Nick SaundersVice-Chancellor and President

The future of Higher Education in Australia:A Vice-Chancellor’s perspective

• Uncertainty

• Discomfort

• Opportunity

Current Characteristics of Australia’s Higher Education Sector

• Building Better Foundations

• Building University Diversity

• Research Quality Framework

• Learning and Teaching Performance Fund

• National Governance Protocols

• Workplace Relations

• VET – University linkage

• Voluntary Student Unionism

The Nelson Agenda

“Re-aligning Commonwealth-State responsibilities”• Almost all Australian universities established by State

legislation yet almost all government funding for them comes from the Commonwealth

• Other issues– Commercial activities, management of intellectual property

– Governance arrangements

– Reporting requirements

– Recognition and accreditation

– State taxes, general legislative requirements

Building Better Foundations

Building Better Foundations: Vice-Chancellors’ Views

• Not the main game

• Need for a national vision for higher education

• It ain’t broke, so why fix it?

• Devil in the detail

• State relationship valued

• Moderation of political influence

Source: C.Ewan (2005) Draft Report to DEST

Building University Diversity

“What is a university?”

• Approval and accreditation– MCEETYA protocols

• Breadth of activity– Research?

– Comprehensive teaching programs?

• Nature of the university experience

“I have sometimes thought of it as a series of individual faculty entrepreneurs held together by a common grievance over parking.”

From Clark Kerr, The Uses of the University, Harvard University Press, 1964.

“The multiversity is an inconsistent institution. It is not one community but several – the community of the undergraduate and the postgraduate; the community of the humanist…the social scientist and…the scientist; the communities of the professional schools; the community of all the non-academic personnel; the community of the administrators.

Its edges are fuzzy – it reaches out to alumni, legislators, farmers, businessman…..it looks far into the past and far into the future, and is often at odds with the present….Devoted to equality of opportunity, it is itself a class society.”

From Clark Kerr, The Uses of the University, Harvard University Press, 1964

Building University Diversity: Vice-Chancellors’ Views

• Mixed

• Traditional view prevails - full range of awards - education across number of disciplines - research active - community engagement - commitment to public good

• Arguments put forward by AVCC - are about quality and reputation - are NOT about limiting competition or private providers

Source: Quality and Diversity: A framework for approving higher education providers, AVCC, 2005

• No current institutional assessment of research quality (other than AUQA)

• Commonwealth funding linked to quantitative measures (a mix of inputs and outputs)– Research grants - publications

– HDR student numbers - HDR student completions

• Funding formulae have changed behaviour

Research Quality Framework

• Aims to assess QUALITY and IMPACT of publicly-funded research in Australia

• Emerging system– Most (or all) University staff– Peer-review panels, broad discipline focus

– Rating scale sensitive to discipline differences

• Implementation delayed until at least 2007

Research Quality Framework

Unresolved Issues• Assessment process

• Research training

• Measurement of impact

• Multidisciplinary research

• Early career researchers

• “Third stream” funding

Research Quality Framework

• Aims to reward and provide incentives for excellence in learning and teaching

• $252 million over 3 years (2006-2008)

• Two stage process– Stage 1: strong strategic framework (eligibility)

– Stage 2: performance-based allocation

• Indicators– Graduate perceptions (CEQ)

– Graduate outcomes (GDS)

– Student progression

Learning and Teaching Performance Fund

• Data on indicators collected by DEST

• Institution given opportunity to submit context statement

• Expert Panel– considers scores and university statement

– recommends score amendments, if indicated

– recommends to Minister where the scores demonstrate clear differences in learning and teaching

outcomes

• Minister makes determination

Learning and Teaching Performance Fund: Process

Workplace Relations

• Higher Education Workplace Relations Requirements (HEWRRs)

• Workplace Productivity Program

Higher Education Workplace Relations Requirements

• Choice in agreement making• Direct relationships with employees• Workplace flexibility• Productivity and performance• Freedom of association

• Building Better Foundations

• Building University Diversity

• Research Quality Framework

• Learning and Teaching Performance Fund

• National Governance Protocols

• Workplace Relations

• VET – University linkage

• Voluntary Student Unionism

The Nelson Agenda

Funding the Higher Education Sector

•Thanks for the freebies.

Thanks for the freebies

Thanks for the mergers, HECS and poor indexation.

Photographs courtesy of National Library of Australia and AUSPIC

Thanks for fees, red tape and…

Growth in university student numbers 1950 – 2003

0

100,000

200,000

300,000

400,000

500,000

600,000

700,000

800,000

900,000

1,000,00019

50

1954

1958

1962

1966

1970

1974

1978

1982

1986

1990

1994

1998

2002

Source: DEST Higher Education Student Statistics (incl. unpublished data)

Note: Includes all domestic and international (offshore and onshore) undergraduate and postgraduate students

Commonwealth Expenses 2004 - 05

Source: Treasury’s 2004 – 05 Budget paper

% total outlay

General public services 6.2

Defence 7.5

Health 18.2

Higher Education 2.5

Schools 3.8

Social security and welfare 43.0

Recreation and culture 1.2

Fuel and energy 2.0

Transport and communication 2.3

Average Annual Increase (1998 – 2004)

Index %

Schools Index 5.5

Average Weekly Earnings 4.5

Labor Force Index (Education) 3.8

Safety Net Adjustment 1.7

Impact of Under Indexation since 1996

State Contributions to Universities (2003)

State Contribution

$ millions

Payroll Tax Paid

$ millions

NSW 21.4 102.8

Victoria 58.4 80.5

Queensland 42.7 48.3

Western Australia 43.5 36.7

South Australia 23.0 22.9

Tasmania 6.5 6.8

Northern Territory 3.4 2.7

ACT 2.0 21.8

Source: Building Better Foundations for Higher Education in Australia, DEST 2005

University Income by Source

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

1961 1971 1981 1991 2001

State

Other

Student Fees

HECS

Commonwealth

Funding Per Commonwealth Funded Student Place, 2000 - 2008

End of Year Financial Results for NSW Universities$ million

2003 2004

Charles Sturt 10.5 4.0Macquarie 19.2 20.6

Southern Cross (2.7) (5.9)

New England 4.0 3.0

New South Wales 16.6 (9.9)

Newcastle (3.5) (26.9)

Sydney 94.7 77.9

UTS 12.4 (12.2)

Western Sydney 0.0 (26.9)

Wollongong 16.5 25.4

Total 168.5 49.0

Source: Auditor-General’s Report to Parliament 2005 Volume Two

“The role of Australian universities has changed beyond recognition in the past 30 years. …..They provide professional qualifications as well as generalist studies; basic research together with fee-for-service consulting; and teaching ranges from undergraduate humanities and science to in-house corporate training.

These disparate and sometimes conflicting roles have made the traditional government funding arrangements obsolete.”

From S.P. King (2001). The Funding of Higher Education in Australia: Overview and Alternatives Aust. Econ. Rev. 34:190-4

Index of revenue 1997 - 2003

0.90

1.00

1.10

1.20

1.30

1.40

1.50

1.60

1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003

Newcastle

Al l unis

Newcastle revenue vs expenditure 1997 - 2004

0.90

1.00

1.10

1.20

1.30

1.40

1.50

1.60

1.70

1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004

revenueexpenditure

Financial Performance (Adjusted)

“No pressure, no diamonds”- Mary Case

• Mission

• Focus

• Partnerships

• Flexibility

Grasping the Opportunity will depend on: