VC’s corner
campusreview.com.au
way that has emerged – and it is only
one way – is on things like VC pay and
remuneration, and that suspicion that
we’re now acting more as businesses
would act.
Of course, salaries in Australia are
significantly high for VCs, as they are in
the UK, so there is an interesting challenge
there that could well play out in the
future, but I think what is important is that
universities are seen to be acting much
more for the broader, public good. In
doing that, those other issues do not arise.
They only arise as a result of the suspicion
that we’re acting only as businesses and
are not actually concerned about the
broader wellbeing of society.
You suggest establishing a teaching
excellence framework as one way
Australian universities can firm up public
trust. Can you talk about that and your
other ideas on what universities can do to
prevent a decline in public trust?
An element of decline occurs because
we are seen to be acting only in our self-
interest, which is not the case, but that is
often the perception.
One example is being more involved in
the broader educational performance of
young people in society. An example I give
is when the UK government suggested
that universities should be more engaged
in supporting schools. A few colleges and
a group of universities very quickly said,
“But we would never do that.” I think that
led to a negative reaction, kind of like,
“The moment we ask you to engage more
broadly, you immediately run away and
say, ‘I won’t do that because it’s not my
core business’.”
I think in the past, there might have been
an expectation that universities would’ve
recognised that actually there is an
element of self-interest in doing that.
It’s also a good thing to do. In other
words, if we really believe in the excellence
of education and its importance, especially
with the changes in the workforce that
are going to happen in the future, then
surely you would want to support the
government and society in having the
greatest number of people properly
educated to prepare for that change, not
just at university level, although that, of
course, is our core business.
Another element of it is the general
accountability of universities, where I think
it’s not unreasonable that the government
should say, “If I’m spending a pound on
universities, I could spend a pound on
healthcare. I could spend a pound on
other government activities. Why should
I spend a pound on universities? What is
the value of that investment?”
I think in future years, we will look
back with some astonishment that the
only assessment of the quality of higher
education in the past was research
excellence. While that’s important, what
the government in the main is paying for
is the education of people, of students.
Not to measure whether that’s successful
or not will, I think, in 10 years’ time,
sound bizarre. But of course, that’s the
situation that we have in Australia and
that’s the situation we had in the UK a few
years ago until the teaching excellence
framework appeared.
I do think that it’s crazy for the sector to
be pushing against those things, and my
feeling is that it’s inevitable that across the
world, there will be more attention paid
to measuring the added value that our
university provides in terms of teaching
excellence, and that we will have to
justify that we really are adding value to
individuals’ lives.
You talk about the term ‘unbundling’ and
raise an issue with it. Can you define what it
is and explain your point of view?
There is a small, growing idea that
universities could be a kind of pick and
mix experience, where you choose the
things you want to do and pay for them,
and elect not to do the other things and
therefore not pay for them.
My view is that on the one hand, we need
to embrace logical and sensible change.
For example, the measuring of teaching
excellence is not an unreasonable idea. In
fact, the public would find it bizarre if we
were resisting such a thing.
However, in the marketisation of higher
education, I think there are limits to the
market, because there are certain things
that become very difficult for the student
to be sole determinant of, particularly the
content of a program of study or what
elements of study the student might
choose to participate in.
I think that represents a real danger to all
students because, by necessity, there will
be some things that some students need
and some things that other students need,
but giving a rounded experience I think
is really important, especially considering
that the needs in terms of employment
and skills for students are becoming
greater particularly in relation to the softer
skills, not just the academic knowledge.
Are you referring to the fact that it might be
important for students to be physically on
campus to study, so that they can have that
social interaction aspect of university?
Yes. I think it depends, of course, on
each group and the life experience of
the individual, but for young students
coming to university straight from a school
experience, I do believe that that’s where
they will develop many of those skills that
are really important. I do reference in the
paper the fact that, particularly in the UK,
it is very difficult to encourage students to
participate in study abroad, and yet all of my
academic staff, all of our experience and all
of the evidence would suggest activities like
placement and work and study abroad are
the most transformational things students
can do as part of their higher education.
If universities do not
change, and the world does,
we may forever remain a
problem child or – probably
worse – become irrelevant.
Yet these are not necessarily the things they
would naturally choose to do.
Having chosen to do it or being
encouraged do it, they then have an
experience that they say was the best they
ever had. But if asked if they would choose
to do it at the beginning, they would often
say no.
There are elements that we probably
have to build into the curriculum which
they may not ordinarily choose, but we
know are the things that will make the
biggest difference to them and their
life chances.
If you could summarise your speech in
terms of the key message for Australian
universities, what would it be?
We need to rediscover our role as enabling
civic institutions. We need to rediscover
responsibilities for the broader community
that we serve, not just the students that
we teach. ■
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