The truth at last, or at least some of it, about Peter Rathjen, the U of Adelaide, the U of Melbourne, the U of Tasmania, etc. [Updated Sept 3, 2020: University of Melbourne "leader" finally speaks]

Peter Rathjen, former VC and president, U Adelaide
It may take a long time for the mighty to fall, but more and more often these days, they eventually do.

Such is the fate of Australian scientist Peter Rathjen, immediate past Vice-Chancellor and president of the University of Adelaide. Today in Australia, Bruce Lander, an Independent Commissioner Against Corruption, released a statement about his investigation of Rathjen, who has a long history of sexual misconduct.

The statement, a brief summary of a much longer report that is being kept secret, outlines Rathjen's latest abuses, which included the sexual harassment (including unwanted sexual touching) of two women employed by the University of Adelaide. Lander found that their allegations of harassment (or perhaps more properly, assault) after a university function in April 2019 were true. Lander also found that Rathjen lied both to him and the university's Chancellor about a number of matters related to his past misconduct.

I was gratified to see (pp. 5-6 and 8 of Lander's statement) that the inquiry included questions about prior misconduct that I had previously published on this blog. My first mention of allegations against Rathjen were very brief, part of a much longer report in July 2019 on bullying and sexual harassment by the former director of the University of Adelaide's ancient DNA lab, Alan Cooper. More recently, I expanded on those allegations, in a blog post last May. When confronted with these allegations, Rathjen lied about them several times, as Lander reports.

The report also confirms one of the most serious allegations against Rathjen, that he sexually assaulted a student while science dean at the University of Melbourne. I had originally withheld the name of the university involved at the request of a colleague of the victim of that attack, but since it is now public--and widely reported in the Australian media--there is no longer any point in doing so. This also raises serious questions about whether multiple institutions in Australia "passed the harasser" despite their knowledge of Rathjen's misconduct, thus allowing him to undeservedly climb to the summits of academia.

Indeed, there are already signs of damage control across Australian universities. Here, for example, is a message sent by the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Tasmania on the heels of the ICAC report. Note that  Vice-Chancellor Rufus Black states that an investigation at UTAS found no evidence that Rathjen had committed sexual harassment or sexual assault while there. He didn't need to, however. As I reported, while Vice-Chancellor at UTAS,  Rathjen protected a convicted pedophile from being kicked off campus even after he had re-offended, and despite a campaign led by #MeToo activist Nina Funnell and others to get the university to do the right thing.


From: Professor Rufus Black <listserv@UTAS.EDU.AU>
Subject: Peter Rathjen ICAC report released | We stand ready to support our community
Date: 26 August 2020 at 9:33:56 am GMT+2


Having trouble viewing this email? View it in your browser

VICE-CHANCELLOR

Professor Rufus Black

Dear Colleagues,
The South Australian Independent Commission Against Corruption has today released a statement regarding its investigation into the immediate past Vice-Chancellor of our University, Professor Peter Rathjen.

The statement upholds that Peter Rathjen engaged in conduct which was both unwanted and unwelcome with two women, and that he subsequently lied to try to protect his position.

We believe the accounts contained in the ICAC statement, including its information that there was a complaint regarding Peter Rathjen’s conduct during his time at the University of Melbourne prior to coming to our University.

When ICAC made public its investigation into Peter Rathjen’s behaviour, despite it not involving our University, we undertook our own investigation and to date have determined that there was no known evidence of sexual harassment or sexual assault involving Professor Peter Rathjen during his tenure at the University of Tasmania.

Today I want to assure you that there is no tolerance at our University for sexual harassment or sexual assault. If there are unreported, undetected issues in Tasmania, we are ready to support anyone with experiences they want to share, knowing how difficult it can be to come forward.

If staff or students want to share experiences related to Peter Rathjen’s time as Vice-Chancellor, we ask that they make contact with Chief People Officer Jill Bye at jill.bye@utas.edu.au.

While details of the ICAC report relate to things that happened elsewhere, for many, especially those who worked with Peter Rathjen, they may feel all too close to home.

If so, general support and counselling is available to University staff and students if they need support relating to news of the ICAC report. Staff should phone 1800 650 204 and students should phone 1800 817 675.

We are ready to support our community through an episode that will be challenging and confronting for many.

Not only have we no tolerance for sexual harassment or assault, as a community we look to a future where our culture is consistently inclusive, equitable and supported by the strength that diversity brings.

Yours,
Professor Rufus Black,
VICE-CHANCELLOR
Professor Rufus Black
Vice-Chancellor
Office of the Vice-Chancellor
University of Tasmania
Private Bag 51, Hobart, TAS, 7001
T: +61 3 6226 2003
vice.chancellor@utas.edu.au
CRICOS 00586B





Black's letter is typical, and will be typical going forward, of attempts by university administrators to jump clear of the Rathjen scandal and claim that they either did nor know or took action as soon as they did know. And they will point to the fact that Rathjen (and  thus perhaps his victims) finally got justice as proof that the system works. Actually, it does not work very often, as the failure of the University of Melbourne to alert the academic community about Rathjen's crimes indicates.

At the University of Adelaide, for example, officials continue to look the other way despite clear abuses in the School of Education and the dental school, situations on which I have also reported (see the long, long  list of  comments on this blog post for details about the dental school and allegations of bullying, mismanagement, and  abuse.)

I'd like to end on a personal note, one which I find amusing, as serious as it is. As readers of this blog know, I have been sued for defamation by University of California, Santa Barbara archaeologist Danielle Kurin, whose misconduct I have reported on extensively. As part of the "evidence" that I falsely accuse academics of being sexual predators and the like, Kurin includes a number of examples. One of them, mentioned in section 44 of her Amended Complaint, is none other than that of Peter Rathjen.


Update August 27:  Elise Worthington and  Conor Duffy of Australia's ABC have more today on the University of Melbourne investigation, which Rathjen lied about when asked, according to the ICAC statement. Serious sexual misconduct is a euphemism here for sexual assault.


Update August 28: Adelaide bully and enabler express their concerns about the ICAC report and Rathjen. 

As usually happens when an institution suddenly faces a public scandal, its leaders have issued statements to the rank and file expressing their concerns and assuring everyone that they are there to listen. The first of these comes from Faye McCallum, head of the School of Education, whose own history of bullying I reported on earlier; the second from Mike Brooks, who has been appointed interim Vice-Chancellor and President to replace Rathjen, and who earlier (as Deputy VC for Research) was a key enabler of Alan Cooper, ancient DNA director at Adelaide fired for bullying students and postdocs.

Note that McCallum says everything is going to calm down and advises staff not to talk to the media. Only when staff started talking to the media did anything start to change.











From: Vice Chancellor <vice-chancellor@adelaide.edu.au>
Sent:
Subject: [Alluniversity] ICAC Findings

Dear Colleagues

Earlier this week the Independent Commissioner Against Corruption (ICAC) issued a public statement and findings following his inquiry into allegations of improper conduct by the University’s former Vice-Chancellor, Peter Rathjen.  Professor Rathjen was found guilty of serious misconduct under the ICAC Act.

ICAC made no findings of maladministration or misconduct about any person other than the former Vice-Chancellor.

Findings about the former Vice-Chancellor are deeply shocking. I acknowledge the distress caused to the victims impacted by the behaviour of the former Vice-Chancellor.

This news will have been profoundly disturbing to staff and students as well as members of our wider community.

As our Chancellor, Ms Catherine Branson AC QC, has repeatedly stated, the former Vice-Chancellor’s conduct is unacceptable. It is grossly at odds with the values, conduct and behaviour expected of any staff member. The University is fortunate to have had the benefit of the Chancellor’s exemplary leadership over the period of the ICAC inquiry.

All of the recommendations made by ICAC to improve or clarify our policies and procedures have been accepted in full.

I strongly encourage any staff or students who have experienced sexual assault or sexual harassment to come forward and report it tocomplaints@adelaide.edu.au.  You will have the University’s full support.

Along with the senior leadership, I am personally committed to fostering a culture and environment in which staff and students can thrive and feel safe, valued and welcome. All members of our community deserve to be treated with the utmost respect and collegiality.

Kind regards
Mike

Professor Mike Brooks FTSE FACS
Interim Vice-Chancellor and President
The University of Adelaide | Adelaide SA 5005




Update August 30: There has been a huge amount of media coverage in Australia about Rathjen's final downfall, which I have not been posting here because I assume that readers in Australia at least are seeing much of it (and a frustrating amount of it is behind firewalls, meaning I can't read a lot of it myself.) But I did want to link to this very good piece in The Guardian by Tory Shepherd. Tory was one of the first journalists to begin reporting on the rot inside the University of Adelaide (aside from me, of course) back when I was reporting on the many abuses of former ancient DNA director Alan Cooper. She also was very good about crediting the work of the reporter who broke the Cooper story, something that both Science and Nature refused to do in their own coverage of the firing of one of ancient DNA's leading pioneers. 

As I have said many times, the most important reason to credit the previous work of other journalists is not professional courtesy--although journalistic ethics actually requires it--but to put readers in the picture about how particular stories came about. In the Cooper case, for example, it was important for readers to know that former members of his lab had approached a reporter and told their stories, and that only then had the university begun its own investigation. By not mentioning this, Science, Nature, and any other publication that failed to cite the previous reporting gave readers the false impression that the University of Adelaide had simply begun the investigation because it was concerned about protecting its staff--rather than the truth, which is that Adelaide was concerned about protecting its reputation.

In the case of Peter Rathjen, fortunately, the  ICAC statement specifically referred to my previous reporting (pp. 5-6) and the role it played in the investigation, which makes it (more) difficult for media accounts to ignore it.

In Tory Shepherd's case, as I say above, she was always good about not only professional courtesy but also providing that essential context for readers. In her Guardian piece, Tory points out that Rathjen's reputation for sleaziness was long known:


"But to many in South Australia’s academic world, the finding was hardly surprising.
Rumours about Peter Rathjen’s conduct have been swirling for years. After his appointment in 2018, he became a well-known mover and shaker in Adelaide, a deal-maker. He was media savvy, often described as charming. In private, he was often described to Guardian Australia as sleazy."
and:
"The incident has prompted obvious disgust at Rathjen’s behaviour but also questions about the university’s handling of the complaints, about its culture and about its payout to Rathjen.
“The number of people expressing a total lack of surprise at this finding is absolutely damning,” prominent University of New South Wales academic Darren Saunders tweeted.
“The number of people in power who ignored the ‘rumours’, particularly those who were still in Adelaide when he returned … or those he knew in other places and didn’t say or do anything … if people who have the power and authority to make change don’t, who will?” former University of Adelaide postdoctoral fellow Hannah Brown replied."

The fall of Rathjen is a promising sign that a combination of action by fed up colleagues on the inside of the corrupt system, monitored and reported by journalists, can begin to lead to changes. There are a LOT of other well known sexual predators and bullies out there still, and I would to think that their days are numbered--along with those of the hierarchical, inhumane system that put them there and still allows them to thrive.


Update August 31, 2020: Protests at University of Adelaide.


From The Advertiser:



TERTIARY
Adelaide Uni students protest, demand review
into Peter Rathjen’s time at Adelaide Uni after
ICAC finding

Chris Russell, The Advertiser
August 31, 2020 5:10pm
Subscriber only


The culture at Adelaide University that allowed former vice-chancellor Peter Rathjen to run the institution – even while under investigation for misconduct – must change, student leaders said on Monday.

Calling for a review into Prof Rathjen’s tenure, about 100 students and staff attended a protest on the university campus on Monday.

“We need to make sure decisions have not been influenced by the vice-chancellor’s inability to understand sexual consent,” student union board member Arabella Wauchope said.

The protest was called following the Independent Commissioner Against Corruption Bruce Lander finding Prof Rathjen committed “serious misconduct” by groping two women staff members during a work trip to Sydney in April 2019.

Prof Rathjen also lied about his behaviour.

Stella Salvemini, president of the Women’s Collective, which organised
the protest, said students were upset they were kept in the dark about the investigation for so long.

“We hope the new Chancellor, Catherine Branson, will involve student
representatives in what the university does going forward,” she said.

“We have faith in her because of her background as a former head of the Australian Human Rights Commission. “We expect her to do a good job in cleaning up the culture.”

SRC women’s officer Rebecca Etienne said students had been angry and distressed by the ICAC report.

Ms Branson has pledged to adopt all recommendations made by Mr Lander to improve governance and policies aimed at eliminating sexual harassment but has not demanded Prof Rathjen repay his settlement payout.

However, Sharna Bremner, from a group called End Rape On Campus, said the university had previously promised to follow a very similar set of recommendations made in 2017 by the Human Rights Commission.

The university had self-reported it met those earlier pledges.

The Women’s Collective will present a petition to the university administration.


Pictured (image not available): University of Adelaide Women's Collective
president Stella Salvemini with fellow student leaders
Rebecca Etienne and Arabella Wauchope.


