It Has Begun (2 Viewers)

[LaZy_KoReAn]

Tuition fees to rise 25% at UTS
By Matthew Thompson, Higher Education Reporter
April 20, 2004

Meeting at a secure location to avoid student unrest, the governing council of the University of Technology, Sydney, yesterday voted to increase next year's fees by the maximum allowable 25 per cent.

The vice-chancellor, Ross Milbourne, said the increase would raise an extra $5 million next year, rising to $15 million a year by 2008. A yet-to-be-determined slice of the money would go to scholarships for disadvantaged people.

Professor Milbourne blamed "inadequate Commonwealth Government investment" for the rise. He said without the increase "our educational and service standards will suffer".

While the council met at Chubb Security's Ashfield office, police at UTS used capsicum spray against protesters who had occupied a student services office.

A communications student demonstrating against the increase, David Barrow, said he did not want his younger siblings to have to pay an extra $5000.

A university council member, Tony Baker, said there was "quite a lot of discomfort around the conference table about how we met . . . but we were very concerned about the tactics used at Sydney University [a fortnight ago]".

In that protest, student activists blockaded a meeting of the university senate, and climbed on the car of an elderly senator trying to leave. At UTS last month police used capsicum spray to drive back a charge on the chancellery by about 400 protesters.

Professor Baker said the new equity scholarships would not displace students who were admitted under the Federal Government-subsidised Higher Education Contribution Scheme.

He said a number of student places would be allocated to disadvantaged people by treating them as domestic full-fee payers, which the Federal Government permits to a maximum of 35 per cent of the student body from next year.

"But the fees will be set at zero," Professor Baker said. UTS does not presently enrol local full-fee paying students.

Yesterday's ruckus came as UTS followed the universities of Sydney and Newcastle with a maximum 25 per cent increase in HECS fees.

Five other NSW and ACT universities have announced next year's fees - the University of New England chose a 20 per cent increase, while next year's HECS levels will not change at the Australian National University, Charles Sturt University, the University of Canberra and the Australian Catholic University.


Prostests are only going to go worse, awwww i can't wait.

 

[santaslayer]

ahahaha....there there, UTS people, don't cry.......

 

[johnson]

yeah lazy korean, i love ross milbourne's attitude to this whole thing. send us a couple of emails and except us to deal.

did you get his first email, after the protest? basically, blah blah blah..we do not agree with the rise in hecs, and we will listen to students

a couple of weeks later, he hits us with this email:

The maximum level is 25% above current HECS for each band...UTS has decided to set these student contributions at the maximum rate.

The University made these decisions reluctantly and after a full consideration of all the alternatives in consultation with the university community. Given a decade of continual decline in government funding in real terms per student, we would not have been able to deliver high quality programs, pay competitive salaries to our staff, invest in infrastructure or continue to upgrade technology and student support without making this decision.

seriously, what a crock of shit. what i would relaly like to see is some evidence of where our money goes, and how much of it goes to where. personally, in my course at uts, we are not getting what we pay for..there are not even enough tables and chairs for students to sit on.

before, i didn't really think about this whole issue very much. but ross milbourne's shocking attitude to this is terrible- he does not explain any of the university's decision and instead pretty much says "we changed it because others did so deal with it."

 

[Frigid]

or in a word, hypocrite?

 

[braindrainedAsh]

Bloody Howard....

I came to university thinking it was a mecca for academia and it would be awesome.... however I found it to be almost as underfunded as my public school which I attended.... note that I said almost lol...

 

[Ribbon]

LMAO braindrained ash... my uni is much better funded than my old public school used to be I havn't noticed anything to suggest a lack of funding AND my uni isn't raising fees at all next year

I guess we can expect the entries in those who arn't raising fees to go up, up up!

also: interesting to note that all 3 unis in Canberra kept fees the same....

finally: I am glad I didn't end up at my second preference of newcastle!

 

[Ziff]

Glad I'm pining for ANU.

I think the students are about to start a Marxist revolution soon... god... May day is just around the corner.

