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Professor Paul Greenfield AO, Vice-Chancellor and President, the University of Queensland and Chair, the Group of Eight

Wednesday 4 May 2011, National Press Club, Canberra, 11.45am

New national 鈥榪uality鈥� arrangements for higher education will lead to disappointment for students and the Australian community without international benchmarking, the chair of the peak body for research-intensive universities will tell the National Press Club on Wednesday.

Chair of the Group of Eight (Go8) Professor Paul Greenfield argues that a defining issue for the future of universities is how to earn and maintain respect in an increasingly tough global marketplace.

鈥淟earning in Australia鈥檚 higher education system should be of international quality," he said.

"If we are not prepared to fund it sufficiently then we should not claim it to be what it is not.

"The Government鈥檚 current policy is to produce more graduates at lower costs but the result will be a further blow-out in student staff ratios leading to less intensive student interaction with teachers and a lower quality learning experience.

鈥淭he overall student staff ratio in Australian universities has risen from 12 to 1 in the mid-1990s to 20 to 1 today.

鈥淎t an international level we are 鈥榦ff the pace鈥� in teaching and learning.

鈥淨uality is not some minimum standard set by a group such as the Tertiary Education Quality Standards Agency (TEQSA) - important though that may be - but must be measured against international benchmarks.

鈥淭he government鈥檚 new research rating system, ERA, at least attempts to compare university
research on international standards, but there is no similar angle for learning and teaching in TEQSA.

鈥淭o continue to be a major economic earner for the country Australian higher education must obsess about being internationally competitive and cannot rely on any inherent comparative advantage.鈥�

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FOR INFORMATION: Kerrie Thornton, Go8 Communications Director, 02 6239 5488