VC’s corner
according to what might be considered
a standard enrolment pattern or pace. At
graduation ceremonies, our graduates
are surrounded by their partners, children
and even grandchildren. They fit university
study into their lives, rather than fitting their
lives around university study. Performance
measures based solely on retention and
completion are counterintuitive to the
continued development of our regions.
A FAIRER PLAYING FIELD
RUN has recently released a report
commissioned from the Nous Group,
entitled A Performance Framework for
Regional Universities. The report, which
has been well received across the sector,
proposes a framework that evaluates
performance against Higher Education
Support Act (HESA) objectives and
contextualises retention measures according
to student profile. It recommends the
evaluation of university performance via a
governmental submission process. Such a
framework would create a fairer playing field,
where the higher education performance
of all universities would be assessed in an
equitable way, regardless of their location,
and cognisant of their unique profiles.
As well as education, the research
undertaken by regional universities is of
vital importance to the sustainability and
growth of regional Australia. USQ’s key
research areas include managing climate
risk, crop protection and biosecurity,
agricultural technologies, soil, irrigation,
materials engineering, astrophysics and
resilient regions.
USQ’s Institute for Resilient Regions is a
flagship example of the relevance of research
undertaken by regional universities. The
institute’s focus is on developing cultural
enterprises that support identity, wellbeing
and economic opportunity. Researchers
work on projects which improve the quality
of life for people living in our regions,
including working to improve rates of cancer
survival in the regions.
Another example of research focusing
on the needs of the regions is the USQ
project which resulted in the creation of
Irrimate, an irrigation management system,
to close the sizeable variations in whole-
of-farm water use efficiency across a wide
range of agricultural sectors, including
cotton. Over the last seven years, Irrimate
has saved Australia’s $1.3 billion cotton
industry more than 400 gigalitres of water,
which is equivalent to 80 per cent of the
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volume of Sydney Harbour. There are
many examples like this at USQ and other
regional universities, which bring researchers
into regional communities to solve real
world problems.
The final report of Professor John Halsey’s
Independent Review into Regional, Rural and
Remote Education, released in April, and the
report of the Senate Select Committee on
Regional Development and Decentralisation,
Regions at the Ready: Investing in Australia’s
Future, released in June, both reinforce many
of the key underpinnings of the proposed
National Regional Higher Education Strategy,
including establishing a national focus for
regional, rural and remote education as a
priority area.
The Halsey report notes that “vibrant and
productive rural communities are integral
to Australia’s sustainability and prosperity –
socially, economically and environmentally”,
and further that government and
departmental/sector policy settings are
crucial in achieving change. Regional
universities, in partnership with schools and
other educational providers, enable capacity
building for educators at all levels in their
regions, through professional development
programs, higher degrees, special interest
forums and mentoring activities. In this way,
regional universities impact positively on the
continued development of all aspects of
education in their communities.
Regions at the Ready specifically
mentions the role of universities in regional
communities, recommending that the
federal government strengthen and better
support regional universities as pivotal
institutions for social and economic
development in regional areas.
The report also recommends the
development of a national higher education
strategy, which, in concert with the
Performance Framework for Regional
Universities mentioned above, would
serve to define and address the issues and
challenges faced by regional universities.
It would also support regional universities,
where student cohorts significantly exceed
the national average for all equity groups,
to innovate and explore education models
which are more likely to enable such
students to be successful.
For everything regional universities
provide for their communities, each
university in return receives great value
from its investment in its community. The
very real benefits that USQ derives from its
community through resource sharing and
mutual interest, and through the ability to
focus teaching and research around local
needs and attributes, are fully appreciated
and valued by our staff and our students.
At USQ, our staff are passionate about
our students and bringing them to their full
potential. Keeping students in their region is a
shared goal of the university, local business,
industry and the community.
Healthcare and social assistance are
essential to well-established communities
such as Toowoomba, and the Ipswich and
Springfield areas, where there is an influx
of young families. USQ currently has 2277
domestic students studying our nursing and
midwifery programs, 740 in human services
and 305 in paramedicine, the majority of
whom, according to employment patterns
to date, will continue to live and work in their
regions after graduation.
Regional universities serve the
communities in which they are located and
with which they are so closely tied, and to
do this they must be able to continue to
build capacity, ensuring that resourcing and
infrastructure for both teaching and research
Regional Australia is home
to one-third of our population
and produces two-thirds of
our exports.
will allow them to meet the economic, social
and cultural needs of their often rapidly
growing footprint. This is not something
that regional universities would like to be
able to do, it is what they must do, to ensure
the development of regional solutions and
regional expertise, while focusing on national
and global connectivity.
There is no doubt that regional universities
will continue to do what we do so well, with
or without a national strategy for regional
higher education. However, for the benefit
of our communities, we need appropriate
policies and resources to support this
undertaking. Australia’s regional communities
deserve nothing less. n
Professor Geraldine Mackenzie is vice-
chancellor of the University of Southern
Queensland.
The assistance of Julie Shinners, director, Office
of the Vice-Chancellor, USQ, in preparing this
article is gratefully acknowledged.