ethanporcaro/eric-fulltext-meta huggingface dataset:
A Model for Considering the Financial Sustainability of Learning and Teaching Programs: Concepts and Challenges
Author: De Bellis, David
Date: 2012-10-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Educational Finance,Sustainability,Higher Education,Models,Costs,Income,College Programs,Measurement,Foreign Countries

The expansion of tertiary education, an intensity of focus on accountability and performance, and the emergence of new governance and management structures drives an economic fiscal perspective of the value of learning and teaching. Accurate and meaningful models defining financial sustainability are therefore proposed as an imperative for tertiary institutions in order to determine the long-term feasibility of learning programs. &quot;When there's only so much sunshine each day--where should the light be shone?&quot; Well, at risk of allowing pure economic rationalism dictate which learning programs thrive and survive in the &quot;winter sun&quot;, institutions should understand that an adjustment to classic models of financial sustainability are necessary by acknowledging educational value. That is, these kinds of adjusted models require methods for quantifying three main elements in the learning production environment--educational value, costs, and revenue. There is an inevitable complexity in describing and quantifying all three of these elements in the context of a university learning environment. This paper introduces the concept of a learning program financial sustainability model (suggested by Bill Massy), an outline of possible approaches to quantifying its three essential elements (educational value, cost, and revenue), and some of the challenges confronting planners with responsibility for its form and operationalisation. For the particular interest of those staff involved in student load modelling, finance, teaching and learning quality, pedagogy, and performance management. [This paper was first presented at the Annual Conference of the Australasian Association for Institutional Research, &quot;Let the sunshine in,&quot; Gold Coast, 9-11 November 2011.]
A Panel Data Investigation of the Relationship between Graduate Job Search and Employment Outcomes
Author: Carroll, David
Date: 2013-08-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Foreign Countries,College Graduates,Job Search Methods,Employment,Graduate Surveys,Computation,Least Squares Statistics,Regression (Statistics),Wages,Age Differences,Gender Differences

The transition from study to work is an important one. The jobs that graduates secure after completing their studies may very well shape the trajectory of their future careers, so an understanding of how job search influences employment outcomes has significant implications for theory and higher education practice. This article specifically examines the monetary outcomes associated with different job search methods in the context of the Australian graduate labour market, based on a rich panel data sample of bachelor degree graduates from the 2011 Beyond Graduation Survey. The use of panel data allows us to control for the effect of unobserved individual fixed effects, which might otherwise confound our wage estimates. Five broad types of job search method are investigated: advertisements, university-based methods, networking, direct employer contact, and other methods not specifically addressed in the survey. This article concludes by discussing the implications of the results and methodology for practice. [This article was awarded Best Paper at the Annual Conference of the Australasian Association for Institutional Research, &quot;Evolution of IR practice and use of IR&quot;, Terrigal, New South Wales, November 12-14, 2013.]
Utilising Benchmarking to Inform Decision-Making at the Institutional Level: A Research-Informed Process
Author: Booth, Sara
Date: 2013-08-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Foreign Countries,Benchmarking,Decision Making,Higher Education,Institutional Research,Universities,Capacity Building,Strategic Planning,Academic Standards,Outcomes of Education,Communities of Practice,Evidence Based Practice

Benchmarking has traditionally been viewed as a way to compare data only; however, its utilisation as a more investigative, research-informed process to add rigor to decision-making processes at the institutional level is gaining momentum in the higher education sector. Indeed, with recent changes in the Australian quality environment from the Australian Quality Assurance Agency (AQUA) to the Tertiary Education, Quality and Standards Agency (TEQSA), benchmarking has become a pragmatic tool in comparing themes and discipline standards across the sector. The paucity in benchmarking literature and institutional research is a key driver for universities to build capacity to use benchmarking both as a practical tool and as a research process to inform institutional decision-making. The University of Tasmania (UTAS) has been involved in seven benchmarking projects in the period from 2009 to 2012. This article will provide a brief overview of each benchmarking exercise and the lessons learnt along the way. It also outlines how the university has built capacity to inform strategic decision-making by using different types of benchmarking. [This article was first presented at the Annual Conference of the Australasian Association for Institutional Research, Evolution of IR practice and use of IR, Terrigal, New South Wales, November 12-14, 2013.]
The Changing Role of Planning Units in Universities: Renewing Our Approach and Future Directions
Author: Shah, Mahsood
Date: 2012-10-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Foreign Countries,Educational Planning,Universities,Role,Change,Responsibility,Accountability,Quality Assurance,Compliance (Legal),Educational Policy,Strategic Planning

