Hedx

Vice Chancellor of Massey University and Chair of Universities New Zealand Professor Jan Thomas outlines the issues being faced in the different setting and context of NZ compared to her earlier experience of 5 years leading the University of Southern Queensland.

This episode sees a student join us in orientation week then again in week 12 of her first semester. She shares expectations coming into the course and how these are impacted by her understanding of brand and reputation.

Vice Chancellor of Essex University in the UK, Anthony Forster is our first international VC guest. He describes the values that drive how his university seeks to differentiate and what made it UK University of the Year in 2018. He outlines the quite different issues of government funding for research and flow of international students, particularly from India, that UK universities are facing compared to those in Australia.

Vice Chancellor of the University of South Australia Professor David Lloyd shares insights from running the first staff jam across his whole university in getting staff engagement to a strategy. And repeating it again 4 years later. He outlines how one unforeseen idea cost him $50m. He outlines the novel approach of leaving staff to decide how academic units should be organized only making the proviso it should be based on the products they offer students. And he describes a global partnership for skill development with a global big 4 consultancy from Adelaide. His message is of a philosophy of leadership and a university strategy, based on digital routes to enterprise.

Kent Anderson DVC at Newcastle joins us soon after a 2 year spell in Ministers’ Tehan and Tudge’s office guiding recent policy changes. He comments on the divide between chancelleries and ministry that has developed in recent years. He puts it down to the challenge of listening and who is in charge of the sandpit.