Universities must step back and listen with some humility – and then respond with action – in order to regain trust and respect from the Australian public, Western Sydney University Vice-Chancellor George Williams said.
In an exclusive interview with Future Campus, Professor Williams said care and support was not “up there in lights at the moment.”
“This is uncomfortable territory for universities because we do have to take a step back and listen with humility, which means actually a level of empathy and acceptance of what people are saying,” Professor Williams said.
“It’s not good enough just to say, ‘We think you’re wrong’, or good enough to say, ‘We’ve got a better idea’.”
“It also means universities need to act on some of these uncomfortable things because if you listen and don’t act, that makes it worse. We’ve actually got to, for example, on VC salaries and other issues, demonstrate we’ve heard.”
Professor Williams said that while he could only speak for his own institution, he supported VC salaries being benchmarked against those in the public sector, and should be set by the remuneration tribunal – providing an independent evidence-based process that would remove the heat from the issue.
“I think it’s also fair to say that the unis have let ourselves down in areas. We’ve certainly let the community down when it comes to unpaid wages. We’ve let the community down in other areas, historically, with regard to sexual assault, harassment, and the like,” Professor Williams said.
“But there are other flashpoints as well, like VCs Pay and other issues which are a constant topic of community conversation.
“We’ve got to be in line with community sentiment. We’re public institutions for the public good. For our social license, if we’re going to avoid more regulation … we’ve got to take charge.”