The past decade has witnessed significant change in the role and responsibilities of planning units within Australian universities. The main change has been a broadening of the role from routine data analysis to a comprehensive set of responsibilities that commonly include: strategic planning, coordination of internal and external reviews, quality assurance and improvement, institutional performance monitoring, strategic internal and external reporting, management of a raft of stakeholder surveys, institutional research, provision of strategic advice on government policy directions and other external drivers of change and, in some cases, complaints management. The article outlines the changing role and accountabilities of planning units in Australian universities in light of rapidly evolving changes in government policy on quality assurance and compliance with external reference points, performance-based funding, the social inclusion agenda, and various types of accreditations and performance monitoring. It is argued that planning units can and must play an important role in the ever-changing landscape, yet there has been little attention paid to this topic in the literature. This is a serious gap, given the magnitude and rapidity of the change occurring in the Australian tertiary education sector and in the national economy and society more broadly.
Little Fish in a Big Pond: Towards Research Performance Metrics for Smaller Institutions
Author: Kitt, Sharon
Date: 2013-08-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Small Colleges,Performance,Research,Measurement,Validity,Foreign Countries

Each year, institutions eagerly await reports from &quot;Shanghai Jiao Tong University,&quot; &quot;Times Higher,&quot; &quot;QS,&quot; and other organisations that create and publish international rankings of university performance. The metrics included in league tables and rankings--research income, research staff, number of doctoral candidates, numbers of publications--are common to other measures of research performance. Invariably, these &quot;four pillars&quot; of research performance measurement are used as proxy measures of quality, but they are in fact quantity measures, reflecting that size does matter. For smaller and regional institutions that are not listed in the Top 100, or not even players in the Top 500, it is difficult to demonstrate and measure quality when quantity is such a factor. This article examines the history of the research performance measurement within Australian higher education, and questions the current validity and focus of these metrics. It further explores the context of these metrics, and considers the requirements for &quot;little fish&quot; in the higher education &quot;pond&quot; to demonstrate excellence in research. [This article was first presented at the Annual Conference of the Australasian Association for Institutional Research, &quot;Evolution of IR practice and use of IR,&quot; Terrigal, New South Wales, November 12-14, 2013.]
Undergraduate Nursing Studies: The First-Year Experience
Author: Birks, Melanie
Date: 2013-08-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Foreign Countries,Undergraduate Students,Nursing Students,Transfer of Training,Student Surveys,Student Experience,Student Adjustment,Social Support Groups,Student Role,Student Needs,Coping,Distance Education

The transfer of nursing education into the tertiary section in Australia aimed to address a number of issues for nursing, the most significant of which was to enhance the status of the profession. A side effect of the establishment of university-based nursing programs is the increased flexibility that makes studies in nursing an option for students who may otherwise not have had this opportunity. Such accessibility is not without problems as many students enter tertiary nursing programs after a prolonged period of absence from a scholarly environment. Those who do enrol directly from other forms of study are often overwhelmed by the specific requirements of nursing programs. In order to promote student succession and reduce attrition, universities have established a number of mechanisms to support students as they transition to the tertiary environment. This article reports on a survey of 112 nursing students enrolled in their first year of study at a regional university in Australia. Findings are presented under the major areas of questions, these being, &quot;issues faced in adapting to the role of a university student in the first year of study, services or support mechanisms accessed to assist in transition to the role of university student, and services lacking that would have assisted in the transition to the role of university student.&quot; These findings are then discussed in the context of existing knowledge of the first-year experience of university students.
Assigning a Socio-Economic Status Value to Student Records: A Useful Tool for Planning, Reporting and Institutional Research
Author: Delaney, Julie
Date: 2013-08-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Socioeconomic Status,Student Records,College Students,Geographic Information Systems,Planning,Institutional Research,Classification,Foreign Countries

In an educational context, the accurate determination of each student's socioeconomic status (SES) is important for planning, reporting and general institutional research. This article describes a project undertaken to develop the means to derive a proxy measure of students' SES, based on home address location and Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) data, using free Geographic Information System (GIS) software. [This article was first presented at the Annual Conference of the Australasian Association for Institutional Research, &quot;Evolution of IR practice and use of IR,&quot; Terrigal, New South Wales, November 12-14, 2013.]
Indigenous Students' Voices: Monitoring Indigenous Student Satisfaction and Retention in a Large Australian University
Author: Shah, Mahsood
Date: 2010-09-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Indigenous Populations,Student Attitudes,Employment Opportunities,Student Surveys,School Holding Power,Foreign Countries,Educational Experience,College Students,Academic Persistence,Academic Achievement,Educational Finance,Educational Strategies,Universities

