Content
Impressive outcomes for University
19 August 2006
Quality, diversification, and competition are dominating the higher education landscape and both major political parties are, in these major respects, indistinguishable. Minister Julie Bishop recently made a major policy speech in Perth, and Jenny Macklin has released ‘Australia’s Universities’, confirming their parties’ directions.
It’s always interesting at this time of year, therefore, to read the independent ‘Good Universities Guide’, which evaluates the performance of all the country’s universities in a range of categories.
This year the progress of USC is more evident than in any previous year. In some key categories USC is performing exceptionally well.
It has gained, on a scale where 5-star is the highest rating, almost 50 percent of 4 and 5 star ratings across the categories, leaving many older, more established universities in its wake.
On staff qualifications, for example, USC is only surpassed by one other university in Queensland, one that’s been around for a about a century.
On teaching quality, conveying important generic skills, attracting a high proportion of school leavers, overall education experience, getting a job, and gender balance, USC is one of the country’s leading universities with 5-star rating, again leaving some of its Queensland counterparts languishing in some categories on 1-star ratings.
There is, however, no room for complacency as we still have a lot of work to do in research, broadening our discipline profile, including a wider postgraduate range, starting salaries, and a few others.
But with the pace of development that we are experiencing, and the plans to further our research capacity that are being prepared, there is little doubt that this success story is just beginning.
If we had widespread support for the collocation of the hospital, there is no doubt that the Coast and the University would be taken to a new level, with world-class potential within our grasp.
Professor Paul Thomas is Vice-Chancellor of University of the Sunshine Coast