Reflecting on What a university is and can do

One of the ways I teach students is via reflection. The student is usually asked what they have achieved, what they aim to achieve in the future and what they will need to do to get to their goals. The university where I teach is now asking itself similar questions. What have been the achievements in the past, what do we aspire to in the near future and what makes us different from others. I have been teaching at the institution for more than a quarter of its life, so am in a reasonable position to suggest some answers.

Past Achievements

Australian universities were, from the start, created to train professionals and conduct useful research. In the act establishing the university, the functions included:

"(a) To encourage, and provide facilities for, post-graduate research and study, both generally and in relation to subjects of national importance to Australia;

(b) To provide facilities for university education for persons who elect to avail themselves of those facilities and, are eligible so to do; and

(c) Subject to the Statutes, to award and confer degrees and diplomas."

The University was originally envisaged having research schools for Medicine,  Physical Sciences, Social Sciences; and Pacific Studies. Another priority was specialist training for the Public Service. 

My university later added undergraduate students and more areas of research and training, but the emphasis remains on research and training for national priorities. Some of this is done formally, such as through the ASD-ANU Co-Lab, where staff from the Australian Signals Directorate work with academics and students to better protect the nation's digital infrastructure. Some is less formal, as when people from the Department of Defence, where I used to work, drop in for some advice. One achievement is that this mostly happens out of public view.

An achievement was that, along with other Australian universities, was the ability to switch over to online learning in a few weeks due to the COVID-19 pandemic. I was able to help with this having been trained for such a situation and then being able to train others. Perhaps an equally important achievement is that universities did not throw away this investment in e-learning skills and infrastructure. Universities have made efforts to incorporate the useful aspects of online learning with the campus experience. 

One earlier achievement was the role universities had in establishing the Internet in Australia, educating politicians and key public servants on its use, through what has been called the Internet Cabal.

The Near Future

The immediate challenge for the universities is to redesign leaning and assessment in response to AI. This is not just about stopping student cheating. It is about teaching staff learning how to teach using AI and teach students to use AI. 

A less intimidate challenge is to design programs to suit the needs of today's students. This requires short programs which can be assembled into the equivalent of traditional degrees. It also requires work integrated learning and recognition of prior learning. I learned how to teach and design programs for this in the vocational sector. 

Being Distinctive

The longer term challenge for Australian universities is to get away from comparing themselves with each other. Students seeking an education can increasingly choose more widely, ranging from local vocational institutions, which can now award degrees, to global online universities.

When I decided to affiliate with a university, early in the previous century, I wrote to every one in Canberra. The first to response came within five minutes, with a very simple offer: "Turn up Monday, we have an office for you". The other universities wanted to have meetings, and discuss pay and conditions. It is that flexibility which I suggest is a winning feature for a university. Students should have flexibility in how and what they study. Also, there should be an emphasis on the human element, even with most students studying mostly online. 

When I wanted to learn to teach online (for international students and in case  students could not get to campus), I started locally, then interstate, and finally worldwide. I wanted an education, the quality of which is unrelated to the research conducted at an institution. I started locally, the an Australian regional teaching university, then a similar one in Canada.