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Fare thee well, campus?
Universities share their visions for
the campuses of 2019 and beyond.
By Loren Smith
T
he world’s oldest universities
weren’t just sites of learning. They
were also civic, religious and social
institutions. Without Oxford, Bologna
and Al Quaraouiyine, we wouldn’t have
modern-day ethics, or defences against
bygone empires or the omniscient power
of the medieval church. Universities
were also, and remain, focal points of
towns. Think Perugia in Italy, or any of the
‘university towns’ in the US.
Today, however, the digital revolution
(and, in some instances, cost-cutting) has
caused much of learning to be done online.
In the face of this, if universities are to
continue to fully serve their original purpose,
they must physically adapt. IRU members
Western Sydney, La Trobe and James Cook
universities claim to be doing just that.
At the IRU Senior Leaders Forum 2018,
they shared their realities and visions for the
campuses of 2019 and beyond.
WESTERN SYDNEY UNIVERSITY
“Organisations should focus on providing
workplaces that support the requirements
16
for privacy and focus, as well as interaction
and collaboration,” Bond University
assistant professor of organisational
behaviour, Dr Libby Sander, recently wrote.
Western Sydney University clearly didn’t
get her memo. Its new Parramatta campus
is completely open plan, including its
academic staff spaces, where students are
encouraged to ‘co-mingle’ with staff.
That’s not the only novel feature of the
high-tech building: in keeping with the
interactive learning trend, it also has no
lecture theatres. Its tutorial rooms operate
in a ‘flipped classroom’ style, where
content is learnt at home and on-campus
time is devoted to student led, small-group
discussion.
Another on-trend element is the building’s
interdisciplinary nature: it encompasses
the business, economics and engineering
faculties. Similar features are in place at the
university’s new Ngara Ngura Liverpool
campus.
These elements sound era-appropriate,
but how exactly do they future‑proof the
campus? By having students and staff
design them, said assistant vice-chancellor
Dr Andy Marks. “The objective of the design
is encouraging collaboration … Everything is
in service of that principle,” he said.
One relationship that’s been
strengthened by design is between
students and staff and another of the
building’s tenants: professional services
firm PwC. Not only do they share meeting
spaces, but given the Parramatta campus is
primarily used to teach business, students
undertake internships and staff work with
PwC on research and public engagement
activities, like lectures on economics and
politics. Also, PwC informs curriculum
design and directly recruits WSU business
graduates into its ranks – 29 just last year.
“Universities in Australia have a
challenging record on collaboration,” Marks
said. “One way of doing this is by being in
same space.”
WSU claims its new campuses also
encourage innovation. Campus Review
queried whether this was more than
a buzzword. It was: by creating the
first network of startup incubators in
Western Sydney, the university is literally
a site of invention. “Co-location is an
amazing device, and quite a simple way
to [collaborate],” Marks said. Like with
PwC, the university is also levering this
connection to inform curricula, apply
research, and even host classes.
Marks says that this move is strategic.
“All of the innovation funding from
governments goes to the big cities, [so]
the universities that aren’t necessarily in
capital cities or high-density areas are
adopting innovative ways to encourage
innovation. The challenge for regionally
based universities is to ensure that the
suburbs where the predominant workforce