A GROUP that includes the University of New England has urged federal political leaders to think carefully about the implications of changes to funding and uncapped places within Australia’s tertiary system.
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The leaders of the Regional Universities Network (RUN) have just finished a three-day Regional Futures conference that included a debate with politicians from both sides of the political divide, including Northern Australia Minister Senator Matt Canavan and Opposition agriculture spokesman Joel Fitzgibbon.
Professor Jan Thomas, RUN chairman and vice-chancellor of the University of Southern Queensland, said there was concern about election proposals from both sides of politics about future funding models and the potential for students to be asked to contribute more to their education.
This includes the Coalition’s push for partial deregulation for flagship courses. Professor Thomas said the Coalition’s proposal for a few, deregulated, flagship courses would be “impact neutral” for regional universities, while Central Queensland University vice-chancellor Professor Scott Bowman said the only universities to benefit would be the Group of Eight.
All of RUN’s vice-chancellors were concerned that, in an environment where federal funding to universities could potentially be cut by 20 per cent, there was no way deregulated flagships could make up for this loss.