And from the Adelaide Women's Collective (with apologies for the poor quality image:)





Update September 3, 2010: A letter from the University of Melbourne Vice-Chancellor


It took some time, but the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Melbourne, Duncan Maskell, finally got around to making a statement about the Peter Rathjen affair--although with extreme delicacy. Peter Rathjen is a "former senior leader from this University," and what was clearly referred to as serious sexual misconduct in the Lander statement is now "an incident that occurred." Here is the statement, comment afterwards:





A statement far more to the point was made earlier by the president of the University of Melbourne Student Union and others:


Statement on sexual harassment conducted by Professor Peter Rathjen — 28 August 2020

Hannah Buchan, UMSU President

Aria Sunga and Naomi Smith, Officer Bearers UMSU Women’s Department 

CW: Sexual Assault and Harassment

.

The UMSU Womenʻs Department is disgusted to hear of the sexual harassment committed by Peter Rathjen, the former Vice-Chancellor of the University of Adelaide. We condemn the University of Melbourne’s complicity in allowing a perpetrator of sexual harm to continue work in the University sector.

Yesterday, the South Australian Independent Commision Against Corruption (ICAC) announced that it found that Professor Peter Rathjen, the former Vice-Chancellor of the University of Adelaide, had committed serious misconduct by sexually harassing two colleagues in 2019. An ABC investigation has found that a former employer of the Rahtjen, the University of Melbourne, was aware of previous cases where Rathjen had harassed people and yet they failed to inform the University of Adelaide.

Professor Rathjen was employed at the University of Melbourne from 2006 to 2011. And it was during this time that a former student alleged he committed serious sexual misconduct while he was the Dean of Science between 2006 to 2008.

The student reported this case to the University of Melbourne in May of 2018 and the University upheld the misconduct complaint. Despite upholding the misconduct complaint the University failed to refer the new findings to the University of Adelaide – where Professor Rathjen was Vice-Chancellor. Their failure to refer to these findings enabled Rathjen to continue to offend at another University campus.

This is not the first case that has been in the media this year where the University reveals its negligence and complicitness in its responses to cases of sexual assault and harassment. It is time the University or Melbourne owned up and took responsibility for sexual assault and a harassment that occurs within the University community. The University again is showing its true colours where it upholds perpetrators in power rather than survivors. We are deeply concerned with the clearly consistent amateur approach that the University takes with responding to sexual assault and harassment. The University must do better.

UMSU also unequivocally stands with survivors – we hear you, we believe you, and we support you.

We call on the University to:

  • To adequately respond to the allegations that they failed to inform the University of Adelaide of the misconduct findings against Rathjen.
  • To release appropriately anonymised data on the outcomes of their sexual harassment misconduct cases.
  • To appoint external investigators, with appropriate sexual assault and harassment sensitivity training, for all sexual assault and harassment misconduct cases.
  • To increase funding and resources to the Safer Community program and ensure all itʻs processes are independent from the University.

In the coming days we will be penning an open letter to the Vice-Chancellor Duncan Maksell, asking him to respond to our demands, and also creating a petition to collect student signatures in support of this letter. We will not rest until the University takes responsibility for their complicity and makes substantial institutional changes.

Find the ABC article here: https://amp.abc.net.au/article/12601766?__twitter_impression=true

If this has brought up any issues or concerns for you, we encourage you to contact the following services:

Centre Against Sexual Assault House http://www.casahouse.com.au/

Phone 24 Hour hotline:  03 9635 3610

1800 Respect:

https://www.1800respect.org.au/

Phone: 1800 737 732, Interpreter: 13 14 50

UMSU Sexual Harm and Response Coordinator; Dr. Patrick Tidmarsh: patrick.tidmarsh@union.unimelb.edu.au

Unimelb Safer Communities:  https://safercommunity.unimelb.edu.au/

Phone: 9035 8675



I will let a current professor from the University of Melbourne, who asked not to be identified, comment on the Maskell letter:


"These are fine sentiments. However, those who protected Rathjen in the interests of protecting their institutional reputations are now scrambling to dissociate themselves from him. You can read here that Duncan Maskell joined the university in January 2019. He quotes himself from that time, where he states that he has zero tolerance for sexual harassment. That was well before Rathjen was found 'guilty' of sexual assault. Despite Maskell’s strong words, no public announcement was made, and the universities of Adelaide and Tasmania were not informed. Maskell himself 'passed the harasser'. This on the pretext of protecting the victim. Of course, there was no necessity to name the victim or even the details of the sexual assault. Conveniently, this meant there were no consequences for Rathjen, as he was a former employee and not subject to sanction, and no reputational damage to the University of Melbourne from it becoming known that senior academics there sexually assault postgraduate students."

Post a Comment

791 Comments

Anonymous said…
In 100 years, people will be interested in knowing what the worst places were to work for in the last century.

University will have to appear somewhere at the top.
Anonymous said…
The union writes:

Besides, a look at the WGEA (Workplace Gender Equity Agency) reports over the last 6 years shed a lot of light into some rather interesting practices followed by the university during that time and provide some possible alternative reason as to why the proposed changes may have come to life.

As the reports suggest, middle management has ballooned by about 30% over the last 5 years, with most of the increase happening in 2018. The reports seem to suggest that the increase emanates mainly from external hires. A back of the envelope calculation suggests that this can only be supported through an increase in costs by about $15m to $20m per year. Interestingly, the proposed changes target savings of similar magnitude, yet those affected by the proposed changes are not necessarily the ones hired during that time. In fact, most affected staff are generally on a lower pay scale, which means that in order to achieve the targeted savings, more of them must be let go.


Anonymous said…
The union writes:

In a case of “blink and you’ll miss it”, a very thorough article about the University of Adelaide finances and accounting practices, was published in Campus Morning Mail a couple of weeks ago, by distinguished Professor James Guthrie AM, a colleague from the Business School at Macquarie University: https://campusmorningmail.com.au/news/university-of-adelaides-finances-and-financial-position-in-2020-were-strong/

As the title suggests, it is an analysis of the University annual report(s) noting its strong performance during 2020 and reading through it raises serious questions regarding some accounting practices that could, inadvertently we are sure, create a crisis that simply may not exist.

In particular, the article notes that the net operating result in 2020 “has been produced from a total cash flow from continuing operations of nearly $1bn”, which is pretty good for a COVID year.

It also pointedly notes that “The university stated that it recorded a relatively steady financial performance for 2020 compared with 2019 due to strategies including staff purchased leave, voluntary separation of 157 staff, and a pause on infrastructure projects, staff hiring and other expenditure (total savings: $90m). The university spent $23m on redundancies ($7m 2019); therefore, 2020 has a better result than 2019.” Interesting, isn’t it?

And to top it all: “It also benefited from better-than-expected enrolments (total international student revenue: $254 million in 2020, the same as 2019). “
So why do we need to let go of about 100 professional staff with more academics to follow you ask? Well, we wonder the exact same thing.

Looking at the wonderful analysis from Professor James Guthrie, one possible explanation may be the preference of management for setting money aside over keeping jobs:

“For Uni Adelaide, at the end of 2020 there was $438m (2019 $438m) other financial assets. At the beginning of 2010 the figure was $148m. Much of this is in investments in equity shares, and a review of this growth would indicate most was not from external donations and bequests but from internally generated funds, which the senior executive has ring-fenced from operating activities.”
Anonymous said…
What do you expect from the chancellor as Mr Lander alluded to, the vice chancellor that 60 minutes alluded to, and everyone all the way down to the dean?? The Pathgen university is only good at gaslighting low-level staff who are trying to do the right thing. Meanwhile the U management is hiring consultants to pat themselves on the back and to gaslight staff. Not to mention about television ads on making history - they sure need the ads to counter the cover ups of bullying and sexual harassment.

History will remember everyone involved in self-governance, cover ups and gaslighting and there is no shortage of that in Pathjen system, from chancellor all the way down to some deans. Selfish pricks.
Anonymous said…
So the DVC (A) is calling for submissions on why the Maths Centre should not be decimated. Be much wiser to keep it as it does fulfil a real purpose. They could get rid of all the Deans of Teaching and Learning and the Learning Enhancers and Engagers. This latter motley collection serve no real purpose- except to avoid any real teaching and or learning and simply foist trendy fads onto the real academics who must suffer their outlandish and puerile theories. And if you did not get it from White he is having Hattie to sprout more of is private school invisible learnings rubbish to those who want to show up. Funny none of the critiques of Hatties nonsense from his NZ colleagues was mentioned. Nor the fact that real teachers in real schools are sick to the back teeth of his out of touch pronouncements. Invisible Learnings Indeed. Much commonsense is invisible these days- especially if it is anywhere near a School of Education.
Anonymous said…
Consultation and calling for submission = decision has already been made

The administration is only trying to tick the box to "show" that they carried out proper process.

The VC's organizational sustainability consultation closes this Friday. Why bother calling it a consultation when none of the feedback will change their decision. Giving feedback might just put you on the hit list.

The university will be sustainable if the senior management goes. Elephant in the room .......
Anonymous said…
RMIT have appointed the head of a football code as Chancellor. Perhaps Adelaide could take a leaf out of their HR Manual and take note of Shakespeare's Henry IV and the line about getting rid of lawyers and appoint some sporting person of renown as Chancellor. After all given Education's fondness for hiring St Peters staff was not Bradman an old boy of that school . Surely it could provide a sporter of renown to roll up as Chancellor.
Anonymous said…
On Overheard at Adelaide Uni
No Adelaide University Cuts
19 October at 14:39 ·
Today Høj and uni management held a sham staff consultation at The Braggs about his new proposal to sack at least 100 staff through faculty mergers and course cuts. Many workers were furious about the cuts and had plenty of angry questions ready. Unsurprisingly, management were evasive and condescending in their responses.
When asked about cuts to student services like the Maths Learning Centre, Writing Centre and Counselling services, management repeated the bare-faced lie that there would be no overall loss of staffing. This is completely false. Job cuts will result in the replacement of sacked staff by casuals with fewer hours and resources to tackle the same or higher workloads. This will entrench an already broken system of month-long waiting times and diminished service coverage.
When asked about rampant wage theft of casuals, management deflected and dismissed these concerns. The standard marking rate at UofA is a scandalous 5000 words per hour. This is even higher than the marking rates at Melbourne Uni (4000 hours) and Sydney Uni (4500 hours), both of which the Fair Work Commission ruled to be blatant wage theft.
Perhaps most galling was when Høj announced a previously secret, jaw-dropping $194 million-dollar operating surplus – only to claim that it would ‘be irresponsible’ to use these funds to save jobs and quality of education!
It was also implied that academic staff will be cut through merging schools and cutting courses next year.
It’s clear that this is only the first phase of a bigger offensive. Management wants to see how they can get away with now and test the level of outrage against their agenda. This makes it more urgent the need to fightback to make management less confident in pulling off their attacks.
From today’s meeting, it’s clear that staff are more aware of the bigger picture that the figures use to justify the cuts are bullshit and that no one is safe from the impact. Attendees at the meeting were rowdy, incredulous at management’s Orwellian double speak and shouting questions from their seats. Hopefully, it’s becoming clearer to all that there is an alternative to management’s slashing of education. Instead, senior executives should be made to dig deep into their own pockets and mobilise the massive $194 million of stashed funds to pay for this so-called crisis.
Anonymous said…
Interesting to see some of the new appointees from among the staff to the University's governing bodies. Bullies and harassers from learning enhancement and engagement for one. These areas are nothing but parasites on the real work of real universities and are the people who could find employment elsewhere and let the real academics get on with the real work of universities. But despite huge cutbacks these areas grow fat and bloated while decent teachers are let go.
Anonymous said…
Why get surprised at the Pathjen university? Didn't Pathjen moonlight UQ vc? Isn't this an attempt to swap vc positions between UQ and Adelaide?

