Revisiting Higher Education Business Models and Academic Performance Metrics Times

Performance metrics for academics in higher education have been changing and becoming more refined; focusing on income generation such as grants, high impact publications or the completion of a higher degree by research that the government awards funding. Government funding is often restrictive and highly competitive. Definitions of research active started to dictate workload models and allocations of teaching duties. The updated Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency (TEQSA) threshold standard now requires at least one supervisor of a higher degree by research student to be research active. However, the entry of private higher education providers into the education sector created many challenges. Private higher education providers in many cases do not receive government funding and focus on popular degrees. This allows for a highly profitable institution. Although, it represents a significant shift between a higher education that strives for research objectives to a sole focus on educating the massive for a profit. Performance metrics, the employment modern awards, enterprise agreements currently do not reflect a teaching-only (intensive) institute. Restricting employers to classifications with inherent duties and pay scale that are simply not reflective of an employee's value or worth. This paper examines the disparity between duties, expectations and limitations of employment, the education minimum standards and makes recommendations on how they can co-exist better. One subject model discussed, has full-time staff become business owners of a degree enabling them to share in the profit in a franchise-education model.