AUR vol47, no1, December 2004
Cover artwork by Damien Frost
In this issue of AUR (available in PDF format)
LABOR’S POOR FORM
by David Burchell
The October election result has thrown the federal ALP into
arguably its deepest malaise since the 1950s. In a short
post-election commentary David Burchell reflects on the policy
vortex that is Labor right now, and argues against a purely
economy-minded policy shift.
HOW NOT TO DO CHANGE MANAGEMENT: The Birth of a Murdoch
University School
by Dianne van Rhyn and David A Holloway
The creation of Murdoch University’s Business Skill was a
textbook case-study in how not to do change management. The
result was a barely-averted disaster. Diane van Rhyn and David
Holloway look at why.
A PERSONAL MEMOIR OF POLICY FAILURE: The Failed Merger of
ANU and the Canberra CAE
by Roger
Scott
The emergence of the unified tertiary education system in the
late 80s and early 90s involved a series of struggles between
traditional ‘real’ universities and the merged CAEs
that were to make the new system possible. Roger Scott was
a key actor in one of the bitterest battles. Here he
recalls the Machiavellian manoeuvring and policy gaffes, and
muses on the lessons learned.
A CONTRASTING COURTSHIP: The Monash takeover of
Chisholm Institute of Technology
by Paul Rodan
…and Paul Rodan compares the strikingly similar
experiences of Monash and Chisolm Institute of Technology in
Melbourne at the same time.
SHAPING UNIVERSITY TEACHING TOWARDS MEASUREMENT
FOR ACCOUNTABILITY: Problems of the Graduate Skills
Assessment Test
by Kate Chanock, Rosemary Clerehan, Tim Moore, Anne
Prince
The testing of graduate attributes is the new panacea in the
search for more efficient forms of university teaching. Yet the
new test designed to measure such attributes makes a range of
questionable assumptions about who students are, what
they’ve learned, and the cultural equipment they bring with
them. Kate Chanock, Rosemary Clenehan, Tom Moore and Anne
Prince sharpen their pencils and take the test.
IT’S A SHAME ABOUT AUDIT
by Deborah Tyler & Russell Daine Wright
Academics are prone to mythologizing a lost golden age. As a
result it’s often hard to pinpoint what it is about new
management methods that causes so much frustration and
resentment. Deborah Tyler and Russell Wright look at the
‘audit culture’ of contemporary universities, and
suggest it promotes verbal dishonesty and an atmosphere of
mistrust.
THE NEGLECTED ROLE OF A NEGLECTED BODY: Academic
Boards’ Role in Assuring ‘Equivalent’
Standards
by Gavin Moodie
Right now Australian universities are unable to verify that their
degrees meet internationally accepted standards. This role ought
to have been the responsibility of academic boards. Gavin Moodie
investigates.
Joan Eveline, Ivory Basement
Leadership: Power and invisibility in the changing
university
Review by Jane Maree Maher