The 1990s, Tumultuous and Crucial Years
This blog is part of our series, History of Deakin, created by the Deakin Archivist and Deakin Archives team. Explore the History of Deakin series.
Growing entrepreneurialism
From the early 1990s, an expectation that tertiary education would become the norm for most school-leavers led to huge growth in numbers of enrolling students. This, combined with a decline in public funding, required universities to become more entrepreneurial, leading to the adoption of corporate structures. Faculties entered the market for fee-paying master’s degrees and professional doctorates, and Deakin Australia provided significant revenue through corporate training.
By the late 90s Deakin was offering fee-paying undergraduate courses to domestic students and significantly increased recruitment of fee-paying international students. This model changed the student profile; the typical Deakin student would no longer be a regional school-leaver but would just as likely be a city-based corporate or public sector employee.
The Dawkins reforms were the impetus for Australia-wide deregulation and the growing entrepreneurialism that would challenge universities and lead to ongoing questions around their central values. The reforms sought a unified national system of education providers with increased accountability to national priorities and spending.
The reforms challenged the social democratic model that drove education in the post-war period – the model that led to the creation of institutions like Deakin University. Yet while Deakin’s founding principles of social equity and access to education would be challenged, there was much that Deakin had been doing that gave it an edge in this new environment. Since 1977 Deakin sought to provide lifelong learning and flexible delivery. While this background undoubtedly enhanced its capacity to respond to new markets and revenue-raising ventures, it was clear that into the future, the founding principles of Deakin would have to be more carefully balanced with competing priorities of government.
Reforms included a requirement for mergers between universities and colleges of advanced education. Universities were expected to lift enrolments and research output, become more entrepreneurial and compete more rigorously for funding. One such merger plan involved the creation of a federated or university based on Deakin and the colleges of Ballarat, Bendigo and Warrnambool – proposal firmly opposed by Deakin staff and students.
In the hot seat, the Minister for Higher Education, Mr Walker faces the media during his visit to Deakin to discuss plans for a State University proposal. Vice-chancellor Malcom Skilbeck sits to the right of the Minister. More than 3000 students and staff are reported to have gathered at the K D Stewart Centre to voice their objections, June 1989.
While successful in this campaign opposing Deakin’s role in a State University, undoubtedly compromise would be required. Deakin, while initially stressing its unique circumstances, came to embrace the changes. It entered into mergers and developed new streams of income, essentially restructuring itself to fit the radically changed environment. Research output began to grow and by the mid-to-late 90s, under the leadership of vice chancellor Geoff Wilson, Deakin saw a dramatic improvement in research performance and the development of strong partnerships with government and industry.
Deakin Australia
Deakin Australia meeting in their Toorak campus offices, 1993
Deakin Australia significantly helped to address the need for new sources of income. Deakin Australia was established in 1993 to design, develop and deliver educational programs to non-traditional university audiences.
Catering for corporate sector students, it arose out of a merger of three already operating entities:
- the Centre for Management Services
- the Management Centre
- the Technology Management Centre.
These entities had been largely on the periphery of the University’s functions. With Deakin Australia, they were to become more integrated with the University and significantly extended. It was intended that almost half of the University’s annual budget would be met from Deakin Australia.
Deakin Australia was based on the Toorak, Geelong and Burwood campuses. The first CEO was Tim Orton and Kevin Fuller was appointed CEO in 1996. Deakin Australia achieved Registered Training Organisation (RTO) status in 1997, enabling the organisation to offer programs at either VET or University sector levels. Deakin Australia entered partnerships with large corporate clients and set up offices in Sydney in 1994 (closed 2005), India in 1994, Canberra in 1997 (closed 2002) and the USA in 2000.
It became Deakin Prime in 2001.
Deakin Australia staff pose for publicity shot, 1993
Deakin Australia course materials came in all formats, here packaged in a suitably corporate briefcase are booklets, CDs and floppy discs
Restructuring and resetting Deakin, 1993
Deakin was also changed significantly following its merger in 1991 with Victoria College. It had only recently negotiated a merger with Warrnambool Institute of Advanced Education, but this was a much larger proposition. Within the federated Victoria College, each campus had its own history and culture, much of it still rooted in their respective pre-Victoria College histories as former State Colleges. These campuses along with Waurn Ponds and Warrnambool would need to operate as a unified university and significant changes to structure, governance and administrative processes made.
To manage the significantly larger, more diverse and geographically disparate university, Deakin adopted an integrated model and restructured its governance, administrative and academic structures to suit. The Council was changed, giving the Vice Chancellor broader abilities to set the University’s direction. All administration activities were integrated under a single vice-president (administration) and faculties were reduced to five: Arts, Health and Behavioural Sciences, Management, and Science and Technology – with each operating on Melbourne and regional campuses.
A rationalisation of courses and units followed with the intention of reducing duplication, improving access and raising the profile of honours and postgraduate study. Course offerings were to be across the institution.
In 1993, graduate schools were established in each faculty to improve and give focus to research activities and training. A Student Charter was developed and as requested by federal government, Deakin updated its ‘educational profile’, its mission statement and a statement of intent in relation to national priorities.
Hay’s influence
Deakin Vice-Chancellor John Hay led Deakin through these tumultuous and crucial years. He came to Deakin immediately after its merger with Victoria College and his political skills, combined with strong and decisive leadership, ensured the success of the merger that significantly changed Deakin University. Skilled political manoeuvring ensured the best outcome for Deakin in the changed education landscape brought about by the Dawkins reforms. Under Hay’s leadership Deakin restructured its governance and administrative structures, as well as its academic structure, to create a unified, integrated and multi-campus university. Courses were rationalised and new academic programs introduced. Flexible delivery was extended across all faculties. Hay was adept at exploiting entrepreneurial opportunities and ensured Deakin would not miss out on financial rewards from the federal government that were determined by quality assessments, performance checks and rankings.
Hay resigned on 31 December 1995 to take up the vice-chancellorship of the University of Queensland. He was succeeded by Professor Geoff Wilson who was appointed Deakin fourth Vice Chancellor in April 1996.
Vice Chancellor John Hay writes of challenges and opportunities at a time of change in Deakin News, 1992
Through the 1990s Deakin was transformed from a regional university with specialisation in distance education to a significantly larger and more complex multi-campus institution. Deakin’s founding principles – to offer lifelong and flexible learning – made it well-placed to take advantage of the new entrepreneurial style. Nevertheless, the changed landscape presented enormous challenges that, under the guidance of John Hay, resulted in a complex restructure of its academic, administrative and governance structures. New streams of income were established, including through the creation of Deakin Australia, which underpinned Deakin’s finances for some years. The University was transformed and education in Australia would be changed completely.