Students will only be in the running for a scholarship in UOW's new Ramsay Centre Western Civilisation degree if they are aged 18-21, achieve an ATAR above 95, and display what are cryptically described as "the Ramsay Attributes".
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There will be 30 of the $27,000 scholarships on offer each year, with the money to cover living expenses and an overseas study trip.
The University of Wollongong will guarantee places in residential accommodation for each of the 30 first-year Ramsay Scholars, who must be Australian citizens or permanent residents. They can not have done any university study before, and mature-age students are out.
The scholars will be selected by a Ramsay Scholarship Selection Panel, which will have UOW academics on it.
Read more: Ramsay Centre to send in-class observers
"We want you to be able to focus on the challenging content of your courses without the need to worry about supporting yourself," its website says.
As details emerge from the MOU, the backlash against the deal from staff and students has grown, with a protest to be held at the Wollongong campus on Friday.
The National Tertiary Education Union says it has a petition signed by 3000 people opposed to the deal.
The union's national president Alison Barnes said UOW had broken its own rules by bypassing the Academic Senate's role in approving the course content.
"The MOU confirms that the Ramsay Centre has a say in curriculum, staffing and how the course is to be delivered," Dr Barnes said.
"Surely institutional autonomy dictates that it is for a university to determines who, based on merit, is eligible for entry into its courses."
A UOW spokesman said the "fast-track" was not rare.
"It is used around five times per year on average, where there is a pressing need to meet tight schedules that enable timely course promotion and enrolments in response to market opportunities," he said.
"It is used when the financial viability and academic quality of the proposed program are assured."
The original MOU was signed in December by Ramsay CEO Simon Haines and UOW Vice-Chancellor Paul Wellings. It was since re-drafted to "clarify" some sections, and re-signed on January 21.
While UOW has made the original MOU public, it is refusing to allow access to the original document as signed in December, before the alterations were made.
A university spokesman said this was because it was "not relevant".