The idea of a university today
Written by Steven Schwartz on October 30th, 2007
In a recent post I noted that universities have dramatically altered their moral compass in my lifetime. I said universities need to articulate a vision of what they are trying to achieve for society - and to live up to it.
I’m grateful to George Parsons from Macquarie’s Department of Modern History for his reply suggesting […]
Macquarie: an industry-based research university
Written by Steven Schwartz on October 26th, 2007
There’s an interesting similarity between Macquarie and Stanford University in California’s high-tech Silicon Valley: many of the same companies that surround Stanford – Microsoft, Sony, Siemens, Dow Corning, Optus, ResMed, Fujitsu, Oracle, Nortel, Cisco and dozens of others - are also at Macquarie.
But the comparison ends there. Unfortunately, Macquarie’s relationship with these companies has never […]
Medical education the private way
Written by Steven Schwartz on October 24th, 2007
Sooner or later most of us will need to see a doctor or go into hospital. But Australian healthcare faces big challenges that will affect you and me. I’d like to tell you how Macquarie is responding positively to these challenges through our new Australian School of Advanced Medicine (ASAM), officially opened this week by […]
Should universities have moral goals?
Written by Steven Schwartz on October 22nd, 2007
As the Australian Federal election campaign hots up those of us with a passion for higher education will be paying close attention to what our politicians are promising for universities.
The major parties all stress the vital role universities play in the national economy.
Kevin Rudd believes education is the “engine room” of the economy, a pathway […]
How green is our campus
Written by Steven Schwartz on October 18th, 2007
Here at Macquarie we’re working hard to reduce our greenhouse emissions. For example, we will only construct sustainable new buildings and we’re looking for ways to conserve energy in existing buildings. We will also conserve water and use carbon offsets when feasible.
Some pioneering projects include irrigating the University’s seven hectares of playing fields with recycled […]
Ethics: the missing link
Written by Steven Schwartz on October 15th, 2007
Recently I gave a talk to the University Governance and Regulations Forum in Sydney on the topic of Who Runs Universities.
I pointed out that Canberra higher education bureaucrats have produced a set of National Governance Protocols for universities.
The protocols deal with the size of councils, the length of members’ terms, and the number of committees. […]
Fund(amentally) flawed
Written by Steven Schwartz on October 11th, 2007
Recently I posted a criticism of the latest Commonwealth Learning and Teaching Performance Fund (LTPF), which quite bizarrely showed Macquarie dropping 22 places in the rankings, from 15 last year to 37 this year.
I’ve taken up the issue again this week in an article in The Australian Higher Education Supplement.
I pointed out that last year […]
New library will have personal touch
Written by Steven Schwartz on October 9th, 2007
Of all the odd stories that I have seen about universities, one of the oddest appeared in the Sun Herald on October 7. Here is a quote:
“Plans to replace library staff with robots at two Sydney universities could adversely affect the service to students, union chiefs fear. The National Tertiary Education Union said Macquarie University […]
Succeeding against all the odds
Written by Steven Schwartz on October 8th, 2007
As readers would now be aware I’m a strong advocate for fairness in university admissions. Giving people a fair go in life is why Macquarie is introducing the uniTEST. See why here and here.
That people can succeed against all the odds, and with a little help at the right time, was demonstrated in a […]
Fund travesty needs a re-think
Written by Steven Schwartz on October 3rd, 2007
According to the latest Commonwealth Learning and Teaching Performance Fund (LTPF), Macquarie has dropped 22 places in the rankings, from 15 last year to 37 this year. Last year at this time, we were reasonably average teachers and this year we are at the bottom of the heap. Other universities, Queensland, for example, experienced similarly […]