Alan Lonsdale

You are here

Alan Lonsdale is the sole surviving member of the gang of three which founded HERDSA in 1972 (the other two being Fred Katz (UNSW) and Kol Star (AVCC)). Alan has had a varied academic career beginning as a secondary science teacher in the 60's and culminating as Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Staffing) at Deakin University . In between he spent twenty years from 1970 at the Western Australian Institute of Technology, now Curtin University of Technology. There he establish ed the educational development unit and eventually became Director of University Development. In 1995 Alan decided to live dangerously and became an independent consultant in higher education management which he finds varied and stimulating. 

Alan's thoughts on the current state of higher education? In a word: troubled (very). The last decade has seen irreversible changes in the nature and role of universities, and in the role of academic staff. The preoccupation not only with making ends meet but, more fundamentally, with the transformation of universities to commercial enterprises in which making a profit is paramount, has substantially distorted their role in society. In particular, the implications for staff are enormous -the role is now over-diversified (entrepreneur and business manager as well as scholar, project manager as well as teacher), the workloads keep growing, and job security and career advancement are a continuous preoccupation for many. 

 It's nice to be a participant observer!