by
Phillip Clift
This submission follows discussions held with the West
Committee on 9 April 1997 and concentrates on issues made during that
submission. Without wishing to be parochial it does present the case from the
perspective of a small regional campus and canvasses issues that are relevant
to the continued growth and development of university education in regional
Australia. This is not to deny that we have an interest in the broader picture
but that this is subordinate only to the extent that we wish to provide a view
related to our own particular position.
We do believe in the enduring qualities of university education that have been
espoused over several decades. These include the roles teaching and learning,
research, community service and the maintenance of academic standards and
integrity. The role of the university as a critic of society is also important.
We consider that in a civilised, economically developed society that university
education should be available to all who are qualified to undertake it. The
major cost associated with this provision should be borne by the community who
is repaid by better economic and social development and higher government
revenues resulting from a better educated workforce.
Bunbury is Western Australia's second city and is located in the
South West some 180 kilometres from Perth. As a provincial city it has a major
role to play as a commercial and urban centre. The urban population of 40,000
is about 35% of the region's total. There are several other towns in the
region. The South West is noted for its agriculture, agroforestry, wine
production, farming, mining - particularly coal, mineral sands and bauxite, and
tourism. It has one of the largest titanium dioxide plants in the world. It is
one of the fastest growing regions in Australia.
The Bunbury Campus was established in 1986 and currently has around 900
enrolled students. It offers undergraduate programmes in arts, education,
business, nursing, psychology, social work, visual arts, computer science and
electronic systems. It has a small but strong graduate programme.
There are two interrelated discourses regarding the role of
regional campuses:
- Economic Rationalism - the value of regional campuses is related to
our international competitiveness. It is often not widely recognised that the
regions make a major contribution to the wealth of the nation. Unfortunately
the worth of regional Australia is consistently undervalued in the large
cities. This leads to city/country divide where many in the large urban
populations believe that they subsidise the regions. The McKinsey Report
recognised the pivotal role of the regions in developing our international
competitiveness. Obviously this needs to be considered in the construction of
any new policy relating to university education.
- Social Justice - the provision of opportunities for regional students to
obtain a university education irrespective of socio-economic background and
geographical location. This is not to imply the wholesale establishment of
regional campuses but to do the best we can with those already operating. Many
students are able to receive a university education in this region who would
otherwise be denied. The answer to regional provision is not simply distance
education. Distance education does not suite the delivery of all courses, for
example nursing and teaching. It does not provide for the development of a
community of scholars and the social interaction that emanates from that. It is
not suitable for some postgraduate work. It does not allow the accrual of
economic benefits to the region that a university campus does. This is not to
undervalue distance education which does have a major role to play. However
existing regional campuses do provide outstanding opportunities for their local
communities and these deserve strengthening.
There have always been differences in participation rates between the large
metropolitan centres and rural and remote Australia. This is the case in the
South West of Western Australia. Policy development needs to address this issue
with a view to improving access and affordability for rural and remote
communities.
In the case of small regional campuses demand is to some extent
related to affordability of access and the supply of programmes which students
wish to study. With rural participation rates often being less than half those
of urban areas there is little doubt that an increase in demand for places
would occur if the access and course provision questions were addressed.
Universities have seen the school leaver cohort gradually diminishing over the
last several years. We have probably reached the bottom of the trough and
numbers will increase over the next several years. This will naturally increase
demand.
The university sector must be one of the most accountable and regulated
components of our society. As a small regional campus we account for our
operations through our parent institution. We continually monitor developments
in the region and attempt to provide programmes that are responsive to the
needs of industry, commerce and students. This mechanism works reasonably well
but more external support for the generally smaller class sizes would be
valuable. Whilst there may be demand for a particular programme working capital
is often needed to ensure its viable establishment. At the moment this is not
available.
There is a perception that the cost to educate a regional student is
higher than her/his city counterpart. This may or may not be true but the
perception remains and can be divisive. Currently regional campuses are funded
by the individual university of which they are part. This means that the home
institution bears the cost of students who are remote from the university's
centre of operations. Other universities in the same state incur no such cost.
This may be inequitable. To overcome this problem it is suggested that regional
campuses should be funded 'off-the-top' of the aggregate tertiary education
budget for the state. This then spreads the load over all universities and
should obviate the problem that a particular institution has to 'subsidise' its
country operations.
Regional campuses by their very nature have difficulty in attracting funds for
on-campus student housing and as a byproduct suffer in the recruitment of
overseas students. Whilst it is agreed that there may be only a specialised
demand by overseas students to study in the regions, this question and the
issue of on-campus student housing should be addressed by the Review
Committee.
Industry and Alumni in Australia have not developed a strong ethos of financial
support for universities as is the case in the United States for example.
Industry, particularly the resource industry, is very responsive to the needs
of the communities in which they operate to the extent of helping a large
number of community organisations and groups. However large scale support is
not usually forthcoming. This is understandable when the boards of directors
are located away from the productive activities of the companies. We believe
that large companies in our region should be encouraged to provide a small
percentage of their direct investment or their operating revenue to a
development fund to assist in the enhanced provision of university education in
the region.
This is covered in the overall university response. However, as a
regional campus we believe our research efforts should have value to the
regional community. We have a Centre for Research and Training in Rural Health
and Community Development on campus. This centre is entirely self-funded but
lacks infrastructure/working capital. Support of the type mentioned under theme
four would be a valuable source of funds to extend the work of the Centre.
For further information on this submission please contact
Phillip Clift
Principal
ECU Bunbury
Robertson Drive
Bunbury WA 6230
Telephone: 097 80 7700
Facsimile: 097 21 6994
E-mail: p.clift@cowan.edu.au
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