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Regions on the rise
University of Sunshine Coast VC Helen Bartlett . Photo : supplied
New USC VC discusses her new strategy and culture changes post-COVID .
Helen Bartlett interviewed by Martin Betts
Helen Bartlett , VC of University of Sunshine Coast joined the HEDx podcast to outline her new university strategy . It has a strong focus on her people and the culture of the university and how that relates to the context in Southeast Queensland .
Her language is of opportunity and partnerships and an acknowledgement of how her region is growing , with the added ingredients of an Olympics in her backyard on the horizon . Are we starting to see a divergence in leadership focus between our global players and those serving particular local needs ?
MB : What was it like to take up the reins at USC and return to Queensland in 2020 amid the pandemic and lockdowns ? HB : I had a very interesting journey from Victoria to Queensland , amid closing borders and all the rest of it . By the time I got here , the university had got over that initial shock . They had transferred all the teaching online . They had already been working on the budget adjustments , and so on . And in a sense , they were starting to already think about what the rest of the year would look like , particularly with the gradual return of students .
With the prospect of the Olympics just over 10 years away , do you think we ’ ll have a ‘ Team Queensland ’ vice chancellor ’ s approach to that ? And do you see that opening up opportunities for universities in this part of the world ? Very definitely . We have a very close relationship with a number of our local government councils . And they of course were particularly involved in all the preparations for the proposal to put forward Queensland for the next Olympics . So that relationship and around what part we could play has already started and I think we ’ ll definitely have opportunities there .
Our campus on the Sunshine Coast has amazing sporting facilities , including high performance sporting teams . We are part owner of the Lightning Sunshine Coast netball club . So , sport is very much one of our areas of strength and we would certainly be looking to partner and contribute where we can .
Could you share with us where you ’ re up to in both the business continuity and budget recovery that every university has had to deal with ? A lot of work has been done to look at our business efficiency , as every university has been doing . I guess in one respect ,
we ’ ve been quite lucky not to be so exposed to the international student market with around 12 per cent international enrolments . While that ’ s considerably lower than many other universities , it ’ s still significant for a relatively small university .
We ’ ve had to introduce a raft of initiatives to reduce expenditure , for example restructuring of our academic workforce and organisational structure . We now have a very flat structure of six schools , with no faculties .
We ’ ve rethought a lot of our infrastructure projects , which actually is timely anyway in this environment . We ’ ve had to reimagine what our campuses are going to look like into the future . So all of this work is well underway and the university is already embarking on a new teaching and learning plan and strategic reset .
There ’ s a big focus on what we ’ re going to do with our people , and how we will support and develop them and what kind of culture we want to create for the future . Opportunity is a big part of our strategic refresh because we want to support more people from our regions to achieve their ambitions through education . So it ’ s an affirmation of our purpose as a university . And along with that goes another pillar around employability , whether it ’ s making or taking jobs , we want to continue to support our students to work , contribute and innovate in their local communities . More broadly , we aim to create global
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