I recently enjoyed the opportunity to speak with Emeritus Professor Martin Betts for the HEDx podcast series for the Higher Education publication Campus Review, where we discussed the challenges facing universities and how Flinders is fearlessly pushing ahead.<\/p>\n
We looked at the current period, which is one of many dilemmas for all universities. We deeply missed face to face social interactions, but don\u2019t know how long students and staff will stick to newly busy campuses.<\/p>\n
In addition to the pandemic, the changing policy environment adds further uncertainty. Like most universities, Flinders is committed to research that delivers real impact, leaning-in not just to commercialisation but also industry-engagement where its expertise helps accelerate Australian businesses.<\/p>\n
But the current Government\u2019s approach to universities makes it difficult to know how universities will fund basic and applied research in the long term, and how the research-teaching nexus will be maintained at the institutional, discipline and individual levels.<\/p>\n
Aware of the desirability of differentiating and being distinct, we\u2019re confronted by regulation and funding driving us to be similar. At the same time, the spectre of institutional mergers has raised its head again – the new Premier of South Australia has plans to establish a University Mergers Commission to review the tertiary sector.<\/p>\n
The dilemma of maintaining a commitment to busy campuses or not, being hybrid or not, seeking both research and teaching excellence or not, and staying in our current broad size and shape or not, are all valid questions, but they are met by similar responses from virtually every Australian university right now.<\/p>\n
Competition and jockeying for position is common in other sectors in seeking reputation, market position and market share.\u00a0It is also a common response to an environment of possible mergers<\/p>\n
In these circumstances a clear position, strategy, culture, story and leadership, that goes beyond being lost, in the words of Matthew Flinders, \u201cin the unnoticed middle-order\u201d, is a well-prepared route though the current impasse. And it may well be the best way of preparing for an ambiguous future.<\/p>\n
It is the fearless route that has helped Flinders rise from any congested and contested middle ground more noticeably than most others. You can read the full article via Campus Review<\/a> and listen to the extended conversation on the HEDx podcast<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" I recently enjoyed the opportunity to speak with Emeritus Professor Martin Betts for the HEDx podcast series for the Higher Education publication Campus Review, where we […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":397,"featured_media":193,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[226],"tags":[784],"class_list":["post-191","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blog-posts","tag-hedx"],"yoast_head":"\n