Tim McLellan
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timmclellan.bsky.social
Tim McLellan
@timmclellan.bsky.social
360 followers 480 following 27 posts
Lecturer in Anthropology at ANU.

Researching urban nature-based solutions, agroforestry science, audit cultures, and Nous UniForum data (themes that are more interconnected than you’d think…).

https://researchportalplus.anu.edu.au/en/persons/tim-mclellan
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timmclellan.bsky.social
Here is a clip from the exchange on UniForum between ANU exec and Senator Mehreen Faruqi.

Apologies for video quality and big thank you to Senator @mehreenfaruqi.bsky.social for continuing to be such a fantastic advocate for better university governance.

3/3
October 10, 2025 at 9:50 PM
timmclellan.bsky.social
UniForum is a “benchmarking service” that Nous provides to universities globally.

University executives frequently invoke UniForum as an objective justification for cuts and redundancies.

This UniForum graph, for example, was a centerpiece of the case ANU’s ex-VC made to Council for Renew ANU. 👇
Image of a scatterplot graph titled, “Overall effectiveness score vs normalised cost – parts 1 & 2 services.” Graph subtitle: “Net Satisfaction (-100 to +100), Parts 1& 2 Services 2017 – 2023” Vertical axis is titled: “increasing effectiveness score” Horizontal axis is titled: "increasing normalised cost for services assessed”. Each point on the graph represents a university. ANU is highlighted in the bottom right of the graph implying that it have poor service effectiveness and high cost.
September 17, 2025 at 5:55 AM
timmclellan.bsky.social
Private consultants are taking control of how public universities are evaluated and run.

My submission to the Senate university governance inquiry raises concerns about the impact of Nous Group and their dodgy UniForum data on our universities.

www.aph.gov.au/DocumentStor...

A thread
Image shows a screenshot of the conclusion of the linked Senate inquiry submission. This text can be found on page 10. The text is too long for alt text, but here is the first three quarters of the text: Conclusion Over the past decade, Nous Group’s UniForum data has quietly taken on the status of authoritative benchmark for the quality of a range of professional and academic services performed by public universities in Australia and across the world. This authoritative status is performed through scientific-looking graphs and scientific-sounding jargon designed to imply UniForum data is generated through rigorous methods and backed by expert consensus. This performance of authority is significant: it lends UniForum data an air of credibility and facticity that makes acting upon its results irresistible. When one begins to open the black box and examine how UniForum data is actually produced, however, it becomes difficult to justify the degree to which Australian university executives are relying upon it in their decision-making. My analysis is based on a review of publicly available documents, and it is therefore possible that Nous or its clients would point to things not in the public domain that address some of the conceptual and methodological flaws that I have highlighted in UniForum. But the fact that the underlying UniForum data and methodology is not in the public domain is itself one of the key causes for concerns. When the stakes are so high, it cannot be acceptable for Nous Group and its clients to simply tell university staff and governing councils, ‘trust us, these numbers are based on rigorous methods and analysis.’ The lack of rigor, external scrutiny, and transparency in UniForum’s underlying data and methodology would be a cause for concern in any public institution, but it is especially concerning in the context of universities where rigorous, transparent, and accountable knowledge production is a core part of what we do. ...
September 17, 2025 at 5:54 AM
timmclellan.bsky.social
Excited to be back at LSE for this double book launch event next month. Come say hi if you're in London!
Poster advertising a double book launch event titled "Sustaining the Unsustainable?: Reflecting on Science, Bureaucracy, and Theories of Change from Climate-Smart Southwest China". The event will take place December 11th from 5.15pm to 7pm in the Old Anthropology Library at the London School of Economics. The poster shows the covers of the two books being launched: Cutting the Mass Line by Andrea Pia and Science Interrupted by Tim McLellan. The poster lists two speakers: Andrea Pia of LSE anthropology and Tim McLellan of ANU anthropology. And two discussants: Tongyue Zhu and Cla Ruzol, both PhD students in Anthropology at LSE.
November 19, 2024 at 11:06 PM
timmclellan.bsky.social
In light of the Max Planck Society’s appalling treatment of
Professor Ghassan Hage, I am withdrawing from a speaking event at a Max Planck Institute.

Here is my email to the event organizer explaining why.
February 9, 2024 at 3:12 PM