Melbourne Model
Encyclopedia
University of Melbourne
The University of Melbourne is a public university located in Melbourne, Victoria. Founded in 1853, it is the second oldest university in Australia and the oldest in Victoria...
, located in Victoria
Victoria (Australia)
Victoria is the second most populous state in Australia. Geographically the smallest mainland state, Victoria is bordered by New South Wales, South Australia, and Tasmania on Boundary Islet to the north, west and south respectively....
, Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
, one of the country's richest universities. Introduced in 2008 by University of Melbourne Vice-chancellor
Chancellor (education)
A chancellor or vice-chancellor is the chief executive of a university. Other titles are sometimes used, such as president or rector....
and Melbourne Model architect Professor Glyn Davis
Glyn Davis
Glyn Conrad Davis, AC is the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Melbourne.- Early life :Professor Davis was educated at Marist Brothers College, Kogarah...
, the model is designed to align itself "with the best of European and Asian practice and North American traditions", specifically for "[i]nternationalising academic programs and aligning degree structures with the 'Bologna model
Bologna process
The purpose of the Bologna Process is the creation of the European Higher Education Area by making academic degree standards and quality assurance standards more comparable and compatible throughout Europe, in particular under the Lisbon Recognition Convention...
'". The university's 96 undergraduate courses will be replaced with six "new generation" degrees and professional programs. The model has been met with a wave of criticism from students, academics and unions as well as coming under much scrutiny in the Australian press, often described as "controversial" and following a "US-style". Most of the criticism is focussed on the loss of jobs (and the consequent negative impact on staff:student ratios) rather than the model itself. Job losses were initially concentrated in the Arts Faculty
Faculty of Arts, University of Melbourne
The Faculty of Arts is the oldest faculty at the University of Melbourne. It began teaching the Bachelor of Arts in 1855 when students were first welcomed into the university....
but later spread to other faculties, including the Victorian College of the Arts (VCA or VCAM). Although the program is often compared to the American tertiary education system, it uses only three year undergraduate degrees whereas in the United States Bachelor's degrees are almost universally designed as four year programs.
Reasoning behind the move to the "Melbourne Model"
In their Growing Esteem whitepaper the University of Melbourne put their rationale for the move in this manner:"There are international moves to standardise degree structures. The familiar American pattern of four-year arts or science degrees followed by graduate school is being echoed by the Bologna Declaration
Bologna declaration
The Bologna declaration is the main guiding document of the Bologna process...
among European nations. The Bologna model
Bologna process
The purpose of the Bologna Process is the creation of the European Higher Education Area by making academic degree standards and quality assurance standards more comparable and compatible throughout Europe, in particular under the Lisbon Recognition Convention...
, set to become the European standard from 2010, advocates a three-year undergraduate program with advanced courses taught in a two-year masters degree or a three-year doctoral program. Historically, this move updates an ancient structure, that of the University of Paris in the 13th century. If this becomes a global norm but Australia continues to prepare its professionals through undergraduate programs, in the longer term our graduates may no longer be seen as globally competitive."
Implementation
The University of Melbourne introduced the Melbourne Model officially in 2008. By the end of the academic year it was reported that administration had admitted to some subjects being either too broad or too narrow and the need for a reassessment on the curriculum. A leaked document revealed the University of Melbourne will have spent $11.6 million on marketing for the Melbourne Model by the end of 2008, followed by another $16 million by the end of 2010. The university's "Dream Large" slogan has since been a source of ongoing ridicule by University of Melbourne students and students have even called for the sacking of Davis as Vice-chancellor over the model. Students initially disrupted the official 2007 launch of the Melbourne Model which has been followed by various demonstrations and student occupationsOccupation (protest)
An as an act of protest, is the entry into and holding of a building, space or symbolic site. As such, occupations often combine some of the following elements: a challenge to ownership of the space involved, an effort to gain public attention, the practical use of the facilities occupied, and a...
against the Melbourne Model and the university in general.
Trade and Student Unions
National Tertiary Education UnionNational Tertiary Education Union
The National Tertiary Education Union is an Australian trade union for all higher education and university employees. It is an industry union and the only union working exclusively in the Australian university sector.-About the NTEU:...
accused the university of "PR spin
Spin (public relations)
In public relations, spin is a form of propaganda, achieved through providing an interpretation of an event or campaign to persuade public opinion in favor or against a certain organization or public figure...
" over the decision to address media over the potential loss to 130 jobs in the Arts Faculty before speaking to staff or the union. The union also criticise Melbourne over their call for voluntary redundancies
Voluntary redundancy
Voluntary redundancy is a financial incentive offered by an organisation to its employees with the purpose of attracting volunteers to leave the organisation, due to downsizing or restructuring situations. The purpose is to circumvent union employee regulation laws.-Reasons:A Voluntary Redundancy...
after the union released results of a survey finding "more than 90% of staff said their workload had increased" since 2007 and the same percentage of respondents "reported having concerns about restructuring or changes to their area..."
