The Senate has put the brakes on the legislation to establish the national VET regulator – and COAG has thrown an extra spanner in the works. By John Ross. The launch of the national VET regulator has been delayed by ...

Are many third-level requirements just a crude way of getting the ‘right people’, asks Stuart Middleton. The notion of sectors and calendar years seems to be hard-wired into our educational psyches. At this end of our day, we measure out ...

To understand a university properly we should note that they are like self-assembling molecules, and are therefore chaotic, inner-directed, uncontrollable and indestructible, writes Giles Pickford. Every now and then governments try to tackle the question of managing universities more like ...

To exceed, or not to exceed? John Ross tries to unravel the economics of growing past the cap. Milo Minderbinder, the obsessively entrepreneurial American mess officer in Joseph Heller’s Catch-22, buys Maltese eggs for seven cents each and sells them ...

Evaluations of teaching need to be to be ‘read with a political eye’ and moderated with other forms of assessment writes Jillian Blackmore Universities now focus on teaching and learning as quality has become the marker of distinction in international ...

Australia’s national VET research centre is increasingly delving into the higher education world, as the integrated tertiary sector takes shape. Australia’s key VET research centre is broadening its role to embrace higher education, in a de facto response to the ...

There is no quick fix to the skills shortage, says John Mitchell. The recent floods in Queensland have led to headlines around Australia that rebuilding the damaged sections of the state will be slowed down by the lack of skilled ...

A single pathway cannot meet the needs of students who want post-secondary education writes Stuart Middleton I opened my Sunday paper the day before the start of the new school year to read the exciting statement in an advertisement for ...

Research needs to be driven by collaboration not competition writes Bruce Muirhead As an institution, universities have always existed as something of a paradox. Born out of the religious scholarly fervor of the Middle Ages, blooded among the humanist ideals ...

Sector and commentators must use the comprehensive data with integrity and precision writes Mike Calford. The announcement of the 2010 Excellence in Research Australia (ERA) outcomes has generated significant interest and debate.  Despite some well-aired weaknesses in the process, the ...