It is surprising that this should occur when many people are only just returning from holidays and without warning.

The impact on students will be to decrease student consultation time and reduce support more generally for students in a range of areas such as assessment support because of less staff availability time.

With extra stress on the University this year because of campus closures at Melton and Sunbury and increased numbers of students at Footscray Park campus and St Albans campus, increasing staff workloads at this time is clearly unhelpful.

The increase on workload will also impact on community research work carried out by staff which is often is important for the Western region and Melbourne more generally.

A recent survey conducted  by the NTEU indicates that over 63% of staff at Victoria University are working over 41 hours a week.

A website outlining some of the issues is available at www.vufacts.org.

Victoria University management has taken this action outside of the 2009 Enterprise Agreement with staff and  any negotiative process with staff and has again shown it prefers an adversarial approach  rather than an approach of working towards a positive solution for the community, students and staff.

The National Tertiary Education Union (NTEU) has initiated disputes procedures against the University.

However, the adversarial way at Victoria University has become a monotonous part of life and despite 2010 being the last year of Vice Chancellor Elizabeth Harman’s tenure, she has shown that this path will continue at Victoria University as long as she remains at the helm.

This is disappointing.

Regards

Paul

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The State Government will introduce a Bill in Parliament this December to amend the current Victoria University Act. We expect that the provision to be amended will be the objectives section, that currently includes a commitment to the western suburbs. It is proposed that these sections will be removed and that the commitment to the west will be mentioned in the preamble to the new Act.

Friends of Victoria University is seeking advice from its membership on whether to oppose the change and would appreciate any responses or opinions you might care to share.

(Please indicate whether you would like these views shared with the entire mail list or kept private if you reply)

The current objectives of the Victoria University Act are as follows.
Victoria University of Technology Act 1990 – SECT 6
Objects of the University

6. Objects of the University

The objects of the University include-

(a) the development of an institution with excellence in teaching,
training, research and scholarship, with particular emphasis on
technological development and applications of knowledge;

(b) the provision of high quality educational, research, residential,
social, recreational, sporting and other facilities;

(c) the promotion, advancement and transmission of knowledge and its
practical application by research and other means, the dissemination
by various means of the outcomes of research and the commercial
exploitation of the results of that research;

(ca) to promote critical enquiry within the university and in the general
community;

(d) the provision of a wide range of programs and courses of study in
post-secondary education, including courses of instruction or training
relevant to a trade or other skilled occupation and facilitation of
articulation between programs;

(e) the participation in commercial ventures and activities;

(ea) the conduct of teaching, research, consultancy and development
activities within and outside Australia;

(f) the fostering of the general welfare and development of all enrolled
students;

(g) the conferring of prescribed degrees and the granting of prescribed
diplomas, certificates and other awards;

(h) the offering of opportunities for development and further training to
teaching and other staff of the university;

(i) the development and provision of educational, cultural,
professional, technical and vocational services to the
community and in particular the fostering of participation in
post-secondary education for persons living or working in the
Western Metropolitan Region of Melbourne;

(j) the provision of programs and services in ways which reflect
principles of equity and social justice;

(k) generally the development and carrying on of a university providing
such appropriate and accessible academic and other programs, courses
of study and research activity as the Council considers necessary for
the attainment of the foregoing within Victoria and elsewhere.

The current Bill before Parliament would strip out objectives (i) and (j) from the Act which guarantee the commitment of the University to provide equitable postsecondary education for persons living in the Western Metropolitan Region of Melbourne.

We think the removal of the commitment in the object section may have future implications for the University’s stance towards regional western campuses in the future (e.g. St Albans, Werribee) and the commitment to ‘equitable’ education ( cost and access) in the region. Moreover as a statement of principles it is clearly important that VU remains a university of the West.

The change to the legislation is occurring is because of a State Government desires to standardise Acts and objectives for each of the Universities. However there is much to lose here by what is essentially a bureaucratic move by the State Government which will have the effect of squashing diversity and local regional connection to the University.

Friends of VU would be most interested in what you think about this change.

Regards

Raoul and Paul

Friends of Victoria University

http://friendsofvu.org.au/

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Please find recent article from the Maribyrnong Leader about cuts to Maths at VU. The Australian Mathematical Science Institute has written a letter to Vice Chancellor Liz Harman indicating that the proposed reduction of staff will “threaten the provision of tertiary mathematics education and the training of secondary mathematics teachers in the western suburbs”.

It is of great concern that Victoria University continues to cut courses such as maths when there is a demonstrable need in the community for these courses to be taught.

