registered on 24 May 2000. AUQA was created by the Ministerial Council on Employment, Education, Training and Youth Affairs (MCEETYA), the group of nine ministers responsible for higher education in the Australian Commonwealth government and each of the six States and two Territories. AUQA was dissolved in 2011 and closed in January 2012, and its functions were transferred to the Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency (TEQSA).

AUQA had four objects: (1) Arrange and manage a system of periodic audits of QA arrangements relating to the activities of Australian universities, other self-accrediting institutions (SAIs) and state and territory HE accreditation bodies; (2) Monitor, review, analyse and provide public reports on QA arrangements in SAIs, and on processes and procedures of state and territory accreditation authorities, and on the impact of those processes on quality of programs; (3) Report on the criteria for the accreditation of new universities and non-university HE courses as a result of information obtained during the audit of institutions and state and territory accreditation processes; and (4) Report on the relative standards of the Australian HE system and its QA processes, including their international standing, as a result of information obtained during the audit process.

These annual reports reflect the activities undertaken by AUQA and highlight significant achievements of each year of operation.

Edited excerpt from annual report 2002 and additional information. Show less