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The community way
A tertiary education campus can be a significant asset to a community, offering long-lived economic, social and cultural benefits that arise from the increased participation and lifelong educational attainment, research and innovation, and direct and indirect economic activity. Also, studies have shown that students who matriculate locally are more likely to live locally after graduating. For these reasons, tertiary campuses are also politically attractive.
Unfortunately, history has shown that for many communities, the establishment of a local satellite campus, let alone a standalone institution, is often unrealisable. The reasons for this are many and varied,
Local ownership of satellite campuses may be the answer to greater reach for unis and better service to the places they reside.
By Jonathan Chew and Doug Fraser
but they usually come back to the high costs and limited funding for new tertiary infrastructure and the expectation that eligible students are prepared to travel.
The increasing availability of online education alternatives can go some way to alleviating poor learning experiences in the regions. However, as Andrew Norton and others have argued, a quality on-campus learning experience, with its associated social interaction, peer support and networking, will continue to be in high demand for a large proportion of the future student population, including those in regional and outer urban areas.
There are many ways universities and communities try to overcome the obstacles and establish campuses in regional or outer-urban areas. These efforts are characterised by high community engagement, ownership and investment.
The most prominent example has been CQU’ s‘ Bendigo Bank’ model of campus development. CQU now boasts more than 25 physical points of presence of varying sizes across Australia, led by 11 regionally based associate vice-chancellors.
One less prominent but no less significant approach can be described as the community-owned tertiary education campus – exemplified by the successful Geraldton Universities Centre, operating since 2001, and the recently established, smaller, Cooma Universities Centre.
These facilities are owned and controlled by the local community, either through the local government or a stand-alone company structure. Universities( and other education providers) operate within such campuses under contractual arrangements with the governing body. These governance arrangements at Geraldton and Cooma are the key to ensuring that the campuses
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