Shirley V. Scott

The Academic as Service Provider: is the customer ‘always right?

Abstract The bottom line in academics feeling uncomfortable about regarding students as customers is the impression that from a marketing view ‘the customer is always right’. While Australian universities have not yet undergone a ‘customer care revolution’, it is important that educators and educational managers better understand how a marketing perspective can assist them to operate effectively within a market environment. Good service provision does not necessarily mean ‘doing everything the customer wants’ so much as bringing the expectations of the service provider and the customer closely into line. As an important first step towards doing so, educators and educational managers would do well to devote more attention to ascertaining just what the expectations of their customers are. The literature on professional services marketing distinguishes the professional service in question from the manner in which it is marketed. To be taken seriously in ongoing policy debates regarding the transformation of ...

Australia's decision to initiate Whaling in the Antarctic: winning the case versus resolving the dispute

On May 31, 2010, Australia instituted proceedings before the International Court of Justice in the case of Whaling in the Antarctic (Australia v. Japan). Although Australian politicians had for some time threatened such a course of action, the decision to proceed with international litigation took many observers by surprise, most basically because Japan appeared to be in a strong legal position and the risks associated with the case appeared greater than Australias prospects for success. This article examines the background to the whaling dispute and suggests two ways in which litigation in the World Court may contribute to resolution of the dispute no matter the legal outcome of the case.

Practising What We Preach: Towards a Student-Centred Definition of Feedback.

Students appear to have an almost insatiable appetite for receiving feedback and the scholarly literature has acknowledged its central importance for learning. And yet there is no widely accepted definition of feedback, most definitions reflecting the perspective of the teacher rather than student. When staff at the University of New South Wales who had put a lot of time into providing feedback nevertheless failed to score highly on the course satisfaction survey question on feedback, staff conjectured that their students might not recognize what they are providing as constituting feedback. A study was undertaken to find out just how students would define feedback. This article provides the background to the study, describes its design and presents the definition of feedback as conceptualised by the students, and then considers its significance.

Does Legality Really Matter? Accounting for the Decline in US Foreign Policy Legitimacy Following the 2003 Invasion of Iraq:

The perceived legitimacy of US foreign policy plummeted in the wake of the US-led 2003 invasion of Iraq. Most commentators would agree that international law, or at least US actions in relation to international law, had something to do with this decline. But, what the recent debate as to how best to restore US legitimacy has starkly revealed, is that we know little as to just how international law accords legitimacy to certain foreign policy endeavours. While the legality of the action may have much to do with it, the relationship between international law, foreign policy and legitimacy appears to be more complex than is suggested by a straightforward legal–illegal categorization of behaviour. A theorization of international law as ideology can provide an overall explanation of the role of international law in the decline in US foreign policy legitimacy following the invasion of Iraq.

Ingenious and innocuous? Article IV of the Antarctic Treaty as imperialism

The fiftieth anniversary of the entry into force of the Antarctic Treaty on 23 June 1961 provides opportunity for assessment of this international instrument. This paper calls for more nuanced reading of the lead up to the 1959 Antarctic Treaty and of the impact, in terms of relative gains, of the ATS on the fundamental issue of sovereignty. In accepting the utility of a postcolonial lens on international cooperation in Antarctica, the paper proposes that the history of the international politics of Antarctica can better be viewed not in terms of one, but of three, successive waves of Antarctic imperialism, the third of which is the Antarctic Treaty itself.

Securitizing climate change: international legal implications and obstacles

On 17 April 2007 the United Nations Security Council held its first debate on climate change, energy and security. Since then, and despite a number of reports emphasizing the security implications of climate change, there has, at least in diplomatic circles, been a move away from the previous trend towards accepting climate change as a question of international security. This is primarily due to the possibility of the Security Council taking the lead in coordinating global efforts to mitigate, or adapt to, climate change. Developing countries interpret this possibility as a rejection of the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities as incorporated into the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. The increasing urgency of taking decisive action means that it is too early to rule out a role for the Council with its coercive powers. Ultimately, however, the success of any international regulations will depend on their political legitimacy.On 17 April 2007 the United Nations Security Council held its first debate on climate change, energy and security. Since then, and despite a number of reports emphasizing the security implications of climate change, there has, at least in diplomatic circles, been a move away from the previous trend towards accepting climate change as a question of international security. This is primarily due to the possibility of the Security Council taking the lead in coordinating global efforts to mitigate, or adapt to, climate change. Developing countries interpret this possibility as a rejection of the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities as incorporated into the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. The increasing urgency of taking decisive action means that it is too early to rule out a role for the Council with its coercive powers. Ultimately, however, the success of any international regulations will depend on their political legitimacy.

