International Strength Deriving from Regional Engagement
5 November 2005
This week the University has been hosting a team from the
Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) in
Paris.
Associate Professor Ron Neller has been the project coordinator
at USC, Graeme Pearce as Executive Director of SunROC has been the
regional committee chair, and Adjunct Professor Steve Garlick has
been providing support to the OECD team led by Professor Charles
from the University of Newcastle, in the UK.
This University is one of twelve from around the world that has
been invited to be a case-study on regional engagement practices
and how they can be improved, for the benefit of the Sunshine Coast
region as a whole.
The choice of USC is important recognition of our success to
date, especially as we are the only southern hemisphere university
to be involved. University of Southern Queensland's operations at
Wide Bay have also been included in the Sunshine-Fraser Coast study
region.
The OECD panel has been visiting key sites around the region and
conducting a large number of interviews with leaders in a range of
organisations, as part of conducting an objective evaluation of
USC's impact.
In addition, some of the staff of the University have met with
the panel and provided information about our vision, policies, and
practices and in turn have been asked many questions.
It has been really reassuring to see how much high-level support
and involvement has been provided right across the Coast in what
would be a further step in gaining more international visibility
for USC.
A self-evaluation report has had to be prepared for the OECD
team, and its seven chapters cover an introduction to the region,
the system of higher education and where we fit into it, the
contribution of research to regional innovation, the labour market
and our teaching and learning programs, our contribution to social,
cultural and environmental development, our capacity for building
regional cooperation, and scoping future developments.
It is a very comprehensive draft report that provides guidance
and information for the OECD team, and will be the subject of
refinements throughout the next month to ensure it fairly reflects
the universities' roles in the Sunshine-Fraser region.
The final version will probably be nearly 200 pages of detailed
information about every facet of engagement.
The report will stress again that our engagement strategies
derive from extensive consultations in 1994-97 in which community
groups emphasised that they wanted a new type of University on the
Sunshine Coast, one that was directly engaged in the advancement of
the region, not only providing student access and conducting
research, but also becoming involved in tackling economic issues
and the lack of public infrastructure.
We have consistently tried to refine the ways we do this and our
most recent University plans further emphasise regional engagement
as a core value.
After ten years, operating with fairly limited resources, it is
encouraging to see that the OECD has recognised USC as an exemplar
amongst international universities, despite our relative newness
and small scale. We are clearly punching beyond our weight!
It will be interesting to receive the OECD panel's report so
that we can scrutinise it carefully, and develop ways in which we
can increase even further our relevance and impact. We have clearly
signalled that being regionally engaged does not limit us. Quite
the opposite, with increasing international recognition.
Professor Paul Thomas is Vice-Chancellor of University of
the Sunshine Coast