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The casualisation of academia means that academics in ongoing and fixed-term roles increasingly wield proxy-employer powers over their colleagues who are employed as tutors and research assistants. In this post, I argue that academics need to think carefully about how this power is wielded. This does not mean accepting such power is desirable. Rather, it … Continue reading
In time for the start of semester across Australian universities, we have an open letter from a new contributor with some practical advice for supporting casual tutors. Dear Lecturers in the Australian tertiary system, I am a casual tutor, who has worked in four universities in New South Wales since 2009. I am writing to share my experience and to … Continue reading
Last night, the ABC’s Four Corners ran a much anticipated piece on student recruitment and the management of academic standards in Australian universities, particularly as these issues relate to the international students on whom the sector depends. Degrees of Deception can be watched online, if you missed it, and has prompted this response from an experienced casual academic with a … Continue reading
Following on from last week’s report on the BLASST summit, we’re delighted to welcome new CASA writer Dr Gail Crimmins, Associate Lecturer from the University of the Sunshine Coast, whose verbatim theatre research project on the lived experience of women casual academics was shown at the summit. Gail was one of two keynotes to suggest that … Continue reading
As we organise ourselves to join the conversation in Hobart about insecure work in Australian higher education, this new post from Natalie really sums up what we care about, and why we built CASA as a platform where the lived experience of Australia’s higher education casual workers could make a critical contribution to the way we think … Continue reading
Hello and an at-last-undeniably springlike welcome to CASA’s weekly brew of news on the casualisation of higher education. What’s happening? The Senate Standing Committee on Education and Employment started taking public submissions on the proposed reform package, and as these will be framed by the focus of the reforms themselves, there’s no reason to expect much attention to … Continue reading
At the end of session we’re suffering from marking fatigue, and for the lucky ones, getting ready for that “nice little trip away” during the break. But alas, the time has now come for Round Two of the 2014 Tutor Hunger Games—to begin our ritual of humiliation all over again in hopes of finding work next … Continue reading
We’re delighted to welcome new contributors to CASA this week, opening up a conversation about the additional challenges faced by university casuals working with disability and chronic illness. This piece was written for us before the Federal budget was announced this week. There has been a lot of commentary on higher education reforms which we’ll be … Continue reading
Thanks to a nudge from The Australian yesterday (“Academic union creates two classes of citizen on campus: Barber”) we took a break from our hosting duties at CASA to see if we remain on track with what we set out to do, and with the people we hoped would come along and join us. And we had a … Continue reading
Prof Andrew Vann is the Vice Chancellor of Charles Sturt University, Australia. We invite a wide range of views into CASA on how casualisation came about and how we might now proceed, because we know that those working casually can’t solve these problems on their own—except by walking away. CASA readers, you’re really warmly invited to comment … Continue reading
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