Implications of climate change for the UN Security Council: mapping the range of potential policy responses

Over the last decade there has been an evolving debate both within the United Nations and within the scholarly literature as to whether it would be feasible, appropriate and/or advantageous for the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) to consider climate change to be within its remit. Given that irreversible global warming is under way and that this will inevitably have multiple global security implications—and indeed, that the Council has to some degree already addressed the issue—such a debate has become anachronistic. What is needed at this stage is nuanced analysis of how this complex policy issue may have already impacted, and may in future impact, the function and functioning of the Council. This article first reviews key variables that need to be taken into account in moving beyond a binary discussion of whether or not the Security Council should consider climate change. It then maps four broad categories of possible UNSC response, spanning from rejection of any involvement through to the Council using its Chapter VII powers and functioning as the peak body in respect of global climate change governance. It then places developments to date within those categories and concludes by considering the prospects for an increased UNSC role in the future

Australia's first tuna negotiations with Japan

In July 1999 the Governments of Australia and New Zealand decided to submit their dispute with Japan over southern bluefin tuna to an arbitration procedure under Annex VII of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. Pending the constitution of an arbitral tribunal, they also requested the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea to prescribe provisional measures. This paper traces the beginnings of tuna as an issue in Australias relations with Japan, from 1945 until the conclusion of the first bilateral negotiations on the subject in 1968. Drawing on recently released archival material the paper explains why, in terms of the evolving law of the sea, the 1968 agreement was generous.

Australian Diplomacy Opposing Japanese Antarctic Whaling 1945± 1951: The Role of Legal Argument

The fundamental problem for Australian diplomacy during the Occupation of Japan was the timeless one of how the small might inuence the great (Dingman 1984:111). Australian of® cials, under Herbert Vere Evatt, Minister for External Affairs from 1941 to 1949, expended considerable diplomatic energy in attempting to persuade the United States not to permit the resumption of Japanese Antarctic whaling pending the conclusion of a peace treaty. If the success of these efforts is measured in terms of Australias achieving its desired goal, the diplomacy was a clear-cut failure; General Douglas MacArthur, Supreme Comman- der of the Allied Powers (SCAP), authorised an expedition each year of the Occupation from the 1946±47 season onwards. But if Australian diplomacy is assessed in terms of whether or not it provoked internal US re-evaluation of policy, then certain of the arguments advanced by Australian of® cials were, indeed, successful. After examining the basis of Australian objections to the resumption of Japanese Antarctic whaling after World War Two in the context of Australias relations with Japan, this paper will review the arguments advanced by Australian of® cials and the reaction that each received in the Department of State (DOS) and/or by SCAP. It will be seen that, while arguments couched in economic, practical or political terms carried little if any weight with US of® cials, those which identi® ed a possible breach of international law did lead to a re-evaluation of policy, or at least of procedure.

China’s nine-dash line, international law, and the Monroe Doctrine analogy

John Mearsheimer has compared China’s attitude towards the South China Sea to the Monroe Doctrine of the United States. Mearsheimer does not accord international law much weight and certainly does not regard it as determinative of political outcomes. But many observers of China’s disputes in the South China Sea look to international law for rules and processes that could facilitate peaceful resolution of the disputes. In doing so they are variously puzzled, bemused, and/or angered by China’s assertion of the nine-dash line (南海九段线). This article draws more broadly on the literature on the Monroe Doctrine, viewing the doctrine as: a unilateral pronouncement of foreign policy; representing resistance; embedded in domestic as opposed to international law; and an assertion of legitimate regional hegemony. Through applying the analogy of the Monroe Doctrine, the article seeks fresh insights into China’s legal position in relation to the South China Sea and into the significance of the nine-dash line in terms of international law.