JCU and the responses to Bradley and Cutler - so far

Dear Colleagues,

I have been waiting for the complete set of announcements by the Federal Government on the Bradley Review recommendations before preparing this post. While there is more to come – at Budget time if not earlier – I thought I’d share with you my thoughts on the response so far.

Let me start by saying the Government’s response is very good for James Cook University and very good for the sector and the country.

A student demand driven model is appropriate. Universities will be paid for each student who studies at that University. It means that each University will have to be clear about its particular strengths and ensure that programs are high quality and distinctive – worthy of student interest and attention.

Of course, higher education isn’t a perfect market. Professional accreditation amd associations moderate what can be offered where, and there are likely to be some rules about who offers what. Maybe the latter will be made plain through compacts agreed between universities and the Government.

Some are worried about larger metro unis expanding hugely and compromising the ability of others to attract students. I suspect a more likely response by the metro unis is to focus on quality, particularly where greater $$ per student are on offer. No matter what others’ response might be, the point for us is to continue with our curriculum refresh and ensure that our programs are high quality and distinctive – worthy of students’ attention.

The bold equity and participation targets confirmed by the Government – 40 percent of 25-34 year olds holding a bachelors degree by 2025 and 20 percent of students to come from low SES backgrounds – are good targets. They represent a worthy aspiration for our country and are likely to lead to enhanced national productivity and international competitiveness. JCU – and other universities like us (Flinders, Newcastle, La Trobe, Murdoch and Griffith) - were established to provide enhanced educational opportunity, in places that the older universities would not or could not service. Accordingly, most have always featured a high proportion of low SES students. Certainly, more than 20 percent of JCU's student body comes from low SES backgrounds. Furthermore, it is in regional Australia and in outer metro areas where the population whom we need to engage in higher education to approach these targets resides. Our University will continue to play a leading role in this.

A new regulatory agency is nothing to fear. Why would we be concerned about a rigorous test of the quality of our programs and activities? Like audits in general, the aim is to secure improvements in what we do and how we do it. I’m always very happy to accept any help we can to ensure that we are performing in an optimal way – and to secure advice about how we can improve.

Finally, the research announcements, while less specific than the education announcements, serve to confirm the Government’s concern to ensure that research excellence is pursued in Australia. We should have no argument with that either.

The challenge for the Government will be to ensure that the new approach provides the opportunity for fresh areas of research excellence to emerge in new places. The alternative would be to freeze-frame current research excellence. Imagine if that had happened in, say, the 1950s or 1980s. Much of the exciting research activity emergent since then would not have happened or perhaps would have been stillborn. I'm sure the Government is alert to this issue and the policy challenge it represents.

Of course, we don’t yet have a lot of detail. Nor do we understand the level of funding that might accompany the announcements and directions identified. And the devil is always in the detail. But from my perspective, we should warmly welcome the announcements to date and look forward to participating fully in the future of higher education in Australia.

I’ll pick up some of these themes and more in the Staff Forums planned for the end of this week in Townsville and early next in Cairns. I look forward to discussing all this and more with you then. Staff can add their thoughts to this post on our Discussion forum.

Cheers,
Sandra