Indigenous student satisfaction with the university learning and teaching experience matters. From a student perspective, retention matters as successful completion of tertiary education improves the life chances of students in relation to employment opportunities, being able to support themselves financially and contributing to the society in many ways. From an institutional perspective, high student satisfaction results in high retention and success and high retention means better funding of universities for designated equity groups such as Indigenous students. Australian universities have implemented different strategies to gain and retain students based on research and experiences; however there has been limited focus on using student voices to improve student satisfaction and retention of Indigenous students. This article outlines a strategy used by a large Australian university to listen to Indigenous students' voices by initiating an Indigenous Student Satisfaction Survey. The survey data contributed to the development of strategies to further enhance student satisfaction and retention explicitly for Indigenous students.
Data Governance and Data Quality: Is It on Your Agenda?
Author: Young, Anne
Date: 2012-10-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Data,Governance,Advisory Committees,Universities,Foreign Countries,Institutional Research,Case Studies

Data governance is a relatively new and evolving discipline. It encompasses the people who are responsible for data quality (the stewards); the policies and processes associated with collecting, managing, storing and reporting data; and the information technology systems and support that provide efficient infrastructure. Higher education institutions are paying more attention to data governance as we move into a funding environment that focuses on performance measures, targets and accountability. This article describes the establishment of a university-wide Data Governance Advisory Group (DGAG) at the University of Newcastle and highlights some of the short-term achievements as well as the longer-term goals of the group. The DGAG is responsible for providing advice to senior management on data governance policies, standards and strategic approaches; data quality initiatives; data privacy, compliance and security; data architecture and integration requirements; and data warehouse and business intelligence priorities. Membership of the DGAG includes key stakeholders from planning, quality and reporting; student and academic services; human resources (HR); finance; information technology (IT); research services; library; facilities management; external relations and corporate services. The monthly meetings have provided a forum for discussion of data quality and governance across the whole life cycle from collection to reporting to decision-making for a range of teaching and learning, research, administration and services data collections. Outcomes include the establishment of a register of data collections, a mapping of how data are used in official reports and benchmarking/ranking projects; the development of a common data dictionary, the sharing of good practices and promoting a collaborative culture. [This article was first presented at the Annual Conference of the Australasian Association for Institutional Research, &quot;Let the sunshine in,&quot; Gold Coast, 9-11 November 2011.]
A Strategic Central Approach to Data Collection and Integration: A Case of a Research-Intensive University
Author: Nair, Chenicheri Sid
Date: 2010-09-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Research Universities,Decision Making,Educational Improvement,Management Systems,Databases,Data,Foreign Countries

Large organisations, such as universities or financial institutions, generally have access to substantial volumes of data from various &quot;transactional&quot; sources, such as customer service records, email, or student management systems. There is an ever-increasing demand on these large organisations to make rapid, relevant and efficient decisions. Given this growing demand, there are at least three key principles that aid decision-making in such large organisations: (a) the need for decisions to be supported by facts rather than perceptions, (b) the general expectation for organisations to be accountable and transparent in their decision-making and (c) the access to data and conduct of time-series analyses to enable an organisation to be competitive. The aim of this article is to give an insight into how a large research-intensive Australian tertiary institution has approached the collection of data to allow effective and efficient institutional decision-making about improvements to teaching and learning by creating a central data management system that brought together existing dispersed university databases and repositories.
2012: A Brave New World
Author: Jeffreys, Andrea
Date: 2012-10-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Foreign Countries,Undergraduate Study,Higher Education,Financial Support,Educational Finance,College Admission,College Programs,Competition,Preferences,College Applicants,Risk Assessment,Models,Reputation,College Choice

