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so we can now work with you to develop a program of learning that will take you all the way out to your graduate qualifications .’
That ’ s the thesis behind it . We trialled a version of this through our bespoke degree program so that you could come in , have a conversation with us , and we work with you to figure out what subjects you ’ d like to study that would cohere into a degreelevel program , or a diploma or certificate , depending on how far you want to go . Future-Fit argues that personalised learning is both that model , but also as we develop that approach to curriculum content and the design of the learning experience , that we will do that in partnership with our students . One of the strongest things that came from the student engagement in the creation of our new strategy is that students are demanding a stronger voice in the way that learning is structured , and for it to be self-directed .
By the time you get to the second and third year of your undergraduate program you need to be a self-directed learner . Particularly , if you ’ re going to go onto masters or higher level qualifications , how do we absolutely engage to transition our students to be self-directed learners ? Our model is to do that through a co-created co curated model , so cocreation and co-curation of that approach .
Is this a play by UNE to approach the issue of learning journeys differently from other universities so you might gain a strategic advantage ? To some extent , yes . It ’ s about differentiation . I would also argue that UNE has probably been doing this a lot over the course of its 60-odd years , and that we ’ re now using technology to enable it to be scaled up . We ’ ve now got technologies and learning management platforms that allow you to build digital portfolios that can be readily exposed , curated and warehoused , so that individuals are building a repository of evidence of their ability to meet particular learning outcomes , rather than UNE being the only architects of that formal journey .
I think it is something different from the route that other institutions are taking , but we ’ re also focusing on work-integrated learning . We ’ ve got what we call the UNE Tamworth model where we ’ ve been given support by the NSW government to build a new campus in Tamworth , but we ’ ve also set up classrooms and teaching facilities in each of the city ’ s industry precincts . We now have classrooms sitting in the middle of those industry enclaves so that all of our students are having a work integrated experience while they ’ re in the university classroom .
We now have industry colleagues who are getting a micro-certificate in being industry tutors to our students . We ’ re actually fully knitting the classroom experience into industry practice . We ’ re bringing industry into the classroom as opposed to looking at it from the outside , and that will drive the innovation ecosystem that ’ s necessary to add value into the primary production industries of Australia . It ’ s a virtuous circle . We just have to engineer it to operate at the right speed .
How will you measure what success for Future-Fit at UNE looks like ? We have a broad range of research platforms that are highly rated in conventional rankings , and our university status is deeply important to us at the same time as developing these new concepts of education .
We ’ re also working with a small global group now to look at defining the success of regional universities in a slightly different way . We are a different beast to a large metro-based university institution . We have a different role to play , and so not all the measures that we treat as conventional indicators of university performance are going to suit this model that we ’ re developing .
We ’ ve set up a working group where we ’ re going to look at different indicators of performance , outcomes and success for any leading regional university . We ’ re the only university in Australia that has a smart regions incubator in three different locations in the state . We put that SRI into a benchmarking exercise of global regional incubators , and we ’ ve been ranked in the top 10 to 16 globally .
Are you a very different leader from Australia ’ s other university VCs , now you ’ re trying to build a very different culture at UNE ? I think I ’ m trying to be . I ’ m very aware that I ’ m a product of the global higher educational system . I ’ ve had the great fortune to be part of leading universities in the UK , New Zealand and now Australia , and I ’ ve also worked for major organisations in Africa and Southeast Asia looking at educational programs and capacity building .
I think I ’ m very fortunate that I had a great career as a researcher , and then I became involved in actually running universities and looking at the power of universities to change people ’ s lives through education .
It ’ s not just education , it ’ s the university connected to that problem holistically as an entity that has a role to play . Does it mean that we have to operate differently at the university ? We ’ ll , we have to do both . I need classic academic and technical people who understand quality assurance , who breathe in deeply the oxygen of effective curriculum development and meaningful learning and teaching .
I also need people who are prepared to flex in an entrepreneurial way around how we deliver our teaching , redefine it , turn it through 90 degrees and think differently about the role of the tutor , think differently around the role of the course coordinator .
I think those who seek professional careers in universities are intrinsically entrepreneurial .
I think people will cleave to this model because I think those who seek professional careers in universities are intrinsically entrepreneurial . They really do want to break boundaries . They do want to be at the forefront of innovation , and we ’ re giving people permission to go ‘ gangbusters ’ in the sense that if you ’ re really wanting to flex your entrepreneurial muscle within an academic university context , then we have a place for you .
We ’ re having to look at the way that we recognise academic and professional promotion and career progression . We are looking at different ways in which we operate on a team-based model . Future- Fit can only be achieved if we operate as multi-professional dynamic teams . What we do in Tamworth will be different from what we do in Armidale . Each one needs a place-based solution to the particular challenges of those communities , but everybody needs to know that they are receiving the same quality experience . ■
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