Friday 30 April 2010

Ballarat title has noses out of joint










The University of Ballarat featured in the Higher Education section of The Australian on April 21, 2010 over a current hot potato, academic titles. Assoc. Prof. Jeremy Smith (from our School and champion of the NTEU), is concerned that gifting TAFE heads with the academic title of Assoc. Pro dimishes the pursuit of the academic pathway. VC Prof. David Battersby responded by stating that "it is unclear to me how any of these actions diminishes the the importance of the associate professor title".

Prof. Battersby has also responded to this issue in his VC's Blog. The entry is titled 'The Role of the Head of School' (April 21, 2010). It's certainly worth reading in conjunction with the Higher Ed story, as Battersby takes the time to unpack Senior Management's rationale for such a move - an opportunity he doesn't get in the Higher Ed. Having said that, Jeremy Smith's points amount to little but a soundbite and I wonder if this issue will be followed up by the Higher Ed community.

I've tried to link in with the VC's Blog previously, but as it is strictly an internal access blog, I am unable to place it in the right hand coloumn of Noteworthy Blogs in BSSH Bloggers (which is an external blogger site). I suggest people book mark it in their favourites to keep abreat of developments at UB. Meanwhile, here's the link to the piece in the Higher Ed:

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