POLICY & REFORM
campusreview.com.au
New voice
ready to
shout
As the incoming head of the Regional Universities
Network, it’s important to continue to speak up
about what non-city institutions do and their
critical differences from their metro cousins.
vital role he believes regionally based universities play for many
Australians who may otherwise never even consider higher
education, and the challenges and opportunities such institutions
are set to face in the coming years.
Greg Hill interviewed by James Wells
CR: What do you hope to achieve during your time as chair of the
Regional Universities Network?
GH: To me, it’s about maintaining what RUN’s been doing over the
T
he incoming chair of the Regional Universities Network
already has his priorities set.
He will work to win more federal funding for students
taking on sub-degree or university bridging programs, and seek
better recognition of the vital role Australia’s non-metropolitan
institutions play.
University of the Sunshine Coast vice-chancellor professor Greg
Hill replaced University of Southern Queensland vice-chancellor
Jan Thomas – who is leaving Australia to lead New Zealand’s
Massey University – as RUN chair on November 17, 2016. RUN’s
other member universities are Central Queensland University,
Federation University Australia, Southern Cross University and the
University of New England.
Hill says he is excited about his new responsibility “at a time when
the government is poised to make major policy changes”.
“RUN has worked very well for regional universities, which provide
tertiary education to those who might otherwise have to leave their
home towns to access it,” he says. “I’d like to extend my thanks
to professor Thomas and the other vice-chancellors who have
previously served as RUN chair for the positive impact they have
made. I see my role as continuing this process of informing decisionmakers about the importance of education in regional communities
and the benefits it brings to the Australian economy as a whole.”
Hill sits down with Campus Review to give his views on the
12
last six years since it was founded, and that means making sure the
issues facing regional communities and regional universities are out
there where politicians can see them. [We need to continue to] be
an effective voice in regional Australia.
What would you say are the biggest challenges facing regional
universities?
The diversity of the regions and the demography of the regions
themselves. If you look at an organisation like RUN, you’ve got
essentially face-to-face institutions like USC or Fed Uni. You’ve
also got institutions that are predominantly online. That’s to do
with where the universities are headquartered, the size of their
catchment areas, all those sorts of things. Regional Australia does a
lot of the heavy lifting with regard to students who come from lowSES backgrounds, or from equity groups, for example. It’s all those
sorts of things. I’d hardly call them challenges. They’re a reality
of regiona