Active campuses

Posted on | September 2, 2009 | 2 Comments

It’s great to see two big campaigns hitting campuses at the moment. Today’s rally for international students is a great initiative that deserves serious attention. We hear a lot about the value of the international student market to the national economy, which is why Julia Gillard is overseas right now at her most eloquent. But we rarely talk about the value of having international students in our cities in and of themselves. Their presence brings to life not only the biggest but also some of the smallest cities in our country. They are the ones that often keep things running – far from their own family and friends – while we are enjoying a weekend or sleeping soundly in our beds.

I remember years ago working as an enrolment officer at Sydney Uni in the summer breaks between semesters, trying to explain to international students why they don’t qualify for travel concessions. It’s time to admit this rule is actually bullshit. Students are students. The sacrifices foreign students make to come to our classes should be rewarded with all this and more. Often they are the only point of contrast for local kids to appreciate the extent of their own privilege in a global, English-speaking, knowledge economy. International students teach us as much as we teach them. If you can’t make the rally, at least sign this petition and pass it on: http://www.petitiononline.com/nswcccc/

Meanwhile, the NTEU is mobilising members for strike action next week. For the details behind Sydney’s deliberations, there’s a YouTube video here that explains what’s at stake.

The workloads campaign is nationwide, however, and they really nail it with this one:

Genevieve Kelly, the NSW Rep shown in the video, will also be a plenary speaker on Day One of the State of the Industry conference. Register your attendance now! And get involved in this refreshing new wave of campus activism. It’s sure been a while coming.

Category: Academia, State of the Industry 2009, Work
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Comments

2 Responses to “Active campuses”

  1. ana australiana
    September 3rd, 2009 @ 1:43 pm

    Workplace bullying (threatening and harassing staff) from the Usyd VC:

    “I hope that we can come to some resolution of these issues at the earliest time so as not to jeopardise the 3% pay rise due to commence on 10 September 2009.” – Michael Spence, today, 1.00pm (the exact time of the on campus NTEU meeting)

  2. melgregg
    September 5th, 2009 @ 11:05 am

    Oh dear.

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