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Peter Woelert

@peterwoelert.bsky.social

250 followers 250 following 66 posts

Researching higher education policy, governance, and organisation & science policy - and administrative burden in universities. Based at the University of Melbourne, Australia.

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Peter Woelert @peterwoelert.bsky.social · Aug 6

Our article examining what academic staff are experiencing as the key dimensions and drivers of administrative burden in Australian universities is now published online. It draws on survey responses from 350 staff from 37 Australian unis. Available open access at: academic.oup.com/spp/advance-...

Administrative burden in Australian universities: Insights into dimensions and drivers from a nationwide survey

Abstract. Despite widespread concern about levels of administrative burden within universities, understanding of the associated dimensions and drivers rema

academic.oup.com

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Peter Woelert @peterwoelert.bsky.social · 14d

I'm still confused by the last advice I got from an unisuper advisor. Also since someone I know who used to work as a Prof in accounting told me that I should definitely not follow that advice.

Peter Woelert @peterwoelert.bsky.social · 15d

There are no easy answers I feel. But maybe portability could be allowed for ECRs but restricted from a certain level of seniority onwards?

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Peter Woelert @peterwoelert.bsky.social · 15d

Not sure, we had the opposite concern in Australia when we had ERA. Allowing portability incentivises unis to poach senior and very well established researchers rather than support and retain their early career academics.

Peter Woelert @peterwoelert.bsky.social · 15d

I will have to check later properly, but is this about whether the publication record of a researcher moves along with them if they change universities? If so then I think not allowing this is very reasonable actually to recognise who funded these and to reduce incentives to game the system.

Peter Woelert @peterwoelert.bsky.social · Aug 29

Yes, we weren't overly impressed. Some of the book chapters in our reference list had been turned into invented journal articles, that was the main issue we encountered. Plus some changes to book titles. The journal editors were really helpful although this stuff is beyond their control.

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Peter Woelert @peterwoelert.bsky.social · Aug 27

It is really frustrating particularly when the original manuscript and the references were in good shape. Based upon my recent experiences, these days, the proofing provided by the big publishers tends to be not so much a 'value-add' but a source of additional work and headache.

Peter Woelert @peterwoelert.bsky.social · Aug 27

It could well have been the publisher's fault, but still. This happened to me not too long ago - when we got the proofs for a journal article back and the references had all sorts of fakes in it since the proofing team had used AI. I'm glad we spotted this in time, but it took ages to fix.

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Peter Woelert @peterwoelert.bsky.social · Aug 26

More news coverage (in 'ResearchProfessional News') for our paper examining what academic staff in Australia are experiencing as the key dimensions and drivers of administrative burden (to access the paper see the pinned post in my profile): www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-aust...

University efficiency drives may have opposite effect, study finds - Research Professional News

Teaching and research staff say reforms mean more red tape for them, Australian survey reports

www.researchprofessionalnews.com

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Reposted by Peter Woelert

Margot Finn @eicathomefinn.bsky.social · Aug 26

The administrative burden in Australian universities is most keenly felt by teaching and research staff, according to...[the] study from the University of Melbourne’s faculty of education'. 2/2

Link to underpinning research: academic.oup.com/spp/advance-...

Administrative burden in Australian universities: Insights into dimensions and drivers from a nationwide survey

Abstract. Despite widespread concern about levels of administrative burden within universities, understanding of the associated dimensions and drivers rema

academic.oup.com

3 12

Peter Woelert @peterwoelert.bsky.social · Aug 16

We just published the key findings arising from our admin burden survey conducted across Australian universities and committee meetings came out as one the biggest drains on time. Here's the entire paper is you're interested, may give you some additional ideas: academic.oup.com/spp/advance-...

Administrative burden in Australian universities: Insights into dimensions and drivers from a nationwide survey

Abstract. Despite widespread concern about levels of administrative burden within universities, understanding of the associated dimensions and drivers rema

academic.oup.com

Peter Woelert @peterwoelert.bsky.social · Aug 15

I think one needs to distinguish between limiting the number of publications (which won't work) and moving toward restricting evaluations to a limited number of papers (per annum or in total). The latter strategy has a lot of merit IMO and has already been adopted by many research councils.

Peter Woelert @peterwoelert.bsky.social · Aug 11

Today's edition of Future Campus includes a piece discussing our recently published research article (available open access) on how academic staff experience administrative burden in Australian universities: futurecampus.com.au/2025/08/08/c...

