VC’ S CORNER campusreview. com. au
Sound off at the break
Barney Glover
As the government reloads its higher-education reforms for a new push in 2015, University VCs give their opinions on the state of play.
Compiled by Amie Larter and Antonia Maiolo
Stephen Parker
Jan Thomas
Warren Bebbington
GLOVER: LINGERING UNCERTAINTY UNDERMINES ENTIRE SECTOR
UWS vice-chancellor professor Barney Glover continues to back the overall aim of the reforms. However, he believes ongoing political wrangling in the Senate and the government’ s apparent refusal to consider reducing the size of funding cuts are taking their toll.
“ The Australian Parliament has ended the year leaving its fourth-highest earning export, higher education, in regulatory limbo, with no political resolution in sight. Try to imagine the level of outrage a similar imposition would generate were it applied to the mining sector or manufacturers. This intolerable situation must stop. The government must reduce the level of the proposed funding cut to the sector and substantially so.
“ The government’ s higher education and research reforms seek funding efficiencies primarily via the prism of public-private benefit. The high quality of Australia’ s universities is testament to the importance of significant and reliable long-term public investment. However, higher education has an international context, in which quality and competitiveness are increasingly and appropriately under scrutiny and influenced by price.
“ As we have seen by recent announcements, universities can and will be responsible in pricing higher educational programs. To maintain and enhance the balance of public-private benefit, universities need continued robust Commonwealth investment; they also need to be afforded the capacity to responsibly set fees. A policy setting that responded to these imperatives would allow universities to capitalise on their considerable market advantages internationally, whilst building on their strengths and distinctiveness domestically, for the benefit of all Australians.
“ Government’ s additional push to open up Commonwealth-funded student places to non-university higher education providers will introduce a previously unknown level of diversity and scope to the sector. While progressive, changes of this scale need to be approached in a measured way. A three-year pause on the implementation of this aspect of the reforms would allow universities the time to adapt to a radically different regulatory environment. This modification would also reflect the importance of the broader value-adding community-focused roles universities undertake for the public benefit.
“ Most importantly, the uncertainty must end for those who are at the heart of the nation’ s world-class higher education system – students. As we draw to the close of the year, a period when students and parents make decisions on education that have lifelong implications – we are unable to provide them with the clarity decisions of this scale warrant. On so many levels, higher education is too important to leave hanging.”
PARKER: PYNE PACKAGE NOT SALVAGEABLE, 12-MONTH DISCUSSIONS NECESSARY
University of Canberra vice-chancellor Stephen Parker doesn’ t believe the represented bill will sufficiently address problems with the original package.
“ As the lone VC opponent of these
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