National Union of Students
National Union of Students of Australia
The National Union of Students is the peak representative body for Australian university students. Most student unions in Australian campuses are affiliated to NUS...
Education Officer, Colleen Bolger, stated that staff "are being told they will need to front up at McCarthy
Joseph McCarthy
Joseph Raymond "Joe" McCarthy was an American politician who served as a Republican U.S. Senator from the state of Wisconsin from 1947 until his death in 1957...
-style "trials" to plead the case for their subjects over their colleagues'" criticising the university's Dean of Arts Belinda Probert and the "business mentality of those who run universities" whom she claims many of which also sit on company boards.
Australian Law Students’ Association
Australian Law Students Association
The Australian Law Students' Association is the peak representative body of law students from Australia. The ALSA facilitates communication between the law student societies of each Australian law school; it acts as a conduit for intervarsity dialogue and intercourse; it represents students to...
Vice President (Education), Mitch Riley, conceded the pedagogical benefits of the Melbourne Model but claimed students from low socioeconomic, rural and indigenous
Indigenous Australians
Indigenous Australians are the original inhabitants of the Australian continent and nearby islands. The Aboriginal Indigenous Australians migrated from the Indian continent around 75,000 to 100,000 years ago....
backgrounds would not be able to study at Melbourne with the high fees involved.
University of Melbourne Student Union
University of Melbourne Student Union
The student union, one of several student organisations at the University of Melbourne, Australia, is divided into two parts. The University of Melbourne Student Union , incorporated as University of Melbourne Student Union, Inc. provides representation for students. The service provision arm is...
President, Libby Buckingham, claims Melbourne are spending too much money on "capital works, advertising and the transition to the Melbourne Model..." and that "the future of the (arts) faculty is being shaped by voluntary redundancies rather than … consultation about the curriculum."
Victorian College of the Arts Student Union
Victorian College of the Arts Student Union
The Victorian College of the Arts Student Union was the student union of the former Victorian College of the Arts , now known as the Faculty of VCA and Music in Melbourne, Australia. It was a separately incorporated organisation which represented the VCA student body. It had a strong history of...
accused the University of Melbourne's restructuring as a pretext for shutting down political representation for Victorian College of the Arts
Victorian College of the Arts
The Faculty of the VCA and Music is a faculty of the University of Melbourne, in Victoria . VCAM is located near the Melbourne central business district, on two campuses, one - the Melbourne Conservatorium of Music - on the Parkville campus of the University of Melbourne, and the other - the...
students. Victorian College of the Arts became a faculty of the University of Melbourne in 2007 and the student union has argued the university's plans have been about rationalisation as opposed to genuine expansion and conclude the university's refusal to discontinue the student union funding is politically motivated.
Sydney University Postgraduate Representative Association
Sydney University Postgraduate Representative Association
The Sydney University Postgraduate Representative Association is the peak body of elected representatives who campaign on behalf of the Research and Coursework Students at The University of Sydney, alongside the University of Sydney Students' Representative Council.-About the Council:The Council...
accuses University of Melbourne of exploiting its postgraduates through the Melbourne Model as undergraduates cannot be charged full fees, assuming the university's "prime motivation for moving to the new Model is better business and more income."
University Council member Tammi Jonas resigned from the UoM Council on Monday 7 Dec 2009 "in protest against the University’s exploitation of its casual labour force, which is largely made up of postgraduate students." This issue links with the SUPRA statement noted above, which directs blame at finances underpinning the Melbourne Model. Tammi Jonas' response to the university's reaction to her resignation was published later on her blog.
Academic
University of Melbourne Australian Studies senior lecturer, Graham Willett, while arguing for Victorian academics to pursue industrial actionIndustrial action
Industrial action or job action refers collectively to any measure taken by trade unions or other organised labour meant to reduce productivity in a workplace. Quite often it is used and interpreted as a euphemism for strike, but the scope is much wider...
over redundancies, also suggested the university could save money by cutting Vice-chancellor Davis' salary, which stood at $610, 000 in 2007, and getting rid of the new position of Provost
Provost (education)
A provost is the senior academic administrator at many institutions of higher education in the United States, Canada and Australia, the equivalent of a pro-vice-chancellor at some institutions in the United Kingdom and Ireland....
previously held by Peter McPhee
Peter McPhee (academic)
Peter McPhee is an Australian academic, and was the Provost of the University of Melbourne. He is the first person to have held the position at Melbourne, as it has typically been in place at universities in the United States and the United Kingdom....
.