Do not have to look far - who was in the hiring committee for the Peter? The chancellor could not find a better candidate.
Anonymous said…
This comment on Overheard summarizes how the Uni has really lost its way. Push the Apple Line via the Appleisers and the Learning Enhancers and Engagers Line via puppets from Apple and yes persons in Deans of Teaching and Learning. Ignore all the evidence about different learning and teaching styles. But make sure you slug students. The past decade under a host of DVC (A) careerists and other charlatans have brought a once great uni to its knees. But none of the forementioned careers have suffered. Ye narily some have ended up VCs- admittedly at 3rd rate unis. But never mind the academic rigour. Just smell the cash.
------

On Overheard at Adelaide Uni
Akshay Mistry asked a question .
10 hrs ·
Why did the uni stop printing course notes?? I just spent 90 to print and bind course notes for 2 classes ��


66
Anonymous said…
Equal measures of wailing and gnashing of teeth and jubilation on Level 8 , 10 Pulteney yesterday with HOD staff changes announced. Will the HR recruiters be on the phone to Hackney High to see if they can taxi up another HOD to join the private school coterie areadly installed and to keep the tone of the place just right. Otherwise who else will comfort White, Barberi and Bentley and provide the occasional succour to Palmer and Willison. And while on this it is worth pointing out to the huge readership of this blog that all the self indulgent nonsense about Wally's Apple Award it involved just 6 private schools. Never let the facts get in the way of a good story. After all this is Adelaide!!
Anonymous said…
The great irony was, and no doubt the cause of much inner turmoil among the in group of acas, was that despite trying to make level 8, 10 Pulteney an enclave of the right private school types the School of Ed was turned into a mirror image of UniSA with a fetish for rules, regulations and compliance measures and other ephemera reminiscent of a Teachers College of an earlier period. It may as well be an adjunct of the TRB. And never let it be said that they august body was much concerned with academic excellence. Of course all this was aided and abetted by Deans of Teaching and Learning and the Engagers and Enhancers who never let scholarship and inquiry get in the way of some outlandish and unresearched fads and fashions.
Anonymous said…
And let no one forget the insanity that was involved in getting up and running a so called Middle School or Middle Years version of the BTeach. Admittedly this was not only due to MacCallum but had its origins in Blazing Saddle Brookes mad panic over low student load across the whole university and of course was readily picked up by ever the careerist Shaw. So there was months of meetings, bloody meetings and all the other stupidities getting a new course up and running. And it enabled Willy to step up to a leadership role. But for what ??? The course never attracted viable numbers and has been let to die on the academic vine. Just another example of academic insanity. You could not make this stuff up.
Anonymous said…
And we had a dream that with the changes at Level 8, 10 Pulteney an end will come to favouritism and bullying and selective hiring from the private school sector and that all staff would be respected and considered equal . But then we woke up and new it was only a dream and it was realised the current nightmare would probably continue. And one of the dream trailers featured a news flash that in the current university wide shake up all the learning enhancers and engagers and Apple idoliser would depart the university campus and academic rigour and integrity would be restored. But as we say it turned out to be but a dream.
Anonymous said…
It is unfortunate to see this useful site becoming a bit quiet. This is no doubt because all those remaining staff have had the last glimmer of life sucked out of them. There is no point complaining because the problems are too deep rooted and it is now too late for this once respected university to be cleaned. It is too late to save the university. It is not too late for those poor staff still at the rat infested place. I made the liberating move to get out. It was scary leaving. I left a very successful career. But what I gained was freedom. I encourage all good staff to do the same. You will never change the system. The people at the top won't let it change. They will never look after you. All they care about is themselves. All the evidence you need is on this site. You need to decide to look after yourself. Run for the hills. There are very few employers that are worse. Have the confidence to leave. You will not regret it.
Anonymous said…
Good advice. The university management will do whatever it wants. No accountability, no integrity whatsoever. Nothing can touch them when the retired judge is the chancellor and past federal minister is in the council. Bullies get promotion. Trust no one in higher management in the forsaken place.
Anonymous said…
Wage theft at university? Where do we start? Union says wage theft is punishable by law. Try telling that to senior management.
Anonymous said…
HR did nothing to support and protect mistreated staff. During the last executive director's term, all bullying cases were decided in favour of senior management with two exceptions (Cooper's case because it was covered by Science and Nature and low level staff that the management wanted to get rid of). Ironically, that executive director resigned when her department was going to go through an overhaul and massive job cuts. What a fate!
Anonymous said…
And which of the current DVCs is looking at trying to move to UQ?
Anonymous said…
And looking at how completely and utterly useless the NTEU has been in all this. Why people pay them membership fees is worthy of an investigation. You would not pay them in empty crisp packets. Done SFA in all this. Too busy dealing with the trendy Woke and PC issues to really worry about the real issues concerning staff.
Anonymous said…
On Overheard At Adelaide Uni

Orla Breege Spurr
The only thing I would say is that many courses schedule their tests throughout semester in the lecture slot, so just double check - usually this is put in the timetable/course components as 'Paper'. Generally tutors won't mark you down for missing occasionally for a test, but some classes have lots of tests
Share · 10 h-----

Thank goodness some courses still have some academic standing and credibility . But it is amazing that the Deans of teaching and Learning like Westphalen and the Enhancers and Engagers like England and the ipadders like Barberi have allowed this to go. After all their only claim to fame apart from taking home a salary is to forever engage in turning Adelaide Uni into an academic backwater if not a complete joke.
Anonymous said…
Any correlation with those who made critical submissions to the recent School of Education Review and other reviews and those who this week were made redundant on the Eve of Xmas? A betting person would lay good money on it. And the academic staff redundancies are yet to come. But a betting person would put money on non of Fayes Favs being given the boot. The private school sector takes good care of its own. Just look at recent high profile court cases.
Anonymous said…
And no prizes for guessing which in management kept their PA in the cutbacks. After all you do need a PA to keep your diary. And they wonder why the Federal Govt has no time for unis.
Anonymous said…
Isn't life strange. The Admin at Adelaide Uni gets more push back from the Student Union and their activism than from the staff NTEU. See the latest on Overheard at Adelaide Uni - the report of the grilling the DVC got on the cutbacks from the SRC. Why the NTEU bothers to exist needs a phd thesis investigation. It would probably be a very short phd.

Anonymous said…
Thank your lucky Santa's helpers you were not one of the lucky ones in Education who were the beneficiaries of failing a subject even though you got a pass grade or better. The wonders of ipaddery, enhancement and engagement and well being and positive psychology delivered to your Canvass Portal right on the Eve of Xmas. Don't let it ever be said that Level 8 , 10 Pulteney is not at the cutting edge of educational thought.

One wonders what pedagogical revolutions they have planned for 2022!!!!
Anonymous said…
How disconcerting that at this Festive Yuletide Season there is some pessimism still along 10 Pulteney St. Unlike trying to understand the deep mysteries of Xmas the answers to the above post can easily be ascertained. Did not attend the right private school, are non Anglo and more likely than not international students, who did not display the required amounts of fawning behaviour to the Controller in Charge of Placements while singing the Apple Corporate Song. Simples really -with apologies to the meerkats.
Anonymous said…
Well as I sit here working from home I contemplate what pedagogical perversities the Assoc Deans of Teaching and Learning are dreaming up for the academy this year. Perhaps we can get a degree at the bottom of our packet of Kellogs All Bran- to go with esteemed Apple Educator Status that goes with flashing our iPad. Now the Engager and Enhancer in Chief has departed the Uni who will step in to oversee the continued degradation of the academic dogma under some specious teaching and learning phllosophy. And will Fayes favourite fave remained enthroned in the HOD suite or will the powers that be actually instal someone on merit. Then I am not holding my Covid short breath.
Anonymous said…
So the degradation of the academic dogma not just confined to The School of Education and its iPad devotees and engagers and enhancers. They wonder why govts don't take unis seriously.

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On Overheard at Adelaide Uni.

From Elvis to YouTube II? are the three hour 'workshops' just lectures?
Alexandra Rose
yup
Daniel Baker
Yeah pretty much, they should be recorded and uploaded but from my experience it was nothing short of an utter shitshow
Anonymous said…
Seems the School of Education's don't worry about merit has caught on in other aspects of the unis operations as this latest email to staff shows.
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Dear postgraduate co-ordinators,

One new policy, agreed by REDC in 2021 but coming into force in 2022, relates to eligibility for scholarships. I know there are some of our current cohort who will be affected by this, but unfortunately there is nothing we can do, beyond trying to source other income for them (difficult to impossible, I know). I have included part of Carolin Plewa’s announcement about it below. Please can you make supervisors in your areas and your students aware of the change:

‘I am writing to advise of a change to student eligibility for scholarships that is taking effect this year. A decision was made last year to increase strategic offerings, which has led to a reduced number of merit-based scholarships allocated in the competitive rounds and a need to focus these rounds on new students to the University. Students currently enrolled at the University are thus no longer eligible for scholarship consideration.

This change in eligibility criteria is with immediate effect and the Conditions of Award have been updated. Unfortunately, this means that currently enrolled candidates will not be able to apply for scholarships in the 2022 Mid-Year Round.

Counsel students as appropriate and continue to direct students to the University’s searchable database for other funding opportunities; https://www.adelaide.edu.au/graduatecentre/scholarships.’

Obviously if a student needs a scholarship to do their Higher Degree, it is better for them not to accept the offer of admission and try again for a scholarship in the next round. If they do this, we will need to ensure that they are more competitive the next time. I will put this on the first HDRC agenda for 2022.

Happy New Year! And stay safe!

Best wishes,
Anonymous said…
Scrap off scholarships and call it as a "strategic response". Things keep getting better and better at Adelaide.
Anonymous said…
No prizes for guessing who in the School of Education was not kept on in The Hunger Games -first results announced last week. A nice way to be able to settle some old scores and at the same time reward those who toe the party line. But apparently some restlessness among some of the ranks over the efforts to install White as permanent head on McCallum's soon to happen departure from paid employment in the School.
Anonymous said…
So with McCallum a month away from departure and no add for her replacement the plan to parachute the private school boy White to permanent greatness seems more and more likely. After all she spends most of her time spruiking his modest achievements. And like Adelaide's Private School types he is not backward in coming forward.
Anonymous said…
More PR from Senior Management sent out to staff . Enough to make one ill. Well many were made ill by the actions of some.
----------

The second HOS role is Education. As you know Prof. McCallum steps down from the role in March and Assoc. Prof. Matthew White has agreed to act as interim until a new Head is appointed. The search process for this position also began last year, but it has taken a little longer to get the paperwork sorted and approved. This has delayed the add going out, but I expect that will happen within the next week or so. The last of the paperwork has left the Faculty this week and is on its way to the VC for approval. Faye has really put her heart and soul into the School of Education and done a wonderful job in ensuring that the School is well-positioned for its next Head to take over. Mathew has been filling in for Faye while she was on SSP and it is great to see that he has agreed to continue. Let me thank both Faye and Mathew for their leadership within the School of Education.
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Anonymous said…
And you can bet your iPad that McCallum will be sitting a few meters away advising Whiter than White what to do. After all while on leave she came in to do staff PDRs. White was a bit nervy doing those- even though he took over the HOS Office. Nothing like hankering after the spoils of high office without actually having to do anything.
Anonymous said…
Surely if Hackney High can get their own set of traffic lights along Payneham Road to allow the already established and the aspirational waiting to be established ease of access with their Bentleys and Mercs surely they can get one of their own into the Education School's HOD Professorship.
Anonymous said…
So the engagers, enhancers and seize the day lot under the direction of Assoc Deans Teaching and Learning (who by the way usually do little of either) preach the line make it relevant, no lectures, no exams, group projects and all other kinds of pedagogical nonsense. They might have like the Horticulture Course at the local TAFE this week to see where such stuff leads. The lecture in charge who runs his own horticulture business had all the room set up with an irrigation system so the students could get hands on experience of how to do this. All students engaged. As this is what the engagers and enhancers tell us happens when the curriculum is practical and user friendly.Not on your nellie- a good few on their mobile phones, some asleep, some admitted only there as if not there would have to go to work.

One day the engagers and enhancers and Deans of Teaching and Learning will be seen as the purveyors of the rubbish that it really is.

Anonymous said…
So glad I left that toxic place. Shame that only the Education School gets attention on this blog anymore. I was in a different school, but the same sort of dodgy behaviors were rife. Any time I have a bad day I come back to this blog to remind me that the grass truly is greener away from that esteemed G08 university. It won't ever improve until the cesspool of psychopaths in senior management start listening to the real issues from staff & students instead of surrounding themselves with puppets who just nod their heads. Do yourself a favor and choose a better place to work or study.

Anonymous said…
Says it all. The UnEnhanced trying to tell real academics how to do their jobs

On Overheard

---------------
Hi guys,
Anyone who’s done an interview for the Learning Enhancement Officer position could you please give me some advice as in what to prepare? Thank you so much 🥺

---------------

Bring in students looking for a job and 'train' them to tell academics how do do their job. Was going to say hope this does hot happen in medicine but then realised the curse of Problem Based Learning pioneered by Magil and swept along by selected folks in Australia has already meant this sort of nonsense has a foot hold there.
Anonymous said…
Well a rousing farewell by Seize the Dayer in Chief White formerly of St Peters to say farewell to Prof McCallum. Rumour has it tears were shed- but different sorts for different reasons. And surely the event ended with a rousing rendition of Don't Cry for Me Argentina? Unfortunately Bentley and Barberi were unavoidably detained and could not make it. Perhaps their iPads escaped?
Anonymous said…
Worth reading this

Union calls for backpay and apology after University of Melbourne faculties cut PhD rates for casuals

Conor Duffy exposed wage theft in some big universities.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-03-21/union-calls-for-action-on-university-of-melbourne-phd-pay/100921064?utm_medium=social&utm_content=sf254713670&utm_campaign=fb_abc_news&utm_source=m.facebook.com&sf254713670=1&fbclid=IwAR1W07h1JGhr9Eo4vSEv1C7GkTpGuGw0hqXlUgRwSuGj4s23jS99HkwvrUs

Anonymous said…
From the same article

Extra scrutiny from state government

Last week, the Victorian Government wrote to the state's Vice Chancellors asking for evidence the sector is cleaning up its act.

"We've seen some media reports about underpayment at universities. It's across Australia. But it's also concerning that there are some Victorian universities that seem to be underpaying their staff," Higher Education Minister Gayle Tierney said.