The article from the Maribyrnong Leader:

Not doing the maths

Cuts will lead to teacher shortage, Victoria Uni warned Uni cuts

MATHEMATICIANS are the latest to hit out at Victoria University’s cost-cutting plans, with Australia’s peak maths-science group warning they could lead to a maths teacher shortage in western suburbs high schools.

The Australian Mathematical Sciences Institute has also criticised plans to “abandon support” for a key research group and place “undue reliance on casual staff (which) will weaken the quality of the university’s mathematical program”.

In a letter to VU Vice Chancellor Elizabeth Harman, institute director Geoff Prince outlines a “deep concern” that the university’s teaching and research standards are set to fall. The university’s plans also “threaten the provision of tertiary mathematics education and the training of secondary mathematics teachers in the western suburbs”.

“Students at Victoria University deserve the dedication and encouragement of continuing academic staff committed to improving mathematical outcomes for students in the West,” Dr Prince said.

Victoria University representatives did not respond to the Leader’s queries by deadline, but Prof Harman has described the university’s $27 million cost-cutting plans, announced last October, as “futureproofing”. “While the university has been consistently returning a surplus each year, we need to rebalance our budget if we are going to have the means to invest in new facilities and services to meet the growth demands of the western region of Melbourne,” a statement said.

The National Tertiary Education Union has been lobbying against the planned cuts, particularly in science, engineering and languages. About 270 staff are expected to lose their jobs under the plan to save the university $27 million.

Ethnic councils, teachers and students attacked plans to cut several language courses, transferring students to Melbourne University classes.

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Tuesday 25 August, 4.00 pm, Footscray Park Campus, G470

Speakers include:

• Jamie Doughney, President Victorian NTEU Branch and Victoria University lecturer.
• Ms Voula Messimeri-Kianidis, Chair, Federation of Ethnic Communities’ Councils of Australia (FECCA)
• Mr Sam Afra, Chairperson of the Ethnic Communities’ Council of Victoria (ECCV)
• Richard Lee, Victoria University student

More information here.

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Following recent plans to close languages at Victoria University, the University appears now intent on closing half of the mathematics department at the Victoria University

With shortages of maths teachers in local schools, this appears to be another situation where the University is out of step with the community.

‘The mathematics profession is warning that declines in university staffing and student numbers is set to create critical skills shortages, especially in school teaching, which they say is disproportionately hitting state schools.’

You can read The Australian article here.

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The Council is the governing authority of the University and sets its direction. As a Council member you would have an opportunity to have a say in this direction and to also ensure that the community’s views are acknowledged and represented on this body.

Please consider nominating yourself if you feel that you have something to offer soon or consider approaching someone you know who you think might make a good Victoria University Councillor.

As you know Friends of Victoria University has been for sometime concerned about the general direction of the University. The Victoria University Act (1990) indicates that two of the more important objects of the University are to:

(i) develop and provide ‘educational, cultural, professional, technical and vocational services to the community and in particular the fostering of participation in post-secondary education for persons living or working in the Western Metropolitan Region of Melbourne; and to

(j) provide ‘programs and services in ways which reflect principles of equity and social justice.’

In the past nine months, Victoria University management have made decisions which reflect very poorly on these objects: these include the decisions to close campuses without adequate consultation and the consequent limiting of opportunities for students in the outer western region, the sacking of 270 staff members, course and unit closures, shutting down of language offerings, ramping up of class sizes and increasing queues for student services by downsizing service areas – among a range of other poorly-thought through decisions.

There is clearly a need for change at the top and renewal of Victoria’s University’s governance to ensure that future decisions are based on principles of justice, rationality and accountability to the University’s key stakeholders students, staff, community and the west.

The current 12 external appointments to Council are nearly all from the corporate sector. There are few genuine community or educational representatives on Council.

This imbalance in representation was perhaps exacerbated recently further with the resignation of Professor Richard Teese from the University of Melbourne in December last year and his replacement by Mr Clovis Bonner, a Chartered Accountant, who is described in his University bio as having ‘considerable business advisory experience gained in the reorganisation of corporations, particularly in the areas of finance, organisational structure and strategic planning.’

While Friends of VU believes that it is important to have representatives who have good business acumen, we also believe there is a need for a wider diversity of representation to ensure that University is managed well educationally and in the interests of the region. Can you help?

The current membership of Victoria University Council consists of:

• the Chancellor;
• the Vice-Chancellor;
• two persons elected by the board or boards established under the

Statutes to be responsible for academic programs

• 3 persons elected, by and from the staff of the University
• 2 persons elected by and from the students enrolled at the University;
• 6 persons appointed by the Governor in Council
• one person appointed by the Minister;
• 6 persons appointed by the Council.

