582 survey participants

2012 Higher EducationIndustry Survey Results

Extensive research is put into interviewing the Australian Higher Education Sector to ensure top quality conference agendas. The content strives to be a reflection of the most critical issues, challenges and opportunities that will impact the Higher Education Sector over the next 12 months.

Survey RespondentsOver 730 senior level decision makers from the higher education community have taken part in this survey.

Of those who took part in the survey the majority of respondents are from Regional and Metropolitan institutions.

Most of the respondents are Group of 8 Universities or are members of HERDSA

The majority of respondents who completed the survey belong to the Teaching and Learning specialty area. However speciality areas surveyed also include Research, Marketing , Admissions and Equity.

* Many of the questions , respondent's could select more than one choice

Teaching and Learning• Over the next year those who work within teaching and learning have identifiedDelivering innovative pedagogies as their key priority• Supporting the different student cohorts as their biggest challenge• Flexible and blended learning as the biggest area for opportunities

How the demand driven system has impacted teaching and learning• Has developed the university to be more robust• we are still assessing the effects• Not evident in my department as yet• Stressed Staff, more students, no more staff• Allowed the delivery of more programs required by our region into our regional

footprint• Yes re: student retention• Attracting students to a regional centre.. attract staff with relevant qualifications and

expertise• Increase demand industry consultation and commercial opportunities, increasing

student completion rates, RTO compliance• Much bigger classes• Struggling to adequately support lower ATAR students, especially since T&L not a strong

priority for managers• Affected regional enrolments - competition from Melbourne Universities• Curriculum design focussed on meeting employer expectations• A reduction in the entry scores greatly affects the quality of student cohorts.

• Increased paperwork, accountability• Competition for clinical placement• We are a private HEP, so there is the threat that the public uni sector will

encroach on our market share--so far this has not been the case, but we have expanded our marketing reach

• Falling intakes• Whilst the main campus is metropolitan based, the focus is whole-of-state with

strong commitments to increase enrolment from regional areas. Combining a substantial research profile with effective learning and teaching strategies to cater for such a diverse student pool is extremely to manage.

• We only recruit small numbers of domestic students, but it will have an impact if universities lower their entry requirements.

• Raising awareness of need to explore the implications• Implications for evaluation, evidence of outcomes• Higher student numbers• Cutbacks, managerialism, academics focused on research at expense of L&T,

tension between QA & QE. Lack of staff to do work.• the strength of the academic standard is falling

ResearchOver the next year those who work within Research have identified• Rankings and Performance Measurement as their key priority• Securing Government funding will be their biggest challenge• International collaboration as the largest area for opportunities• Concentration of research excellence as the biggest challenge in building a research

workforce

Increased dependency on foreign students making it harder and harder to obtain funding, and retain young staff More outcomes are expected. I'm not sure that it has! Jury is still out on that one! Still waiting to see the

impact of this in 2013 Future funding model The competition this has introduced to the sector Very long work hours I have a conflict between what I am funded to do as a core activity (research

dissemination) and university career demands to publish and secure Cat 1 funds It has created prima donnas who think they are good research performers when

they are not In fact positively; it has made us think "fast and be innovative" with services and

internal structuring to ensure demand is met at a quality standard. Forced to publish in ranked journals and apply for competitive fund Hardly at all (yet). It has affected me in terms of high competition standards that have made me to

increase my areas of expertise and professional development.

How the demand driven system has impacted research

The demand driven system has made researchers like me to ensure that every investigation is endeavoured based on the needs of the fund sponsors/ industry-clients.

Internationalisation of the sector has undermined cross disciplinary research because the prestige indicators for publications are discipline dominated. Any straying from discipline focused topics in research applications quickly results in critical

it determines the focus of our research Eliminated supply of high quality local undergraduate science students wanting to undertake

postgraduate research More difficult to get funding , lack of funding towards retention and early intervention at a strategic level Ironically, it's become a more bureaucratic, compliance-driven system. Falling entry requirements, increased load, higher demands on staff Identifying the need to provide learners with current and essential information to help them choose

qualification pathways that will result in employment Prepare for redundancy larger classes and decreasing student quality Greater focus on teaching and less on research I never would have gone into research if I had anticipated that it would be like running a small business.

Always running to stand still and not getting a permanent position. It is much more difficult to have a family and run your own business (continually live off your publication record)

Re-focus on commercial and corporate partnerships My last project lost its funding from the federal government after 12 years and the team was made

redundant Inconsistency of funding commitment and diffusion of focus on research themes as funding agenda's

dictate research focus

Continued..

