Campus heads share success stories

The leaders of satellite campuses from eight Australian universities met in Hervey Bay this month for a two-day conference to discuss common issues and share ideas.

The Campus Heads’ Conference was organised by the provost of the University of Southern Queensland (USQ) Fraser Coast campus, Professor Ken Stott, and head of CQ University Bundaberg and Noosa campuses Professor Phillip Clift.
It was held at USQ Fraser Coast.

Campuses from Edith Cowan University, Southern Cross University, University of Ballarat, University of Newcastle, University of South Australia, and the University of Tasmania, as well as USQ and CQ University were represented at the conference.

One of the issues on the agenda was a recommendation from the Bradley Review on Australian Higher Education which will see the scrapping of capped numbers for universities from 2012.

USQ Vice Chancellor and President Prof Bill Lovegrove addressed the conference on the future for satellite campuses in the wake of the Bradley Review.

He said the change could have a major impact on regional universities.

'If the big city campuses decided to take many more students because they get funding for them, that could really reduce the supply of students,' Professor Lovegrove said.

Members of the conference discussed ways of handling future issues and shared stories of successful practice working in similar situations.

Professor Stott said satellite campuses in regional areas faced a set of issues that were not really shared by satellite campuses in metropolitan areas.

'Often they are situated hundreds of kilometres from their head campuses,' he said.

'Regional universities also have to work harder to form beneficial relationships in the community.”

The director of the Cradle Coast Campus of the University of Tasmania, Prof Janelle Allison, said it was important to remember that satellite campuses were real and vibrant campuses.

But she said they sometimes suffered from the perception that they were study centres.

She said they needed to ensure they exhibited leadership in research and in teaching and learning.

Professor Allison also spoke about the benefits of satellite campuses finding niche markets, such as offering business management skills in regions where there are large companies.

Professor Stott said the USQ Fraser Coast campus had developed two degrees which based at the campus. They are the Bachelor of Human Services Counselling and the Master of Professional Studies and Doctor of Professional Studies.