The attached nomination form is for members of the community interested in nominating for the Governor in Council University positions which are appointed from a nominated pool by the state Government. In completing the application you are nominating for this pool.

If you are a student or staff member, elections are held regularly for Council positions inside the University – usually at the end or beginning of each year. Regular information is sent out concerning election via internal email or posted on the University website.

Please, however, also discuss issues of governance with your current elected Council members.

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Read the transcript of the ABC radio program

Read The Australian article

MEDIA RELEASE

April 30, 2009

CONCERN CUTBACKS TO UNIVERSITY FOREIGN LANGUAGE COURSES REFLECT A BROADER TREND

Mr Sam Afra, Chairperson of the Ethnic Communities’ Council of Victoria (ECCV) expressed concern today that extensive cutbacks to Victoria University’s foreign language program reflected a broader decline in the opportunity to study languages other than English (LOTE) in Victorian tertiary institutions.

“The announcement that Victoria University students will no longer be able to study Japanese, Chinese or Spanish on campus is deeply disappointing and already a source of alarm to current and prospective students,” Mr Afra said.

On Tuesday it was confirmed that from 2010 only one LOTE course will be on offer at Victoria University – Vietnamese, with arrangements made for Victoria University students of Chinese, Japanese or Spanish to continue their language studies at the University of Melbourne.

“While I appreciate that many tertiary institutions are struggling with increased competition for a shrinking pool of available finances, too often it is Humanities courses such as foreign languages and cross-cultural studies that suffer first and suffer hardest,” Mr Afra said.

Mr Afra noted that Mandarin and Japanese were among the target languages identified by the Australian Government’s own National Asian Languages and Studies in Schools Program (NALSSP).

“As recently as December last year, the NALSSP was setting a 2020 timeline for one in eight Australian students exiting Year 12 with sufficient fluency in one of these languages to engage in trade and commerce in Asia and/or pursue further university study.”

“The obvious question arising from the cutbacks at Victoria University is: where will this expectant surge in bilingual Year 12 students go ?”

Mr Afra also expressed concern that shuttling Victoria University LOTE students across to the University of Melbourne was not a viable option in the long term.

“I understand that at the moment, second and third year Spanish students at the University of Melbourne already have to transfer across to La Trobe University’s Bundoora Campus to complete their studies,” Mr Afra explained.

“So that means from 2010, a Victoria University student wishing to complete an Honours degree in Spanish can expect to hopscotch between three different Universities around Melbourne. Clearly, this is not the most conducive system for living or learning. Nor is it in keeping with the hard-earned image of Victoria as a prime destination for international activity and home to cultural diversity.”

Mr Afra said that if Universities needed to explore ways of pooling resources to deliver LOTE courses, then greater effort was needed to ensure the availability of an adequate number and variety of LOTE spaces to meet demand without causing undue inconvenience to students.

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The Chinese Community Council of Victoria is organizing a demonstration of 100-200 people to protest against the closure of Chinese languages and Languages other than English (LOTES) this Monday 4th May at Victoria University with the exception of Vietnamese.

Can you please consider supporting this protest. Details are as follows:

Chinese Community Council Demonstration against closure of Chinese Languages

When: 1 pm, Monday 4 May

Where: Outside K Block, Footscray Park campus, outside K Block, Ballarat road, Footscray

Please bring placards and people see you there.

Background

Closure of Languages Other Than English (LOTE) at Victoria University

LOTEs offered at Victoria University include Chinese, Japanese, Vietnamese and Spanish. From 2010, with the exception of the Vietnamese, Victoria University will have no further intake into first year LOTEs programs and these programs will be gradually taught out.

This would be a considerable loss for Victoria University which has one of the most diverse student populations in Australia.

In a recent public statement Victoria University has indicated that it will be negotiating from 2010 for students at VU to undertake LOTEs at Melbourne University. However, it remains to be seen whether students at VU will be able to undertake these languages without restriction (e.g. only students with sufficient enter scores) and/or whether there will sufficient places in language units at the University of Melbourne for all VU students who may wish to undertake a language.

The current LOTE have been developed at VU since the 1990s in response to national language policies, and to the needs and demands of employers for graduates with qualifications in world and community languages. Chinese, Spanish and Japanese are 3 of the major world languages. LOTE also receives a much higher level of funding per student than other Arts units of study.

Reasons for retaining LOTE at Victoria University

There will be an increased need for LOTE teacher training at VU from 2009, because of recent Federal Government initiatives.

