policy & reform campusreview. com. au
Advancing the public good
The University of Technology Sydney recently hosted a symposium to discuss the public role of universities and their benefit to the public.
By Loren Smith
The need for universities to focus on research and education – not marketing – was a major topic at a recent symposium on advancing the public benefit of universities.
Professor Raewyn Connell of the University of Sydney said that despite their public visages, Australian universities have been“ privatised through the back door”. This has led to a“ distortion” of wealth and power on knowledge, where it is manipulated by state and corporate actors.
A historical example of this is the development of the atomic bomb by US scientists. A modern and enduring example is the USYD VISA student card.
Professor Stuart Macintyre of the University of Melbourne appeared to agree with Connell. He described how universities have been“ caught in a growth trap” following their collective breach of a gentleman’ s agreement not to advertise. Now, with the rise of partially business and foreign government-funded centres
Photo: Christian Koop
Photo: UTS Jumbunna Institute for Indigenous Education & Research
like USYD’ s United States Study Centre, universities are potentially further distanced from advancing the public good – which they initially set out to do.
Yet UTS associate professor James Goodman is hopeful about universities shedding these non-public-centric influences. He said that for the first time since the pre-Dawkins Revolution era, there are rumblings about getting rid of student loans entirely, and returning to the fully government-funded university system.
In his view, this is a step towards“ seeing no private benefit of universities”; they would be completely for the public’ s benefit. This is a dramatic turnaround from last year, where many universities went against the public’ s wishes by favouring fee deregulation.
“ This is a lesson for universities,” Goodman said.
“ They did not lead the struggle, [ but they ] must do so now.
“ The public have great trust in universities. It’ s just a question of manifesting that.”
UTS desires to practise what it preaches. The executive director of social justice at UTS, Verity Firth, promoted the university’ s Social Impact Framework.
However, Campus Review spoke with an audience member who wasn’ t impressed with UTS’ s slick social impact offering. A former nursing academic, she said that universities have more immediate issues to grapple with, like the pressure to avoid failing international students for commercial reasons, and the fact that in her industry, there aren’ t enough local placements for graduates.
In her opinion, until universities are free from financial motivations, such issues will remain, and public benefit should be relegated to their aspirations list.
LEADING SOCIAL CHANGE But the symposium wasn’ t all about universities’ bottom lines. More philosophically, their social role was discussed. Connell stressed that this element of universities – which is in the public’ s interest – must be defended. For example, universities are instrumental in researching solar power in the context of climate change. This can’ t be done, she said, with increasing staff cutbacks and a resultant cutthroat culture.
She also noted the capacity of universities to fulfil the“ social need for truth”. Again using climate change as an example, she explained how universities are relied upon for producing and disseminating“ testable knowledge”. This is especially important in an era where there’ s a“ massive output of scepticism” from energy companies, and politicians frequently buy into this questioning.
Goodman similarly emphasised the role of universities in this respect. He said universities have a responsibility to assume leadership in, for instance, social issues, because“ when you don’ t take a stance, you do take a stance”. In 2003, UTS ignored his plea to publicly condemn the Iraq War, citing“ a need for neutrality”. Now, he thinks it’ s advancing its public-oriented, leadership role: this year, UTS officially supported marriage equality.
Another social issue universities can take stances on is fossil fuel divestment, Goodman said. UTS committed to this by the end of 2016 but did not achieve it.( A UTS spokesperson advised Campus
Review that the university could“ better align issues of environmental, social and governance dimensions” via a different pathway, though their“[ investment ] policy now aligns with the principles for responsible investment”.)
On the other hand, Macintyre took a more local approach to universities addressing social issues. He relayed how, decades ago, academics like famed economist Douglas Copland would offer tax advice to individuals on the street. However, this kind of interaction no longer occurs, as academics“ simply don’ t have time” for it, and with commercialisation“ now, universities have engagement policies”. Macintyre would like to see a return to academic accessibility.
As for whether this and other social initiatives will occur, in Firth’ s words,“ watch this space”. ■
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