Creating new futures through curiosity

How do we navigate our choices?

Last week was one of reflection when I farewelled my son and his partner to Europe as they start a new future around her post-doc. After a PhD at the Peter Mac from the University of Melbourne she now has a choice between Oxford University and an institute in Holland specialising in biomedical research. It got me thinking, how do we navigate such choices??

It reminded me of coming to Australia 21 years ago and choosing a Dean’s job at 澳大利亚昆士兰科技大学 over a Sydney-based Go8. I chose it for its brand, culture and a chance to make a mark, creating a future somewhere doing things differently. My choice wasn’t well received or understood by the higher ranked place when I told them.

I was swayed at the time by the example of Dennis Gibson, an international academic succeeding to lead an Australian university. He became a member of a new Torrens University Australia board soon after finishing up as QUT VC and RMIT Chancellor. I saw him on a walk last week still looking cheerful and fit before heading off on his holiday.

I was also persuaded in my choice by the commitment to equity and purpose of Peter Coaldrake AO who has since become a sector elder statesman. Peter led me at QUT for 11 of the 21 years I’ve been in Australia. It wasn’t what Peter said that persuaded me as much as the example he had set around focus, purpose and brand at QUT, self-evident in the culture I experienced in first encounters with its staff. I was intrigued to hear Peter quoted when he was door stopped at the end of the AFR HE summit last month.

“Institutions individually and collectively need now to know what they are doing and have their purpose, focus, identity, culture and community sorted out, and not leave it to government.” - Peter Coaldrake AO

Do they ever Peter!

The timing of conferences can be hit and miss. I gather much of the air was sucked out of that one when Education Minister Jason Clare turned up with nothing to say.

Well, he has shown his hand since. A series of international student caps dished out to all public universities and other providers, through an unfathomable formula dressed up as policy. That policy's purpose is variously tied up with housing shortages, migration pressures, quality standards and redistributing resources between types of institutions. None of these are well served by this awful piece of legislation. Its final approval would mean we are getting closer to being sure of what we face - we are on our own.?

Some are at least grateful for certainty. Those missing out or faring poorly from the changes are crying foul. They do so now after showing a lack of concern for others denied support or advantage for decades.?

It’s hard to feel sympathy for special cases by some public universities when the private provider and VET sector has been hit even harder, without getting a mention. And it is noticeable that all of the reactions from institutions have much more focus on what it means to them, than the implications on students.

Why I was proud of my choice

I came to create my future at QUT at a university that showed purpose. It had a culture and community of committed real world scholars and professionals. I will be back there in a few weeks when one of the most innovative professionals I know, Martin McCarron , chairs the 2024 ATEM conference under the title of PURPOSE. He would.?

I sense some universities get distracted from what makes them special, becoming like everyone else. This is common where the primacy of rankings leads to identical business models for all.

George Williams , as the new VC at Western Sydney University , is giving out some very clear messages about standing out from the crowd and doing things differently in this video.

"I like a good rebel and that's the right thing for me and this university. I'm happy to be doing it differently but ultimately winning." - George Williams

As Peter Varghese, Chancellor of UQ, has long foreseen, the business model of rankings generating fees to fund research that improve rankings, is now almost dead.

Death and other forms of loss generate grief cycles. Those badly impacted by government changes will inevitably be angry, then in denial. They may eventually lament loss of what they assumed would last forever, and they will need to reinvent. I feel sure great opportunity lies ahead for institutions that give up the past. It’s time to boldly embrace the future.

This applies to all public and private universities, and other tertiary providers. They have the opportunity to find future solutions alongside edtech, bigtech and network or community organisations. There is abundant opportunity when learning and skills needs are exploding, while long established models of providing for it are disrupted.

The trick will be to innovate and see new futures unconstrained by the distractions of hanging on to emotions of the past.

What are the choices to be made now?

Thought leader Michael Horn gave a great outline on a recent HEDx podcast of how this can lead to a choice to pursue strategies of either sustaining or disruptive innovation. He argued AI provides a trigger for both.

Our recent HEDx podcast with Rowena Harper of Edith Cowan University and Jason M. Lodge of UQ was a great example of a sustaining innovation approach with AI. For some in current roles in institutions, it might feel like there is little choice in conservative and risk averse organisations and the sector culture they are part of. This is real when on a path to higher office and promotion and I remember it well. Those who already have a chance to lead have the opportunity and responsibility of choosing from a more disruptive approach.

Humility is then key. This was a strong theme when Paul and George were recently in town. This was not the Beatles reunion before the Oasis reunion. It’s a new band. The band played a number at an industry leaders event about a journey to be curious in learning what we mean by an AI-first university. Paul J. LeBlanc , George Siemens and Tanya Gambey’s band is aptly named Human Systems.