University of Melbourne Department of History Associate Professor, David Phillips, called the Melbourne Model a "nightmare for the Arts Faculty" and that the "entire Australian university community should be worried about what is involved" with the direction the University of Melbourne was steering higher education.
University of Melbourne Department of Science and Mathematics Education staff member, Ted Clark, blamed the university for using the Melbourne Model transition as an excuse to implement cuts to staff jobs: "It is now impossible to argue that there is a separation... between cost cutting or staffing requirements from the introduction and implementation of the Melbourne Model."
University of Melbourne Faculty of Architecture, Building & Planning Professor, Miles Lewis
Miles Lewis
Professor Miles Lewis AM is an Australian academic serving as a Professor in the Faculty of Architecture, Building & Planning, at the University of Melbourne, Australia. He is one of Australia's most notable Architectural historians, and a member of the Order of Australia...
, attacked the university's demotion of Dr. Paul Mees
Paul Mees
Paul Mees is an Australian academic, currently serving as a senior lecturer at the school of Global Studies, Social Science and Planning at RMIT University, previously at University of Melbourne...
- a former senior lecturer in transport planning who subsequently resigned, taking up a position at RMIT University
RMIT University
RMIT University is an Australian public university located in Melbourne, Victoria. It has two branches, referred to as RMIT University in Australia and RMIT International University in Vietnam....
- over Mees' criticism of the government's privatisation of public transport. Lewis argued that the Melbourne Model "requires the relentless pursuit of mediocrity and the routing out of any independent intellects from the university", blaming Melbourne for catering to the agendas of government and wealthy industry bodies.
University of Melbourne staff member and education activist, Melanie Lazero, in a public debate between the University of Melbourne Student Union and the university described the Melbourne Model as "shallow" and "a neoliberal idea of education", claiming the model limited students choices.
University of Melbourne staff member known only as "SP", described her/himself as "a victim of “Growing Esteem” at Melbourne", accusing VC Davis of continuing former VC Alan Gilbert's role of being financially driven: "Restructuring needs to be fully participatory, democratic, and transparent. It is not. Possibly the worst restructuring I have seen in 15 years."
University of Melbourne academic staff member known only as "BRY" is, like "SP" above, also a victim of "Growing Esteem", and has criticized "the immense damage that vice-chancellor Glyn Davis has caused to the university"
University of Melbourne's current and former staff have also been quoted anonymously as saying that the cuts to arts at the university were significant while in relation to the workload: "Everyone is running around in shock saying we've got so many students we've got no idea what to do about it."
Victorian College of the Arts
Victorian College of the Arts
The Faculty of the VCA and Music is a faculty of the University of Melbourne, in Victoria . VCAM is located near the Melbourne central business district, on two campuses, one - the Melbourne Conservatorium of Music - on the Parkville campus of the University of Melbourne, and the other - the...
Director, Professor Andrea Hull
Andrea Hull
Professor Andrea Hull is an Australian academic, and was appointed the Director of the Victorian College of the Arts in 1995, the college's longest standing director. Hull announced her retirement to commence in March 2009 to "to pursue other interests" despite the University of Melbourne music...
, announced her retirement in 2008 shortly after The Age
The Age
The Age is a daily broadsheet newspaper, which has been published in Melbourne, Australia since 1854. Owned and published by Fairfax Media, The Age primarily serves Victoria, but is also available for purchase in Tasmania, the Australian Capital Territory and border regions of South Australia and...
published a leaked email from Hull to Victorian College of the Arts staff stating that she and her colleagues disagreed to further compromises over the implementation of the Melbourne Model at the arts college, "nor to a name that wipes out the VCA's prestige and history...". Ironically, Hull had been repeatedly criticised by the Victorian College of the Arts Student Union over perceived inaction in relation the Melbourne Model, yet Hull denied that her retirement was related to Melbourne's overruled decision to change the college's name.
Monash University
Monash University
Monash University is a public university based in Melbourne, Victoria. It was founded in 1958 and is the second oldest university in the state. Monash is a member of Australia's Group of Eight and the ASAIHL....
Communications lecturer and Herald Sun
Herald Sun
The Herald Sun is a morning tabloid newspaper based in Melbourne, Australia. It is published by The Herald and Weekly Times, a subsidiary of News Limited, itself a subsidiary of News Corporation. It is available for purchase throughout Melbourne, Regional Victoria, Tasmania, the Australian Capital...
journalist, Dr Caron Dann, attacked University of Melbourne Provost Peter McPhee, by saying "I like the idea of the University of Melbourne model in theory. HOWEVER (and it's a big however), I am suspicious because all around me I see universities behaving like profit-making businesses and using management models that do not help academics provide the best education for students."
La Trobe University
La Trobe University
La Trobe University is a multi-campus university in Victoria, Australia. It was established in 1964 by an Act of Parliament to become the third oldest university in the state of Victoria. The main campus of La Trobe is located in the Melbourne suburb of Bundoora; two other major campuses are...
