Kemp-Norton Report wants public uni’s funding for private colleges
A report released on Sunday has recommended that public university funding be moved across to private colleges and TAFEs. It’s an innovative, and somewhat controversial suggestion that has a lot of people questioning the impacts this will have on public universities. The Kemp-Norton Report suggests that moving funding across to private colleges and TAFEs will enable them to contend with public universities when it comes to offering higher education. David Kemp and Andrew Norton were behind the report, and they called on some of these major changes:
- Private education institutions who offer higher education courses should be subsidised for each student that makes use of a HECS loan.
- The government needs to spend more encouraging borderline students to undertake pathway courses into higher education.
- More Federal Government financial aid should be made available for diplomas to encourage students to complete them.
But what would this new funding scheme mean for UOW? According to the Greens, it spells disaster. The Greens claim that the only way this new scheme could be funded would be by charging university students higher fees. The report recommends that HECS-HELP loan benefits be limited to students studying degrees such as nursing, maths, science and education. Instead of student contributions going back into the public university, they will instead be filtered into funding private institutions. Although UOW has recently experienced an influx of undergraduate enrolments, it will be interesting to see whether funding being filtered into private education will decrease enrolment numbers and act as disincentive for public university education.
Multimedia Reporter: Yasmin Blundell
Conflict stirs between the Greens Party and UOW
A recent statement by Senator Lee Rhiannon on the topic of the Greens Party’s plan to increase university funding has caused a surprising reaction from UOW Vice Chancellor, Prof. Paul Wellings.
Recent statements from Senator Rhiannon include her view of UOW as ‘‘facing a period of extreme uncertainty with chronic underfunding for courses, teachers and students”.
But Vice Chancellor Prof. Paul Wellings tends to disagree with this statement, saying, “The University of Wollongong is far from struggling. We have just had substantial growth in the enrolment of Australian undergraduate students, and are performing extremely well.”
Unfortunately, we couldn’t meet with Prof. Wellings, but we spoke with Senator Rhiannon and UOW Professor and Greens Party member, George Takacs, about the issue and why this beneficial plan has resulted in conflict.
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Multimedia Reporter: Joe Smith
Does UOW really need more funding?
Amid suggestions and rebuttals that UOW is facing funding struggles, Lucy Dean takes a visit to the state of the art Innovation Campus and the under-construction Early Start Facility and asks the question, does UOW need more money?
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- The Early Start Facility currently under construction.
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- The facility is set to open next January.
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- The construction site is a hive of activity.
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- Lauren Wayne, 20, believes her course does not face financial struggles, but that other creative arts courses may feel differently.
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- The building does not have a ceiling yet, and is a cavernous space.
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- Rebecca Perrine, Bachelor of Digital Media believes that UOW needs more equipment, but that the Innovation Campus isn’t struggling.
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- Workers continue with construction of the Early Start Facility.
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- 8. Students are excited to use the facility next year.
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- Construction workers
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- Marie Tapsell, 19, Bachelor of Primary Education says, “I think Primary Education is struggling, but we’re getting a new building.”
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- The building will feature a kitchen, in this spot, for degrees related to early childhood.
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- Builders and architects work long hours to get the job done.
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- Sean O’Gorman, 20, Bachelor of Communications and Media, says, “I feel like we don’t even utilise (the Innovation Campus) much, and we rent it out a lot.”
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- The Innovation Campus is a state of the art facility dedicated to science and technology.
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- The Innovation Campus is a collection of beautifully designed buildings that nurture science and technology students. The cafe and gym there, students say, are also very good.
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- Ashleigh Berry, 19, Bachelor of Primary Education, says “At the moment I think we’re fine. But we’re getting this building (the Early Start Centre) so that should be good.”
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- The Sustainable Buildings Research Centre is another building under construction at the Innovation Campus.
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- The new bridge connecting Innovation Campus to the Princess Highway, opened earlier this year.
Multimedia Reporter: Lucy Dean
Australia’s most unique university
UOWTV’s Kelsey Sutor spoke to Nan Tien Institute president Professor Grier Lin about the future of the university and possible funding from the Kemp-Norton review.
Multimedia Reporter: Kelsey Sutor