Bundy students up and away…

I was thrilled to log on to the Bundaberg News Mail website last Friday and read about 100 of our students who are about to take to the skies as part of CQUniversity’s new aviation course.

As I have mentioned on a number of occasions, flying is something close to my heart, and something I do as much as I possibly can. In fact my own plane, a Jabiru J230C, was manufactured in Bundaberg.

It seems fitting that these CQUniversity students are learning the ropes in Bundaberg as it was here that one of Australia’s true aviation pioneers was born and raised.

Bert Hinkler, undoubtedly Australia’s greatest aviator, developed his interest in flying at a young age, observing the way ibis could fly at a lake near his school.

The CQUniversity aviation course is an innovative and exciting program for CQUniversity, but it is particularly fitting that it is being delivered in Bundaberg, where Bert Hinkler still remains a favourite son.

Congratulations to these students on pursuing their passion! I have no doubt you will all feel right at home in the cockpit and love every second of taking to the sky.

Below is a picture of me with my plane taken last year for The Australian by Adam Knott.



Alumni and the road to greatness

Those who know me well know how much I love to fly. Fortunately for me, due to our multi-campus structure I have the opportunity to take my plane out regularly when I visit each of the campuses. Getting out and about and making contact with CQUniversity staff, students and alumni in all of our locations is one of the highlights of my role.

I was hoping to fire up the engines of the Jabiru tomorrow and fly to Emerald to attend the next in our series of alumni and supporter events, but due to the horrible weather I’ll need to drive.

Planes and automobiles aside, these events are so important to the future of the University and achieving greatness. They also provide a fantastic forum for ensuring ongoing engagement with our community. It is one of my firm beliefs that a large part of a University’s reputation rests on the satisfaction of its alumni.

As part of the event I will deliver a presentation, providing attendees with information on the current phase of our renewal and growth, statistics on student numbers, and how we are tracking against our mid and long term plans.

I also use events like these to thank our alumni, donors and institution supporters for remaining connected with the University. Their support will help make CQUniversity one of Australia’s truly great universities.

More alumni and supporter events are also scheduled for this year in Melbourne, Sydney and Bundaberg (hopefully I’ll get to fire up the Jabiru for that one!).

The photo below is from the recent Brisbane event. I'm pictured here with alumna Patricia Courtenay.

From Strong to Great

The last time I blogged on this subject I was ridiculed by an academic from another University on Twitter. Well good on him - shows we are getting noticed and if we gave him cause to laugh I am happy to do that. I like a good laugh myself.

When we set out about three years ago to make the University financially sustainable in two years, a strong regional in five years and a great University in 10 years many scoffed. But last week at the Senior Leaders Conference about 80 leaders reflected on what has been achieved and where we would go next.

There is now no doubt about our finances. Domestically we are just about the fastest growing university in Australia. A recent article in The Australian demonstrated that our finances are the envy of many in the sector. We had a good operating surplus last year. We have invested tens of millions in the past three years to put us in a very strong financial position. Yes our international student numbers are down but we have implemented innovative strategies on our metropolitan campuses to minimise the impact of the international down turn. So our two-year goal has been met and our reputation is in the ascendency.

We said we were going to be a strong regional university within five years. I would argue that we have met this goal in three years. We now offer about 30 new programs which are meeting the skills needs of the communities that we serve. Potential students love what we are doing - our Term 2 offers are up 70% on this time last year. We have made a stepped improvement in our research outputs. We are attracting some great researchers to our University. We are a strong regional university.

We have modified our five year goal. We now plan to be one of Australia's strongest universities.

So now to our ten year goal. We will be a great University by 2020. Last week all senior leaders in the University agreed that this was possible. We started to define what a great university would mean for us. It will mean being:

Australia's most engaged university
A dual sector university
Australia's leading DE provider
A national university
A university that gives back
A research intensive university
An inclusive university

We are going to make this happen. Many will laugh and scoff - it does not matter - we are going to make this happen.

Scott



- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Location:Brisbane Airport

Engagement @ CQUniversity

You will often hear me banging on about CQUniversity being (or at least aspiring to be) Australia’s most engaged university. But what does ‘engagement’ mean exactly? And what does it have to do with running a university?

The dictionary doesn’t offer much help; definitions for ‘engagement’ include “a pledge of marriage”, “a hostile encounter or battle”, and “a promise to be at a particular place at a particular time”!

For me, engagement is about partnership. To paraphrase an old saying, no university is an island. How can we hope to service the education and training needs of our local communities if we don’t engage them in a regular, ongoing two-day dialogue?

We’ve been putting our heads together at CQUniversity to find a definition of ‘engagement’ that applies to us – and we think we’ve found it. Here it is:

CQUniversity works hard to make a real difference in the communities it serves.

At CQUniversity, it’s not just about education; it’s about connecting, partnering and building relationships with local people to achieve great things.

Sometimes, it’s as simple as having a kick of the footy on the CQUniversity oval. At others, it’s far more than that – connecting CQUniversity researchers with small business and large industry to help solve complex problems; providing student scholarships so that people from all walks of life have the chance to go to university; and hosting community events that bring people together and contribute to the diversity of regional town and city life.

