The University Poised for Major Changes
11 December 2004
I spoke to all staff at the University this week-and the total
in the University is now around 700-about the changes that are
taking place in universities internationally, and the challenges
that flow for USC in particular.
There have been social and economic forces influencing major
changes in universities for the last forty or fifty years and the
pace is accelerating.
The most profound changes have taken place in what we define as
'knowledge', and the value placed on knowledge used for social and
economic gain.
The University has been opened up to the broader interests and
needs of societies, and the value of 'knowledge' now exceeds the
value of access to traditional, natural resources like coal, iron,
wheat and wool.
We are moving inexorably toward the 'Knowledge Society'.
If we can place so high a premium on knowledge, it is argued, we
can also throw open universities to the rigours of the competitive
market place, support them from public funds to a diminishing
extent, and expect students to pay a commensurately higher
proportion of the costs of the education from which they will
personally benefit.
In this more commercial environment the older universities
aggressively market themselves as 'world-class' aspirants, and
attempt to plunder the competitive grant pools.
At the other end of the spectrum there may be cheap and quick
teaching-only degree factories, perhaps dominated by new private
entities, even though there are relatively few of these that have
the quality controls of a University of Phoenix, which has proved
the most successful in the US.
The great majority of Australian universities will not fall into
either of these categories and will wrestle with their identities
and their missions.
For USC, our future is clear as an 'engaged', new generation
university, conducting regionally and internationally significant
research and teaching programs in clearly targeted areas that are
going to provide community benefits.
Because of the Nelson reforms we now have some exciting
opportunities with our increased funding to advance further our
research and teaching range of offerings.
We will need to prove that this highly qualified staff we
possess can also demonstrate that they too, in competition with
their peers for grants, are of world-class. The new environment of
higher education demands proven performance, and 'hiding one's
light under a bushel' is no longer an option for any academic in
any university.
Performance measures are already bearing on every aspect of the
sector - on Councils, on senior university leaders, on staff and on
students.
Having 'done it tough' in the early years when resources were so
scarce, we now have at least three or four years to significantly
enhance our standing. For many universities around the world, and
certainly in Australia, it is make or break time as the sectoral
environment changes dramatically. It will again be a survival of
the fittest and we shall be among them.
Professor Paul Thomas is Vice-Chancellor of University of
the Sunshine Coast