Campus Review Vol 29. Issue 9 september 2019 | Seite 12

international education
campusreview.com.au
New ways of looking at old problems
countries are unlikely to be on an upward
trajectory anytime soon.
RUTHLESS COMPETITION
Helping universities compete
for the best young minds.
By Trent Carmichael
U
niversity funding is complex.
More often than not, universities
face funding policies that reflect
historical arrangements and national politics
rather than forward-looking strategies and
principles. According to the Grattan Institute,
international students are now the biggest
source of revenue for Australian universities.
At the same time, however, funding from
the Commonwealth – traditionally an
important source for Australian institutions
– is falling away, with Universities Australia
reporting a $2.1 billion reduction over the
past 18 months, along with further cuts
of $328 million to research. With current
government funding for student places
frozen at 2017 levels, it is estimated the real
reduction will amount to a 5 per cent cut
by 2020.
Australia is not alone in this regard, with
US federal budget proposals released
earlier this year flagging funding cuts to
the US education department by as much
as 12 per cent next year. Overall, it’s fair
to say that government funding levels for
higher education institutions in developed
10
One of the upshots of this growing funding
pressure is that competition for students –
particularly overseas students – has become
fierce. And it’s a compounding issue, with
those universities that rank high on the global
university league tables increasingly likely to
attract more (and more talented) students in
addition to retaining and attracting leading
faculty members, in a virtuous cycle that only
widens the gap between university ‘haves’
and ‘have nots’.
So how can universities move up the
rankings? While there are many factors at play,
one of the most important is research quality
– not only because world-class research
attracts larger numbers of international
students, but because it attracts businesses
willing to partner with universities to sponsor
scholarships and commercialise research. This
in turn means more money in the university’s
coffers, catalysing the virtuous cycle of more
research and better rankings. According to
a recent study of international students, the
availability of scholarships was one of the
most important factors in their selection
decision, followed by teaching quality.
CORE COMPETENCIES
For most institutions, this creates a paradox:
how to fund greater investment in research
and teaching – in order to secure greater
funding – without access to greater funding
in the first place?
For many, a partial solution has been found
in outsourcing those services and facilities
viewed as ‘non-core’ – beginning with
student accommodation and more recently
other services such as parking and transport.
But this creates its own problems, because
– just to make things more complex – the
quality of education is far from the only
thing that students seek in an institution.
Other aspects of university life – such as the
quality of facilities and services, including
campus accessibility – are also important
differentiators, and become more so
when the quality of education is assumed.
While it makes sense for universities to
funnel the bulk of their funds towards their
core competencies, the danger is that
in outsourcing non-core areas, such as
infrastructure and facilities, they lose control
over the way these aspects are managed and
can no longer ensure sufficient investment in
their operation and upkeep – in turn, putting
off students who expect a certain standard.
FUTURE-GAZING CHALLENGES
To determine the optimal course of action,
universities are required to consider not just
their current requirements but also those of
the future. For example, land-use planning
is particularly critical for universities located
in urban areas to ensure growth can be
managed and not constrained over time. In
such circumstances, the utilisation of scarce
land for new parking facilities may not be the
best purpose, which means the focus should
be on optimising existing parking assets and
leveraging technology where possible.
While technology represents an
opportunity – particularly in regard to some
of the exciting trends in mobility – this
often comes with a capital requirement. In
addition, the pace of change can also serve
as a deterrent for decision-making, given the
risk of obsolescence.
These issues are undoubtedly complex
for universities to manage – particularly for
a non-core service like parking – but doing
nothing is not the answer, which provides the
impetus to look at partnership options.
OWN, OUTSOURCE OR SELL
Of course, the concept of partnering through
an outsourced arrangement and/or selling
assets so as to focus on a core responsibility
is hardly new – governments, corporates and
healthcare providers have been doing this
for years. But neither option comes without
challenges.
If you choose to sell, you can only sell your
assets once. And you necessarily lose control
over how they are maintained, managed and
operated.