The Minister wants to see audits and evidence things are changing in the responses from the Vice Chancellors.

"Our universities are really important to all of us for a whole range of reasons. For our economy, our culture, our international trade and expertise and our research capabilities," she said.

"We don't want any reputational damage. So it's important we ensure our universities are paying the right rate."
Anonymous said…
The outgoing Marshall government in South Australia has been mmmmmm. Would not have been booted out in the recent election if it had done a good job.

Will the new government care?

Or will they let the council's monopoly continue?
Anonymous said…
Oh, nothing is wrong in Adelaide. There is no evidence of bullying, harassment or abuse. Some crazy staff make a lot of noise. Deserve to be put in their place or leave if you are not happy.
Anonymous said…
Previous comments in this blog have mentioned about lack of recognition for preparation and teaching time. So this is not wage theft?
Anonymous said…
Union demands public apology and backpay

The National Tertiary Education Union (NTEU) says staff have been calling for action on PhD rates for a year, saying three faculties have stopped paying casual workers with doctoral qualifications the higher rate for all of their work.

An open letter signed by more than 1,000 staff was presented at last week's University Council meeting with an appeal for action.

The NTEU said the lack of action means it will now take the dispute to the Fair Work Commission.
Anonymous said…

University says union needs to provide detail on 'grievance'

The university accused the NTEU of holding back its evidence about individual complaints.

As a result, it said it was still working to investigate and confirm them.

"We have asked the NTEU on a number of occasions to provide further details to better inform this grievance, but to date we have not been provided with any further information," the spokesperson said.

"Accordingly, we are currently working with our academic divisions to assess whether this has indeed occurred. It is important that we have consistent standards and qualification requirements for casual sessional teaching across all of our faculties."
Anonymous said…
Adelaide hired some folk to tell its staff that if they did not like it, they had an option to leave.

Because there is no evidence that the problems have occurred.

ARE STAFF GOING MAD? MAKING THINGS UP?

Arrogance at the top level. We are the privileged group and we ain't gonna listen to you. Get out.

That is how they waste money hiring consultants to work for them.
Anonymous said…
Every time a scandal is exposed, the university senior management either denies it has occurred or gaslights union or staff. Melbourne university example just confirms this. Union has no teeth - they have been filed away by the federal government and other entities. Would not trust Fairwork Australia - look at the ICAC on its operation.

If the current council were put through election by staff, it would be annihilated. The staff representative in the council has no teeth. The council works like a self-governed corporate.

Scandals in federal and state governments - nothing is gonna happen about university maladministration because it ain't occurring. Victorians are lucky - their government cares.

Both sides of the South Australian parliament took ICAC's teeth out. It made no difference to the victims. Better that way than putting them through another round of gaslighting.
Anonymous said…
The vice chancellor wrote this on March 22, 2022.

"National Student Safety Survey results"

The information shared by students will help us to take further action, recognise where existing measures need improvement, and identify areas where there are meaningful signs of progress and change.

To members of our University community who have experienced sexual harassment, sexual assault or other inappropriate behaviours, and to any who have not felt supported or heard by the University, I am deeply sorry.

These behaviours have no place at our University, or in society. The only acceptable number of sexual assault or sexual harassment cases is zero.

The University, as I am personally, is committed to building a culture of respect, where everyone is safe and supported in their study and work. Following the 2016 survey, we committed to implementing all nine of the recommendations from the Australian Human Rights Commission’s Change the Course report.
Anonymous said…
Lip service. Nothing has been done about bullying complaints - nothing happened. There is no complaint in the system (after failing to record them in the first place). Sounds like "the mean girl" scandal in the labor party after liberals proved they were no saint. Everyone learning from each other.

The lip service could have been trusted if the management did not employ an external consultant (lawyer) to find out about sexual harassment and abuse experience to make the student feel like it was their fault.

Some say the consultant finds out about the university's liability and help to fix the matter. How many have been compensated for their suffering?

Lip service.
Anonymous said…
How good is this Adelaide Uni

White takes over HOD of School of Education on April 1- April Fools Day.

Seems while you can't fool all the people all the time you can fool most of the decision makers at Adelaide Uni most of the time.

Anonymous said…
This time its the Mathematics School in the news. See ABC news and allegations of sexual impropriety.
Anonymous said…
The latest news story indicates that senior management knew of an allegation and chose to do nothing about it. The usual '3 wise monkeys' defense. Staff and students need do training on reporting sexual harassment complaints when will senior management do training about how to take action?
Anonymous said…
A case of a square root not going according to plan?
Anonymous said…
This is the ABC link.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-04-19/maths-professor-joshua-ross-accused-of-sexual-harassment/101000664

The case is with the SA Civil and Administrative Tribunal. Ross' staff is "seeking $580,000 in compensation for breaches to the Equal Opportunity Act".

According to her complaint, the lecturer claims the university did not investigate her complaint, did not support her and did not take a statement from the professor.

She also claims the university "did not have in force at the relevant time, appropriate policies for the prevention of sexual harassment and sexual assault".
Anonymous said…
The University of Adelaide responded in documents that it "acknowledges the very serious nature of the complaint" and "does not tolerate sexual harassment".

The university claims it interviewed both parties and concluded there was "insufficient basis on which to make a positive finding that the alleged assault occurred".

The university said that it did support its employee after the complaint was disclosed to senior staff and it appointed an independent investigator to conduct an initial assessment.
Anonymous said…
The university is always saying it does not tolerate sexual harassment or bullying. It is a trust or a lie? Keep watching. Who is the independent investigator? Are these independent investigators covering everything up for the university? Does anyone know who it is?

Is the same independent investigator covering up all the bulling and harassment claims for the university?
Anonymous said…
How much have the independent investigators racked in from the university? Who has been doing independent investigations for the university since Nature decided to investigate Alan Cooper?
Anonymous said…
The university does not use too many investigators? There are some independent investigators who are popular with the university??
Anonymous said…
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10734001/Academic-accuses-Covid-expert-hotel-room-sexual-assault-retreat.html

... the university said it was satisfied he had engaged in 'no serious misconduct'.

According to Dr Nguyen, the alleged assault by Professor Ross resulted in 'offence, humiliation and intimidation' due to her extreme intoxication and because she was his subordinate.

Dr Nguyen says she suffers post-traumatic stress and is unable to return to employment, and accuses the university of not providing a safe workplace.

'The university has harboured a system, culture or practice of not investigating complaints of sexual harassment with requisite seriousness,' she alleges.

.............

The university stands by its findings that there was insufficient evidence to conclude a sexual assault had occurred and says it would not be responsible if it did.

It further denies Professor Ross is Dr Nguyen's supervisor and says it can ensure the two academics are never rostered on at the same time on the campus.
Michael Balter said…
Thanks to recent commenters for your postings.

One correction: Nature did not investigate Alan Cooper.

That was done by me, as a reporter. Then the U of Adelaide did an investigation which confirmed most or all of what I had found. Then Nature did a story and made an editorial decision not to credit my original reporting.

It's important for people to know how these events come about, and what the actual process was.
Anonymous said…
Seems taking the exhortation to involve more woman in maths and science a bit too far? But did the pedagogues and the iPad brigade make a movie or a podcast of the event? Did it involve a teachable moment, was it authentic assessment?
Anonymous said…
Well I sat in those F Awful Carpe Diem Sessions run by Enhancement and Engagement and run by shysters like Westpahlen and England and thought we were supposed to seize the day. Seems Maths were lucky and escaped such idiocy as we have two maths staffers seizing the night. Every cloud has a silver lining it seems.

Anonymous said…
The flying monkeys have been released into the wild. Is it possible to find out who has been contracted to run these investigations, and if they really are independent? You would hope they are, but even the new ICAC is concerned at the use of private investigators in place of public servants.


https://indaily.com.au/news/2022/04/11/private-investigators-start-probing-public-sector/
Anonymous said…
Some lovely innocent is asking on Overheard what happens to SELTs results. The helpful replies note that the Deputy Deans teaching and learning have oversight of them. FFS these same individuals lead in the degradation of the academic dogma at unis across Aust.We even have wankers in advertisements on SBS on Demand telling us how they are changing teaching. FFS! I used to provide the complete SELTs results in their entirely to all my classes but was WARNED this was not uni policy and I could face disciplinary action. SELTs are used when it is necessary to make a point. Usually those wanting to make the point have F awful SELTs themselves and do little teaching. One day things will change but then this day is a long long way off and many will be in aged care facilities by then- now doubt being cared for by someone who has done a podcast on ageing or made an iMovie on their iapd of aged persons.
Anonymous said…
Independent investigator for the University of Adelaide? The university used SAE Consulting to do the independent investigation. Balter covered it here
https://michael-balter.blogspot.com/2019/07/from-oxford-to-adelaide-ancient-dna.html

The SAE Consulting legal appears in google search. How many times has the university used this consulting and other independent investigators? How independent are they?
Anonymous said…
How much has the university paid these independent investigators? Why did the university not use public servants as independent investigators? Why did the university decide to use private independent investigators that were paid $$$ for the assignment?

The 1 million dollar law suit implicates the private independent investigator of not finding any wrong doing by the university. The same conclusion that the private independent investigators have been finding anyway?

How can one be confident that private investigators are ethical enough and do not produce the results that the university wants? There is no conflict of interest? $$$$ $$$$ $$$$ $$$$

Even ICAC told - be cautious - the investigator is not a public servant.

The tribunal might shed light into this. Or may be not.
Michael Balter said…
I will be discussing the Joshua Ross case in an upcoming post on my Substack newsletter “Words for the Wise.” Please watch for it.

Michaelbalter.substack.com
Anonymous said…
Never mind, teachers who treat students poorly, teach badly, and create a lot of problems for other staff get promotion. SELTS does not really matter. What matters is how well you know the executive dean.
Anonymous said…
The Advertiser reported: Professor Nigel Bean, a senior manager in Mathematics, tried to sweep the sexual assault case under the carpet. Nothing surprising here. Seems like these are the right personalities to get promoted into the vice chancellor's circle.
Anonymous said…
The Diversity, Equity staff representative in Mathematics is suing the university for $1 million for the sexual assault case on her. So being a Diversity and Equity representative means nothing! Nothing!! They can get assaulted when drunk by a senior staff member. Meanwhile the Human Resources keeps blabbing about diversity and equity - the same human resources that has been accused of sweeping everything under the carpet and gaslighting staff.

Only court cases can bring out the truth, at least some of it.
Anonymous said…
No mention of any of this stuff when staff in School of Education were preached to by Wally B and ordered to implement ipaddery by McCallum. Of course most of us who did any actual real teaching and knew actual kids in real schools new this but we were all lectured like to empty vessels. Seems some privates are more in tune with the real world than other privates.

https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/byo-laptops-led-to-gaming-porn-gambling-in-class-shore-school-says-20220426-p5ag9j.html
Anonymous said…
And we can't forget the decision informed by the Engagers and Enhancers to move to Canvas from Blackboard and the almighty upheaval that caused with all the nonsense about flipped classrooms. About the only thing that flipped was academic sanity. Students do no more work with the flipped classrooms than they did when they were unflipped. In fact they do less with the move to outlaw any form of meaningful assessment. They don't prepare, come and sit in class, mostly on their phones, knowing full well that nothing will happen. But hell what the heck. How many promotions to the starry heights came out of adopting Canvas!!!
Anonymous said…
Academic staff - it is now your turn to place the head on the chopping block.

Vice Chancellor Peter wrote today, "... the Professional Stream was now well progressed" ... but "Work on the Academic Stream has not progressed to the same state of maturity, as we wanted to know more about the complex nature of academic work at our institution, including how our various courses and programs contribute to workload and revenue generation."

"The recent Adelaide Academic Census was an important part of the information gathering ... While the complex set of data relating to academic activity profiles is still being analysed, the University has substantially progressed an in-depth analysis of our courses, which currently number in excess of 2,500."

"Whilst one can argue with the strength and weaknesses of our approach, it would be fair to say that, at face value, a very large number of courses would seem to be loss-making and that their continuation in aggregate are putting too great a burden on our staff and our finances."

"...is carefully examining our entire portfolio of courses and in an orderly fashion discontinuing those that clearly are unviable, bar a fraction which are deemed to be of strategic importance (e.g. for accreditation purposes), have ‘iconic’ status or are critical to a substantial part of the community we serve. Our lens is currently aimed at courses and not specific fields, disciplines or schools."

"I am looking forward to working with all of you on this challenging but necessary next phase of our journey..."
Anonymous said…
SAE Consulting - spoke to them for the ACAD 'culture check' exercise. They were professional apart from not having a web presence. They were definitely doing the job they were paid for though. The interviewer was VERY careful to make sure her phone was still recording when issues arose that could have legal implications. I made it very clear that I did not consent to the audio recording being used for any purpose other than for the interviewer's own personal reference, or to it being shared with anyone else. I also consented to being recorded on the agreement that the recording would be later destroyed. I can only trust that this undertaking was honoured by SAE.
Anonymous said…
Anonymous said…
"Never mind, teachers who treat students poorly, teach badly, and create a lot of problems for other staff get promotion. SELTS does not really matter. What matters is how well you know the executive dean."

