What does the AFR say about University administration?
“Are Australian university #bosses worth the big bucks? Australian vice chancellors earn far more than their #peers in the #UK, #US, #Canada and #NewZealand. Is this justifiable?”
“Australian #universities, it seems to me, are subject to two different forces: #managerialism and a heightened #regulatory state. By having so much #RedTape attached to universities by #government, we end up needing a lot of processes and the VCs are there to make sure their universities are fulfilling all those sets of #regulations,” Forsyth says.
She agrees with Robinson that university governance is at the core of the explosion in executive salaries. Whereas Robinson points to a lack of #experience and #expertise on university boards, Forsyth blames the loading of #CorporateTypes on university #councils and in #Chancellor positions, which she says fundamentally changes the focus from academia to money-making #enterprises.
“I think this has enabled councils to leave the managers in charge and act in solidarity with them,” she says. “Councils are stacked with people who are going to be on the vice chancellor’s side from an ideological perspective.”
Forsyth, author of “A History of the Modern Australian University”, was made redundant last year from #AustralianCatholicUniversity after it shut down a raft of courses in the humanities, including #ResearchInstitutes in #philosophy and #history.
She notes that for decades, #ViceChancellors have been whinging about the lack of #GovernmentFunding, but achieved very little in return. At the same time, they have overseen mass #casualisation of staff – #HigherEducation has the largest proportion of causal and contract staff of any sector in the economy – while ignoring widespread #WageTheft – now estimated to be as high as $160 million affecting 100,000 employees in almost all universities”
<https://archive.md/uJS5u> / <https://www.afr.com/work-and-careers/education/are-australian-university-bosses-worth-the-big-bucks-20240122-p5ez5x> (paywall)
