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Federal Education Minister Julie Bishop (left) with Vice-Chancellor Professor Ian Goulter during her recent visit to CSU's Wagga Wagga Campus. Photo: Keith Wheeler |
Dear Colleagues,
I was delighted to host the Federal Education Minister the Honourable Julie Bishop on her first visit to Charles Sturt University on 24 August. Her attendance at the University’s Wagga Wagga Campus saw her launch our state of the art Veterinary Science laboratory facility, as well as meet with our Senior Women’s network and launch important drought research in which CSU is involved.
The Minister’s opening comment on CSU reflected her government’s visions for higher education and the University’s place in the sector. I thought you would be interested in reading some of the comments she made as part of her visit.
“The Australian government has introduced a series of reforms to the higher education sector in recent years and we have focussed on four pillars:“Quality: The higher education sector must be of the highest quality that we are able to achieve. We compete nationally and internationally for our students and staff.“Sustainability: Our higher education sector is such a significant underpinning of Australia’s innovation and competitiveness and we must ensure that it is sustainable. That is why we have invested over 11 billion dollars into our higher education sector over a decade.“Equity: Higher education must be accessible for students, whatever their background, wherever they live…In the last ten years, the number of students at university has doubled. In 1996 when we can into office there were around 500 000 students - today, there are almost 1 million. There are now more places than students to fill them…Unmet demand is at its lowest level ever. In 1992, unmet demand was at around 100 000 – today it is virtually negligible….Ninety per cent of Year 12 students were offered a place in a university in their home state in 2005.“The fourth pillar - and this is probably the most challenging - is Diversity: We have to ensure that our higher education sector strives for excellence, that it is the very best it can be in particular areas of expertise.“Over the past two decades universities have been shoehorned into a ‘sameness’ model, trying to be comprehensive universities offering the same thing to the same students. We have 37 public universities in this country offering virtually the same courses to the same students.“What we need is diversity within universities’ missions, within their course offerings, within their academic structure, within their management structure, so that students have a choice and so that universities can attract the very best staff and very best students to focus on a diverse range of areas."In that regard, Charles Sturt University is a standout. [The University’s] mission as a university for inland Australia … is now focussing on four faculties …“That will make this a truly national asset, a university that aims for higher standards in areas of strength.Federal Education Minisiter Julie Bishop, at CSU, 24 August 2006
It was most interesting to hear the Minister compliment the University’s focus on what we do best, something we have been concentrating on for some years now.
Later in the visit the Minister took time to again launch the effect of drought on the education of rural students by Professor Margaret Alston and Jenny Kent, which was funded by the Federal Government and the Myer Foundation. The report, The impact of drought on secondary education access in Australia's rural and remote areas concluded drought has had significant impacts on access to all levels of schooling from primary to secondary through to tertiary education. The report has prompted urgent calls for a review of financial support to overcome the tyranny of distance at all levels of education.
As the Minister Assisting the Prime Minister for Women's Issues, Minister Bishop also relaunched the University Senior Women’s Network, with 30 members drawn from senior academics and administrators across all the University’s major campuses. The goals of the group include strengthening networking and sharing information among senior women and providing support for women newly appointed to senior positions.
Workplace productivity funding
The University has been very successful in its application for Workplace Productivity funding, gaining $3.1 million for two projects from the Federal Government’s first round of funding. The CSU projects are both benchmark projects for the sector and demonstrate our ability to lead in innovation and effectiveness. See here for more information on our success.
Research funding
The latest announcement of funds in July from the Federal government’s Australian Research Council saw CSU and seven other universities receive no Linkage grants as lead institutions. This was an extremely disappointing result after the tremendous effort that had gone into our research applications. The University continues to position, debate and discuss the importance of regionally based research with the highest levels of government and academia, especially in relation to research where CSU is the lead institution and that impacts on the future of inland Australia.
Strategic research leaders
As part of CSU’s 2007 - 2011 University Strategy, CSU is actively pursuing its research agenda to build national and international profile in key areas. The University has received 22 applications in response to its call for bids for ten Strategic Research Professors. Professors in ethics, wine, water, ecology, economics and veterinary and agricultural sciences will be recruited in the second half of 2006.
CSU part of AARNet3 new generation research network
On Thursday 14 September the Federal Education Minister Julie Bishop launched CSU into the new world class research link provided by AARNet3. The launch itself was conducted via high speed video-streaming to CSU, University of New England and South Australia’s Flinders University to Parliament House in Canberra. AARNet3 connects CSU and our regional communities through its high speed network to research expertise and personnel across Asia, Europe and the USA ,and will considerably enhance our research efforts worldwide.
International collaboration
Senior managers from Hannam University in South Korea, which has a strong tradition in Christian education, visited CSU’s Bathurst Campus on Monday 7 August, looking to strengthen ties with similar theological institutions worldwide. The Korean institution has a strong department of Christian science and multi-disciplinary Christian education. Hannam University president Lee Sang-Yoon said many students that would study for a CSU doctorate were pastors already or were graduate students.
Maximising opportunities
The past five years have held numerous challenges for us all. With further fundamentals changes in the way universities do their business in the offing, I believe it is time to review our achievements and demonstrate our successes to all in the University. All senior and middle managers across the University are invited to take part and contribute to the “Maximising Opportunities and Managing Risk” conference in November 2006.
Presentations at this conference will include examples of research, project work and other initiatives which demonstrate collaboration, innovation, achievements, quality, continuous improvement, and leadership in their field. The conference will be held on Wagga Wagga Campus on Tuesday 21 November and in Bathurst on Thursday 23 November. Conference website here.
Congratulations
During the AdminFocus 2006 conference in Dubbo in August, Gail Wotton received the 2005 Performance Excellence award for general staff for her outstanding customer service and coordination of Café Mitchell in Bathurst. Gail’s dedication, enthusiasm and interest in both staff and students who dine at Café Mitchell makes it a great place to meet.
Professor Ian Goulter
Vice-Chancellor
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