Opinions

Professor Duncan Ivison is the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Manchester where staff members including Alan Turing defined the concepts of algorithmic and computational automation. Duncan draws on his global experience from Canada, the US, Australia and the UK to revisit the purpose and future of universities in the fastest period of computational advancement to date. How has the global landscape of higher education evolved and where will it develop next?

Verity Firth as Chair of Engagement Australia and Vice-President of Societal Impact, Equity and Engagement at UNSW joins with guest host Alphia Possamai-Inesedy PVC of Student Success of WSU. They discuss the challenges universities face in maintaining or seeking to regain social licence and to serve community needs. They explore how the Accord considered this issue and how the new ATEC will be a circuit breaker in measuring research impact and creating mission based compacts. It gives a comprehensive policy-informed overview and insight into the landscape of community engagement in Australia ahead of the exciting next conference of Engagement Australia hosted at The University of Queensland on July 22-23.

An episode from a HEDx study tour of the UK and from the foyer of the HEPI Conference in London. Sally Curtain of Bendigo Kangan Institute, Andrea Burrows of OES and Caroline Dunne are among the HEDx tour party and Tash Stoeckel one of the hosts along with Tim Dunne of Surrey and Lisa Brodie of TEDI London. The episode gives insights into the plight of tertiary education in the two countries and how AI, online education, tertiary harmonisation, regulation and the skills agenda are viewed in the two systems. The one common feature is the need for change, now.

Sasha Thackaberry is Founder and President of the newly launched Newstate university. As a competency-based, stackable, subscription price-model, online university, all of its courses are about AI. And it extensively uses AI in curation and delivery of content and the support of its first cohort of students that is commencing on July 1st. Demonstrating the values of agility that overcome the barriers of incumbency, this is disruptive innovation in action.

Kelly Matthews of UQ takes control of the mic as a guest host joined by Tim Fawns of Monash and Stephen George-Williams of the University of Sydney. They pose the questions to two giants of Australian student centred thinking who are both teaching focused leaders. Kylie Readman of UTS and Liz Johnson of Deakin have pioneered how to put students first way before it became so fashionable. They share lessons of leadership that are invaluable for those making their way in academic life in this area of great staff opportunity.

Danny Liu of the University of Sydney argues that AI makes us question not only how, but why we teach. He joins a panel that includes Susan Zhang of La Trobe, Phil Laufenberg of Macquarie and Jason Lodge of UQ. They answer questions from Sam Jacob CEO of Collarts that drive at the heart of where AI is taking tertiary education. Sam summarises a day of HEDx experts in one minute to demonstrate the Collarts manifesto of how creativity is a powerful difference, that comes from being inclusive by choice, in telling stories that change the world.

Lev Gonick is CIO of the most innovative university in the US at Arizona State. He outlines the part technology has played in the 20+ year of transformation that created a global entrepreneurial pioneer from a party-town college in the desert. In this fireside chat with Manuela Franceschini of Adobe, he reflects on what he wished he had known at the start of their journey and what his dreams of the impossible are now. He says universities like his, driven by access and public service, owe it to their graduating students to equip them for a new AI economy. He shares how their experience is guiding Shainal Kavar as CIO in Australia’s AI-first La Trobe University.

Theo Farrell as Vice-Chancellor of La Trobe University has a vision for agentic AI to serve the lifecycle needs of all students. Why this would solve student complaints is outlined by Sarah Bendall as Student Ombudsman sharing data from the first 2 months of the office. It needs a stable platform of data made interoperable by sector defined data standards as argued by Gemma Cadby of ACSES and Charlsey Pearce of MortarCAPS. Will Stubley of Year13 illustrates how this is already in place for students choosing personalised school to work pathways.