High Wired update: Kim Carr's new plan is the same as his old one KIM Carr is back with a plan to create options for universities based on conversations with Canberra. Back with a new-ish plan: Kim Carr was putting out a fire within hours of his swearing in as higher education minister yesterday. In the morning carefully calibrated comments were woven into wishful-thinking that he would undo the April budget cuts, perhaps with more money, perhaps by reintroducing caps on undergraduate places, hell, maybe both! But when HW talked to Minister Carr he set out something far more subtle, which will enthuse some universities and appall others. For a start, the senator made it clear he "has to work within budget parameters like every other minister" and that "there is no new money per se." Nor did he talk of reversing the Gillard Government's signature policy of funding a place for every prospective Australian student a university accepts. Instead, Senator Carr wants universities to have more options than raising revenue by jamming in ever-more undergraduates. "There is no unmet demand in Australia," he said so the challenge now is to give universities a chance to address their quality concerns. "We have heard the message from universities and I am refocusing government investment to get the best possible use of public money," he told HW. But how? "I am opening a new round of conversations with universities," Senator Carr said. In particular, he mentioned profiles and compacts, processes Canberra and universities use to set functions and objectives and measure progress. This will not please the minister's officials - the compacts process has just concluded - but it will give university managers more public income options. This is significant stuff and a big win for the Group of Eight and Australian Technology Network universities, which do not need ever-more students to fund operations. However, universities that welcome as many undergraduates as they can pack in will loathe the idea. But wait, there's more!: Teacher education and the state of STEM subjects are back on the agenda, big-time. Minister Carr says they are "priority areas" for him. This is a very good time to be a maths and science educator with a plan for change. It's a bad one for deans who have supervised a decline in quality and quantity of teacher graduates who go off to teach maths and science unprepared. Applause for classic Carr: The ATN's Vicki Thomson was tweeting congratulations to Kim Carr while the prime minister was still naming his frontbench yesterday but the RUN group sprinted away with the first media statement. The bush campuses are delighted country woman Catherine King, the member for Ballarat (will the electorate's name change to follow UB?), is the minister for regions. And it is thrilled Kim Carr is running higher education and research. This might have something to do with the collaborative research networks program that funded 12 universities (nine in the bush) with not especially visible research profiles to pal up with research powerhouses. Remember the senator's hubs and spokes idea when he last ran research? RUN also wants Senator Carr to push on with Craig Emerson's review of TEQSA. Universities Australia placed a petard above the entry to Senator's Carr's cabinet suite, quoting his commitment to research and providing a convenient link to the minister's 2009 vision statement, "Powering ideas: an innovation agenda for the 21st century" in which the minister argued, "Governments have a responsibility to step in where markets fail." But UA chief Belinda Robinson may have to duck and weave a bit to avoid hoisting on her petard, given divisions in her membership on open enrolments. However what she did say sounded like support for the status quo; "We also look forward to working with Senator Carr to make sure that all children who aspire for (sic) a world-class university education will have the opportunity to do so regardless of their background, circumstance or socio-economic circumstances." Style Council: "Arty Adrian" Collette is a member of the new board of the Australian Council for the Arts. After a career in publishing, Mr Collette went on to run Opera Australia for 16 years. He is now director of engagement and partnerships at the University of Melbourne. HW thinks it means he is the university's ideas entrepreneur and networker in chief. Sharon we hardly knew you: Australians used to poke fun at the tarantella of changing ministers in Italy and the way it demonstrates politicians have little to do with governing. But we have no case after yesterday's shuffle - Kim Carr replaces not just portfolio minister Craig Emerson but takes on most of the work handled by the previous pair of juniors, Sharon Bird (higher education and skills) and Don Farrell (science). Sure, there is a leg-up for the training sector, with Brendan O'Connor representing it in cabinet. Otherwise, there is yet another disconnect between post school education and politics. While Senator Carr represents science at the cabinet table he has a lot on his plate and the loss of a dedicated minister sends a signal of some sort to the science community. Senator Carr is the fourth portfolio minister in a year and it looked as if Ms Bird was only just getting her head around her job. She delivered a cracker of a speech to CEDA last week but it was months coming. HW does not doubt Senator Farrell was across science, but he rivalled "Silent Chris" Evans (the 119th Labor universities minister) in keeping his insights to himself. Quality over equity: Shadow Minister for Universities Brett Mason recognises an open goal when he sees one. As Minister Carr was setting out a new policy direction Senator Mason suggested, "The university sector is getting whiplash from the speed at which the government is changing ministers and their policy focus." Signalling where the Coalition sees its strengths Senator Mason added, "We have consistently maintained that quality and standards are paramount and non-negotiable, and should not be sacrificed in a well-intentioned push for equity." So with the Coalition position's clear and the government suggesting growth has topped out is that it for expanding participation for students from low SES backgrounds? A deal at Deakin: Does not look done just yet. The university yesterday announced its enterprise agreement offer. It includes a 3 per cent pay rise per annum for the life of the bargain plus "an improved workload model which allows staff to work to their strengths" and streamlined redundancy, with the minimum payment being what applies under the existing arrangement. But the National Tertiary Education Union is not impressed. "The offer is very low and comes with strings attached," Deakin branch president Dr Stephen Mackey told HW. Specifically two strings. The proposed redundancy program means academic staff can lose their jobs due to reorganisation but Dr Mackey warns Deakin "is being reorganised on almost a weekly basis so academics will be at a constant risk of redundancy whenever a manager has an idea. This devalues decades of scholarship, a whole life of research and teaching can be simply wiped away at a stroke of a pen. Dr Mackey adds that while his members want a fair pay rise they are even more concerned about workloads. The ambitious expansion of undergraduate places is favoured by the NTEU. But it puts a crushing work load on staff, we are not lazing in arm chairs serving sherry to occasional students, workloads are disturbing family life and threatening quality education. Announcing the offer Vice Chancellor Jane den Hollander emphasised improved conditions and said the pay rise was "fair and affordable and provided certainty for staff, particularly in light of the recent funding cuts for the university sector." The union executive will consider the university's offer on Friday. The Europeans might be coming: The European Union is planning to spend €400 million a year so the community's 4000 universities can collaborate with "partners worldwide." The announcement is not entirely clear as to what this means but HW guesses that when the EU mentions "cooperation" they actually mean selling to international, presumably fee paying, students.