COMPARING THE UNIVERSITY-LEVEL ENVIRONMENT IN THE AUSTRALIAN CATHOLIC UNIVERSITY WITH OTHER AUSTRALIAN UNIVERSITIES

Abstract

Research that compared the university-level environment in the Australian Catholic University with other Australian universities was conducted. An instrument that assesses seven dimensions of the university-level environment (viz., Academic Freedom, Concern for Undergraduate Learning, Concern for Research and Scholarship, Empowerment, Affiliation, Mission Consensus, and Work Pressure) was administered to a sample of 519 faculty from 62 departments in 28 Australian universities including the Australian Catholic University (ACU). Results showed that, in general, the environment in ACU was not as positive as that found in the other universities. In particular, Academic Freedom and Concern for Research and Scholarship was significantly less in ACU compared to all types of universities. These results suggest that ACU has to make substantial gains if its environment is to compare favorably with the environment in other Australian universities.