 

[cheesegrater]

Originally posted by Ribbon
LMAO braindrained ash... my uni is much better funded than my old public school used to be I havn't noticed anything to suggest a lack of funding AND my uni isn't raising fees at all next year

yeah lol ANU is mad the money comes direct from the federal government not the states, and we get a alot of it, lol they just spent $4.2mil on some big magnet and $100million on capitol works

 

[Josie]

Originally posted by LaZy_KoReAn
[next year's HECS levels will not change at the Australian National University, Charles Sturt University, the University of Canberra and the Australian Catholic University.

W00t, go Canberra Unis!
Another factor in making me decide to get away from Sydney unis!

 

[Raiks]

I have to go to uni today, where theres lots of seats, good seats at that, no sign of a rise in HECS, quality education and subsidised alcohol and music gigs not to mention top rate computer and research facillities and a stunning campus enviroment.

I'd hate to go to UTS.... but then again, I don't so I guess I have nothing to worry about for now. So as Santa said,

ahahaha....there there, UTS people, don't cry.......

 

[LaZy_KoReAn]

Re: Re: It Has Begun

Originally posted by Josie
W00t, go Canberra Unis!
Another factor in making me decide to get away from Sydney unis!

UAI's for those uni's will rise dramatically though.

 

[santaslayer]

Originally posted by Raiks
I have to go to uni today, where theres lots of seats, good seats at that, no sign of a rise in HECS, quality education and subsidised alcohol and music gigs not to mention top rate computer and research facillities and a stunning campus enviroment.

I'd hate to go to UTS.... but then again, I don't so I guess I have nothing to worry about for now. So as Santa said,

ahahaha....there there, UTS people, don't cry.......

OMFG what u said is so true! :uhhuh: :uhhuh:

 

[crazybrad]

csu kept them the same..thank god

 

[KeypadSDM]

Re: Re: Re: It Has Begun

Originally posted by LaZy_KoReAn
UAI's for those uni's will rise dramatically though.

You never know, it might bring down the 99.60 law at USyd.

 

[ohne]

Originally posted by braindrainedAsh
Bloody Howard....

I came to university thinking it was a mecca for academia and it would be awesome.... however I found it to be almost as underfunded as my public school which I attended.... note that I said almost lol...

Don't you think that the University reforms will help solve this? I fail to see how more HECS flexibilty , corporate backed research and full fee paying places will make things worse. The reason many Universities are underfunded at the moment is because they are under a regulatory straitjacket.

 

[Raiks]

I don't care how much money the government gives to the universities, a lot has to do with how the universities manage their allocated funds. Highlights of funding mismanagement are highlighted by UWS as well as RMIT so reforms help but it's not the be all and end all of the problem.

As for people complaining about their tertiary education.... if you don't like it, don't do it, nobody is forcing you to go to uni. Thats the bottom line. It's not compulsory.

 

[braindrainedAsh]

Originally posted by Raiks
As for people complaining about their tertiary education.... if you don't like it, don't do it, nobody is forcing you to go to uni. Thats the bottom line. It's not compulsory.

Actually it is pretty much compulsory if you want to do certain careers.....

ohne, I don't think the reforms will help... in my eyes, the reforms will just be an excuse for the government to take money away from the tertiary sector and spend it on other areas like military... justifying this action by saying that unis have enough money now...

I am a big believer in public education, and frankly the current government's view of it is atrocious. What about Howards remarks that public education is "too values neutral"... he basically undermined views of the country's public education system. Education is obviously not a priority of this government, they would rather spend their money fighting wars against ideology.

Look at the unis who have decided to up the fees though.... Sydney Uni is hardly short of funding. They have massive research units that would bring in huge amounts of funding. Even though I had a little whinge about some of the problems of UTS, they are building brand new science blocks, and they just bought this brand new apartment building where I am living... some of the unis that have decided not to put up fees are the ones which are more underfunded... regional unis like CSU do not have the resources to get huge research money like some of the larger institutions do... ANU as people were saying gets a lot of money from the government, but it is also a large and well resppected research uni which would also bring in money.... however the University of Canberra wouldn't have the same opportunities, but they have decided not to put up their fees either....

