Staff and students around the world seek answers from Universitas21
13 February 2001
An international network of university staff organizations has written to Universitas21 expressing concerns about the proposed establishment of an online university, and calling on U21 to negotiate with staff on academic and employment issues. Three Australian universities - University of New South Wales, University of Melbourne and University of Queensland - are partners in U21.
The letter was sent by representatives of the National Tertiary Education Union, the Association of University Teachers (UK), the Association of American University Professors (US), the Association of University Staff (New Zealand) and the Canadian Association of University Teachers. It was sent to the U21 Secretariat for discussion at its January meeting, at which details of the online university venture to be developed with Thomson Learning, a North American company, were also discussed.
NTEU President Carolyn Allport said that the proposal had been the subject of much discussion at a meeting of higher education staff organizations in Paris in December. `We are concerned that very little information about the proposed new university, which will target fee-paying students, has been made available to the staff and students of institutions that make up U21,\' said. `If the proposal goes ahead, our universities will invest their money and their good reputations in the creation of a new, private university. Questions about governance structures, intellectual freedom, quality assurance, intellectual property and financial arrangements must be addressed, so that staff, students and the community which provides funding to these institutions can have confidence in the venture.\'
`We understand that U21 is seeking to finalise arrangements for the joint venture with Thomson Learning in March. It is imperative that appropriate representative bodies of staff and students are involved in these negotiations,\' she said.
Dr Allport said that university staff organizations would work together to develop a `log of claims\' for the new university.
`The realities of globalisation and transnational education provision requires a greater level of international collaboration between student and staff organizations on these issues,\' she said. `We know that students involved in a meeting of U21 member student organizations have issued statements and questions about the joint venture. University staff around the world are also watching to ensure that employment conditions and the quality of higher education provision are not compromised by joint ventures which draw on the reputation and financial standing of existing public universities.\'