Opinion
Imagine this: you are hungry.
A world‑class chef prepares Butter Chicken with the finest ingredients, served in a Michelin‑star restaurant. The service is impeccable, the ambience flawless.
Yet you remain dissatisfied. Why?
Because you are vegetarian.
No matter how much we improve the chef, the service, or the restaurant—if we don’t address the real need, the customer will never be satisfied.
Across Australia and the UK, universities are investing heavily in:
- New campuses and facilities
- International partnerships and accreditations
- Governance reforms and compliance frameworks
- Marketing campaigns to attract global talent.
These are very important. But if they don’t address the actual needs of students—their learning experience, employability, inclusivity, and wellbeing—then we risk serving Butter Chicken to vegetarians.
What academic leaders must ask:
- Are our investments aligned with what students truly value? Or it’s the legacy of buildings and fancy campuses, selfie with the ministers and media release is what I am after?
- Do our curricula prepare graduates for the realities of a rapidly changing world? Or who cares as long as my student revenue cap is growing!
- Are our governance structures designed around compliance, or around student success?
- Are we listening deeply enough to student voices, or assuming we already know what they want?
At the heart of higher education, it is not about the chef, the restaurant, or the service.
It is about the student.
If we fail to start with their needs, values, and aspirations, everything else is decoration.
So what’s the point ?
- Stop solving the wrong problems.
- Put students at the centre of every decision.
- Recognise that prestige, facilities, and compliance only matter if they serve the student experience.
Higher education is at a crossroads. The institutions that thrive will be those that resist the temptation to polish the restaurant while forgetting the diner.