Peevish Minister Berates Universities on Lack of Commitment to Good Governance. (October 11, 2006)

    Yesterday at 4pm the 2006 National Conference for University Governance was officially opened by the Minister for Education, Science and Training, Julie Bishop, having been introduced by the soft spoken Convener, Emeritus Professor Deryck Schreuder, a former vice-chancellor of the University of Western Australia, who was once asked by ANU Vice-Chancellor, Ian Chubb if he had as a young academic ever considered university vice-chancellorship as a career move that would be of interest. Professor Schreuder's answer... "No".

Following a perfunctory "thank you" Ms Bishop opened with, "I am pleased to open this conference and to share my thoughts on where we – the Australian Government and our universities – have made progress in achieving more effective university governance."

She then launched into a series of peevish reprimands regarding the way the universities were treating the vexing matter of their governance, though she acknowledged that a few were toeing the right line.

[She gave her audience to understand that the prestigious ones were not among them.]

To business, and one can easily imagine the waggling finger of an admonishing school teacher dressing down her primary school pupils.

• During the Crossroads consultations, consistent concerns were raised about the effectiveness of universities’ governing bodies,

• One concern was whether governing body members had the skills needed to oversee modern Australian universities,

• A second concern was that intractable differences often arose between Council members who represented different constituencies within the university,

• The Australian Government moved to address the concerns identified in the Crossroads report and introduced the National Governance Protocols,

• It concerns me that there is a feeling that the protocols are now behind us, and there appears to be a culture of complacency creeping into the governance of universities,

• I am concerned there is a belief that meeting the bare minimum requirements of the National Governance Protocols is enough. It’s not enough!

• It concerns me also that this complacency is reflected in the poor uptake of opportunities for professional development. So far this year, only six universities have undertaken the professional development workshops through the University Governance Professional Development Programme,

• It concerns me that another course has had to be cancelled due to lack of interest, and the website established to facilitate the national exchange of ideas, papers and policy templates has remained largely unused.

The minister then explained to her audience just what should be required of a member of a university's governing body, "A fundamental criterion in my view is that all governing body members should be fully committed to their duties. They must have enough time to attend the meetings, read documentation, attend appropriate induction and training sessions, and represent the university when required. Nor should people be appointed to councils solely as a reward for generous donations or just because of extensive networks. Membership of the governing body should involve dedicated hard work."

Good advice! No doubt closely adhered to by all our political parties.

And Ms Bishop continued to preach to the conference for the rest of her allotted time and then came, "I am watching developments in relation to university governance with great interest, and I may need to change the Protocols to deliver the reforms they were designed to bring about. But I do not see the Protocols as the only driver." Perhaps, with a slight paraphrase,  it's reminiscent of Richard Nixon's dictum, "if you've got 'em by the financial balls, their hearts and minds will follow."

But the real matter of concern for the nation is the lack of any interest by our governments, principally federal but also state, of significantly improving our universities in research and teaching infrastructure and staffing, to assure that Australia can hold, let alone improve, its position as a first world economic and intellectual power.

But then that's not seen as a vote getter.

Oh, Yes, what was the major theme of the conference of which Professor Schreuder was the convenor?

“Council Strategies in Facing Key Challenges in Higher Education at a Time of Transition”