policy & reform
faculty to succeed they need to have a solid background in academia.
“ An academic grounding can only be obtained by an academic career. You need to respect what universities are all about but there is no doubt that you need business training to understand the financial issues associated with a tertiary institution.”
Byrne is a pioneering neuroscientist who has also completed an MBA. He had a very prominent career in medicine holding down positions such as director of neurology at
Professor Phil Dolan
St Vincent’ s Hospital and was a founding director of the Melbourne Neuromuscular Research Unit and the Centre for Neuroscience.
He was admitted as an Officer of the Order of Australia in 2006.
“ They key is to identify talent both within and outside the university that can make a difference,” Byrne says.
“ There is a range of management, leadership and overall business courses that people can undertake to get their skills up to scratch at Oxford, Harvard and the like. It is becoming more important to seek and raise funds from nontraditional sources and to manage bigger budgets which puts added pressure on management within universities.
“ With the added pressure of a rising Australian dollar and uncertainty within Asia, business skills within the tertiary sector are needed more than ever,” Byrne says.
Professor Peter Hoj, vice-chancellor and president of the University of Queensland, is another who has worked in both academia and the business world.
“ You need a vast array of skills to be a vice-chancellor these days,” Hoj says.“ With the high Australian dollar, cheaper courses in America and a greater emphasis on retaining and growing the income received from international students, the pressure is on.
“ The challenge for universities is to get it right both at a learning level as well as attracting new income. We don’ t have shareholder pressure like a major corporation but we need to undertake a cultural change for people to understand that academia now has to think like a business.”
That challenge is upon universities now and will only increase in the future. ■
You are invited to attend a Murdoch University Symposium.
“ The 21st Century University:
Transformation and resilience in a knowledge economy.”
Monday 4 March, 2013.
CRICOS Provider Code 00125 J MK _ MUR2862
The idea of what a university is has changed. We’ ve seen them go from places of intellectual traditions to centres of innovation and research. So what’ s next?
What role could or should a university have in a rapidly changing global environment?
We’ ll open up this question for discussion and debate at the Murdoch University Symposium, on The 21st Century University.
It’ s not simply thinking about what universities will be like. It’ s a chance to bring together leading thinkers, academics and others from business, government and the community, to rethink what a future university could be like.
The plenary presentation will be delivered by Professor Tony Chan, President of Hong Kong
University of Science and Technology. Professor Chan will speak on some of the major global trends in higher education and the stellar rise of his university into the ranks of the world’ s top 100.
Other keynote speakers you’ ll hear from include Professor Mark Considine, Dean of Arts, University of Melbourne, to discuss what makes the university enterprise distinct and Thomas Docherty, Professor of English and Comparative Literature, University of Warwick, to discuss why the‘ University Idea’ matters.
This Symposium will present an opportunity for anyone with an interest in the future of tertiary education to help shape the universities of the future.
For more information and to register for this complimentary one-day event go to murdoch. edu. au / symposium or call Cat Bevan-Jones on( 08) 9360 6233. Bookings are limited so be quick.
www. campusreview. com. au February 2013 | 17