It seems like the bigger, richer unis are the ones that are trying to get richer? So I don't think the reforms are going to do anything to solve some of the funding issues in universities.

 

[Raiks]

Originally posted by braindrainedAsh
Actually it is pretty much compulsory if you want to do certain careers.....

I am a big believer in public education, and frankly the current government's view of it is atrocious. What about Howards remarks that public education is "too values neutral"... he basically undermined views of the country's public education system. Education is obviously not a priority of this government, they would rather spend their money fighting wars against ideology.

Firstly, nobody is forcing you to do a certain career.... You want to have a certain career which needs uni qualifications, you elect to follow that. If you don't want to go to uni, you can elect to follow a different career path which doesn't require tertiary education. Education is a privilage, not a right. People in Australia have the ability to access high levels of education compared to the rest of the world which many people cannot. Wow, HECS has increased which means that for some Uni's, you'll have to cover 28% of your education costs. You're choosing to go to uni so you choose to accept the associated costs of it. It's not like you're paying for the whole lot which many people forget so I'd be feeling pretty lucky that the government is subsidising that much of my education costs in the first place. Fair enough you believe in a public education, which is why the HECS system was installed, it means that you can afford to go to uni and start repaying your debt once you start earning money, its not like you're having to find money to get to uni which is the case of a lot of overseas universities.

And about Howard's remarks which were taken out of context, that was based at Secondary Education and has nothing to do with the federal goverment because the last time I checked, Primary and Secondary Education was a State Government Issue. The Carr Government has simply politicised and made a media frenzy over the relatively small federal government funding to private schools to draw attention away from the fact that the Labour Government of NSW has flaws in its education policies. Its always easy to create an argument from an out of context quote.

 

[ballerinabarbie]

20% rise for me (UNE)... not happy

 

[ohne]

Originally posted by braindrainedAsh
Actually it is pretty much compulsory if you want to do certain careers.....

ohne, I don't think the reforms will help... in my eyes, the reforms will just be an excuse for the government to take money away from the tertiary sector and spend it on other areas like military... justifying this action by saying that unis have enough money now...

I am a big believer in public education, and frankly the current government's view of it is atrocious. What about Howards remarks that public education is "too values neutral"... he basically undermined views of the country's public education system. Education is obviously not a priority of this government, they would rather spend their money fighting wars against ideology.

Look at the unis who have decided to up the fees though.... Sydney Uni is hardly short of funding. They have massive research units that would bring in huge amounts of funding. Even though I had a little whinge about some of the problems of UTS, they are building brand new science blocks, and they just bought this brand new apartment building where I am living... some of the unis that have decided not to put up fees are the ones which are more underfunded... regional unis like CSU do not have the resources to get huge research money like some of the larger institutions do... ANU as people were saying gets a lot of money from the government, but it is also a large and well resppected research uni which would also bring in money.... however the University of Canberra wouldn't have the same opportunities, but they have decided not to put up their fees either....

It seems like the bigger, richer unis are the ones that are trying to get richer? So I don't think the reforms are going to do anything to solve some of the funding issues in universities.

Firstly these reforms are not taking money away from the Universities at all. Indeed there will be a significant increase in the number of government funded HECS places.

Public education IS values neutral. I am not saying this is a bad thing, it just has to be to cater for people from all over the community. I went to a public school and I like the many different religions, cultures etc. but many parents don't and they must have the right to choose between public and private schools.

Education is becoming an increasingly important employer in recent times. Indeed it is Australia's third largest service export earner. Education is also important to create a skilled economy and research and innovation are becoming increasingly important. Giving Universities more flexibility will allow them to provide better quality services. As you can see, this is of extremely large benefit to Australia.

Austrailan universities at present are by no means rich. If you compare them to those in the US or even parts of Asia and Europe, they are actually underfunded. This is primarily due to high levels of regulation by the government. These reforms will allow Australia to develop world standard universities in an era where international competitiveness is becoming increasingly important.