Leading Education?

1. Leading Education? Andrew Beer Director Centre for Housing, Urban and Regional Planning, University of Adelaide.

2. Leadership and Higher Education • The role of Universities in their regions: • Hollowing out of many industries in many metropolitan and non metropolitan regions • Often largest employer in a region – metro and non metropolitan • University of New England, University of Wollongong, Flinders University • Education Australia’s largest service sector export • Top 5 exports • 35,000 academic staff, approximately 100,000 academic and general full time staff combined, up to 100,000 part time staff • High regional economic impacts from their expenditures • Universities have the capacity to generate substantial resources: • But research performance concentrated in the capital cities – Group of 8 • International students prefer the capital cities, and the Group of 8 • Universities are portals to the global (knowledge) economy • Eg Markku

3. Leadership and Higher Education • Calabu (2000) identified three major impacts of universities • The income and employment generated through its teaching and research • The enhancement of its human capital through its education of people • Creation of wealth through the spillover effects to government and business of its R&D activities • Beer and Cooper (2007) concluded that regions and government tended to overvalue the spillover effects of R&D and under value the other two dimensions. • Calabu (2000) estimated that using the three dimensions above, SA universities added $1.738bn to GSP. • One third of the wheat crop in a good year, double in a drought

4. Leadership and Higher Education • Research overseas notes the role Universities can play in leading regions and regional innovation systems • Collinge and Gibney (Oresund Region) • But experience and the evidence base in Australia is more complex • Millmow (2005) – Those Little Town Blues • Universities as complex beasts • Universities attempt to behave as monopoly suppliers • They are large and complex bureaucracies, whose priorities change • Their motivations and behaviours may be a mystery to external stakeholders • Their decision making processes can baffle internal and external stakeholders alike

5. Leading the Region • WK Kellogg Foundation (2002) • Engagement – real engagement – in which institutions of higher education and communities form lasting relationships that influence, shape and promote success in both spheres is rare. More often than not we see evidence of unilateral outreach from the universities, rather than partnerships based on true mutual benefit, mutual respect and mutual accountability. • WK Kellogg Foundation (2002) • Five lessons for effective community engagement • Community ownership • Targettedfocii • Rigorous selection processes that include community readiness • Achieving early results by harvesting low hanging fruit to maintain motivation of participants • Having patience with the way communities work and having patience with the rate of change.

6. Conclusion • Universities have a role in the leadership of regions • But success will only come about when both the region and the institution understand each other • Not every region/place should partner with a university • Partnerships need to develop over time • For regions, the benefits can be profound, and the opportunity costs of not engaging can be enormous