MarketingOver the next year those who work within Marketing have identified• Recruiting students as their key priority• Budgeting and working with international markets is the biggest challenge• Partnerships and mobile marketing is the largest area for future opportunities

Required us to review how we resource our learning and teaching and course profiles

It has led to more scrutiny of marketing spend and made marketing more competitive.

It hasn't really. Made international marketing too easy, not strategic Increased risk Time management pressure, turn around times This institution has benefited from having lower tuition fees in a time

of high Australian dollar and weak international economic conditions. Time management and staffing By focussing competition on specific prospective student segments

How the demand driven system has impacted marketing

response times, marketing message has changed - we don't market, we influence our student experiences and they market it

More emphasis is now placed on the student experience when students select an institution. If you want the best students then you need to provide the highest quality learning experience.

Increase in customer focus and their wants and needs We had to change some of our processes. Students expect very quick

turnovers of applications and enquiries As a pathway college we have lost some domestic students to lower-ranking

universities who have dropped their ATAR requirements It's ramped up the need for quality market research and more

effective/targeted campaigning to well-segmented markets Lower ATARs, longer tail of prospects necessitating higher levels of student

support and academic development and transition programs Meeting the complexity of TNE marketing with partners Raised importance of marketing

Continued..

Admissions and EquityOver the next year those who work within Admissions and Equity have identified• Widening participation as their key priority• Student Support and effective admission strategies is the biggest challenge• New pathways to university and making university more accessible is the largest area for

future opportunities

Demand has declined in many areas Possibility losing more staff member Need to create greater efficiencies with less resources more competition from regional unis for students The funding model means students with greater need involved in enabling education

generate less per head than less needy undergraduate students. Budget cuts It has had a positive effect on the numbers of students we attract. Achieving enrolmen targets in top end courses. With the recent (May 2012) Victorian t State Govt budget cuts to RTO's, we at TAFE are

struggling to attract students Yes - the amount of work has increased significantly over the past 12 month period. More completion for the same no of students Growth in university direct entry has put pressure on private and pathway providers Increased number of students, thus more professional experience placements are required.

How has the demand driven system impacted admissions

Students often enrol at our uni then transfer to others to complete degrees, because we actively look for and cater for non-traditional path students. But we lose funding if they don't complete with us! If you pay on completion, that hurts what we are trying to do. Then, the university environment of fear causes staff cuts, then mass exodus, loss of corporate knowledge and culture...

We are being asked to take more students, with little consideration to resources and space

Decreasing cut-offs and filling targets It hasn't affected me - too early to tell at this stage Higher costs to support students from a wider range of abilities Opened recruitment to the marketplace A changed environment that is yet to play out fully. Increased opportunities Diluted the market with more RTOs

Continued..

Yes - currently works well Not applicable to students entering enabling courses. out of date and certainly not effective. its a too simplistic tool No i think it is still a useful instrument especially to ensure students complete their studies Out of date! Effective for the majority of students. It provides more information about the popularity of courses. No - there needs to be some basic assessment for admission to tertiary study. ATAR equivalency for

AQF qualifications widens the options for non ATAR applicants. Somewhat effective but I don't think it should be used exclusively and other options for entry need to

be expanded. The OP (QLD) is effective but additional information should be used, perhaps recognition of educational

disadvantage, portfolios only where relevant, or interviews and exams that are more character and knowledge specific.

It is one of several valid measures; a high ATAR is a good predictor of success, but a low ATAR does not necessarily imply failure

effective but needs supplementation

Is the ATAR score an effective or out of date admissions system?

The ATAR score is an out of date admissions system. Perhaps I should say to rely entirely on an ATAR score is not effective. Suitability, or another form of testing would be good for students entering into the Education profession. Medicine does not rely entirely on an ATAR score and Education should not either. Teachers can have a positive or negative impact on a child's learning.

What are viable alternatives? I honestly don't see how it's relevant with the students that we work with. We're about alternate

paths to university. Out of date. Often does not reflect the ability of the student For Year 12 students it's the best selector we have to use Not an accurate predictor of ability for students from Low SES and other disadvantaged

backgrounds Yes I believe it is and it disadvantages students as it does not take into account students interests

and HSC qualifications through all HSC subjects. it should be just one of a suite of entry pathways that universities use however realistically

amongst elite universities at least it will remain the primary driver Semi-effective but not comprehensive Effective. Need this to be fair to all Still effective, since some International institutions in Malaysia uses WACE - it is useful.

Continued..

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