Universities ‘need funding’ to adapt to community change

Australian university campuses are not responsive enough to changes in the communities they serve, a Melbourne forum has heard.

University of the Sunshine Coast vice-chancellor Helen Bartlett said campuses all over Australia were “no longer meeting” local needs because of their “dwindling infrastructure”, unsuitable mix of courses and “inability to keep up with the digital technology demands [that] students are absolutely screaming for”.

“I’ve led campuses in communities that are dying because of industry change,” she told the Changing Higher Education for Good conference organised by advisory firm HEDx. “I’m currently leading a university in an area of huge…population growth. That impacts enormously on how you structure your operations and…what you do.”

Professor Bartlett said the Universities Accord report had not paid enough attention to the impact of community change on the delivery of higher education. She said universities needed to be able to mould their services to the needs of their catchments.

“Some communities have huge growth in their populations,” she told Times Higher Education. “Others are experiencing an aging of the population and a [youth] decline. We have to accommodate that in…the delivery being offered through campuses that have been there for many years, and sometimes passed around from university to university.”

She said universities should work more with vocational colleges, local councils, non-profit organisations and other universities to “tap into” community needs and deliver services that transcended higher education. “That means a shared approach rather than one university being responsible for often quite ageing infrastructure which is no longer fit for purpose.

“There’s a lot we can do with community education [but] it’s always [seen as] non-core business. The challenge is to [recognise] the role that a university can play in supporting that kind of education. At the moment, it’s simply up to the goodwill of a university. [It should] be recognised and funded for it.”

Professor Bartlett said universities should not withdraw campuses from communities that were turning into retirement hubs. Ageing populations presented new opportunities, as did towns where industrial decline had sparked an exodus.

“I don’t think leaving those communities would be the answer,” she said. “Universities have a role to play in helping to recreate communities. They can…use these campuses as beacons of innovation.”

john.ross@timeshighereducation.com