We pride ourselves on being open, responsive, approachable and easy to engage with. Whether you are a prospective student, a local business owner, a CEO, an MP, a charity worker or a school principal, you will find our door is always open.

That’s why we’re proud to call ourselves Australia’s most engaged university.

  

What do you think? Please leave a comment – I’d love to hear your thoughts as we continue on our journey of engagement. After all, that’s what engagement is all about.

From Strong to Great

Three years ago we started on our ten year renewal plan. Our plan said we were going to be financially sustainable in two years, one of Australia's strongest regional universities in five years and a great university in ten years.

We achieved financial sustainability well within the two years. I think it could be argued that we are now one of Australia's strongest regional universities. We have many new programs and researchers meeting the need of our community. I am very confident that all stakeholders will recognize that we have met this target at the five year mark.

My mind is now turning to how we can move the university from strong to GREAT. For the rest of this year I want us to have a debate about how we go about meeting our ten year goal.

In the original renewal plan we defined a great university by two measures - we would be in the top 50% of universities for research output and that we would be Australia's most engaged university.

But I think we need to do a lot more in defining what we mean by a great university and we need to produce a road map of how we are going to get to our greatness. So I want the whole of the university - staff, students, alumni and friends to start giving this some serious thought.

As you might expect I have some strong opinions on all of this! However I think we will need a common vision if we are really going to be a great University by 2020. I am really looking forward to working with you all to get CQUniversity to the place we all know it deserves to be.

Now on a personal note I cannot resist sharing with you a picture of my Grandson Owen. I was with Owen in Adelaide over Easter. His favorite phrase as "Gran Gran (his name for me) that's just not funny". We brought him this dinosaur costume at an Easter market.




Scott



- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Location:Bundaberg

Three states in one week

Like most Queenslanders, I watched with interest over the weekend as the state election process unfolded.

With eight CQUniversity campuses in Queensland alone, I’m really looking forward to working with the incoming government and the local MPs on our ambitious campus renewal projects and progress of our aim to be Queensland’s first dual-sector institution.

The University has enjoyed strong and fruitful ties with many of those MPs who might be retiring or who may have lost their seat over the weekend. On behalf of CQUniversity, I thank them for their support and for being such valuable advocates for the University. I wish them well in whatever the future brings their way.

I am leaving Queensland behind this afternoon with trips to both Sydney and Melbourne in the coming days. I’ll be presenting at the Higher Education Congress in Sydney and the Interconnected Tertiary Education conference in Melbourne.

Anita and I are also very excited to be attending the official launch of CQUniversity’s Sonogoraphy program based at our Sydney campus tomorrow evening. As this is Australia's only sonography program available for undergraduate entry (with postgraduate exit), there's been an enthusiastic response from students keen to help relieve a critical health workforce shortage. You can read more about our unique sonography program in UniNews.

Why CQ needs dual-sector

I thought I would share a letter to the Editor that I sent to local newspapers last week:

Letter to the Editor from Professor Scott Bowman – Dual Sector
2 March 2011

The proposed merger between CQ TAFE and CQUniversity has generated a lot of interest in the media lately, which I think is a good thing – the community should be having a discussion about how post-schooling education can be tailored to better meet the unique needs of Central Queensland.

We are sitting in a region unlike any other in Australia, at a time unlike any other, with opportunities and challenges being thrown at us that only come along once in a lifetime. The communities, industries, economies, workforce pressures, skills needs, social factors, environments and lifestyle options of Central Queensland cannot be found anywhere else in the state, yet for decades we’ve had the same cookie-cutter post-schooling education options as everywhere else in the state. It works, but it could work so much better for us.

I believe the merger of CQ TAFE with CQUniversity will unlock the region’s potential to respond more quickly and effectively to the education and training demands in our own backyard. Currently we have a TAFE and a University, both full of great staff, both with fantastic facilities, both competing for the same school leavers and students, both trying to skill the local workforce, but with no real coordination or strategy between them because they are working in relative isolation. And it is the students that are missing out. This idea of academic apartheid – where you are either on a ‘TAFE’ or ‘University’ path for life – has held this region back from realising its full potential.

I want the line between TAFE and Higher Education in Central Queensland to be blurred, so that our students don’t even realise they are drifting back and forth between the two. I want our Engineering students at uni to have the choice of TAFE vocational competencies built into their degree to make them more attractive to local industries. I want a TAFE-trained Enrolled Nurse to not hesitate coming back to their own university to train further to become a Registered Nurse. I want the uni’s performing arts students to use TAFE resources to learn how to use power tools so they can say on their CV that they are qualified to build and design stage sets, which might secure them their first job. I want a TAFE qualified hairdresser to come back to their university one day and study a tertiary business course so they can open their own chain of salons. I want us to train the best welders, fitters, electricians, teachers, nurses and accountants that we possibly can. And I want this region to celebrate the graduation of a diesel mechanic at a ceremony alongside the graduation of a speech pathologist, because Central Queensland is in desperate need of both.

As a region I think we have more unmet potential than we realise. I want this merger to bring out the best in CQ TAFE, and I want CQ TAFE to bring out the best in CQUniversity.