The Australian Government decision in response to the Bradley review to introduce a demand-driven funding model for undergraduate university places from 2012 was met with mixed reaction across the higher education sector. The removal of caps without subsequent fee deregulation is considered by some to be unsustainable. Opinions suggest that deregulation will favour popular institutions and courses at the expense of regional campuses, niche courses and some that are critical in meeting skills shortages. It is also believed by some that quality could be compromised. Despite the differing opinions, it is generally agreed that deregulation of the undergraduate market will increase the level of competition within the sector and with this competition there may be increased risk, for some institutions more so than others. This article explains how historical Victorian state tertiary admission data has been used to develop a model to assess the likely risk to selected courses within the Faculty of Science and Technology at Deakin University from 2012. The model uses applicants' preference combinations and Australian Tertiary Admissions Rank (ATAR) score rankings to predict the likely impact to the Clearly-IN ATAR (cut off score) for a given faculty course and to identify other Victorian competitor courses. Sensitivity analysis is applied assuming different intakes and varying levels of competition within the sector, thereby providing a range of possible outcomes. The article explores how the outputs from the model have been used by the faculty in preparation for deregulation of the undergraduate market in 2012 by helping to identify, assess and plan for the changes and the anticipated risk associated with these. [This paper was first presented at the Annual Conference of the Australasian Association for Institutional Research, &quot;Let the sunshine in,&quot; Gold Coast, 9-11 November 2011.]
Unemployment Rates and Starting Salaries: Are Australian Graduates at the Whim of the Wage Curve?
Author: Carroll, David
Date: 2011-07-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Foreign Countries,College Graduates,Unemployment,Salary Wage Differentials,Salaries,Microeconomics,Entry Workers,Regression (Statistics),Student Surveys,Occupational Information,Supply and Demand,Models,Benchmarking

The existence of an inverse relationship between wage levels and regional unemployment rates, commonly referred to as the wage curve, is well established in the economic literature and was described by Card (1995) as being &quot;close to an empirical law of economics&quot;. This microeconomic wage-unemployment relationship, first identified by Blanchflower and Oswald (1994), has since been observed in more than 40 countries, including Australia. While this body of evidence seems to support the existence of a near-universal wage curve, a number of studies have demonstrated that wage elasticity differs between subgroups in the overall labour market, based on factors such as age, gender and educational attainment. Based on individual-level earnings data from the 2009 Graduate Destination Survey, this article presents an empirical investigation into the relationship between graduate starting wages and regional unemployment rates in order to determine whether a wage curve exists for recent higher education graduates commencing their first full-time employment in the Australian labour market. While the main purpose of this article is to examine the unemployment elasticity of pay for recent higher education graduates, the results on the control variables (including enrolment, personal and employment characteristics) are also examined to provide further insights into the factors that serve as determinants of their labour market outcomes. [This paper was first presented at the Annual Conference of the Australasian Association for Institutional Research, &quot;Has Institutional Research Come of Age in Australia?,&quot; (Geelong, Australia, November 10-12, 2010).] [Note: The volume number (15) and the issue number (2) shown on this pdf are incorrect. The correct citation is v16 n1.]
Sunny Prospects: The Non-School-Leaver Segment in South Australia
Author: Clermont, Roslyn
Date: 2012-10-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Academic Persistence,Foreign Countries,Profiles,Educational Finance,Undergraduate Students,Universities,Dropouts,Case Studies,College Transfer Students,Educational Experience,Stopouts,Nontraditional Students,Student Characteristics,Cohort Analysis

The introduction of demand-driven funding following the Bradley Review has seen the progressive removal of constraints on the number of undergraduate places that universities can offer, therefore allowing universities to set their own growth levels. In South Australia, there is little unmet demand for university places. Traditionally, universities in South Australia have centred their recruitment attention on school leavers; however, population projections indicate the number of school leavers will decline over the next six years. This article provides a case study on non-school leavers in South Australia. It explores the diverse profile of non-school leavers and their experience in the university environment. It suggests four main groups of non-school leavers--the gap year cohort, the delayed entry cohort, the tertiary transfer cohort and the TAFE entry cohort and identifies the distinctive profile of each group. [This article was first presented at the Annual Conference of the Australasian Association for Institutional Research, &quot;Let the sunshine in&quot;, Gold Coast, 9-11 November 2011.]
Academic Staff Views on External Quality Audit: Post Audit Evaluation in a Private Higher Education College
Author: Shah, Mahsood
Date: 2011-07-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Private Colleges,Teacher Attitudes,Audits (Verification),Institutional Research,Quality Assurance,Quality Control,Teacher Surveys,College Faculty,Likert Scales,Educational Practices,Foreign Countries

Governments in many countries have funded independent agencies to undertake quality audits of higher education institutions. Such agencies ensure that universities and other higher education providers have effective systems and processes to assure quality assurance in core and support areas. While external quality audits have been in place for a decade in Australia, there is limited research on academic staff views on external quality audit in universities and private higher education providers. This article outlines the views of 40 academic staff in a private higher education college who were directly involved in the external quality audit. A survey was undertaken immediately after the external quality audit to collect the views of academic staff on various aspects of the audit including; self-assessment, audit preparations strategy, communication and staff engagement, and the external quality audit process itself. The authors argue that external quality audit, if effectively managed, could be the driver for change and improvement in quality assurance in a small college.