VC’ s corner
This planning needs to take place alongside the university workforce adapting to rapid changes occurring in modes of course delivery and in technology-enabled learning. In the past year it appears that an accelerant has been added to the mix of global factors that are driving changes in learning and teaching including MOOCs.
So should we be spooked by MOOCs – or should we be excited about how open educational resources will transform learning worldwide? The 2012 Study of Undergraduate Students and IT by the EDUCAUSE Centre for Applied Research found that two out of every three students considered technology elevates the level of teaching, and that open educational resources and game-based learning were at the top of the list of what students wished their teachers used more.
Supporting students to harness knowledge to understand their world and its past, to solve complex problems to apply to case or clinical studies or as a platform for creativity will always be our core business; and the new technologies may well support a new and more satisfying engagement between student and academic – if we get it right. This will require, however, a workforce that is brave and prepared to experiment. It may be time to evolve our current view of what constitutes the“ academic” to a more hybrid model of someone who has creative expertise in the development and implementation of technology-enabled learning coupled with deep disciplinary knowledge.
Finally, one key issue is how to ensure that we recruit the world’ s best professional staff in areas such as human resources, marketing, IT, finance, planning, student support and all of the other critical areas that determine the competitive capacity of billion-dollar enterprises. How do we ensure that the brightest graduates across the relevant disciplines are recruited into structured career pathways and develop as higher education professionals? It is time to take stock of the impact of the future research and education settings on the role, performance and career requirements of all – not just half of the workforce in our universities.
At the University of Newcastle we have been working hard to develop our Future Workforce Plan as part of our NeW Directions Strategic Plan 2013-2015.
The foundation of our plan is that it is performance at the global level that will ensure the university can deliver the worldclass innovation required to build regional and national productivity. It is in this future context that we have committed to a number of innovative strategies designed to build a career advantage for all of our staff. Many universities, including the IRU, are engaging in similar planning exercises suggesting that the time may well be right to work as a sector on shaping what the future university workforce should look like.
In this context the IRU has identified the future university workforce as a priority issue to explore during 2013, stimulating discussion and provoking debate in the lead-up to hosting a national forum with participation from all stakeholders. We warmly welcome input, support and engagement from across the sector with this forum, which will not be captured by the compelling issues of the present, but rather will address the challenge of this, the next frontier. ■
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Australian Research: Strategies for Turbulent Times, Barlow Report; Barlow, T. 2011
Professor Caroline McMillen is vicechancellor of the University of Newcastle.
As a hypothetical, imagine the impact of positioning the future workforce with all nations across Asia, including Australia, through an“ Asian Research and Innovation Council” in 2020 to drive programs similar to those that have driven research expansion in the European Union.
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