No More UNSW:Asia (1 Viewer)

[Frigid]

Uni was warned about Asian campus debacle

The University of NSW rushed through plans for its now collapsed Singapore campus so quickly that the university's governing body was given just 30 seconds to scrutinise the proposal, a senior academic says.

One former member of the governing body said he was so disgusted by the decision in early 2004 that he decided not to stand again for his position on the University of NSW council.

Yesterday the university announced it was abandoning the university's Asia operation in Singapore after losing millions of dollars on the venture.

Fewer than 150 students had enrolled in the offshore campus this year, far short of plans to have it expand to 15,000 students over the next two decades.

It is the latest hitch in the Australian university sector's troubled attempts to exploit the lucrative international student market by setting up offshore campuses. Several Australian universities have closed their operations in recent years, while Monash University's South African campus is said to be losing as much as $6 million a year.

But members of the University of NSW's governing body had warned the university as early as 2004 the project needed further research and its financial estimates did not stand up to scrutiny.

Jeremy Davis, a former dean of the Australian Graduate School of Management, said his own cost analysis of the venture concluded the administration had "wildly underestimated" how expensive it would be.

His chief concern was that the university would not be able to make enough money from student fees alone to conduct research, without support from a body such as the Australian Research Council. "One of the great concerns was that having entered that enterprise the university would then subsidise it by the back door - funds that should be used on the Australian campus." ...

The vice-chancellor, Fred Hilmer, said the university's Asian collapse would cost tens of millions of dollars by the time redundancies had been paid, but it was too early to judge how much because the university still hoped to find a buyer for it.

Students will be offered places at the university's main campus, and given subsidised air travel to Sydney and housing.

While most staff will be made redundant, some will be offered jobs in Sydney.

shame really. and it was to be such a pretty campus too.

 

[Curry]

Like we don't already have enough Asians at UNSW, Kensington.

 

[seremify007]

Yeh my parents in Singapore told me about this today... sad really, could've made UNSW more famous worldwide.

 

[§eraphim]

shame really. and it was to be such a pretty campus too.

Quite a few senior academics left existing positions to go on secondment to Singapore. I wonder what will happent to them.

 

[Casmira]

i thought that would of made unsw less asians! ah well

 

[ohne]

To be honest, I'd much rather see UNSW focus on the campus at Kensington than one in Singapore that I'll never visit. It did look nice though.

 

[gman03]

At least the students will be given unconditional scholarship.. like even if they are PS students...

What financial help will I receive if I am a current student?
Singaporean students will be given a scholarship of S$22,000 (A$18,000) per annum. This is intended to subsidise accommodation, living and travel costs for the duration of the degree. It may be paid in a lump sum twice a year, or fortnightly, depending on your preference.

 

[Nebuchanezzar]

lol!

 

[Frigid]

more fallout:

$85,000 Singapore sling for students

THE University of NSW will pay up to 148 students stranded by the closure of its Singapore campus as much as $85,000 each to study in Sydney.

Compensation, redundancies and lost revenue could mean the failed venture's costs could amount to more than $40 million.

The university will pay students for travel, visa and accommodation costs in Sydney for the life of their degree. Another 126 students are eligible for return air fares to Sydney and 12 months' accommodation in compensation.

UNSW vice-chancellor Fred Hilmer has admitted that $17.5 million had been spent on the Tanglin campus before it opened this year.

The shortfall in enrolments for the first semester had cost a projected $15 million in revenue because only 148 of the anticipated 300 students signed up. UNSW Asia had leased a building from the Singapore Government until the end of 2009, when its Changi campus was supposed to open.

The university has flown in "teams of people" to Singapore to help students with visa applications. It may face penalties for not seeing through the deal.

The NSW Auditor-General's Report To Parliament 2005 said the Singapore Economic Development Board would provide funding, capped at $S100 million ($78 million), for start-up costs over the first 10 years.

The board's managing director, Ko Kheng Hwa, said the terms that were typically offered "normally comprise tax incentives, loans or grants, which are recallable if pre-agreed milestones and outcomes are not met".

As well, 64 local academic and general staff employed by UNSW Asia are yet to agree on redundancy packages. Another 41 staff from Australia are unsure about their future.

An Australian academic, who did not want to be named, said his wife had given up a good job to move to Singapore and he had taken a two-year lease on a house.

"There are many senior professors who have moved here, who have given up senior positions at ANU and other universities, sold family houses, given up retirement plans, to move here with young children," he said.

He said the damage to UNSW's reputation, and those of Australian universities in general, was enormous.

"UNSW has killed off any hope of ever marketing itself as an international university, certainly in our lifetime.

"It has been a monumental mismanagement."...

 

[mr EaZy]

see! even smart people get things horribly wrong lol

what did the uni look like anyway? got links anyone?

hmmm, might go see it there myself actually! (im from there)

 

[sweet-g]

lOlz. UNSW reputation has gone way down.

 

[Casmira]

kinda like you on a friday night!

 

[sweet-g]

kinda like you on a friday night!

i was up on friday night =D unlike UNSW .. lOlz.. thats alot of money to be compensated for students XD

 

[Casmira]

wow when you think unsw cant get anymore stupid (from its commerce incident with the uac last yr), something even more stupid comes in :rofl:


who knows...maybe if they keep it up, they may lose 2 uws

or even worse, UTS!

and u didnt get my joke sweet-g so dw

 

[Pace_T]

damn UTSers infesting the unsw forum. shoo

 

[Curry]

wow when you think unsw cant get anymore stupid (from its commerce incident with the uac last yr), something even more stupid comes in :rofl:


who knows...maybe if they keep it up, they may lose 2 uws

Or even worse, someone may jump out of our buildings and kill themselves.

 

[sweet-g]

 

[Rekkusu]

Lol, the stupidity of our university is quite surprising, since the AGSM is highly popular with its production of highly-skilled graduates...and yet the AGSM's advice was ignored in the council.

Oh well, alot of institutions are pretty stupid nowadays, a friend of mine works at IAG (NRMA), and apparently NRMA closed all of its other branches which it actually bought, and transferred all their staff to the Parramata branch, and not surprisingly, the Parramatta branch isn't owned by NRMA, and requires a rent of a couple ten-thousand per month.

But damn, UNSW is pretty stupid...if it really was that easy to make overseas branches, every other uni here in australia would have done it already, especially USyd.

 

[Curry]

I don't know why I care. Same reason you care to take time out of your life to come to another board and try very, very, hard to make fun of others, yet still fail.

 

[Casmira]

hahah fagnuts, i love that word