Centralisation and System Upgrades Increase Academic Workload

Centralisation and system changes are increasing academic workloads according to a new survey.

futurecampus.com.au

Peter Woelert @peterwoelert.bsky.social · Aug 8

The Times Higher Education (THE) covers our just published research article (open access - see pinned post) on how academic staff experience administrative burden in Australian universities.

The THE piece can be accessed here (requires a subscription): www.timeshighereducation.com/news/automat...

Automated university systems ‘make administrative burden worse’

Risk-averse mindset, fervour for meetings and ‘time sink’ labour-saving ploys leave everybody overburdened, finds Melbourne study

www.timeshighereducation.com

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Peter Woelert @peterwoelert.bsky.social · Aug 6

3) Due to a lack of local staff support and administrative automation, academics generally feel they are not effectively supported if they are experiencing admin issues or problems. This is a key concern to them and is seen to result in frustration, delays, and additional admin workloads.

Peter Woelert @peterwoelert.bsky.social · Aug 6

2) Academics experience their teaching and research as administratively highly laborious activities (thus adding to their admin workload arising from generic admin responsibilities). Also, university meetings are a killer in terms of the demands they impose on time.

Peter Woelert @peterwoelert.bsky.social · Aug 6

We packed a lot into this article, but there are three core findings that are particularly interesting perhaps:
1) Academics largely associate the digital transformation and automation of uni administration with an increase, not a decrease, in their own administrative workload and burden.

Peter Woelert @peterwoelert.bsky.social · Aug 6

Administrative burden in Australian universities: Insights into dimensions and drivers from a nationwide survey

Abstract. Despite widespread concern about levels of administrative burden within universities, understanding of the associated dimensions and drivers rema

academic.oup.com

1 1 2

Peter Woelert @peterwoelert.bsky.social · Jul 15

Btw, I really wish we had better data on this in Australia - this is all self-reported (QUILT) data yes? I would be great to have more reliable large-scale studies using taxation data or the like, although there may be privacy issues rending this impossible.,

Peter Woelert @peterwoelert.bsky.social · Jul 14

From what I hear IT may not be too different. I recently talked to a mate working in a senior role in IT and was told they are receiving a few hundred applications for entry level roles atm - and that the job market is very tough for graduates. It would be interesting to see proper data though.

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Peter Woelert @peterwoelert.bsky.social · Jul 6

Gwilym Croucher and I wrote a short piece for 'Future Campus' that adds to discussions of supply of and demand for PhD graduates in Australia and makes some specific policy recommendations: futurecampus.com.au/2025/07/07/h...

How Many PhD’s Does Australia Need?

Compared to many other countries, Australia trains a large number of PhDs per capita each year. Yet that has not stopped recent controversy over the future supply and demand for […]

futurecampus.com.au

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Reposted by Peter Woelert

Liudvika Leisyte @liulei14.bsky.social · Jun 5

📣 I am very excited about my new book "#University #Governance, #Management and the #Academic #Profession" is out!

🙌 Thank you so much to co-editors Prof. Monica Marquina and Prof. Glen Jones for great collaboration !

📘 Check it out through Springer:
👉 link.springer.com/book/10.1007...

University Governance, Management and the Academic Profession

Explores issues and trends regarding the transformation of governance, Is written by scholars engaged in largest comparative studies of higher education

link.springer.com

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Peter Woelert @peterwoelert.bsky.social · May 26

Our paper analysing academic staff experiences of administrative burden at Australian universities recently got accepted for publication. It should be available online soon. This is quite a chunky paper focusing on what these staff view as the key dimensions and drivers of admin burden at work.

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Peter Woelert @peterwoelert.bsky.social · May 9

Oh the joy when your university has just released a new and mandatory travel portal which obviously isn't yet ready for users to use...

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Peter Woelert @peterwoelert.bsky.social · Apr 6

Just published (open access): In our article, we explore the key institutional forces that have led to casual academic employment being regarded as legitimate and normal element of university activity in Australia: link.springer.com/article/10.1...

The rise of a “casualised” workforce: A conceptual account of the institutional forces legitimising contingent academic employment in Australia - Higher Education

Contingent academic employment has become a salient feature of many higher education systems over recent decades. At the same time, there remains limited understanding of how such employment has come ...

link.springer.com

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Peter Woelert @peterwoelert.bsky.social · Apr 1

The THE just published a niece piece discussing our recent article examining professional staff perspectives on administrative burden at Australian universities (subscription-based): www.timeshighereducation.com/news/endless...

Endless restructures ‘make campuses more inefficient, not less’

Surveyed professional staff blame constant restructuring for escalating administrative burden and deteriorating administrative efficiency

www.timeshighereducation.com

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