The University of Melbourne is a flashpoint in the wave of industrial action against job insecurity, wage theft, overwork, and profit-seeking in the academy. Now staff are preparing an all-university strike — and the outcome may be decisive for the sector.
Source: Melbourne University Workers Are Gearing Up for a Second Weeklong Strike
Like other large public and private sector organisations, universities have now been pervaded by the activities and influence of consultants. This represents a degradation of the social and educational role of the university as well as a determined shift towards the privatisation of knowledge.
Source: The degradation of the University – Pearls and Irritations
Professors rebuke uni bosses for profit obsession, foreign students, sagging standards by Michael Sainsbury | May 22, 2023
University professors have railed against the rising corporatisation of Australia’s universities. Mass redundancies, lack of accountability and diminishing quality of eduction are just some of the issues, as vice-chancellors turn the focus to the gigantic market for Indian students. Michael Sainsbury reports.
Source: Michael West Media – investigative journalists – always independent
The University of Melbourne is a step closer to staff strikes after the National Tertiary Education Union got the green light to ballot members about industrial action.
Union members will be asked to vote on eight forms of industrial action, including not doing any marking, not applying penalties to students who submit late work, work stoppages of up to 24 hours and indefinite stoppages.
Source: Melbourne University one step closer to strikes as industrial action vote green-lighted
Universities are too important to Australia’s education system to be thought of as corporate enterprises, writes Graham White.
Australian universities have been hit hard by decades of neoliberal austerity. Now, after countless job losses and rising workloads, university workers are taking the fight to managers and vice chancellors.
Source: In Australia, Precarious University Workers Are Stepping Up the Fight
First, we saw the Ramsey Foundation’s incursion into universities with bribery and their Western Civilisations degree. Now News Corp and Google have moved in on Melbourne University’s Business School. and the L-NP removal of research funding to the commercial sector. What we are seeing is the replacement of an Indpendant Tertiary Institution with the Trump University model being deployed in Australia? We know how well that went. Will shares too be issued sometime soon? The division between private and public seems to have been accelerated by this L-NP.
Why then are we as journalism academics concerned? There are several reasons. The first and most obvious is the incursion of a high-profile and controversial media company into the higher education sector and the extent to which that is funded by a large disruptive digital search company.
Source: News Corp’s deal with Google and the Melbourne Business School questioned by journalism academics
The COVID-19 pandemic has been a nightmare for the tertiary education sector — and the government couldn’t be happier about it.
Source: How COVID-19 almost killed universities, just as the Coalition wanted
By undermining humanities education, the Morrison Government is helping create a superficial society, which opens the door to far-Right extremism, writes Alex Hipgrave. AS STUDENTS across Australia begin a new academic year, it may be apt to re-examine the role of our schooling system in shaping societal attitudes and how capitalism undermines education.
Neo-fascism on the rise as critical thinking dissolves
While more people than ever are graduating from universities, some companies are abandoning degree requirements altogether.
Students in the UK are being driven to work in the sex industry in order to cope with the rising cost of living and university tuition fees. More than half of those already in the industry – 67 per cent – have turned to sex work to be able to pay for living expenses, such as food and bills, followed by 53 per cent who need the money to pay for rent.
My mother left a violent home to study at university. Now I’m about to graduate medicine. None of this would be possible with higher university fees
olddogthoughts 
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