University of Newcastle Aviation Program

[*Lancer*]

Condorflyer,

I'm looking forward to seeing what will replace the course, but its disappointing to see the old one wind-up in the manner it did.

I won't quote the first two sentences of the review's "Terms of Reference: Background" on this public forum, but it certainly doesn't imply the review was a standard undertaking by any means. It clearly shows that there were serious underlying problems within the staffing of the department itself.

The whole review process stank of a set-up. The Chairman of the Review Board was the head of another institution's Aviation programme, and remained on the panel despite the obvious conflict of interest. Another on the panel was also from a 'competing' institution. While three industry representatives were invited to take part, only one did - a graduate now employed by QantasLink as an F/O. The course was railroaded by the HofS who seemed to pay lip-service to the concerns of staff and students while furthering her own agenda behind the scenes. The School simply wanted more funding and places for itself at the expense of the aviation degree that should never have been part of that School.

The course was close to being considered an 'Asia-Pacific centre of excellence' until it slid into decline. Had the 'Head of Aviation' been more proactive during the wider restructure, many of the organisational issues that resulted may have been mitigated. Newcastle was widely considered the best aviation degree in the country (and it was the first) until the 'course management' issues appeared following the collapse of talks with Impulse, and were subsequently exacerbated following the re-aligning with the parent School.

The day of ab-inito programmes may indeed be over, but I wouldn't hesitate too much in saying that it's largely a result of hidden agendas conflicting with the steps necessarily to align the course with the regulatory and industrial needs of the time. The regulatory environment was the same 10 years ago as it was when the programme was suspended. The issues of pass-mark discrepancies and the like have been sucessfully tackled for over a decade.

Lancer