September 2024

Sam Jacob CEO of Collarts epitomises diversity in tertiary education, after a varied public and private university experience. They make a case for a teacher-centric tertiary education system to achieve student-centric experiences and that multiple provider models in the ecosystem is the best way to achieve this. In an interview with Professor Christy Collis, President-Elect of HERDSA and Martin Betts, they show few people in public universities have much understanding of the private and VET sector and how it works. This is a chance to find out.

Professor Kerry London, DVC Research at Torrens University Australia, leads a debate of global sector leaders on the state of higher education and its ability to innovate to face challenges and remain relevant to stakeholders. She is joined by Torrens colleagues in VC Professor Alwyn Louw, Associate Professor Clare Littleton, Dr Claire Davidson, and Professor Matthew Mundy. And by Dr Samantha Ratnam, Parliamentary Leader, Victorian Greens, Medy Hassan OAM from industry, Professor Stuart Green, University of Reading UK, and Victoria Saint, WHO Consultant and Bielefeld University. They debate the fundamentals of current HE relevance all put into context by a DVCR.

Tim Renick has led outstanding student success at Georgia State University for 25 yers. He has achieved improvments in student completions and outcomes, notably across equity groups, that stand apart from achievemens of all other institutions. It is based on a culture based on stepping in to support students, with people and 8 years of use of AI, that responds to sector leading predictive analytics from data. In this episode with Keith Hawkes of Ellucian and I, he outlines how that works, why it is needed, and how GSU now helps many other univerities around the world fulfill an obligation to level the playing field.

Professor Kerri-Lee Krause was the most recent person to start a new university in Australia. She has now been appointed to chair the panel to advise the minister and regulator on standards in the sector. This follows a career leading learning and education and academic work at Griffith, Victoria, La Trobe and Melbourne universities before establishing Avondale in its university status after having been a graduate many years before. She quotes TS Eliott as not ceasing from exploration and returning to where she started to know the place for the first time.