Research universities network rebrands to focus on equity

An Australian university network has hitched its wagon to government policy by renaming itself after the deadline for Labor’s defining higher education target.

The Innovative Research Universities (IRU) group has also accrued two new members in relaunching itself as the “2050 Alliance”.

A launch is scheduled at the University of Canberra on 27 May. The name signifies the association’s commitment to the goal of increasing tertiary attainment to 80 per cent of the working-age population by 2050 – the central recommendation of the Australian Universities Accord.

“We are in the middle of the biggest transformation in our higher education system since the 1980s,” said the group’s chair, Western Sydney University (WSU) vice-chancellor George Williams. “The time is right for universities to come together with a clear focus on the public good – serving our students and communities and helping to deliver on major national priorities including intergenerational equity and productivity growth.”

The new group adds Victoria University (VU) and the multistate Australian Catholic University to the core IRU group of WSU, UC and Flinders, Griffith, James Cook, La Trobe and Murdoch universities.

Education minister Jason Clare said the 80 per cent target was “ambitious” and 2050 Alliance members would “do a lot of heavy lifting in getting us there”. The network’s CEO, Paul Harris, said its work would be characterised by the “constructive engagement with government” that had guided its predecessor.

“We’ll try and bring good evidence and ideas to the policy debate, which is the same approach that we took through the IRU,” Harris said. “Coming out of the Universities Accord, we have a big focus on…students and communities that are under-represented in the university system.

“Our original IRU submissions in the accord process…said we thought the biggest challenge facing our system was unfinished business on equity. We still think that’s the number one issue.”

Harris said he was not worried that a change of government, or an updating of government policy, could render the group’s name obsolete. He said equity categories needed to be “updated and rethought” from time to time as different groups became “more or less successful” in higher education.

“We have the new Atec [Australian Tertiary Education Commission] and we have a government that is really focused on expanding access and participation. We feel like that’s a really big positive opportunity, and we need to just get stuck in.”

The IRU members have already collaborated with Clare in promising to adopt systemic ways of recognising prior learning – an approach that could slash students’ costs by granting advanced standing to vocational education graduates.

Harris said this work could be bolstered by the group’s inclusion of VU, a dual-sector university. “People can…share best practice and think about how [to] scale it up to the next level.”

Meanwhile, a newly published discussion paper seeks input into Atec’s development of the “tertiary harmonisation roadmap” promised by the government last year. The paper poses 12 questions to improve the “learner journey” through a “joined-up” tertiary sector.

“What does an ideal joined-up tertiary system look like?” the paper asks. “Which reform opportunities should be prioritised, and why? Which ones are likely to have the highest impact? Noting fiscal constraints, how could existing funding settings and incentives be better aligned to support learner choice?”

Submissions to the paper are due by 22 June.

john.ross@timeshighereducation.com