VC’ s corner
Federation is the name for regional success
Australia’ s newest regional university, Federation University Australia, comes into existence on the first day of the new year. By David Battersby
I have spent the largest part of my working life in regional universities. During that time I have seen how regional centres, large and small, have greatly benefited from the presence of a university or campus.
The educational, social, commercial and cultural benefits of a university campus in regional Australia are immense. In just one example, the University of Ballarat is responsible for 12 per cent of the economic activity in the Ballarat region. Other regional universities in Australia cite similar figures.
As a member of the Regional Universities Network, I have had the pleasure over the past two years of working with many regional vice-chancellors and their universities. All of them are imbued with optimism about their institution’ s future. I believe that optimism is justified.
Yet for all of our success it is natural that some communities doubt or question the need for change. This is particularly so when universities contemplate a change of name and organisational structure.
Since the Federal government reforms of the 1980s, campus and university mergers and name changes have not been common in Australia. The Bradley Review excited some interest five years ago but much of it waned.
Elsewhere, such changes have been more frequent, which is probably not surprising given there are about 11,000 universities worldwide. In Wales, there has been a drawn out and tumultuous process with new higher education institutions emerging from the break-up and reconfiguring of the University of Wales. In Russia, significant university restructuring and mergers have been underway as national research universities are created.
And for more than a decade, a number of universities in England have merged and consolidated campus arrangements with
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