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UniSA’s chancellor Jim McDowell and VC David Lloyd with U of A
VC Peter Rathjen and chancellor Kevin Scarce. Photo: Supplied
Pollies praise uni merger
The universities of Adelaide and South Australia to
sound out merger with six-month collaboration period.
T
he University of Adelaide and the University of South
Australia are considering a merger to create a new, leading
Australian university in a move welcomed by both the state
and federal governments.
Both universities have agreed to explore whether a merged
institution would deliver better outcomes for South Australia and
for students. They have agreed to a six-month collaboration period,
with a report to be delivered by the end of the year.
“The national and international landscapes of higher education
are rapidly changing,” chancellors Kevin Scarce and Jim McDowell
said in a joint statement recently.
“Now is the time to facilitate a conversation about whether
uniting our universities would create a new, internationally
renowned university of scale that would be well placed to
anticipate and respond to this changing landscape.
“We need to determine whether this would enable us to deliver
greater access and benefits to students, create more opportunities
for staff, enable greater collaboration with and contribution to
our community and make greater economic, social and cultural
contributions to South Australia.”
South Australian Premier Steven Marshall said the two
organisations were to be applauded for addressing a long-standing
issue head-on.
“No matter what the outcome of this process, their intention to
work together shows that both institutions have the best interests
of South Australia and its prosperity at heart,” he said.
Federal Education Minister Simon Birmingham said the two
universities had distinctive but complementary missions.
“It’s pleasing to see the universities of Adelaide and South
Australia acknowledging that bold leaps may be required to
deliver higher education that best serves South Australia’s future
requirements,” he said.
However, the Greens have said the merger must not result
in job losses, axed courses or closed campuses. Greens higher
education spokesperson Sarah Hanson-Young said funding cuts
are pressuring universities to have such talks, and wants the
negotiations to lead to more South Australians accessing university,
not fewer. ■
AAP
NZ cuts funding
to free degrees
New Zealand education sector concerned about the effect on
education quality and university rankings.
S
4
torms are brewing in the land of
the long white cloud. After the
much-heralded announcement
of ‘free‘ university in October last year,
New Zealand’s Labour government has
frozen funding.
The action followed years of ad-hoc
funding freezes, and confirmed the worst
fears of sector leaders.
“Over the past 20 years, successive
governments have chosen to focus on
lowering the cost of university education
to students, rather than raising the quality,”
said Professor Stuart McCutcheon, chair
of Universities New Zealand and vice-
chancellor of the University of Auckland.
“Before this budget, our universities
were being funded below the OECD
average,” he added.
“We will see further slippage in
university rankings,” warned McCutcheon’s
colleague, Chris Whelan, executive
director of Universities New Zealand.
While McCutcheon claimed the freeze
will cost universities NZD$18–36 million
($16.5–36 million) a year, Education
Minister Chris Hipkins said the fee-
free measure, introduced in January
this year, had already saved the
country NZD$151 million ($139 million) in
student loan monies.
In Australia, student debt – all $1.7 billion
of it – remains a big issue, and is expected
to expand to $11.1 billion by 2025–26. ■