Sub95_Att01_University of New England

Higher Education Support Amendment (Job-Ready Graduates and Supporting Regional and Remote Students) Bill 2020 Submission 95 - Attachment Office of the Vice-Chancellor University of New England Armidale NSW 2351 Australia D20/145686 www.une.edu.au 10 September 2020 University of New England’s submission to the Inquiry on the Higher Education Support Amendment (Job-Ready Graduates and Supporting Regional and Remote Students) Bill 2020 The University of New England (UNE) was the first Australian university established outside a capital city With a history extending back to the 1920’s, UNE has a well-earned reputation as one of Australia’s leading universities with an acknowledged pedigree in distance education and applied research UNE welcomes this opportunity to make a submission to the Education and Employment Legislation Committee inquiry into the Higher Education Support Amendment (JobReady Graduates and Supporting Regional and Remote Students) Bill 2020 (the Bill) UNE urges the Senate to pass the Bill We support the measures included to enable growth in provision of university places and, in particular, the elements of the Bill that support sustainability and growth for Australia’s regional institutions The proposals recognise the significant and distinctive provision of regional universities as anchor institutions in their regions and communities The package will assist to bridge the gap in higher education participation and attainment in regional Australia, including; • 3.5 per cent growth in places for regional institutions • A Tertiary Access payment to support regional students to relocate for study purposes • Improved flexibility to provide targeted support to disadvantaged student cohorts enabled under the Indigenous, Regional and Low SES Attainment Fund (IRLSAF) • A regional research fund for regional universities • The establishment of a Regional, Rural and Remote Education Commissioner As a member of the Regional Universities’ Network (RUN), UNE supports the recommendations in the RUN submission relating to improved funding arrangements for students studying social work and psychology, changes to the Tertiary Access Payment and provisions to guarantee a minimum Page of Higher Education Support Amendment (Job-Ready Graduates and Supporting Regional and Remote Students) Bill 2020 Submission 95 - Attachment level of base funding We welcome the Government’s amendments to the Bill which will enable improved outcomes for regional students and universities UNE is also strongly supportive of the National Priorities and Industry Linkage Fund (NPILF) UNE has a strong track record in delivering industry engaged education and research, and our graduate employment outcomes reflect this strength Through our Tamworth Campus initiative UNE is taking industry engaged learning and research to a new level, with planned co-location and co-creation of education offerings with industry to develop the workforce and jobs of the future and solve the problems facing regional, rural and remote communities The development and promotion of short courses and micro-credentialing are key elements of this strategy UNE is also reviewing its capabilities in educational technologies to improve online learning capacity across education and developing responsive entrepreneurship education While UNE fully supports expediting passage of the Bill, we note that there are some issues that we wish to pursue subsequent to passage As noted in our 2020-21 Budget pre-submission (see attachment 1) UNE is committed to the development of entrepreneurship education to facilitate economic and social growth in Australia’s regions, and to drive future employment growth We strongly believe that entrepreneurship is a fundamental requirement of participants in the modern economy and have undertaken a range of initiatives and programs to support the development of entrepreneurial capability and enterprise objectives We note that entrepreneurship is not recognised as a specific field of education in the current funding clusters, instead being incorporated into the lower band ‘management and commerce’ cluster We would welcome opportunities to review funding clusters in future to accommodate the development of entrepreneurial capability as a field of education producing significant public good, or to identify other funding opportunities to support this important aspect of Australia’s future regional economic development UNE also remains concerned at the historical inequity in distribution of research funding between metropolitan and regional universities While we support the provisions in the Bill relating to research funding for regional universities, we also note that the design intent of the cluster funding rates is to support the cost of teaching only and thus does not support the crosssubsidisation of research activity within this base funding This will lead to even more intense competition for scarce research funding UNE remains committed to being a research-led institution, and we look forward to the opportunity to engage with discussions in how regional institutions may remain research-intensive, particularly in the context of the Napthine and Coaldrake reviews and within the framework of their responsibilities to support knowledge Page of Higher Education Support Amendment (Job-Ready Graduates and Supporting Regional and Remote Students) Bill 2020 Submission 95 - Attachment creation and knowledge translation in regional contexts Regional universities will make significant contributions to drought resilience, reducing health inequalities, and advances in primary productivity as part of their unique local engagement with remote, rural and regional issues For further information, please contact: Professor Brigid Heywood Vice-Chancellor & CEO University of New England Page of ... as part of their unique local engagement with remote, rural and regional issues For further information, please contact: Professor Brigid Heywood Vice-Chancellor & CEO University of New England. .. engaged learning and research to a new level, with planned co-location and co-creation of education offerings with industry to develop the workforce and jobs of the future and solve the problems... the development of entrepreneurial capability as a field of education producing significant public good, or to identify other funding opportunities to support this important aspect of Australia’s