This is a great summary of the situation here in the school of dentistry. Great staff are leaving, have left or are being forced out in droves. While poor quality teaching and bad behaviour is continually rewarded.

SELT results are completely ignored by management or blamed back on students. There is zero accountability for poorly performing staff.
Anonymous said…
Accountability, leadership, honesty and integrity should start from the dean and the executive dean. Staff are simply following the examples Richard Logan and Ben Kile are setting.
Anonymous said…
The world class dental school has essentially shut down the paediatric dentistry program because of sexual harassment and bullying. The Australian Dental Council denied accreditation to this program and gave scathing reports about Oral Pathology and others. All the reports are available in the ADC website. The Bachelors programs have not escaped this scrutiny. Adelaide BDS is one of the few programs in the country with conditions placed on them.

This is the world class dental school, riding on the past glory. Who really has world class reputation? Many are working aimlessly, just plugging the holes. Adelaide has become a laughing stock for other Australian dental schools, and the news about bullying and sexual harassment is yet to reach them.
Anonymous said…
Do not trust the independent consultants. Have not they worked for the university on bullying and sexual harassment cases? Did they really do the job that they were paid to do? Does this mean becoming the devils advocate for the university in the disguise of independent investigator and gaslighting the victims once more?

Looking at the proceedings of the tribunal, the independent investigator's job was to conclude that there was no evidence of any wrongdoing by the university and its employees. This is the same conclusion that they have been making when investigating bullying and sexual harassment complaints.

Looks like some independent investigators have got blood on their hand and mouth.
Anonymous said…
The heartless VC and the council have got rid of nearly 100 professional staff and will be getting rid of unknown number of academic staff. They need to save the money for misuse. They need to save $1 million for Joshua Ross' naughty actions. And many more victims of bullying and sexual harassment want compensation but have not taken the action yet. Will the Joshua Ross case open the floodgate?
Michael Balter said…
It would be very helpful if colleagues would link to documents they mention, eg the ADC putting accreditation from Adelaide’s pediatric dentistry program. These things can be hard to find. Thanks.
Anonymous said…
Update on the ADC website https://www.adc.org.au/accreditation/accredited-programs/list/

All the clinical programs in Adelaide are fully accredited. Note that the Doctor of Clinical Dentistry in Paediatric Dentistry does not feature on that website. This is a summary of the last accreditation dated 22 March 2021, and the university decided to dump it instead of addressing the ADC's concerns.

The University of Adelaide’s submission for all five Doctor of Clinical Dentistry specialisations lacked sufficient detail and supporting evidence, making it difficult for the SET to validate claims made within the submission documentation. This is an issue across the five specialisations reviewed but was particularly acute for the Oral and Maxillofacial Pathology and Paediatric Dentistry programs. The SET attempted to clarify and seek additional information during interviews with representatives from these two specialisations. The site visit provided appropriate clarification for the Oral and Maxillofacial Pathology specialisation. However, for the DClinDent in Paediatric Dentistry program the SET remains concerned that insufficient evidence has been provided to demonstrate that the program meets the Accreditation Standards.
...
The SET has grave concerns about the ability of the DClinDent in Paediatric Dentistry program to meet the Accreditation Standards to such an extent that these matters must be addressed immediately and before students continue in the program. The issues identified are of such a nature that the deficiencies raise serious concerns as to the provider’s oversight of the program and for students to achieve the required learning outcomes to operate as safe specialists in the discipline upon graduation.

The SET expresses serious concern for the Paediatric Dentistry program over the supervision of students in clinical settings and the clarity of roles and responsibilities of supervisors in external settings including the AWCH and during rotations to SADS clinics. The staffing profile for the program does not appear sustainable for longer term delivery of the program. There is also a lack of evidence of structure and diversity in the didactic component of the program, with the SET unable to confirm whether students are provided with the opportunities necessary to develop the level of knowledge required to underpin clinical decision making expected of a specialist paediatric dentist. Questions were also raised as to whether the range of experiences are appropriate to enable students to develop the competencies expected of a specialist in paediatric dentistry. Students see a high volume of patients, but the complexity of cases required to develop surgical skills needed for the discipline, including in undertaking complex interdisciplinary case management, appears insufficient. The SET heard evidence that no direction has been given to those supervising students in relation to assessment and the mechanisms in place for moderation of assessment. The SET requested evidence of marking rubrics or other instruction provided to clinical supervisors, however this was not provided and based on interview evidence does not appear to be in place. The SET was unable to determine the mechanisms by which feedback is provided to students in the paediatric dentistry program to enable progression through the program. Given the lack of formalised formative assessment, the SET was unable to establish how students are assessed as having achieved a level of clinical proficiency expected of a specialist paediatric dentist, which raises serious concern. Students appear to be isolated from the Adelaide Dental School and are lacking in support and opportunities for inter-disciplinary dental interaction.

The ADC has determined The University of Adelaide’s Doctor of Clinical Dentistry in Paediatric Dentistry program is refused accreditation.
Anonymous said…
Lets not forget that rather than the Dean of Dentistry actively engage for a functional Specialist Paediatric Dentistry programme, he would rather "focus on other specialities". He has made this very clear in numerous staff meetings.

We feel for both the dentists wishing for specialist training and the families in South Australia that require both training and future qualified personnel. Shame on you Uni Adelaide. If this was in the faculty of Medicine there would be a public outcry.



Anonymous said…
So SCEGGS in Sydney has banned iPhones in class. Perhaps the School of Ed and their deification of ipadophilia needs to take a look at some of Australia' s leading private schools and stop peddling digital nonsense. But never let a fad get in the way of real scholarship. And who can but forget the DVC Kirkpatrick with her nonsense of iPhones and apps. She quickly went on to higher things at a non rated uni in western Sydney. This is where much of the rubbish coming out of Level 8, 10 Pulteney should move to.
Anonymous said…
https://indaily.com.au/news/2022/05/05/speirs-shock-conflict-admission-as-former-a-g-warns-of-terrible-precedent/

Another public accountability body may have issues with identifying conflicts of interest (actual or perceived) among South Australian elites. At least the government cares enough to get legal advice about it. What is going on in SA?
Anonymous said…
How independent is an Ombudsman or an independent investigator that the university hires to do the job for them? That is a million dollar question.

Do not assume complaints to independent investigators will be handled independently.

One wonders about the political inclination of the independent investigators. Why would they not have conflict of interest if they receive a large sum of money over the years to do the dirty job?

The government has to watch out for the opposition. They can lose election.

The university is self-governed and is only answerable to themselves. There are powerful people in the council, so watch out what you say. If you make yourself a target, they can easily get rid of you.
Anonymous said…
Sam Gue has these fellowships.

FICD [http://www.icd.org] - The website states: A nominated dentist must pass a rigorous, peer-review process leading to the recognition of the individual’s “outstanding professional achievement, meritorious service, and dedication to the continued progress of dentistry for the benefit of humankind.” ... All members of the College regardless of their native language or country of residence, adhere to one universal motto, Recognizing Service and the Opportunity to Serve.

FPFA [https://www.fauchard.org/home] - The website states: Our mission as Fellows in the Pierre Fauchard Academy is to recognize and develop outstanding leadership in our profession, internationally. We accomplish this by consistently focusing on professionalism, integrity, and ethics worldwide, by our own conduct as worthy role models, by the advancement of dentistry to the highest level, by supporting and honoring colleagues for their distinguished work, research, contributions, and public service, and by providing excellence in programs, education, and leadership in oral health care.

Gue is internationally recognized for high standards of professionalism, ethics, conduct, public service, ..... education, support to colleagues, ... and is a worthy role model.

Passed through rigorous peer review process - the independent tests.
Michael Balter said…
A note on Sam Gue, mentioned above:

He is also credibly accused of an egregious pattern of sexual harassment and bullying. I have received numerous detailed accounts of this conduct from colleagues who worked with him directly. These include:

--Calling colleagues lazy and stupid, including publicly in front of others.
--Deliberately increasing the workload of colleagues as a form of harassment.
--Encouraging more senior colleagues to bully and harass juniors.
--Intrusive personal questions of colleagues with no tangible purpose.
--Inappropriate phone calls late at night.
--Numerous forms of sexual harassment including calling women "honey" "darling" "baby" etc.
--Inappropriate touching of women on the buttocks and other parts of their bodies.
--Suggesting sexual relationships that were not invited or wanted.
--Corruptly putting in for hours at the hospital when he was really seeing his private patients.
--Biased interviews and recruitment of new employees into the service.

Gue is very lucky he has gotten off so lightly for his misconduct and downright terrible behavior. Perhaps he and his allies should think twice before defending him.
Anonymous said…
On Overheard

------
James Wood shared a post.
1 hr ·
No surprises at all here but a damning new report has found that management's excuse for the staff cuts, that the university is running out of money is total rubbish. Despite just a tiny 0.1% reduction in revenue, management slashed a whopping 8% of staff. Am quite sure that if Hoj and top management slashed their own salaries and perks then they could easily make up the difference. Instead though they have used COVID as an excuse to make cuts they have wanted for years now. It is clearer than ever that management's real agenda here has been to pull together more savings to line their own pockets. There is simply no excuse for their next move to cut courses and academic staff!
<280272264_7777558458985267_7867633458502973330_n.jpg>
<280042565_7777558558985257_1834875329691395119_n.jpg>
No Adelaide University Cuts
1 hr ·
A damning new report released on Monday by the Melbourne Centre for the Study of Higher Education exposes the real motives behind university management’s staff cuts. The report’s author, Frank Larkins, writes that cuts made were “not primarily directly driven” by financial necessity. Instead, uni bosses used the “uncertain and unpredictable environment” around the pandemic to wield the axe by implementing massive staff cuts and restructures. At Adelaide Uni and elsewhere, many of these cost cuts have been planned for many years. Larkins’ findings vindicate what the No Cuts campaign have been saying for months: COVID has just been a cover for management to sack staff. But hey, never let a crisis go to waste!
The most scathing finding of Larkins’ report is that some of the biggest staff cuts were at universities where the financial impact of the pandemic was relatively small. At Adelaide Uni, total staff numbers were reduced by a whopping 7.9% – one of the largest cuts in Australia, despite just a miniscule 0.1% reduction in its overall financial position. Such a pathetically small loss of money could have been easily covered if Peter Høj and his mates took a cut to their own bloated salaries and perks. To add insult to injury, at many campuses, including Flinders University, major staff cuts were made despite INCREASED revenue. Larkins’ findings build on information recently released in Campus Morning Mail revealing that, contrary to management’s alarmism, both domestic and international enrolments are up at Adelaide University.
The recent faculty mergers which saw 96 professional staff sacked were completely unnecessary. Management has no justification whatsoever for their latest round of course cuts that will involve sacking academic staff and likely axing entire schools and departments. These cuts are all about saving money and moving dwindling staff resources to study areas that churn out bigger profits. No Adelaide University Cuts will continue to call out the rubbish coming from management and maintain the fight to save our courses, tutors and lecturers.
Link to the report:
https://melbourne-cshe.unimelb.edu.au/.../australian...
Anonymous said…
https://www.watoday.com.au/national/western-australia/bullying-and-intimidation-claims-in-one-of-ecu-s-top-performing-departments-20220518-p5amft.html



And guess a mate of who?

Seems the local Adelaide HOD got off lightly?

And the Union in WA showed more gumption than what passes for one at Adelaide?

Did the WA guy also stack the School with his private school mates?

They wonder why primary and high schools are full of bullies- it seems they have good role models in their training?
Anonymous said…
Meanwhile Richard Logan and Ben Kile - the bulldozers (bullies) of the dental school - are prospering. Staff have left in droves but the chancellor, vice chancellor and the council continue to reward them.
Anonymous said…
The Morrison-led Australian conservative government has lost the election by a landslide. Morrison, the bulldozer, has been ousted. The people's verdict is clear. Australia needs to have Federal ICAC with teeth among action against bullying, harassment and abuse.

Establishment of Federal ICAC might trickle down to university management. No one predicted Rathjen's fate but the harasser is gone. Will this be the fate of others in university management? What about the bulldozers - senior management, Human Resources and independent investigators who swept everything under the carpet?

If you have seen the toothless state ICAC referring the matters back to big university bosses, pray that you can some day refer them to Federal ICAC.
Anonymous said…
At least the vice chancellor of Edith Cowan University has integrity. Looks like Adelaide needs bullies to supress the staff. The vice chancellor knows about the problems but has chosen to turn a blind eye to them.

Some quotes from Grace Tame are relevant to Adelaide (about last Prime Minister Scott Morrison).

'He's quite intelligent,' she admitted in the latest podcast from the team at the cult parody website, the Betoota Advocate. 'I'll give him that.

'The problem is Scott Morrison - his entitlement. "I'm the Prime Minister, and she should smile at me because I'm the Prime Minister."

'I was standing next to Scott Morrison, and I'm friends with Brittany [Higgins, who has accused the government of covering up her alleged rape in Parliament].

