When Chris Moran became VC of the University of New England it was not completely a basket case – the straw had been repossessed for debt or was frayed by endemic staff-management conflict. Now he has a plan; a real plan; a plan with measurable service objectives to create a new university for changed times.
“Traditional assumptions about universities and their role in society are being challenged by the evolution of technology, changes to university funding, and a general decline in trust in the value of a university education,” UNE’s ten-year strategy, released this week states.
“Across our many areas of expertise, we must be humble and learn how to succeed by operating differently. We need to deepen collaborations, position ourselves as leaders and deliver initiatives” is its core.
“We will measure our success not just in financial terms or student numbers, but by the prosperity of our regions, the achievements of our graduates, the wellbeing of our staff and the strength of our communities.” Yes “excellence” gets a mention (11 times actually) but not of the “global top-100 of our self-serving choice of research rankings” kind.
And the plan is not rhetoric-powered – there are mostly objectives that the university community, from the VC down can, will, be assessed against, including:
- 15 regional relationships by 2035 focused on a UN Sustainable Development Goal
- 10 per cent of “domestic course work learners” in UNE “Live and Work to Learn” arrangements, – service -delivery partnerships in rural communities, “notably in aged care, health care, childcare and sport”
- supporting 100 businesses across UNE’s geographic regions to improve productivity by using AI and creating 20 new ones
- reducing student attrition (UNE calls it “raise learner attention”) to its benchmark median
- meet sector benchmark in the 2030 staff engagement survey for agreement on wellbeing, employee engagement and performance. This is a real challenge. For as long as FC has covered UNE, it has been deeply divided between management and (especially unionised) staff
- a year on year 10 per cent surplus of operating revenue
And UNE commits to deliver on its extraordinary achievement in AI; including, uni-prep AI courses, two AI degrees by 2026-2027 and 20 per cent of award course with AI “experiences by 2030.
There are many more objectives that can be measured, making UNE’s plan perhaps the first to act on two achievable ideas which could end the great uniformity of Australian higher education. Over a decade back, University of Adelaide VC Warren Bebbington proposed an alternative to the massification of HE, calling for small institutions with specific teaching and service missions. UNE is setting itself up to do that. In 2025, Deakin U VC Iain Martin warned that Australian universities in general were losing community confidence and their “social licence was close to being cancelled.
Professor Moran moved from Curtin U’s monster campus in mid 2023, he scaled down in size but not in vision.