One University

Today we announced an important new phase in CQUniversity’s Strong to Great journey – something I’m dubbing the ‘one university’ project.

For a number of years now, CQUniversity has operated in two separate streams – CQUniversity Australia and C Management Services Pty Ltd (CMS). This model has proven successful in past years, however since becoming Vice-Chancellor in 2009, I have thought long and hard about just how much stronger CQUniversity might be as a unified institution.

Today, we have put forward a plan to mainstream the operations of CMS into CQUniversity over the course of several months. I feel the time is now right to embark on a new path that will combine ‘the best of both worlds’ to create a truly unified institution for students, staff and the communities we serve.

This project will not be embarked upon lightly. It will be the subject of further consultation with staff and stakeholders, as per all CQUniversity change management processes. We remain absolutely committed to continuing our campus presence in Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne, and equally committed to continuing to build our standing as a university-of-choice for international students – functions which CMS has performed admirably to date. But we will do all of this as ‘one university’ – CQUniversity.

I see this project as a great win for our metropolitan campus students. Under the ‘one university’ model, a student at the Brisbane, Sydney or Melbourne campus (whether they are domestic, international or studying by distance) will have the same access to resources, support and industry engagement opportunities as a student at any one of our regional campuses, and an enhanced range of study options to choose from. They will be able to tap into the vast network of CQUniversity campuses around Australia, allowing them to attend ‘virtual’ lectures with our expert staff around the country, connect with their peers across geographic boundaries, and even enjoy an ‘exchange’ term at one of our regional locations if they so choose.

I also see the revised model being great for our academic staff, who will soon report into a single, unified faculty, with the same access to resources, technology and peer support. They will thrive in an environment which allows them to innovate, collaborate and reach a wider range of students than ever before. It will also allow the University to introduce more programs into Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne, particularly those that are unique to CQUniversity and are in high demand in the capital cities.

I acknowledge the incredible contribution that CMS and its staff have made to the University over many years. Given the overlap between our two organisations, a significant number of positions within CMS will not be carried forward to the new structure and this has been discussed with staff. However, we will retain as many student-critical positions as possible, to ensure the focus remains on a continued great experience for our metro students.

I’m personally really looking forward to putting the days of ‘us and them’ well and truly behind us, and embracing the positive benefits that a unified CQUniversity will deliver to students, staff and communities alike.

 A move that will allow us to better support our regional and metro students