University staff confirm ‘dodgy’ admissions process for international students

UPDATED: University of Tasmania staff have confirmed stories backing claims of admission standards being relaxed for overseas students who did not meet English language standards.

The University of Tasmania will conduct a review of international admissions after revelations it lowered entry standards for international students.

University of Tasmania staff are coming forward to confirm stories backing claims of admission standards being relaxed for overseas students who did not meet English language standards, their union says.

UTAS will conduct a review of international admissions following revelations about English language tests being waived to encourage enrolments.

The ABC’s Four Corners program on Monday night named UTAS as being among a number of universities which had shown a willingness to lower English language standards.

The report cited an email from a UTAS staff member, which referred to “waiving” English requirements to encourage international students to accept places at the university.

SPOTLIGHT ON UNI’S INTERNATIONAL ENROLMENTS

The National Tertiary Education Union on Tuesday said it had been receiving an influx of “disturbing stories” about international recruitment and admissions practices.

Division secretary Kelvin Michael said the union was meeting with Vice-Chancellor Professor Rufus Black next week to discuss the inquiry.

He said staff had been coming forward with reports backing up the Four Corners story.

“We are getting a steady stream and I think that the airing of the report on Four Corners has brought it to the forefront of people’s minds and there’s a lot of resonance among our membership that this is a problem,” he said.

“We already have received some corroborative comments form members. It’s not as if the issues touched up in the Four Corners report are a surprise. What the Four Corners report has done is to set it all out.

“This hasn’t happened overnight, it’s been there in the background ticking over. We have already been aware from different parts of our membership about concerns.

“It is the case that members are coming to our office today with information which backs up the broad thrust of the Four Corners story.”

Mr Michael said it was not surprising that some universities were looking to alternative revenue streams.

“It is a question of needing financial resources in order to surive, because the funding from Canberra just keeps getting tightened,” he said.

“The amount of money that’s paid for educating domestic students continues to be less than what is required so that the universities that are less than independently wealthy are forced to utilise other revenue streams.”

Andrew Wilkie. Picture: NIKKI DAVIS-JONES

Independent MP Andrew Wilkie said the University had let staff and students down through its “dodgy” waivers of English language requirements for overseas students.

“This is a real test for the university,” he said.

“Clearly UTAS staff and students have been let down by these dodgy practices and the community expects them to be stamped out quickly and in full. Time will tell whether we can have any confidence in the outcomes of the external review that the Vice-Chancellor has promised.

“Of course the elephant in the room here is the fact that universities feel the need to court international students in this way because of the severe cuts they’ve faced from a series of Labor and Liberal federal governments.

“The university sector is now underfunded by more than $1 billion a year.

“I also applaud the academic whistleblowers who came forward to make this information public. They have put their careers and livelihoods on the line by speaking out, which is not an easy thing to do.”

Tasmanian University Union president Sharifah Syed Rohan expressed concern about the report.

“Education should not be a commodity, but rather a public good which benefits our society in terms of employment, economic prosperity, health, and social cohesion,” she said.

”Education is a universal right and should not be used as a tool for the financial gain of

universities, but rather it should be delivered in an equitable and moral manner.”