The ¡°distraction¡± of second-order issues is hampering universities from addressing the key challenge of reshaping themselves for post-Covid realities, an Australasian forum has heard.

University of Auckland vice-chancellor Dawn Freshwater said too much of her time was consumed by questions of staff¡¯s working conditions ¨C for example, whether people working off-site should retain their offices.

¡°If we¡¯re going to spend our time debating whether or not we keep book storage facilities for our staff, then [we] have lost the plot,¡± Professor Freshwater told É«ºÐÖ±²¥?Campus Live?ANZ, hosted by Victoria University in Melbourne.

It ¡°shouldn¡¯t really be tough¡± to discuss whether someone on campus two days a week warrants an office, she said. ¡°If that¡¯s where the conversation is starting from, then we¡¯ve lost sight of the purpose of the university.

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¡°The bigger question for us is¡­whether we have been flexible or bold enough during the pandemic. Shifting monolithic institutions to online overnight feels like it¡¯s bold, [but] we haven¡¯t been as bold or as flexible as we like to think ¨C there¡¯s more to come. It would be great to have serious conversations about future prototyping.¡±

Swinburne University vice-chancellor Pascale Quester said her institution¡¯s commitment to carbon neutrality sat uneasily with staff¡¯s desire to ¡°keep their office¡± despite working off-site at least two days a?week.

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Such expectations would see university administrations providing light and heating for ¡°the family pictures and the pot plant¡±, Professor Quester told the summit. ¡°From an environmental sustainability point of view, it makes no?sense.

¡°If you want to have flexibility¡­to work two or three days, you have to give up your office. It¡¯s not about the universities being commercial, it¡¯s about being pragmatic. What are we prepared to let go in order to have new things that we didn¡¯t have before? If we can reduce the footprint of the campus, we can invite in industry partners, and we don¡¯t pay as much in depreciation.¡±

University of Wollongong vice-chancellor Patricia Davidson said the sector needed to ¡°collaborate and be smarter¡± to meet the needs of contemporary students. She said too many people duplicated each other¡¯s work. ¡°How many people in Australia every day are writing curricula for statistics?101?¡±

Professor Freshwater said relinquishing obsolete practices was just as important as introducing fresh ones. ¡°People don¡¯t want to let go of the old things, but they want to do new things. And then, guess what? The workload is enormous. We¡¯ve really got to learn to let?go.¡±

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john.ross@timeshighereducation.com