School of Business Professor of Economics, Harry Clarke, speculated the Melbourne Model "will reduce numbers seeking to utilise its programs" and "programs will become more expensive in time and aggregate tuition charges" accusing their scholarship program of being "distributionally regressive" aimed at mainly well-off private-school-trained students.
Swinburne University Vice-chancellor, Professor Ian Young, argued that University of Melbourne students would have to study for five years, as opposed to three to get a vocational qualification: "There's no doubt that the model actually increases the cost of education, either to the student or to the nation or both, by some 60 per cent. So it is a more expensive form of education. It may well be an excellent education, but it is undoubtedly a more expensive form of education."
Queensland University of Technology
Queensland University of Technology
Queensland University of Technology is an Australian university with an applied emphasis in courses and research. Based in Brisbane, it has 40,000 students, including 6,000 international students, over 4,000 staff members, and an annual budget of more than A$750 million.QUT is marketed as "A...
economist, Paul Frijters, pointed to the Melbourne Model's "risk that there will be a dumbing down of content" in degrees taught and the fact that many UoM undergraduates come from private high schools "offering them scholarships will have a fairly limited effect."
University of Sydney
University of Sydney
The University of Sydney is a public university located in Sydney, New South Wales. The main campus spreads across the suburbs of Camperdown and Darlington on the southwestern outskirts of the Sydney CBD. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in Australia and Oceania...
Acting Vice-chancellor, Professor Don Nutbeam, expressed concern the Melbourne Model would end up devaluing or giving less importance to new high school graduates.
Student
University of Melbourne Creative Arts student, Rosalie Delaney, claimed the university was censoring students' artworks critical of the Melbourne's new teaching model, saying universities should "be a bastion of free speech and critical thought and questioning of structures and authority,” describing their alleged actions as “appalling”; actions which the university administration deny."
University of Melbourne Creative Arts group, Crunch, produced Melbourne Model: The Musical
Melbourne Model The Musical
Melbourne Model: the Musical was a 2008 musical satire of the political circumstances surrounding the implementation of the controversial 'Melbourne Model'; a radical restructuring of the undergraduate curriculum at the University of Melbourne, one of Australia's top universities.Written by...
, a humorous critique of the university's restructuring of the arts faculty, where Vice-chancellor Davis is depicted as a "a nymphomaniac rock star", who eventually relocates to Canberra
Canberra
Canberra is the capital city of Australia. With a population of over 345,000, it is Australia's largest inland city and the eighth-largest city overall. The city is located at the northern end of the Australian Capital Territory , south-west of Sydney, and north-east of Melbourne...
, thus abandoning the university, alluding to Davis' close relationship with Labor
Australian Labor Party
The Australian Labor Party is an Australian political party. It has been the governing party of the Commonwealth of Australia since the 2007 federal election. Julia Gillard is the party's federal parliamentary leader and Prime Minister of Australia...
Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd
Kevin Rudd
Kevin Michael Rudd is an Australian politician who was the 26th Prime Minister of Australia from 2007 to 2010. He has been Minister for Foreign Affairs since 2010...
. Fregmonto Stokes, the musical's writer, was inspired by what he described as "the cutting of a significant number of subjects for economic reasons". The musical was the last production for the 15-year-old arts group Crunch which was wound up by the end of 2008 due to University of Melbourne's cuts to the arts faculty.
Victorian College of the Arts student, Chloe Greaves, complained to the Victorian College of the Arts Faculty Board that there was confusion and resentment amongst the student body around the Melbourne Model and merger of the arts college with the University of Melbourne. She criticised the lack of student consultation, citing an article in The Age as the first many students had heard of any changes to the curriculum.
Prospective high school graduate students have also expressed criticism of the University of Melbourne, seeing the Melbourne Model as "a grab for cash" or "a shameless bid to make university careers longer and win lucrative fees from overseas students and wealthy locals." One year 12 student was reported as saying: "Far from offering students a genuine choice, this model dictates that we must now study an extra two or three years, whether we want to or not."
Other
Victorian Association of State Secondary Principals' President, Brian Burgess, charged the University of Melbourne with "elitism" and put forward that the amount of students who would have access to the university's courses would be minimal and for those that could, the courses would take longer than normal.Corporate lawyer and company director, Adam Schwab, linked the University of Melbourne's move to a postgraduate emphasis and the newly elected Labor Government's plan to scrap full fee
Tertiary education fees in Australia
As a general rule, all students who attend Australian tertiary education institutions are charged higher education fees. However, several measures are in place to relieve the costs of tertiary education in Australia....
paying places for domestic students in 2009 being "remarkably well timed", also insinuating a close relationship between Vice-chancellor Davis and the Labor Government.