'And I'm like, I can't smile at you. Like, this is a crock of s***.

'All these play-nice institutions that just harbour abusers and cover it up - for the sake of what?'
Anonymous said…
Read Grace Tame's comments about Scott Morrison

'For all our sakes, it's not a case of choosing between remotely similar options when it comes to this guy (Albanese) and Scott,' she posted under a picture of the opposition leader.

'He (Albanese) isn't perfect, he's a politician, but at least he has some semblance of a conscience; dignity, respect, integrity, authenticity, humility.

'And he's not a bloody smug, rorting, robodebt victim-blaming vandal.'

Ms Tame then told voters they were free to vote for independents, Greens or whoever they wanted 'but if you really want a self-serving, corrupt, sociopathic marketing man leading the country for another three years... so help the nation.'

Sounds like university senior management?

Lose all hope. The rotten leadership will not change.

Anonymous said…
Why dos not someone refer Balter's blog to Teal Independents? They are standing for integrity and respect?? Or not??
Anonymous said…
Grace Tame wrote

"A grateful nation is crying with you (Albanese). And who said I didn't smile at the prime minister?

Here's to inclusion, integrity, diversity, truth, equity, respect, safety and change. A better future. For all of us. For the planet.

Congratulations to @albomp, and to the people of Australia—for a triumph over corruption and abuse. A triumph of hope. Today was a victory for us all."

For all except university....... a god forsaken place driven by self-management and self-monitoring. This is where bullies and harassers are rewarded by big bosses who have no accountability and transparency.
Anonymous said…
On Overheard today a law student notes the length of time it took for her assignment to be return. Five weeks.

The poor innocent does not realise that all the concentration on ipaddery, seize the day moments and enhancing and engaging are far removed from the world of real teaching and learning. The Deans of Teaching and Learning are not actually concerned with real teaching and learning but thinking up mind fing ways to impede the same while avoiding any real teaching themselves. But they do have their eyes on the promotion prize. And look at some of those who got Elder Awards for teaching and learning. They managed to steer well clear of any meaningful teaching loads.

Go to Uni of Adelaide and be prepared to willingly suspend disbelief. Your mental well being will be better protected that way,
Anonymous said…
And with the rush to on lineism under the cover of Covid and in the light of the ABCs report into data harvesting by a whole range of Educational Software Companies has the same thing happened at Adelaide Uni?? Have we all had our data harvested and stored?
Anonymous said…
Barely a dry eye on level 8 after the fulsome farewell email from White to mark McCallum's leaving. Surprising Wesphalen and Bentley did not do a celebratory podcast and Barberi an iMovie on his iPad. You know a This is Your Life sort of thing, After all we had this sort of think rammed down our collective subconscious from the Seize the Day Crowd.
Anonymous said…
The ipadders and their mates in Seize the Day will no doubt be elated with this news,

Check out this story I found: https://www.9news.com.au/world/google-software-engineer-claims-chatbot-program-lamda-is-sentient/8d4e96e2-bee4-48f2-b49a-c7dc9911b304

Anonymous said…
The recently announced Assoc Deans (Curriculum) brought to mind Shelley's line from his famous post -'Look on my works ye mighty and despair'

What were the selection panels on when they appointed these people.? These appointees are the same people who avoid any real teaching but are big at telling the people at the teaching face how to do their work.

Another triumph of form over substance. Well done Adelaide Uni.
Anonymous said…
A marketing manager gets a $2.8 million dollar payout after the then CEO Greg Rudolph was bullied her.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10989625/Hawkesbury-race-club-CEO-Greg-Rudolph-bullied-marketing-manager-emails.html

"Read the desperate email a marketing manager sent her 'micromanaging, bullying' boss and his cold reply before she was awarded a $2.8million payout - as it's revealed he's been PROMOTED to a new role"

The emails that Logan from Adelaide Dental School wrote (published as earlier comments) were worse. He even yelled at staff during meetings. There are many other rude emails that were rude and pushed people over the limit. The infamous Sam Gue saga has left many victims scarred for life. Ben Kile, his bosses - all the way up to the Vice Chancellor and Chancellor see nothing wrong. The authority did nothing. The Chancellor - the human rights lawyer and judge - has let all the abuses happen under her authority.

The only difference between the racecourse bullying and the university bullying is that the bullied get no compensation from the university. Workplace laws are useless. Fairwork Australia finds nothing wrong with the way university does things so badly. They are entitled to do it that way.
Anonymous said…
The university operates like Qantas - once the spirit of Australia but a selfish and greedy corporate with a very bad culture. The last Prime Minister Scott Morrison wanted to do nothing about it, didn't he? Why would Morrison intervene? He is like that. Morrison arguably became one of the most disliked Australian prime ministers before he lost the election by a landslide. The senior university managers are no different to Morrison.
Anonymous said…
Does anyone know the outcome of the math professor court case? I think it was a civil case of Nguyen against both Ross and the university. Was all over the news a few months ago and the outcome was due in June. Has the university used it's influence to stop the outcome being announced?
Anonymous said…
Silence on the outcome. To me that suggests an out-of-court settlement with a non-dislosure agreement. I speculate that she is now probably several hundred thousand richer while the perpetrator will remain in post. And the University can pretend that it never happened. That is the way of things.
Anonymous said…
Usual story. University was caught out doing the wrong thing and spends money trying to cover it up and pretend like nothing ever happened.
Anonymous said…
What a relief and how fantastic to see one Raul B on Overheard replying to a moaning student and outlining what university study is about and how staff actually care for students. A great step forward from the usual rubbish from the ipadders and engagers and enhancers who have taken over Adelaide Uni and turned it into fun factory devoid of any real concerns with scholarship and learning. More power to Raul B and those like him.
Anonymous said…
With the EBA being negotiated at the moment perhaps the Uni and the Unions could really look at work load allocations. One of the biggest jokes is the huge work loads many have while the opposite also occurs. The greatest laugh is how so called Teaching Only Staff have less teaching loads that those who do teaching and research. Many Teaching Only actually do SFA and actually get marking assistance. The whole scheme that was the brain child of WB never really got off the ground. It was corrupted and bastardised from day one. The work shy of course opted for teaching only and then did little teaching and little else. Well at least in some Schools and Faculties that are repeatedly mentioned in this very long thread of posts here. And of course Head of School favourites managed to escape any real work while thinking up schemes to make more work for others.
Anonymous said…
So news out suggest some Adelaide Crows football players are considering a class action over the way they were treated by the club and a motivational agency. Seems many academics at Adelaide Uni should consider a class action against the Uni for the way they were treated by Learning Enhancement and Engagement especially the mindless Seize the Day rubbish where every day working academics were bullied and humiliated over days because their courses did not fit some mindless no exam iPad infected template. The enablers of such bullying on the staff of enhancement and engagement assisted by their Teaching Only acolytes and Associate Deans of Teaching and Learning and other usual suspects could well do with being grilled by a top QC and feeling the pain academics were subjected to by Seize the Dayers and others. And it would expose the sheer banality of much that passes for teaching and learning along North Terrace.
Anonymous said…
And to show you how much they really care Adelaide Uni management has sold off its medical service for students to private providers. Good to see the old free market cool aide much loved by many of its illustrious alumni is still alive and well .
Anonymous said…
I left Uni because I was demoralised by the toxic work culture. There are too many "professor chair-warmers" who aren't interested in doing any actual work and instead hand _all_ the responsibility for research, implementation, analysis, writing reports, and presentations to post-docs. Of course, they still take credit for being "principal investigator." Even today i see my former supervisor post on linkedin about a project i worked on with a colleague. He didn't mention either of us, but intimated he was responsible. The congratulations were directed to him.

This was the same supervisor who didnt want to conduct a PDR with me, but asked me to lie to uni to say we had. The same supervisor who indiscriminantly dumped commercial projects onto me, asking me to report directly to the stakeholders because he was abjectly uninterested in doing anything for the project, but then kept adding more concurrent projects, even though the contract specified a time allocation of 100% FTE for one of them. When i pointed out I can't deliver on 2 projects which total above 100% fte, i was told to "sleep less," and that not delivering 100% on one project "wasn't stealing," but that i can't tell them im not honoring the time commitment specified in the project.

Seriously: Quit uni. Post reviews on job websites like glassdoor. Compel uni to re-evaluate how it apppints proffessorship and how it ensures they don't just slap their name on other people's work.
Anonymous said…
Nothing will change uni management. The toxic work culture and cover ups come right from the top. The chancellor even tried to sweep sexual harassment problems under the carpet. The whole system is rotten to the core.
Anonymous said…
Good people do not stay here. The dental school's manager is leaving. A good person is leaving. Logan wrote to staff that he tried to convince them to stay. Logan is a changed man? After getting rid of many more good staff? He has not forgotten the days when he was directed by manager Lesley Steele to do what she wanted? That is what happens when you do not know how to do your job and has to rely on school manager to run the school and create a positive culture. Logan wants to create a positive culture? What a joke! Logan and Kile are shafting the profession. Competence??
Anonymous said…
Watch SBS on Demand and the series 'Good Grief'. The last episode reminds us of the atrocious Seize the Day and Planning Day harassments that staff were subject to. All so certain people on the make could end up being promoted. It would seem that many in the professoriate operate in a different moral universe. Avoid real work and climb the greasy promotion pole while trampling on those beneath you.
Anonymous said…
The latest news on the former PM Scott Morrison having a large number of ministries is a bit different than what happens at Adelaide Uni. Here the professoriate and the Teaching Only on the surface have many things to do. In reality they get the hours credit and off load the actual work to their poor suffering colleagues who if recent revelations are anything to go by where in many cases incorrectly paid.
Anonymous said…
Of course the dental school business manager is leaving. All good staff leave within a year or 2. Its the age old saying... People don't leave jobs, they leave managers. Its a shame there is lack of knowledge from the University on the amount of good staff that has left the dental school in the last few years. It has been that bad that the ADC even put a condition on the accreditation of the programme to notify them. But nothing has changed. I can't understand how Logan would be explaining this to the Faculty, or is it that they simply don't care about the drop in quality of the education over the years under his watch?
Anonymous said…
Ben Kile, the executive dean of health sciences, has publicly said that he had full confidence in Logan, the dean of dental school.

If anyone is wondering where the problem lies, it is not just Logan. Kile has a bigger role.
Anonymous said…
If your child steals, what would you do? In Adelaide, you would do everything to prove that they stole nothing.

If your child is a bully, what would you do? In Adelaide, you would prove their innocence and gaslight the victims.
Anonymous said…
The real issue with the Gue affair is that AHPRA whilst putting some restriction on Gue did not sanction Logan at all .Were any exit interviews taken for the displaced pediatric registrars. or Staff
Anonymous said…
The university stopped doing exit interviews a long time ago. Why would they want to know about any problem when they are trying to sweep everything under the carpet? Some victims would have approached the university after the Pathjen saga, and the university hired lawyers to do the job for them. Was it not a case of gaslighting the victims? How can anyone trust AHPRA when Logan is a federal member of its dental board? Who writes and implements AHPRA's policies for curbing off bulling? Logan is a key person. AHPRA looks just as ugly as senior university management.
Anonymous said…
Yes the Uni and Aphra would not have wanted to do further investigation so they could protect Logan. If they did do a genuine investigation they then have had to bear responsibility for the facilitation of his abuses which would then have dragged other people including Logan into the scandal.
The Adelaide Children's hospital also have big questions to answer as to why they ignored many complaints by breastfeeding mothers and staff about his behavior. Its not good enough just to summarily walk him out the building and then close the book on the many complaints over many years! Gue treated SADS patients in the Childrens Hospital and the Dental School.
What about Ahpra acting to protect private patients and his staff in his own practice !! The answer is nothing .
Anonymous said…
Meanwhile, Logan claimed he played a major role in ousting Gue.

As AHPRA's federal member, did Logan have a role in giving Gue a generous sanction?
Anonymous said…
Meanwhile over in the School of Education they have succumbed to the adage that you can always tell an Oxford person even if you can't tell them very much!
Anonymous said…
It is not too late for facilitators (Logan etc ) of Gue's sexual harassment etc to be charged
with misconduct/maladministration by AHPRA, Adelaide University Council ,SA Police etc.
Grace Tame stood up to her abuse and advanced the cause of justice .
Surely Gue's behaviour on many aspects should have drawn attention to the people who knew what he was like for many years and did nothing to support the staff, students and patients adversely affected by his actions.
Where were the leaders ?

Anonymous said…
Yet another press report hyperventilating over alleged cheating at universities. At least the alleged practice has proved a fruitful research area for some to carve out a career in. Never mind no historical perspective on what cheating was like half a century ago. And of course no examination of some of the system wide facilitation of such alleged cheating. Like the take over of the academy by engagers and enhancers and ed specialists and seize the day fruit loops and ipadders who rail against anything that has any academic merit and are positively hostile to exams all the while preaching well being and self actualisation through basket weaving type nonsense.
Anonymous said…
Just as worrying is the decline at High School of students taking subjects like physics. The burgeoning enrolments are in Business Studies and Health, PE and Human Development. FFS where will it all end?
Anonymous said…
How Logan's rise to power unfolded - his own secretary told him, "You have blood on your hands." Logan only became dean because Logan became a yes man to Alistair Burt, another Master bully and maladministrator. Burt was succeeded by Ben Kile, who is protecting Logan. Kile has said to the representatives of the dental profession, "Richard (Logan) is doing a great job."

