Underperforming nursing students 'could endanger public safety', say university academics

Academics from two of the country’s largest nursing faculties, the University of Western Sydney (UWS) and the Australian Catholic University (ACU), say weak students are being undeservedly awarded nursing degrees, potentially endangering public safety.

A Four Corners investigation broadcast last night identified significant pressure at Australian universities to pass weak and underperforming students, many of whom are full-fee-paying internationals.

It also found some university administrators have turned a blind eye to rampant academic misconduct.

One senior academic who has taught at both UWS and ACU, said both universities were relaxing standards and ignoring plagiarism.

“There are students that are falling through the cracks, and yes, they could end up being unsafe practitioners,” she said.

“There are a group of students who I honestly believe … should not be graduating.”

A former senior figure at UWS nursing said the situation had become so dire it required industrial action.

“I believe that it’s the profession that has to stand up, they have to rise up and they have to tell the registering accrediting bodies, ‘stop what you are doing and increase the entry level’ … for entry into the bachelor of nursing,” she said.

“I don’t think the universities will do it because they’ve got a vested interest because of funding.

“So who’s left? Individuals can’t do it. The profession of nursing needs to do it.

“They need to stand up, they need to rise and say ‘stop what you are doing’.”

In a statement, UWS strenuously denied soft-marking was a problem: “UWS completely rejects the accusation that the standard of our nursing program is ‘falling’ and our nursing students are ‘weak and unsafe’.”

ACU said it had strict policies to manage academic misconduct.

Asked about ongoing concerns in the health sciences faculty about the pressure to pass students, a spokeswoman said: “No staff member has the right to direct staff to change grades.”

“There is a process to ensure every course and every unit is reviewed and assessed by formally constituted Faculty and School committees.”

The vice-chancellors of both universities declined requests for an interview with Four Corners.

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Gap between ‘capabilities of students and academic demands’

A major report by the NSW Independent Commission Against Corruption last week, Learning the Hard Way, reported widespread problems with soft-marking across the university sector and significant risks of corruption within institutions.

“There is a gap – at least in some courses – between the capabilities of many students and academic demands,” the report said.

“Students may be struggling to pass, but universities cannot afford to fail them.

“There is pressure for some international students to pass courses that are beyond their academic capabilities, pressure on staff within universities in NSW to find ways to pass students in order to preserve budgets.

“When it involves sufficient numbers, the tension created by the student capability gap and the need to meet revenue targets becomes more conducive to corruption.

“Academics come under pressure to turn a blind-eye to problems caused by poor academic capabilities and actively play a part in allowing students to pass who should fail.”

Four Corners will also broadcast evidence of collusion involving some offshore agents used by universities to recruit hundreds of thousands of students, primarily from China and India.

On Friday, the ABC revealed an estimated $250 million in public funds was being paid in commissions each year by universities to these agents, in full knowledge that many are corrupt and dealt in fraudulent documents.

More often, these commissions are undisclosed to the public, and the students shepherded by agents to particular institutions.

Academics from across the country told the program there had been many positive aspects to the increased number of international students on campuses.

But they lamented the detrimental impact on academic rigour caused by having so many students with inadequate English language skills.

‘If you fail a first-year international student … that’s a loss of income’

Alex Barthel, a language consultant to universities and former director of the English language centre at the University of Technology Sydney, said language thresholds across the country were too low, putting untoward pressure on academics.

He said the pressure was being eased by ensuring most students passed and received their degree.

“There is increasingly soft-marking across the board,” he said.

“If you fail a first-year international student, he or she doesn’t go into second year, that’s a loss of income.

“Sorry, I know that sounds crude, but that’s the reality.

“At a number of universities [there are] students passing courses, and [graduating] with a language proficiency that’s below that required in some cases … to enter the university.”

While most of the core academic pursuits such as medicine and law have been largely untouched by these problems, many said standards had fallen in other faculties as accommodations were made for low levels of English proficiency.

University of Queensland economist Professor Paul Frijters said financial imperatives had driven decisions by universities to lower entry requirements.

“This leads to problems down the line for academics who then have to grade the essays of these individuals,” he said.

“They find themselves more often than not being English language checkers rather than checking the disciplinary knowledge as they’re supposed to.”

The vast majority of academics who spoke to Four Corners wished to protect their identity because they feared recriminations if they spoke publicly.

Some had been required to sign non-disclosure agreements with their universities.

Academics paid ‘to deliver a grade distribution, not an education’

One former ACU economist, Professor Paul Oslington, previously launched a blistering attack on the university.

In articles published in Quadrant, he wrote that at ACU: “Students will be herded into large lecture theatres and shown PowerPoint slides provided by a textbook publisher.”

“Word spread pretty fast that study is optional, given the policy that no more than 10 per cent of students can fail a unit.”

The ACU spokeswoman said: “ACU does not have a quota for passing or failing students.”

In another article, Professor Oslington said academics were being paid “to deliver a grade distribution, not an education.”

“The culture has become so corrupt that a new sessional who refused to divulge the examination paper was abused and threatened by students, and presumably punished in his teaching evaluations,” he wrote.

“Another who objected in a meeting to giving a credit to marketing students with a grade of 23 per cent soon had the Dean in his room pointing out the implications of such behaviour for his chances of contract renewal.”

Staff forced to ‘dumb-down degrees’

Academics also reported a deterioration in the difficulty of course materials in some areas.

There are also a rising number of opportunities for students to either resubmit essays or sit what are sometimes called “supplementary exams”.

“There’s also been pressures on the academics … to make the courses simple enough so that the vast majority get through in a reasonably quick space of time,” Professor Frijters said.

“Hence you’ve effectively got to dumb down the degree. Now that’s happened definitely in the last couple of decades.”

Academics are confronted by a rising tide of student appeals for higher marks.

As an increasing portion of them are part-time casual teachers, working through a series of 12-week, single-semester contracts, there is a reluctance to fail students as teachers said the work required to manage appeals was effectively unpaid.

Plagiarism poses a similar problem.

The prosecution of students on charges of academic misconduct under university policies is so complex and time-consuming that many lecturers and tutors instead turn a blind eye to the problem.

Professor Frijters said he also had concerns that exam questions were being leaked to ensure students passed subjects and provide lecturers with the positive course feedback now essential to a renewed teaching contract.

“I believe in general that soft-marking is an important feature of our business now,” he said.

This article originally appeared online at the ABC.