The key resource for universities is their academic and general staff; however, little attention has been paid, by government, researchers and even the universities in which they work, to the work of general staff. Yet general staff have comprised more than half the workforce in Australian universities since 1996, and a more rigorous understanding of the contribution of general staff towards the strategic goals of their institutions has the potential to enhance their institutions' organisational sustainability. While universities have multiple and diverse stakeholders, students occupy the key stakeholder role in a university's core business of learning and teaching. Consequently, the interaction of general staff with students has potential to impact on the sustainability of an institution. This paper describes a preliminary study into how general staff contribute to student outcomes. A meta-study by Prebble et al. (2004) derived 13 propositions for support of student outcomes that focussed on the contribution by academic staff, and Middleton (2006) subsequently surmised that general staff are also central to those outcomes. This study uses the Delphi method to test Middleton's (2006) assertion by engaging general staff in ranking the propositions in terms of the contribution of general staff to student outcomes. This paper concludes by discussing implications for future research.
Staff are a university's key resource. Typically, research has concentrated on the contribution of academic staff, and has largely overlooked the crucial role of professional staff. However, recently there has been an increase in research by professional staff, about professional staff. In Australia, professional staff comprise more than half the higher education workforce, and a more rigorous understanding is needed of the contribution that professional staff make towards the strategic goals of their institutions. This paper explores the work of professional staff, focusing on the contributions that this group of staff makes to the design, development and maintenance of learning spaces, both physical and virtual. This research is part of ongoing doctoral research into the work of professional staff at one Australian university. Following a preliminary framing study, a case study was undertaken using semi-structured interviews with a range of professional staff. Emerging from these interviews is a conceptualisation of the work of professional staff in relation to student outcomes, from the perspective of professional staff themselves. This research is illuminating the working lives of professional staff, the changing and increasing complexity of their roles, and the contributions professional staff make to their institution's student outcomes.
As part of a larger study, professional staff from two universities, Australian and British, were asked how they entered into a higher education career and what factors kept them in that career. Many participants reported that they found themselves in professional services almost by accident, or by a fortunate combination of circumstances. However, in addition to the serendipitous recruitment reported in earlier studies, our analysis found a positive value associated with higher education that attracted people to seek out employment opportunities, and to remain in the sector. This suggests that recruitment is not as accidental or serendipitous as might first appear. We argue that while there are many reasons why our participants remained in higher education, the variety offered in day-today roles and responsibilities is a key factor in retaining professional staff. Our findings have implications for policy and practice, for both the recruitment and retention of talented professional staff.
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