The University of Queensland is in the top five Australian universities and the only Queensland university to perform well in a newly-published table of teaching quality.
The table uses the Federal Government’s own data to rank the quality of learning and teaching at 38 publicly-funded Australian universities.
Australian universities were sent their own individual scores last week by the Department of Education, Science and Training (DEST).
The overall results represent a combined score from data for seven separate indicators of learning and teaching quality. Universities have been invited to submit context statements relating to these scores and, based on this information, the Federal Government will allocate $54 million in 2006 from the Learning and Teaching Performance Fund to the best performing universities. In 2007, $83 million will be available from this Fund and in 2008, $113 million.
The indicator scores were adjusted by DEST to account for institutional differences. The final league table was not prepared by DEST but has been compiled from information on the www.dest.gov.au website.
The seven indicators used to rank universities were: graduates’ views of the enhancement of their generic skills, of teaching quality and of their overall satisfaction with their university program; the percentage of graduates in full-time employment; those continuing to further full-time study; drop-out rates; and pass rates.
Three of the seven indicators are based on the results of the views of graduates surveyed through the Course Experience Questionnaire collated by Graduate Careers Australia.
University of Queensland Vice-Chancellor Professor John Hay AC said the University was understandably pleased that its high-quality teaching endeavours had been recognised.
“We aim to provide the best teachers, facilities and learning experience for our students,” he said.
“UQ was the first university in Australia to introduce a scheme rewarding teaching excellence and UQ has been the recipient of more awards than any other university in the national Australian Awards for University Teaching.
“Since the introduction of the graduate attribute mapping process in 2003, students have been more aware of the skills and attributes being developed in each program and course.”
Professor Hay said he was heartened that the Federal Government was rewarding learning and teaching excellence. While the University could only comment on its outcome and not on the methodology used, the 2005 process was a first step and in due course the Fund’s assessment processes and procedures might change.
Professor Hay said the latest assessment followed on news that The University of Queensland has again received the best overall rating of all Queensland universities and one of the best Australian university rankings in the 2006 edition of the Good Universities Guide (GUG).
The independent consumer guide released recently provides ratings, rankings, comment and information about Australian higher education institutions.
UQ received the maximum five-star rating for six key GUG indicators including “student demand”, “positive graduate outcomes” (reflecting both graduate employment and continuation to further study), “staff qualifications”, “research grants”, “research intensiveness” and “toughness to get in” (St Lucia campus).
Media: Further information, Jan King, telephone 0413 601 248.
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