A slightly different morning

I really love getting into work early – I try to as often as I can. In fact I am writing this at five thirty in the morning. I like to see the University coming to life. The grounds staff have already been at work for an hour or so when I get in at seven in the morning. It is good to get the emails cleared from the day before and reflect on the previous day.  It’s also a good time to take a look at the calendar and see what the day has to offer.

Then the emails start rolling in as people get to their desks. I am always amazed when I work on emails very late at night or VERY early in the morning maybe before five how many emails come back straight away with an answer – Rob Reed and Joanne Perry must hold the record for this. Soon after the emails start rolling in, the cars start passing my window and the car parks start filling up. Most of the many kangaroos on Campus disappear or laze under the trees as the sun starts to heat the place up. Another day begins.

At about a quarter to nine Heather Andrews (pictured) our Executive Assistance arrives. I always ask her “how was your evening/weekend”. She always without fail says “Lovely”. And she means it. I have never known anyone enjoy life more than Heather. She brightens up the day for everyone who meets her.

But today I am not getting in early. In fact I am hosting a breakfast meeting at the VC’s residence to wish Heather a happy retirement. Yesterday was the final day that Heather told me how lovely her evening had been.

Heather is one of the many unsung heroes we have at the University. Someone who makes it a better place. Someone who brightens up your day.

Heather has worked at the University for many years but I have only had the privilege of working with her for the past three years. She really made me feel so welcome to the University when I arrived. Much of what has been achieved over the past few years has been down to Heather. She has provided with me with wise council. She has listened to me twittering on about all the things I was going to do. For the most part she would make reassuring noises and smile. When the reassuring noises and the smile disappeared I always knew I was on the wrong track. I would then say – “I don’t really want to do that do that do I?” she would simply smile and shake her head. And, nine times out of ten I didn’t do it. Please don’t ask me about the one in ten times I did not heed her advice.

So today Heather parts company with CQUniversity. I know she is going to have a great retirement with Ian her partner. The whole of the University community wishes you all the very best and thanks you for a job well done.

Allied Health Clinic almost ready for first patient

I am really looking forward to tomorrow when I’ll be touring the new public access Allied Health Clinic at CQUniversity Rockhampton with representatives from Health Workforce Australia.

As the facility nears completion, I can’t stress enough how much it will offer our community and the students enrolled in CQUni’s allied health programs.

Regional areas like Rockhampton are often strapped for qualified health professionals – not to mention modern facilities. Having this clinic on campus not only means that our students can learn their profession in a ‘real life’ environment alongside qualified practitioners; it also means that local people (up to160 a day!) will have greater access to state-of-the-art facilities and treatment, taking the strain off the existing health services in town.

What better way to prove our credentials as ‘Australia’s most engaged university’? It really is a win-win situation.

Perhaps the most important aspect of this new clinic, however, is the potential for students to ‘study local, stay local’. Evidence shows that when a student studies in a regional area, that student is several times more likely to stay in a regional area after graduation. The flow-on effect this will have for the local health profession, and the wellbeing of local people, is just tremendous.

I would also like to acknowledge the role Health Workforce Australia has played in getting this clinic off the ground. Without their major contribution of $9m, we wouldn’t have been able to provide such a world-class facility to our community.

Stay tuned to my blog and Twitter, as I'll let you all know once the clinic is open to the public. I invite as many of you as possible to come down and see it for yourself - it is truly a stunning facility, and one that will have huge community benefit.


For a sneak peek inside the clinic, have a look at this brief YouTube clip -

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