I am not sure what an AI-first university is, and nor I sense are Paul, George and Tanya at this stage. But I'm curious to find out and trust these people of great humanity. Theo Farrell is also curious and finding out more by beating drums as VC at 澳大利亚拉筹伯大学

Losing your clarity of purpose, and losing focus on a new identity for new realities, is what Peter Coaldrake warned about at AFR. Blaming government, instead of leading your university to be different, is dangerous at worst, and a lost opportunity at best.

Creating pearls with the grit in the oyster

I have a strong sense that the next 6 months to 5 years is going to be crucial. Learning through it by being curious and courageous will be my relentless focus over the next 5 years, starting with the next 6 months.?

I want to help create new futures for the sector. At the recent AI-first university event I was described as the grit in the oyster of the sector by my friend Ray Fleming . I am still wearing that badge of honour and refuse to take it off.

It will be the key theme in our next HEDx conference at UQ, called Future Solutions for Higher Education. I am so pleased UQ are a Go8 HEDx partner focused on being future ready for change ahead. I love the vibe of HEDx conferences and the reactions they get from those who attend that you can see summarised in this highlights reel from HEDx Melbourne 2024.

The next event will allow reflections by current public university leaders, to provocations to innovate from a recently free interim president in the US, Ann Kirschner .

Being released from office is liberating. If only the thoughts we have at that moment had influenced more of what we did when we were leading. For 38 years I worried more about what others thought. Being OOO for good means you can say what you feel and do what you like. I now feel free to do that.

My roles in public universities left me blind to the private sector. The HEDx event will spotlight private provider competitors operating within the regulatory environment. Our forthcoming Sam Jacob podcast episode has insight into diversity in providers in sector ecology, that they will bring to the event.

Our conference will also have a partnerships focus on the skills agenda and tertiary and VET integration, and the need to pursue partnerships or perish, with great inputs from our friends at LinkedIn and 微软 .

So who is caring about students in all of this?

I find the shift in sector commentary fascinating at the moment. A SBS uni blues debate showed what happens when we force ourselves to listen to students. Fellow pirate Michael Burgess argues stridently that we need to do this with more authenticity. He is right.

We must authentically listen to students and value their lived experience. The HEDx event will hear from Australian Centre for Student Equity and Success (ACSES) and EPHEA - Equity Practitioners in Higher Education about student centricity.?

I am greatly taken by Hamish Coates and his colleagues posing the question of what a students accord would lead to, rather than one distracted by the needs of universities. Universities are not the stakeholders that matter or what society and government care for or about. Students are.

What all stakeholders see more clearly than university leaders is that change is ahead. What leaders of change know is that this means we must innovate. This needs new private investment and a start-up mentality, not fighting over funding and defending old models.

A sector in need of a start-up mentality?

We urgently need a change of mindset in higher education. This is easier to understand when you are outside of the system. HEDx is a start-up entering year 5 with 11 universities and 20 partners, ahead of schedule in its business development. What will it be in 5 years time? I don’t know.

I am engaging with others and exploring what we can do, in serving a purpose of changing higher education for good. It may not endure or be the grit that creates a pearl, certainly not on its own. But it might make a difference working purposefully with others. Or it might only be a distant memory of grit that was in the eye for some beholders. But unless you have a go, how will you know???

What will your organisation be in 5 years time? If you think you know you might be in trouble.

Now is a time to create new futures and explore them actively by being open minded. I look forward to seeing you on your own journey along the way. You are welcome to join in on mine.

I cant wait to catch up with my son and his partner and hear where exploring the world takes them in 6 months and 5 years time. I know I will be inspired by them both and learn from their journey in ways I do not yet understand. That seems so much more exciting for them and I, than anyone telling them where to go, or to go where they have been themselves.

Spotlight on others

Michael Horn outlines the difference between sustaining and disruptive innovation, from his time working with Clay Christensen, and the need and presence of both in sector change and innovation.

Rowena Harper of ECU and Jason M. Lodge of UQ highlight how sustaining innovation in AI in a TEQSA environment requires systemic change in education and assessment models, not tweaks.

Chris Hill outlines experience starting new private universities around the world and a latest initiative with Cintana to bring online education powered by ASU to health workforce shortages in Australia.

Kerri-Lee Krause, as Chair of the HESP and leader of the most recent new university in Australia, argues for diversity and new models, after a career in multiple public universities. She sees both are vital if sector ecology is to serve diverse future learners' needs.

What we are watching and reading

The SBS Debate on Uni blues shines a strong light on what students are really experiencing and how out of step universities are with what students want.

A Goldsmiths report calls for a greater focus on alternative business models to the standardised world-class university model

Rose Luckin is a leader in AI in HE. She calls for being curiously cautious as universities explore the potential of AI in the latest edition of her excellent regular newsletter.

The Higher Good newsletter is an imaginative initiative from Hamish Coates and others. His latest contribution questions what would have happened if we had discussed and produced a students accord and not one for universities. We still could.?