Kile and Logan are good tag team members.

If anyone wants to complain about Logan, the retired judge and the vice chancellor, or even senior members of the VC's team, will come to the rescue.

If Logan did something wrong, Kile is equally to blame.

If people say AHPRA should investigate Logan, isn't he a federal member of the dental board in AHPRA?

Lose all hope. The VC's team is too content with Logan.
Anonymous said…
Anton Middleberg, the Acting VC - one has to wonder how he got there in a rotten environment.

Caution ahead!
Anonymous said…
What is the point of investigating student plagiarism and cheating when senior managers are pathological liars and operate with borderline ethics and integrity? If you want to get rid of cheating, start with the chancellor and vice chancellor. Many comments here have implicated the retired judge for trying to cover up sexual harassment problems in the university.

Thanks to the ABC investigation, the chancellor was exposed.

The chancellor and her team made all sorts of promises to get rid of bad behaviour. Little did people know that it was just lip service.

Rules only apply to punish low level staff and students. Senior management are exempted. Looks like they are above the law.
Anonymous said…
Be aware of some rotten apples in senior management.
Anonymous said…
Nobody should be above the law.
Logan may be held accountable soon.

The Adelaide Dental School has experienced reputational damage for many years .
Gue's case is a symptom of the rot that has plagued the school .
The economic rational for keeping the Dental School open is slipping away slowly but surely.
Anonymous said…
Not the correlation between Australia's so called top ranking unis in the latest nonsensical rankings and underpaying staff.

And the doubly irony is that those behind the surveys note how important they are for status obsessed Chinese students. And when they come here on the basis of these they are treated appallingly and receive pretty bog standard teaching.

But VCs love them as they can crow about them in the Qantas Club while waiting to board their next first class flight somewhere and when they meet to tell their Chancellors how well they have met their KPIs.
Anonymous said…
Yes the focus of the VCs should be on student outcomes not $s only.
In the long term reputational damage such as the Gue affair and the poor student governance will be telling .
Students were not protected from a predatory/abusive academic for many years .
Logan should hang his head in shame at the state of the Adelaide Dental School.

Anonymous said…
And when Adelaide was Seizing the Day with the engagers and enhancers, ipadders and the work shy Teaching Only in the Education Academy and helping the august institution descend into academic hell Melbourne and Monash ran off with the prize.
Anonymous said…
Logan is problem comes from Kile - Logan's boss. Kile has openly said Logan was doing great. With someone like Kile in high position, why will Logan hang his head in shame? Kile is the root of the problem.
Anonymous said…
The situation may arise that Logan will be forced to resign and then Kile will go as well.
Covering up Gue's behavior is very serious for the long term credibility of the Adelaide University Medical and Dental Faculty.
Gue was way out of line for many years .
Anonymous said…
So the latest Australian Study out of Monash notes 7 our of 10 Australian teachers does not feel respected. We know how they feel. Under the departed HoS of Education here and her coterie of favourites with their slogans and iPads and work avoidance most of us still standing and some departed were subjected to being not only disrespected and devalued while courses were bastardised and made a joke. Of course like in the dental school nothing happened. People were promoted , given leave, while others moved up the academic hierarchy to august positions as soon as they were able.
Anonymous said…
Given the deification of all things iPad at UofA and the government's obsession with job ready graduates and unis as hotbeds of commercial incubation then the ipadders and engagers and enhancers could Seize the Day and follow the leads outlined here. Would especially appeal to those in the school of ed who have replaced any decent forms of inquiry with doing ipaddery.

https://www.smh.com.au/technology/the-diy-porn-creators-making-70k-a-month-on-their-iphones-20221027-p5bth3.html
Anonymous said…
So Nine Media/Fairfax Press reports on a report on alleged rampant cheating at Universities. Comments at the end of the story include many that note exams do assist in curtailing this cheating. Of course here at the good old Uni of Adelaide no surprise which now departed HOS enlisted the good old Assoc Dean of Teaching and Learning and associated fawning ipadders and enhancers to issue an edict that all exams in her department were to be abolished. Yes hard to believe but then just suspend your disbelief cause this is what happened.
Anonymous said…
Well well who would have guessed it. The latest round of promotions have made history in being fearless and enterprising and in taking good care of the private school lobby with their iPads and engaging and enhancing. Candidates who have long histories of avoiding work and undermining colleagues if not having them dismissed have risen to the top of the academic slag heap. And in the biggest of ironies the so called teaching only shirkers - who by the way have pawned off their teaching to some poor undeserving souls- have been the biggest beneficiaries of the universities benevolence. When good old Wozza outlined his teaching only staff he was adamant that teaching only staff would teach and grade, teach and grade. But never let a good idea get in the way of scheming academics. To see key bureaucrats squirm under Kings Council cross examination on the Robodebt fiasco one longs for a Royal Commission into the cronyism and corruption underlying the core of universities in Australia. Heaven forbid the Labor Govt given them even more money.
Anonymous said…
As I sit drinking my almond milk latte, never mind the environmental degradation almond orchards cause in Australia, I am once again doubly amazed by the Learning and Teaching Awards and Stephen Cole the Elder Awards. If the recent round of academic promotions do not cause utter perplexity then the awards handed out by the engagers and enhancers should certainly do so. Then again given most of these awards are self nominated and decided upon by the woke of the teaching brigade over in Enhancing and Engaging - who by the way do SFA in the way of real teaching, we should not be surprised. The award citations let the proverbial cat out of the bag when we see that all there is to getting one of these is to be able to bullshit on ones behalf.

If there is such maximal excellence along North Terrace one has to wonder why people actually go to Oxbridge or the Ivy League.
Anonymous said…
Now that the Uni of Adelaide and UniSA are on the road to a merger it is a pity that the committee could not come up with a more catchy name.

What about Woke University- Adelaide.

or

University of the Last Chance

or

Everyone Win's a Prize University

The comments from Close who is pushing for this monster uni are all about woke sort of things and rankings.

No mention that many of the great unis of the world are not mega unis in terms of size and in terms of wokeness
Anonymous said…
Seems the way to go would be for the new uni to have 3 super colleges.

The Private College- for all the iPad carrying ex private school types

The Non Private College- for all the non private school generic tablet carrying types.

The Overseas College- for all those, mainly from China, who will pay the huge fees to keep the place afloat and be treated with disdain.

Simples really.
Anonymous said…
In the sales spiel for the merger of Adelaide and UniSA it has been noted that the proposed name was first used by the former VC Mary O'Kane. And we know what happened to her tenure at the University of Adelaide!
Anonymous said…
Latest news out from the engineering and mathematical societies is that of a dramatic decline in students in the senior years of high school undertaking advanced level mathematics and what this holds for the future. I guess the Ed Experts on Level 8, 10 Pulteney will just press on with more well being nonsense and ipaddery and discussion of non binary and binary identity issues and ignore the wider educational issues the above highlights. After all the Engagers and Enhancers over in the Wills Building with their playway curriculum and anti exam assessment philosophies have helped to create another growth industry in courses and methods to supposedly deal with a pandemic in academic dishonesty. Welcome to academic life at the Uni of A in 2023.
Anonymous said…
How will the engagers, enhancers and Ipadders cope with this? How will the DVC (A) Prof Shaw who along with the departed HOS in Education and their will enablers and enforcers in Lucy Potter and Lindy Westphalen who conducted holy war against examinations and any other credible forms of assessment cope with this?

https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2023/jan/10/universities-to-return-to-pen-and-paper-exams-after-students-caught-using-ai-to-write-essays?CMP=share_btn_link
Anonymous said…
More to the point can I as an aspiring high level academic get one of this AI things to churn out a stable of A* publications as I climb my way up the slippery academic pole?
Anonymous said…
Well I have just got AI to write two papers for me.

1. Bullying and harassment in two professional faculties in an Australian GO8- causes, effects and management responses to staff well being.

2. Teaching only staff in an Australian G08 - how to become teaching only, do little teaching and even less marking but get promoted to senior lecture and associate professor.

Now sent them out to appropriate journals. Well keep readers up dated as to the outcomes.
Anonymous said…
Well all unis in Adelaide lead the way. The enhancers and engagers along with the iPad brigade will be elated. But will this lead to being in the top 100? Perhaps the top 100 in something.

Why bother merging the unis. Just set up Adelaide ChatBot Uni and be done with it. Then we have the problem based learning wankers to thank for the scourge that is google medicine. If you want to degrade the academic dogma just ask a curriculum expert or someone who knows nothing but knows how to teach it.

https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2023/jan/21/south-australian-universities-to-allow-use-of-artificial-intelligence-in-assignments-if-disclosed?CMP=share_btn_link
Anonymous said…
Good to see at least some pushback against Hoyt's headline push to merge with UniSA. Of course these people then ride off into the sunset and leave the resulting mess behind them. Imagine the new merged uni. Be full of enhancers and engagers running round with their iPads making sure nothing of any academic substance was attempted, while any teaching was outsourced to lowly paid casuals. The curriculum would be nothing but a study in Wokeisms while the place would be lead by the teaching only staff from the Adelaide Academy. And the plan is to be in the top 100. Top 100 of what one may well ask. Heaven help us- as I am sure the Uni Council will not.
Anonymous said…
Now if this fair soul on Overheard is in the School of Education he will appreciate the power of private.

Easy to get a job in that school over much better qualified applicants and then quickly get promoted while at the same time doing SFA. Yes it sure pays to be St Peter's Private. Just part of the class war no doubt.
----------------------------

Overheard last week as I walked past a cluster of students outside Flentje...
Student 1: ... Saint Peters.
Student 2: Ooh. Saint Peeeeters. Faaaancy.


--------------------------------------
Anonymous said…
Well it seems while Adelaide and UniSA have been playing I wanted to merge with you and ipaddery, enhancing , engaging and well being have run the show the acas out at Flinders have run off with the new submarine prize. Never let an opportunity go to waste they say. But given as Winston Churchill said 'the navy is rum, sodomy and the lash' Adelaide Uni and its love of the private sector could still get a part in training the office class? Just don't mention the ex and deposed Chancellor who from memory was an Elizabeth High lad.
Anonymous said…
So now we all have an email from the VC telling us how good a merger will be. I was forced to think of the remark made by one very smart Berkley grad who when asked by a student how she could turn her paper from a D to an A replied

'Have you ever tried to turn a Volkswagen into a Rolls Royce'..
Anonymous said…
Perhaps a small committee of ex St Peters alcolytes in the School of Education could at least be entrusted to release the Kraken? After all wasn't Shaun Micalef an Adelaide Uni grad?
Anonymous said…
How extraordinary to see a conservative MP calling out the nonsense which courtesy of the Geelong Grammar acolyte/s with a Hackney High detour that infects level 8, 10 Pulteney. Almost enough to make one reconsider ones vote. Perhaps the new lady from Oxford can purge the level 8 10 Pulteney courses of this private school led rubbish plus the obsession with Apple and other curriculum ephemera. One can but live in hope.

https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/positive-education-is-driving-away-teachers-and-sending-students-backwards-20230331-p5cx4z.html
Anonymous said…
Noticed on a waste collection truck today in large letters:

CAUTION- CONSTANTLY STOPPING AND REVERSING

Could be State Govts of various persuasions stances on the uni merger?
Anonymous said…
What's unfortunate with a merger is that there is only one dental school between the Universities. Its unlikely that (yet again) any spotlight will be on the poor quality management and teaching that occurs here. Continual staff turn over, continual students being left with substandard education, continual lack of poor performance.... If this blog has taught me anything since its inception, its that there is so little accountability at the dental school, the good performers soon leave and there is little motivation from our management to want to change it.
Anonymous said…
No point complaining when the senior management ignores all problems. The downward spiral of the events from the last 5 years is a predictor of things to come.
Anonymous said…
On Overheard and other spots there is a campaign to stop the merger of Adelaide Uni and UniSA. While this may have merit if a merger resulted in a spill of all posts across the Uni and meant staff were appointed on actual merit rather than connection to Hackney High and the private school network or as one put it being part of the Old Adelaide Establishment that would be a good thing. The current appointment process at Adelaide reminds one of the fictional series Endeavour. Be a good plodding Mason, have no bloody idea and let others do the work. But hey who gets the plumb jobs? Plenty of Detective Strange's and their reverse Detective Morse at Adelaide Uni.
Anonymous said…
So this week another Aust Uni announces it will back pay scores of mainly sessional staff who were under paid for work- especially marking. But what has not been discussed is that this cadre of underpaid workers has enabled the engagers, enhancers, so called teaching only specialists and photogenic DVCs in charge of matters teaching and learning to sit back with buggar all to do while espousing the sheer nobility of the hard graft of teaching- while never actually doing much of it themselves. These academics are good at talking the talk and getting large impressive profiles on uni web pages and talking about how good they are while never actually doing much except creating more work for the people who have to front up to the real world of teaching and learning. Just look at the appropriate staff profiles on the uni web page. The effort to talk about themselves and their achievements is about all that they are good at. You won't find them doing the daily and constant grind of teaching week after week, year after year. Be lucky if they do a guest spot or come to one of the f awful Seize the Day Catastrophes and try and mandate some evidence free f awful way to do everything and then disappear on a Business Class Flight to some important international conference. Teaching and Learning at its best- not!
Anonymous said…
So Stan Grant has taken leave from the ABC after sustained harassment via social media. He should try and be an academic where such harassment is institutionalised via SELTS and overseen by a vast apparatus which would have made the Stasi proud. The academics who do the actual teaching, as opposed to the enhancers, engagers and spuriously named Ed Specialists who did little real teaching but wax lyrical about its nobility, are subjected to a sustained yearly program of abuse which would make Stan Grant melt. And they get SFA institutional support - on the contrary SELTs are used to vilify them.
Anonymous said…
Seen on Overheard. Great to see that in spite of the enhancers, engagers, iPad brigade and so called Ed Specialists and other degraders of the academic dogma that some depts at Adelaide Uni still believe in some sort of academic rigour
-------


