|
Issue No. 163 | 29 November 2002 |
Lessons from History
Interview: Trade Secrets Industrial: It�s About Overtime, Stupid Unions: Full Steam Ahead Bad Boss: The BBQ Battle Axe Economics: Different Dimensions of Debt History: Raking the Coals History Special: Wherever the Necessity Exists History Special: Learning from the Past History Special: A 'Cosy Relationship' Politics: Regime Change for Saddam International: World War Corporate: Industrious Thinking Review: Jack High Culture: Duffy�s Song Satire: A Nation of Sooks Poetry: Mr Flexibility
And On the Seventh Day � Satan Joins Union Casuals Written Out of the Script ACTU Examines The Cap Option On Hours No Sweetener for Diabetic Workers Pressure Goes on Apartheid Employers ASIC Turns Blind Eye on Dodgy Boss Family Test Case a Priority Campaign Brutal Bashing Sparks Prison Strike Minister Challenged by Cleaners Uni Backs Down On Regional Review
The Soapbox Awards The Locker Room Bosswatch Month In Review
State Based Organising Gino on the Gong
Labor Council of NSW |
News Uni Backs Down On Regional Review
After 170 union and non-union staff had rejected the review and called upon community leaders in Bendigo for support, last Saturday's Bendigo Advertiser carried articles from Ken Marchingo, chief executive of the Lodden Mallee Housing Service and Penny Davies, chair of the Bendigo campus alumni association on the need to retain quality university education in central and northern Victoria. "The uni is now a real part of the community," said Mr Marchingo. "No matter how the accountants dress it up, regional universities are a cash cow for the sandstone metro unis and after the pending Nelson Report is announced soon, [are] likely to be even more the case." Ms Davies claimed that 60 per cent of students from the region would have little chance of a university education without the Bendigo faculty and that the salaries of local administration staff contributed $5.5 million to the Bendigo economy. "Any loss of income from the present 168 positions would have a detrimental flow-on effect to the community," she said. In the face of this reaction, La Trobe vice-chancellor Professor Michael Osborne told staff on Monday that, after considering the whole issue, he had concluded the review would not be productive and did not follow previous agreements on management processes. "I should like to emphasize that there has never been any suggestion that the Bendigo campus and faculty should lose any of their current funding - only that the distribution of the funding between the faculty budget and the campus operating costs might be reviewed. This remains the case," said Professor Osborne. National Tertiary Education Union branch vice-president Mary Martin described the back down as welcome but just a good first step. Staff had also called for the level of autonomy promised at integration in 1994 to be restored, said Ms Martin. "Therefore the NTEU sub-branch executive is now calling for clarification of current arrangements and where necessary further procedures to be developed so that such disputes will never arise again." "Responsibility for the design and conduct of any review of Bendigo operations must reside in Bendigo. We need the University's confirmed commitment to this region and the regional mission of the Bendigo faculty and campus, or we must review our relationship with La Trobe University," she said. After meeting senior management and administration staff and Professor Osborne, the chairman of La Trobe's local advisory board, Gordon McKern, said the difficulties between the Bendigo campus and La Trobe's main campus at Bundoora needed to be settled quickly. Mr McKern expressed confidence about a satisfactory outcome and said the Bendigo university council would explore three options: total integration, stand-alone, or some combination of both, for university education in Bendigo. Disclaimer: A relative of the reporter is an employee at La Trobe University, Bendigo.
|
Search All Issues | Latest Issue | Previous Issues | Print Latest Issue |
© 1999-2002 Workers Online |
|