Blame Glyn Davis

23/5/2016

JACOB DEBETS
Volume 9, Issue 12
Time and time again I’ve heard the same old complaint. Whether it’s about picking up reading materials, releasing assessment marks or publishing the exam timetable. MLS staff are always in the line of fire.

Apparently Google Maps has not been informed of the late student centre’s passing

“Fucking admins” I heard a student cry out in the beginning of semester, lamenting the fact that that the designated “pick up” time for materials didn’t align with his schedule.

“They take so longgggg” another complained loudly in a lecture, referring to interim assessment feedback that was delayed by a single day by members of the ASO.

“It’s week 10, WHERE ARE MY MARKS??” A particularly angsty student in the level 2 toilets screamed the other day (mid-stream, might I add).

And it’s not as though I don’t sympathise with the complaints. In 2016, students have been subject to a smorgasbord of rage-inducing administrative processes, largely the product of cost cutting – ahem, “efficiency boosting” – measures introduced as part of the BIP.

The measures include reduced administrative support for subject coordinators, which has resulted in an apparent decrease in the quality of reading packs.

They include the aforementioned “pick up” times that told students, loudly and clearly, that their responsibilities (employment, caring or otherwise) weren’t as important as the university saving a few bucks on the payroll.

And, of course, they include the decimation of our beloved student centre, once lauded as a primary justification for the enormous cost of the JD degree relative to its LLB predecessor (see here, pg 279).

So yeah, I’m pissed off too.

But my anger isn’t directed at the poor administrative staff, who said goodbye to 540 of their colleagues and had to re-apply and compete for the diminished pool of post-massacre jobs (See here for more on that).

My anger isn’t directed at the librarians, who saw their comfortable workspace stripped down and placed naked on the summit of the level three stair case.*

My anger sure as hell isn’t directed at the faculty, who are expected to teach and assess up to 120 students per subject; yet still meet massive research output targets to ensure MLS remains the “No.1 Law School in Australia” (more on that here).

And, for the record, my anger isn’t directed at non-law students, including international students. As Duncan attempted to point out last week, this latter group are far more exploited than us law students are.

So what is the point that I’m trying to make?

It is this: Blame Glyn Davis and rest of the Chancellery.

It is Glyn Davis who has actively campaigned for deregulation of the tertiary sector, and openly supports US-style degree factories as the most sustainable busine- *I mean* educational model.

It is Glyn Davis who slashed all those administrative jobs, who continues to raise our fees and who did everything he could to ensure that students and faculty were not adequately consulted on the BIP’s implementation.

It is Glyn Davis who pours millions of dollars of student tuition fees into marketing and consulting and “goal-directed” research (see here, pg 16), while the student experience suffers.

It is Glyn Davis who benefits most when student angst is directed to the people who we should be standing in solidarity with.

So if** you’re returning to MLS next semester, I merely ask that you do so with a greater appreciation of the other members of your community.

Whether it is library space or anything else, our fellow students are not our enemy.

Whether it is lecture recordings or assessment feedback or poor exam timetables, the administrative and academic staff are not our enemy.

We should be conscious that they are waging their own silent battle(s) against the central administration (and have actually won quite a few of them).

We should do what we can to engage in a respectful dialogue, so that we can help each other.

Because staff and students are not the ones to blame.

Glyn Davis is.

*Those chairs they have to sit on also look quite uncomfortable…
**Congratulations and good luck to the students finishing the JD this semester!

Jacob Debets is a third-year JD student and the Managing Editor of De Minimis. Jacob wrote this article in his personal capacity and it should not be taken to represent the views of the DM editorial team.

The rest of this week's *bumper* issue:

More articles like this:

Anon

24/5/2016 10:57:56 am

In Glyn's article he notes the reaction to his proposal to increase taxation to pay for the higher education was "immediate, hostile, personal and visceral." This article shows that not much has changed.

We all know the status quo isn't working. What is needed is constructive debate on how to reform our higher education sector to first, make it sustainable, and secondly, ensure it is remains world class. Hyperbole such as "the diminished pool of post-massacre jobs", and subtly implying the V-C is an enemy are not constructive.

What solutions would you like to propose?

Jacob

24/5/2016 11:51:32 am

The straw-man argument that you shouldn't be allowed to engage in an argument unless you have a comprehensive response to the problem is just so tired. My point is that people are blaming their teachers and fellow students for problems that have resulted from the BIP and other central-adminstration initiatives. If we agree that there is a problem, and that it is not helpful to blame MLS staff, then I have, in fact, gone some way in proposing a "solution", albeit not a holistic one.

You rightly point out that constructive debate is needed, which is why the efforts by the Chancellery to gag academics and refuse to address underlying concerns of staff and students re the BIP is so damning (read here for more on that: http://www.deminimis.com.au/home/the-peoples-tribunal-book-launch).

Glynn Davis came to the law school and met with academics and was dismissive of concerns and gave vague, unhelpful answers.

We have change, but it is not collaborative change. It has been imposed on staff and students by a very small group of people, in line with an ideology that most do not agree with, or at the very least recognise the danger of its excesses.

It is not "sustainable" to price students out of getting a good education, and excessively rely on international students to make more money. It matters little if we are "world class" when these rankings that demarcate them as such are premised on research output, not the quality of the education or the student experience.

@.@

24/5/2016 09:58:42 pm

Glyn Davis? Glynn David?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P2-1basQhX8

wsr

12/6/2016 04:33:58 pm

lol^

Tim

26/5/2016 11:14:02 pm

Lecture recordings isn't Glyn's fault, that really is the law school faculty. Remember that mandatory recorded lectures are part of the university policy for the rest of Unimelb.

29/5/2016 02:37:07 pm

And I don't suggest he is. I'm simply pointing out that treating faculty as the enemy is counter-intuitive, in a context where the chancellery is oppressing staff and students and benefiting from our division.

30/5/2016 02:41:37 pm

You're not "simply pointing out that treating the faculty as the enemyy is counter-intuitive", you've engaged in a direct and personal attack on the V-C, even when issues aren't his responsibility. If you're not prepared to stand by the arguments you've made in your article, why print it?

I point out that as has earlier been noted, reliance upon hyperbole such as "chancellery is oppressing staff and students" once again shows a lack of objectivity, and a reliance on personal or partisan attacks on those you disagree with.

Very disappointing.

30/5/2016 05:20:57 pm

I mean that Glyn isn't responsible for the specific issue of lecture recording. Perhaps I could have expressed my point more coherently. Apologies if it was confusing.

With regard to administrative problems and general angst I've perceived amongst the study body, I do feel as though actions by the Chancellery are responsible and that they should be held responsible. That is the contention of my article.

I agree that my argument is strongly worded, but the only person I'm attacking is Glyn Davis. After nearly two years of unilateral re-structuring to the law school without adequate staff or student consultation, I feel I've earned the right to be a little cheesed off.

I don't attack people who disagree with me. In fact, the whole point of my argument is that we should be more willing to engage in a dialogue with our fellow staff and students because, for the most part, their interests are the same as ours: 'We should do what we can to engage in a respectful dialogue, so that we can help each other.'

We're a lot more likely to benefit from working collaboratively with faculty, admin and library staff than we are taking Glyn's word for it when he says he's working on improving the student experience.

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