Australia’s universities are blighted by a “culture of consequence-free, rotten failure”, according to the former chair of a senate inquiry examining governance at public universities.<\/p>\n
“These failures have contributed to damaging restructures, job losses, wage theft as well as a growing sense of abandonment among students and distrust within university communities,” Labor Senator Tony Sheldon said.<\/p>\n
“There’s no other sector in the country where failure is rewarded so handsomely and with so little scrutiny.”<\/p>\n
The senate inquiry today released its interim findings making 12 recommendations including a remuneration tribunal to reign in pay for vice chancellors, whose average salary exceeds $1 million.<\/p>\n
The report also recommended greater involvement from staff and students on university councils, tougher powers for the university regulator as well as improvements to transparency.<\/p>\n
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Chair of the Senate Education and Employment Legislation Committee, Senator Marielle Smith.\u00a0<\/p>\n
“Over the course of our inquiry, we heard from students and staff who told us they felt betrayed, undermined, and let down,” current chair Labor Senator Marielle Smith said.<\/p>\n
“Universities are public institutions, established for the public good. Their governance arrangements, and the remuneration of their senior executives, should reflect that \u2014 yet we’ve heard that more than 300 university executives earn more than their state premiers.”<\/p>\n
The inquiry also examined revelations from ABC News about university redundancy processes that include staff facing the sack being told to “wash their delicates”<\/a> to cope with stress.<\/p>\n The inquiry recommended universities adopt best practice for change management and meaningfully consult staff and students.<\/p>\n “We strongly welcome the committee’s recommendations to boost transparency, cap vice-chancellor salaries, reform university councils, and strengthen the powers of the regulator TEQSA,” Dr Alison Barnes, from the National Tertiary Education Union (NTEU), said.<\/p>\n The chair of the senate committee said poor governance at universities had let down staff and students. (ABC News: Chris Gillette)<\/p>\n “These are critical foundations for rebuilding trust in public universities, and for the many staff currently facing job cuts these measures can’t come soon enough.”<\/p>\n Ms Smith was also critical of the way course cuts associated with redundancies have impacted students.<\/p>\n “Students shared that recent course closures and overbooked classes undermined their overall learning experience, including during some classes where students were forced to sit on the floor. This is clearly unacceptable,” she said.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n