Budget offers 'many opportunities', says Vice-Chancellor

May 09, 2007

The Vice-Chancellor of the University of New England, Professor Alan Pettigrew, has welcomed the higher-education component of the new Federal Budget, saying it presents "many opportunities for UNE".

"Nationally, the new Budget gives a strong, positive signal for the future of tertiary education in Australia," Professor Pettigrew said.

"The Government has responded to repeated calls from the Australian Vice-Chancellors' Committee for an increase in funding per student place," he continued. "While I'm particularly pleased about the biggest increases – for places in clinical psychology and mathematics and statistics – increases for places in almost all other academic disciplines will give us the opportunity to move UNE forward, through our Academic Renewal process, in keeping with our Strategic Plan."

Professor Pettigrew (pictured here) said he saw opportunities for UNE in the $209 million to be distributed over the next four years, under the new Diversity and Structural Adjustment Fund, to assist universities to diversify and specialise. "The Government has said that, in administering this fund, it will give priority to regional (and smaller metropolitan) universities that can demonstrate the greatest need for structural reform," he noted.

UNE's prominent role in teacher education should open another source of new funding. The Government will be allocating $77 million over four years to help student teachers gain more practical experience working in classrooms before they enter the profession, and Professor Pettigrew said this should provide "a welcome addition to a very important area for UNE".

"UNE, with its high levels of skill and experience in delivering summer school courses, will also be looking for opportunities within the new Australian Government Summer Schools for Teachers program, to be funded with $102 million over four years," he added.

The centerpiece of the Budget's higher education package is a $5 billion Higher Education Endowment Fund for approved capital works and research facilities. "This is an innovative and welcome approach," Professor Pettigrew said, "that will provide substantial funding to universities – on a competitive basis – in perpetuity. It shows that the Government is serious about investing in universities for the long term."

He welcomed the allocation of $222 million to improve students' access to tertiary education. This money will increase the number of Commonwealth Scholarships, extend eligibility for Rent Assistance to Austudy recipients, and extend the eligibility for Youth Allowance and Austudy to students undertaking approved Master's programs by coursework. "This will support UNE's commitment to extending education – particularly to those from rural and remote areas," he said.

"The Budget's initiatives for Indigenous students have the potential for a positive impact on UNE and the Indigenous communities it serves," he continued. These initiatives include payments of $4,000 each to up to 1,000 Indigenous students a year – particularly those who need to relocate from rural and remote areas – to help them take up a university undergraduate or enabling course, and $5 million for enhancements to ABSTUDY.

"We look forward to exploring the many possibilities that this Budget presents," he concluded. "It will, I believe, enable us to develop UNE in accordance with the vision spelled out in our Strategic Plan."

THE PHOTOGRAPH of Professor Pettigrew displayed here expands to include the Federal Minister for Education, Science and Training, Julie Bishop. It was taken during a presentation ceremony at Parliament House, Canberra, last December, when UNE was awarded $1.5 million through the Government's Learning and Teaching Performance Fund.

Posted by Jim Scanlan at May 9, 2007 05:52 PM