• The National Asian Languages and Studies in Schools program starts in January 2009. This $62.4m program targets Asian language learning in schools, specifically Chinese (Mandarin), Japanese, Indonesian, Korean. This program supports: additional Asian languages classes in high schools; teacher training and support to increase the number of suitably qualified teachers; specialist curricula for students who display advanced abilities in Asian languages and studies. (The most acute area of Asian language teacher shortage is Japanese.)
• The Rudd Government has identified all languages as part of the second tranch of national curriculum development. (Eg. The National Curriculum Board will work with the States and Territories from 2009 to provide incentives for school students to become proficient in a language.)

SIGNIFICANCE OF LOTE:

• Australian employers consider the ability to speak a second language makes a potential employee a more attractive employment prospect. 72% of employers surveyed (73 companies across 10 industries) considered that a second language enhanced a candidate’s employment prospects (International Education Association of Australia & QETI, 2006.)
• The languages considered most useful by employers are: Chinese; SE Asian languages; Spanish; Japanese. (Chinese is now the most spoken language in the world; in the next decade, Spanish and Hindi will overtake English as the second-most spoken languages.)
• LOTES provide opportunities for internationalisations: VU students studying abroad, exchanges and attraction of international students.
• The United Nations has declared 2008 the International Year of Languages.

Unesco states:

‘Languages, with their complex implications for identity, communication, social integration, education and development, are of strategic importance for people and the planet . . . When languages fade, so does the world’s rich tapestry of cultural diversity . . . In this context, it is urgent to take action to promote multilingualism [. . . ] allowing each speaker community to use its mother tongue in private and public domains of language use and enabling the speakers to learn and use additional languages: local, national and international. Mother-tongue speakers of national or international languages should be encouraged to learn and use other languages of the country and regional and international languages.’

Alternatives to closing LOTE

Enrolment numbers in later year LOTE units at VU have been smaller than other Arts units because:

• The tight structure of vocational degrees at VU means that students can take only a small number of electives. Business and Law students usually take first year LOTE units, and not later year units.
• LOTE delivery does not accommodate vocational degree students (ie. Nursing) not at Footscray Park campus.
• LOTE have not been offered to Education students as teaching methods. (Japanese has VIT approval for 2009.)

However, there are a range of alternatives which have not been fully considered.

1. LOTE could be made available to a larger cohort of students.

• All LOTE could be offered as teaching methods in Bachelor of Education (HBED).
• Better timetabling to enable more students to choose LOTE; evening and burst mode delivery; more online support.
• All LOTES could be offered winter semester.
• Opportunities for students in vocational degrees and in cross-sectoral courses could be increased (ie. Liberal Arts) to study LOTE.

2. Delivery costs could be reduced for LOTE.

• Implement evening, burst mode and online delivery.

3. LOTE could be internationalised

• Double degrees developed specifying LOTE (ie. degrees combined with BA, International Studies – ABA).

• Increase opportunities for study abroad and student exchange, particularly with China, Japan and Vietnam. (Current opportunities could include: China and Vietnam Study Tours; exchange agreements with 7 universities in Spain and Mexico, Utsonomiya University in Japan.)
• Expedite current exchange negotiations with Liaoning University (China) and Tokyo Gakugei University (Japan).

LOTEs must be retained at Victoria University.

Please consider sending a protest email to Elizabeth Harman Vice Chancellor Victoria University elizabeth.harman@vu.edu.au, emailing your local parliamentarian, or writing a letter to your local newspaper.

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Friends of VU Convenors and members attended a community forum on education in Melton on April 1st.

The forum heard of the many positive initiatives occurring in Melton, including $11.2 million funding announced in March by Minister Julia Gillard for a purpose built Trade Training Centre at the Victoria University site in Melton.

VU Vice Chancellor Professor Elizabeth Harman addressed the meeting and gave her perspective on the University Council’s decision to close the Melton and Sunbury campuses.

The Vice Chancellor also fielded a large number of questions from the audience.

While the Vice Chancellor should be commended for attending the meeting, it is regrettable that a dialogue with the Melton community commenced after the decision to close the campus was taken.

VU reiterated their position about campus closures and strengthening the remaining campuses. However, there was no real rationale provided for a decision to withdraw from one of Australia’s fastest growing regions.

Friends of VU congratulate the Shire of Melton on holding the forum. The evening succeeded in sharing information and starting a dialogue; in particular, VU’s responsibility to consult with the community on major decisions was discussed and agreed.

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The Friends of Victoria University will be holding a Community Forum.

The forum is officially hosted by the Shire of Melton

When: Wednesday 1 April, 7:30pm

Where: Melton Community Hall, 232 High Street Melton, Next to Melton Shire Civic Offices

More details to follow.

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