Skip to content | Change text size
 

Ancora Imparo

20 July 2005

One of Monash University's distinctive features is its multi-campus structure. Although other Group of Eight universities have more than one campus, none has such a complex network of regional, outer urban and international campuses.

I, and others, have written on previous occasions of the particular benefits to Monash and to Australia that come from our international campuses. In this column, I wish to concentrate on our Australian campuses.

I know there has been ambivalence towards our multi-campus structure. Some feel it places us at a disadvantage compared with other Group of Eight universities. It is certainly more complex to manage, but on the other hand, given our commitment to engagement and to admitting students of merit regardless of circumstances, our multi-campus structure provides us with opportunities to have a wider and more substantial beneficial impact.

To ignore this and to seek to go back to the pre-1990 situation with a single campus at Clayton is unrealistic and would be politically disastrous. Moreover, we are large enough to manage and benefit from the opportunities presented by our regional and outer urban campuses without prejudicing our ambition to achieve international excellence and reputation in research and education.

By and large, Caulfield is now accepted as a welcome addition to Monash. The campus is conveniently located next to a train station and is much closer to the central business district than is Clayton. It has become the centre of graduate/postgraduate coursework and also has the highest concentration of international students. It is recognised as the headquarters for three of our faculties and with the Stage 1 building nearing completion, together with its new multi-storey carpark, and the Stage 2 redevelopment of its western end in an advanced stage of planning, its transformation to a fully fledged high-quality campus is well under way.

Parkville is the site of our Pharmacy faculty (also known as the Victorian College of Pharmacy). This was the least-planned merger of the '90s, but one of the most beneficial. Its location in the heart of the ‘Parkville Precinct' allows it to be part of the Bio 21 consortium while remaining an integral part of Monash University . It plays a crucial role in developing the cross-Melbourne collaboration in biotechnology and drug development that will be essential if Melbourne is to become a significant centre in the highly competitive arena of biotechnology. It also provides critical research steps in the pipeline of new drug development, complementing the expertise in more fundamental steps in the School of Biomedical Science and the disease-specific and clinical trial expertise of our clinical departments.

But what of our regional and two outer urban campuses?

Monash Gippsland is strategically located in the heart of the Latrobe Valley. Its powerful Advisory Council has strong representation from local industry. It is key to the economic renewal of the region. There is strong political support for the campus and specific research funds available to help it to leverage this strong support. The move to give the campus greater autonomy to allow it to respond more speedily and flexibly to local research opportunities and educational needs recognises the especially close engagement it needs to foster with its local community. Industry internships are a particular feature. It has been argued that a stand-alone university would be better able to engage locally. But a small regional university would never have the critical mass in research or teaching to allow it to develop in a way that will bring maximum benefit to the local region. Being part of a large research-intensive university will allow it not only to take advantage of its local engagement but also to have the depth of research and education combined with reputation and prestige of Monash University.

Monash Peninsula is a beautiful, mature campus adjoining the headquarters of Peninsula Health at Frankston Hospital. It is an ideal location to develop specific strength in health sciences and in health and wellbeing. Physiotherapy and occupational therapy are starting there, to complement nursing and the Monash University Centre for Ambulance and Paramedic Studies. Early childhood education and sport and outdoor recreation, which will move there from Gippsland, also integrate well. Other courses with wide appeal in business and economics are also available but the emphasis will be around those areas integrating with the health sciences. Again, there is strong local community and political support for the campus, which will see particular opportunities for the campus.

Monash Berwick provides a different challenge. It is a very large site, and our current four buildings occupy only a tiny corner of it, so far with about 1900 students. An innovative proposal to develop the site as an integrated university village environment would see the infrastructure developing more quickly and the site becoming more attractive to students more quickly. This plan has yet to get ministerial approval. Again, specialisation of the campus to allow one or more specific areas of high appeal to serve as the theme of the campus is planned. Planning is still evolving, and themes around the built environment and community building are being explored. Given that Berwick is the centre of one of the most rapidly growing populations of young people, it is likely that over the next decade or so, demand for places at Monash Berwick will grow dramatically.

We will not compromise entry standards for our courses at our regional and outer urban campuses. To provide opportunities for bright young people from educationally disadvantaged backgrounds to enter Monash University , we will have to provide bridging programs, including articulation with TAFE, more mature-age entry and possibly the establishment of Monash College programs on the campus.

Each campus will develop research strengths relevant to their areas of specialisation and local needs integrated with the major research themes of Monash. Systems of matrix management that give sufficient local autonomy to allow maximum flexibility to take advantage of local opportunities and to respond to local needs and to retain the links to the faculty and central processes for quality control, curriculum development and research critical mass will be further developed. Line management responsibility must be unambiguous. Accountability for performance will inevitably be broader but must also be explicit. This is complex, but it is a challenge shared by every large organisation, particularly those that operate in multiple locations.

When we visit each of our campuses the particular strengths and opportunities presented by the campus are evident. If we realise all these opportunities, Monash University will indeed become a great and distinctive university, with its research and education considerably enhanced by its engagement with different communities and industry in multiple locations in Australia and overseas.

Richard Larkins