Dear Vice-Chancellor Dowton,
Your concern with community jars amid the carefully considered thinking of the external forces acting on the evolution of universities.
One: The loss of collegiality does not sit well with the rhetoric of enhancing ‘community’ amongst staff: University Councils and the Commonwealth Government have, together, conspired to impose autocratic managerialism, compliance cultures, and risk aversion in their mis-management of Australian Universities’ staff. You once had community; now you don’t. It’s all about trust and power: who writes the rules for the roles about which expectations are held. Or put another way, by how much are some of the the best-trained minds in Australia limited by rules that dis-empower them as creative, productive individuals and groups?
Two: The great fear I have is that universities will come to be viewed by the community at large, through the prism of ‘being a business’. All your ‘business models’ and ‘marketing mottos’ do is drive this frame into the consciousness of parents, students, politicians and businesses. Once this is established, what role for universities beyond producing “job-ready graduates”? In times of heightened uncertainty and fear in the operation of economic, social and bio-physical systems, social institutional bulwarks are needed that bridge conflict and controversy: At this time, universities are the last – the last – public institution in which people will place their trust. What happens to social cohesion if this is lost?
Universities are needed for their creativity to drive more cogent local change that is better than change driven from without. You don’t get much community or creativity and even less productivity, if rules, rule.
Dr Jonathan Sobels
Dear Vice-Chancellor Dowton,
Your concern with community jars amid the carefully considered thinking of the external forces acting on the evolution of universities.
One: The loss of collegiality does not sit well with the rhetoric of enhancing ‘community’ amongst staff: University Councils and the Commonwealth Government have, together, conspired to impose autocratic managerialism, compliance cultures, and risk aversion in their mis-management of Australian Universities’ staff. You once had community; now you don’t. It’s all about trust and power: who writes the rules for the roles about which expectations are held. Or put another way, by how much are some of the the best-trained minds in Australia limited by rules that dis-empower them as creative, productive individuals and groups?
Two: The great fear I have is that universities will come to be viewed by the community at large, through the prism of ‘being a business’. All your ‘business models’ and ‘marketing mottos’ do is drive this frame into the consciousness of parents, students, politicians and businesses. Once this is established, what role for universities beyond producing “job-ready graduates”? In times of heightened uncertainty and fear in the operation of economic, social and bio-physical systems, social institutional bulwarks are needed that bridge conflict and controversy: At this time, universities are the last – the last – public institution in which people will place their trust. What happens to social cohesion if this is lost?
Universities are needed for their creativity to drive more cogent local change that is better than change driven from without. You don’t get much community or creativity and even less productivity, if rules, rule.
Dr Jonathan Sobels