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VC’ S CORNER
10 areas of the university that are at the top level of achievement, according to ERA. You know, everything from plant genetics to geo-science or engineering, nursing, and of course even complementary medicine. For a small university, it’ s a fantastic research outcome.
[ The focus isn’ t just on saying ]‘ Isn’ t that wonderful that this has been achieved’. It’ s also about what it means for staff here. What does it mean for students here, and what does it mean for partners here? That’ s what we’ re on about.
Why did you choose Southern Cross University? I was very lucky, they chose me. The reason I’ ve been delighted to come is that I’ ve always, always been fascinated by that intersection between community and campus, and between academy and outcome – impact if you like. This is one of those places where you feel that the impact is just there for the taking.
Let me give you an example of what I mean. If you think about all the regions of Australia, one of the most wonderful is the Northern Rivers of New South Wales and South-east Queensland. Every international visitor who comes here wants to come up this route and visit Byron Bay and see the coast, see the Hinterland and so on. To be able to live and study here? What an amazing benefit that is. Think about it from the point of view not just of location, but opportunity.
You have been quoted as saying that you wanted to change Southern Cross University, can you outline specifically what that means? [ I have ] to talk to colleagues about this first before we announce all the plans, otherwise it would look like a fait accompli, and I don’ t have all the answers by any means in my head yet. I can give you the gist of it, though. If you’ re aspiring to be the most connected, the most personalised, the most progressive, and most studentcentred regional research university, then certain things can be enhanced. It seems to me the absolute awareness of issues such as first peoples in this area is a very prominent concern. The absolute awareness of the environmental movement, of sustainability, of organics, and the whole revolution and new generation of agriculture are absolutely pertinent to this region.
The way the applications of law are changing in all of those areas, that’ s absolutely pertinent to this university. If you look at how community health is changing, and the opening of the Gold Coast and so on, that’ s absolutely pertinent.
I’ ll give you a final example. There is no other university in the country with a major campus within 500 metres of an international airport. There is one in Southern Cross. Imagine the potential for collaboration there, not just in tourism and all the business areas, but everything to do with movement of people, and movement of ideas, the idea of how that can work in terms of education. Think about it that way.
You said you’ ve talked to some of your fellow academics about this. What have they said to you? One of the common phrases you get here is this strong sense of community and pride in it. For instance, I was lucky, the first thing I did in the position was a graduation ceremony on Saturday. The outgoing vice-chancellor presided over the morning one, and I was lucky enough to preside over the afternoon one. One of the graduates for a PhD was someone whose name was Gregory Smith, he received his doctorate. If you can imagine someone who went from an experience of homelessness to a PhD through partnership with the university, that’ s an amazing story. That’ s just an example of the transformative power of a place like Southern Cross, and of education.
You may know that the oldest ever PhD graduate in Australia was from this place. It shows [ that at any stage ] people can come here and advance and change their lives, which is fantastic.
You mentioned your predecessor, Peter Lee. How would you rate his performance at the helm of Southern Cross University? As I have said to Peter, I think his legacy is assured. When I came here and looked at the physical and infrastructure changes [ that have been achieved at SCU, I was amazed ]. Imagine a rain forest campus on the edge of an escarpment, and the first thing you see is this fantastic sports centre. The next thing you see is a new learning centre, and in between is almost like an agora, a town centre – all as you go up the hill. Everything is in this lush rain forest environment. It’ s absolutely a jewel. That’ s the Lismore campus.
Then you have the Coffs Harbour campus, which itself is unique in the country in that it is multi-sector. Also, its location, what it does, and the developing health and education needs it’ s going to address are unique as well. I mentioned before, on the Gold Coast there’ s uniqueness that people don’ t appreciate and don’ t realise. It’ s a great story to be told at Southern Cross, about where it is, what it is, and how different it is.
Is this all perhaps hinting at a possible marketing campaign for Southern Cross University in the works? Universities do sell themselves through what they achieve, but the story needs to be told in many ways, not just via marketing. There are many ways that academics tell the story at conferences, and students and your employers [ tell the story as well ]. Absolutely, we have to be clearer about the outcomes, but this is about deep awareness of where the university is and clarity about the proposition.
Southern Cross University has many students from disadvantaged backgrounds. How are you planning to help them? [ Disadvantaged is the right word because this ] isn’ t just about money. Opportunity, other aspects, language, first in family, all of these things are different challenges, but you are absolutely right. The perspective here is the number of students who are first in family is one of the highest in the country. The number of students who have parents who haven’ t been involved is high indeed. That is a fantastic opportunity for change.
The modern Australia is one that enables people to be gainfully employed, productively contributing throughout their life [ despite these challenges ]. That’ s why universities exist. That’ s our mission. There couldn’ t be a better place to do it.
I’ d like to ask you where you studied.
I studied at Charles Sturt University. Then you know what it’ s like in the regional campuses and how much of a change they can make.
SCU has the same story. Charles Sturt has done extremely well as a regional, multi-campus institution. We have a similar opportunity here to make that mark.
Don’ t forget, it’ s all about that personalisation at scale as you grow. If you can balance those as you grow, it’ s absolutely crucial. ■
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