Charles Sturt University Vice-Chancellor Professor Andrew Vann:

Recent media has referred to the Review of the Higher Education Provider Category Standards report. The report proposes that universities “conduct world standard research in at least three, or at least 30 per cent of the broad (2-digit) fields of education where courses are delivered, whichever is greater.”

The report also argues that by 2030 universities should be required to undertake world standard research in at least 50 per cent, of the broad (2-digit) fields of education.

Some media reports have implied that Charles Sturt University is one institution considered to currently have a low output of world class research or are at risk of not meeting the threshold standards. This is incorrect.

The report highlights the method for assessing standards is not simply to look at Fields of Research, but to map the Fields of Research to Fields of Education. Taking this approach Charles Sturt is at world standard in seven Fields of Research, which map to five of the 10 fields of education in which we teach. Based on this, we believe the University is already compliant with the proposed 2030 thresholds.

As an example of our success on the world stage, Charles Sturt’s Professor of Speech and Language Acquisition, Professor Sharynne McLeod, was recently hailed as the world’s most cited expert in her field.

Charles Sturt University is committed to excellence in research, and in particular the impact of its research. The number of fields of research evaluated as being at or above world standard has increased from both the 2015 and 2012 Excellence in Research Australia evaluations, demonstrating our commitment to, and delivery of, high quality research.