The Regional Universities Network (RUN) has welcomed the priority being placed upon establishing the Australian Tertiary Education Commission (ATEC) and has congratulated Professor Mary O’Kane AC on her appointment to the role of ATEC Interim Chief Commissioner.
RUN Chief Executive Officer Alec Webb said Professor O’Kane’s important work developing the Australian Universities Accord placed regional education issues at the forefront of tertiary reforms.
“RUN looks forward to working with Professor O’Kane in her new role as ATEC Interim Chief Commissioner – just as we did during the consultation phase of the Accord’s Final Report – to advance the issues affecting the university services relied upon by millions of regional Australians.
“RUN will continue to advocate for sensible reform that recognises the different student cohorts and unique operating environments that distinguish regional universities from metropolitan institutions.
“We are confident that Professor O’Kane can lead the creation of a more equitable and effective tertiary sector that works for all Australians, regardless of their background or location, Mr Webb said.
The Accord Final Report identified the long-term university attainment targets required to meet Australia’s future skills needs, and found that these targets were only achievable under a university system capable of growing the number students from historically underrepresented backgrounds.
“RUN universities perform the sector’s heavy lifting in terms of enrolling students from underrepresented backgrounds, Mr Webb said.
“We work alongside our communities to raise the university aspirations of students from low socio-economic, regional/remote, First Nations or disability backgrounds, and we support these students to enrol and succeed at university in higher proportions than anywhere else in the sector.
“RUN universities have demonstrated that you can support large numbers of students from underrepresented backgrounds, while consistently outperforming the sector average in measures of student satisfaction, graduate employment, graduate starting salaries, and employer satisfaction.
“RUN has a strong ongoing commitment to meeting our national skilled workforce targets and the heighted inclusion of underrepresented participants, and we look forward to the ATEC’s leadership in this important sector-wide process.
“RUN welcomes the opportunity to work further with Professor O’Kane’s via her appointment to the ATEC, alongside that of Professors Glover and Behrendt who also contributed heavily to the equity focus of the Accord, Mr Webb said.
For media enquiries:
Alec Webb, Chief Executive Officer, 0408 482 736
Molly Tuy, Communications and Office Administration Assistant, 0493 890 747
Website: www.run.edu.au
Twitter: @RegUniNet #RegUnisHelpRegions
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/regional-universities-network