Submission to senate inquiry into governance at universities

SUPRA has made a submission to the senate inquiry into the quality of governance at Australian higher education providers.

The enquiry seeks to review the adequacy of the powers available to the Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency to perform its role in identifying and addressing corporate governance issues at Australian higher education providers, with particular reference to the transparency, accountability and effectiveness of university governing bodies in relation to expenditure, risk management and conflicts of interest, and the impact of employment practices on amongst other things, students and the quality of learning they are offered.

SUPRA’s submission focused on the positioning of students as central to university academic and corporate governance functioning and decision making. Specific recommendations:

1. Enhancing academic governance functioning 

• That universities improve academic governance functioning by reducing the number of report-backs in meetings, and instead promote and cultivate full and frank debate and meaningful discussion and deliberation.
• That universities cultivate a culture of inclusivity where diverse perspectives, including those of under-represented or marginalised groups, are actively valued and integrated into decision-making.

2. Strengthening student representation and engagement 

• That universities ensure meaningful student representation by reviewing and implementing genuine support for student representatives so that student representatives can properly contribute to discussion and decision-making and be more than symbolic.
• That universities leverage new technologies, for example by exploring better methods for student consultation such as surveys, interviews, and online focus groups and town halls, to gather and incorporate student feedback.
• That universities require formal student consultation before implementing significant changes to units of study, degree structures, and policies, ensuring student voices are heard and considered.

3. Ensuring transparent and inclusive student representation in governance 

• That universities improve the transparency and quality of university community representation in their corporate and academic governance bodies by enshrining student representation as ‘core’, and to ensure student representatives be provided with developmental opportunities.
• That universities have transparent appointment processes for governance body membership, with the size and composition legislated in a university’s enabling act and reflecting the institution’s mission and the diverse constituencies to which it is accountable.

4. Increasing university community representation 

• That universities ensure corporate governance membership that increases the proportion of university community representation via democratically elected staff, students, and alumni.

Download the full submission [PDF 538KB].