David Butler
15 h ·
I just wanted to wish everyone doing exams this season all the best, especially those with exams tomorrow on the first Saturday.
I wish you all calm nerves, complete memory and clear thinking.
---------------

All reactions:
64
Anonymous said…
Now that students HECs bills have reached record highs it is about time that all those who were part of lengthening courses etc etc and building monuments to their own huge egos while telling students to just put the bill on the HECs tab were called out. And of course many of these proponents were the ones who got free uni education themselves. One great proponent of lengthening courses and degree programmes is now Chief of Staff to good old right of centre Albo. His dearly beloved headed a uni in trouble for massive under paying of staff but is soon to be Vict's New Governor. I hope they can get her pay correct there. What did C Wright Mills say about the power elite.

It is the young who bear the brunt of all these great ideas thought up by the technocrats on mega salaries. And the bloody baby boomers moan about possibly having to pay for their aged care!!
Anonymous said…
Many at Uni of Adelaide sit at their desk looking at their impact scores and immodestly compare them to their colleagues at SuperTafe- so disdainful are they of a possible merger. But alas all the academic impact is not one way. Doing my grocery shop today the personable young gent on the checkout who is doing teaching at one of Adelaide's other institutions informed he has an exam in his teaching degree next week. Alas the movers and shakers in Ed at Uni of Adelaide demanded by decree of management a cessation of all forms of exams a few years ago. Don't get too cocky at North Terrace- there are some pretty questionable academic and other practices going on there. But hey while let truth get in the way of rising to the top of the academic totem pole.
Anonymous said…
And People thought Portolesi was an awful Minister of Education. She did not even come Close!! Just read the self serving evidence free nonsense on the merger in The New Daily. And this woman is in charge of ed in SA. And the good Lord wept. Heaven help the citizens of SA. Labor never let an opportunity go by without wanting to F something up.
Anonymous said…
So the merger is on. Well done Branson. What did anyone really expect after the fiasco that council had with Rathjen. It is claimed no job losses till 2027. I hope those on that list are the ones from Hackney High on level 8 , 10 Pulteney who got their jobs under dubious circumstances and in one case without open advertisement. And the cull should include the do nothing Ed Specialists and other iPad devotees, enhancers and engagers. If the place is allegedly going to be up in the top 100 there is plenty of room for culling the scores of brown nosers. But what is the bet the list of redundant will not include any of those. I guess all senior managers are now polishing their CVs and making a case why they are indispensable . I would hate to be a non Anglo and non private school educated among staff. They will be the first on the list of those to be let go,
Anonymous said…
If you want to see the workings behind the merger just go to InDaily of July 7. And if you thought the Liberals were bad you will be please do know that Labor under the smooth talking Premier and the Minister of Ed are equally and disastrously as bad. Perhaps they should call the new University- It does not come Close University. Or Close University. What an educational disaster it will turn out to be.

And as InDaily notes they have carefully limited debated in all forums they control . In fact Chairman Hoyt has learnt much from his Chinese comrades by basically telling staff at a discussion session if they don't like it they can just leave. I guess in China or HK they could be charged and sent to the Gulag. Along with other dissidents.
Anonymous said…
So the latest report into Higher Education is out. One focus is on enrolling and graduating more students from working class and indigenous backgrounds. Where is the mention of universities actually employing more indigenous staff. Level 8, 10 Pulteney used to have at least 2 staffers from indigenous backgrounds and one African American. But with the large number of staff employed over the last 6 years the three persons of colour were replaced by recruits from non white upper middle class and private school especially Hackney High Backgrounds. Locally Close may spruik all she likes about the merger widening accessing but the actions of those along North Terrace give lie to the fact that the University is first and foremost for the Adelaide Establishment. FFS look were the new HOS Education hails from. Last time I looked Oxford was not the preserve of the downtrodden and unfortunate. But it does produce the likes of Blair, Ahern, Beasley, Abbott and Turnbull- well noted for being great motor mouths if nothing else.
Anonymous said…
Hoyt and Lloyd's arrogant boasts to the Parliamentary Inquiry on the proposed merger of the two universities and how great they are remind one of the tale told when a New York Matron organising a soiree phoned the president of NYU asking could he provide her with a wit and a scholar for her gathering. The President of NYU replied to the said lady saying 'madam I do not have such a person but I have two half wits and you are welcome to them both'.

Anonymous said…
We will all be ruined said Hanrahan in the famous Australian literary piece.. After ipadising the curriculum, hiring the best and brightest from Hackney High , banning exams, having teaching only staff and Assoc Deans of T and L call the curriculum shots, endless Seize the Day seminars run by zealots in Engagement and Enhancement. with little bloody idea, staffing courses with a plethora of staff but especially sessionals with little experience and background what do we have in one School mentioned frequently in these posts. Well the worst enrolment and retention figures since 2009. Yes you read right. And this does not take into account the disparagement and vilification of long serving and dedicated staff. But of course be all blamed on anything except the above. Try Covid, the non alignment of the planets, the war in Ukraine, global warming . Take your pick. Up till 2009 at least staff would have to explain such enrolment and retention disasters to management. But I guess now those who are responsible will be promoted.
Anonymous said…
Given all the talk about how the merged uni will be a great step forward for equity and access rather interesting that the good old original University of Adelaide is one of the GO8s that has not signed up to support the Voice Referendum. But then not all that surprising . It along with the other G08s was always for the white Anglo Saxons. And as one post above notes look how few indigenous staff are now employed at Adelaide- especially compared to a few years back . In fact one School that features in the above posts made a point of replacing their indigenous staff with good old non indigenous.
Anonymous said…
A former colleague at Australian institute for machine learning / centre for augmented reasoning recently committed suicide. It is very sad. The place is toxic.
Anonymous said…
That is just incredibly sad. How utterly tragic.
Anonymous said…
ICAC will be conducting a follow-up research shortly. Staff will be receiving survey emails - the university administration says. What for? What has really changed since the last ICAC survey data were published?
Anonymous said…
Lot of people who work for some universities mentioned above have and will develop serious medical conditions. Don't be surprised. This is the norm and the management pretends everything is rosy. Believe what you want. An earlier post mentioned about suicide by a Waite staff. Anyone knows anything about this?
Anonymous said…
As a staff, I have thought of suicide for many years. Have not been brave enough o do it yet. The main factor is the Adelaide workplace. Yet, the senior managers could not care.
Anonymous said…
Has there been any wage theft of casual staff?
Anonymous said…
Greens say criminalization and stiffer penalty are needed for wage theft.
Anonymous said…
Seems ipaddery, seizing the day, being in the grip of the Hackney High and private school lobby does not produce much. Well if you look at the latest world uni rankings and Adelaide having the biggest fall of any Australian G08. But some verities never change. Look at some of the latest hiring practices where new hires are good mates of those doing the hiring, their former phd students and co authors and and the same mates are on the panel that did the hiring. The ICAC Commissioner could have a field day if she had time and the remit with her latest investigation.
Anonymous said…
Great to see One Nation and SA Best agree to f over higher ed in SA for as far as one can see. One wonders whether the trauma that Connie suffered at the ill fated Xmas Party some years ago has affected her judgement. As for One Nation they have never had any judgment. But the other big story is that the ALP is just as hopeless as the Libs. All the sweet talking nothingness that comes out of the Premier and Deputy Premier's mouths is enough to make anyone give up voting. If you want to f over the state and its citizens you are spoilt for choice in SA.
Anonymous said…
Is it true that the head honcho at SuperTafe Library is tossing out all the books in preparation for the merger? Never let a good education get in the way of a degree it seems. Seem to recall that somewhere in history some group burnt all the books. Perhaps they could replicate that here. After all, if I am allowed to mangle Descarte, if it is not on an iPad it probably does not exist.
Anonymous said…
And what about the now seemingly accepted practice of staff whacking their names on work done by their phd students- all to up the old global rankings. And the other side of this is staff whacking their names on courses entirely developed and written by others- and then getting promoted on the basis of it. The Integrity Committees could have a full time job- but will be all window dressing like most of the other useless committees.

https://www.theguardian.com/science/2024/feb/03/the-situation-has-become-appalling-fake-scientific-papers-push-research-credibility-to-crisis-point?CMP=share_btn_link
Anonymous said…
In Daily has this feature on getting teachers into rural schools. What it does not say is that in the last 14 years Adelaide Uni used to have a compulsory rural placement. All students were sent to the country as part of their degree. And staff visited them.But lo and behold when new HOS were brought in who knew the cost of everything and the value of nothing this was abolished. And of course in latter years it has all been about Hackney High and Ipads. And the merger will solve this. Not on your nellie. Sorry won't even come Close. Sorry for the pun.

Why SA teachers like Annie are going bush
The Post by The Post
Anonymous said…
Anyone at Adelaide up for this?

More than 150,000 students sue their universities over online teaching during the pandemic

The students want partial refunds of around £5,000 - the typical pre-pandemic difference between the £9,250 in-person degree fee and an online one. It could cost the sector up to £765million.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-13115597/students-sue-universities-online-teaching-pandemic.html?ito=email_share_article-top
Anonymous said…
Dr Gue's problems with authorities are far from over .Further legal actions are coming to a head in the next 5 months.
I am amazed that events of his dismissal from Adelaide University, South Australian Dental Service and the Womens and Childrens Hospital are clearly more serious than the people were led to believe.
Why as a consequence of his actions in these institutions has he been allowed to continue in private practice without public censure from AHPRA. Why!
Surely the general public may have been put at risk .
Anonymous said…
Was instructive to see 'Snowy" VC Scott from Sydney uni overtaking the arrogancy stakes normally held by VCs from Melb Uni past and present in his moaning about the possibility of a wealth tax on cashed up unis. If ever there was a reason not to donate to Unis just look at the hiring practices here at Adelaide Uni where people are hired without advert and from the so called great and good schools. They then managed to quickly shoot up the promotion ladder on the basis of SFA and infect the curriculum with all sorts of nonsense. Yes don't encourage Unis. Just don't give to their appeals.

One would hope that outside accreditation and licensing boards would look VERY VERY closely as the staffing of courses when the same are put up for approval.

If they did they would see many many anomalies like the complete absence of any indigenous staff in some areas where up till a few years ago there were at least some.

But better to hire from the so called great and good overseas establishments to HOS- were looking at you Psych and Ed and then make sure to restrict further hiring to a small group of ex private schools and for heaven's sake no persons of colour nor indigenous .
Anonymous said…
In view of the latest announcements on University Teaching Awards anyone up for a large scale mixed method study on recipients of such awards and of course this to include Cole the Elder Awards as well as National Awards. A starting hypothesis could be : There is a negative correlation between recipients of such awards and how much actual teaching they actually do.

And universities wonder why people are suspicious of what goes on in them or what does not go on in them.
Anonymous said…
Won’t see too much of this at AU. Too much ipaddery, and blind reflection

Exclusive
Education
The teaching style that puts students ‘months ahead’
Maria Luu, Andy Do, Thomas Nguyen and Angela Nguyen from Canley Vale High School, which uses explicit instruction to drive improved results, and has excellent.
High school students who receive explicit instruction are months ahead in learning compared with peers, a major analysis has found.
Anonymous said…
Shades of certain academics using other people's course materials and ending up the super celebrities and PhD students writing the journal articles for the all stars?

I didn’t get the credit for my bestselling book: the secret life of the celebrity ghost writer
https://www.theguardian.com/books/2024/mar/12/liam-pieper-celebrity-ghost-writer-author-bestselling-book?CMP=share_btn_url
Anonymous said…
Well this is what happens when exams are banned and it is all iPads, movies, wellness and other nonsense. Heres looking at your Arts and Education

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Education
Grade inflation puts uni integrity at risk
An investigation by Sydney University found a 234 per cent increase in the number of high distinctions awarded over a decade.
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