Vol. No. Vol. 2418No. 5 27
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SOAKED UP AND FLOWING: Dimboola Rowing Club committee member John Holman and his dog ‘Bruce’ take note of a full Dimboola weir pool as water flows along the Wimmera River. Mr Holman observed the river level rising about a metre after rain. Downpours in the catchment in the past month have led to significant run-off in the catchment with water in the river reaching Jeparit and spilling into a dry Lake Hindmarsh. Story, page 3. Picture: PAUL CARRACHER
Campus under review BY DYLAN DE JONG
W
immera employers and development leaders are joining forces with Federation University Australia to brainstorm how to improve tertiary education and explore ways to develop undergraduate-degree studies in the region.
University vice-chancellor Duncan Bentley stressed the institution’s Wimmera campus would need to change direction before the end of the year to meet industry and education demand. Emergence of the plans came after Mr Bentley visited the region last month and met with Wimmera Development Association and major employer representatives.
The university’s position in the region has long been a point of discussion and debate. Member for Lowan Emma Kealy suggested late last year the institution could benefit from providing undergraduate degrees with a focus on key Wimmera industries. Mr Bentley said education provision in the Wimmera was due for a serious makeover, especially in agricultural and environmental science, engineering, health and hospitality fields. “We have to come up with a different model – that’s what we will be working on over the coming months with the big employers in the region,” he said. “This year is critically important for
us to reinvigorate the direction for the university. By the end of year, we need to have a much clearer idea of exactly what the short, medium and long-term employment needs are going to be. “Instead of establishing courses that might or might not get student demand, we need to focus on what is critically needed in the region.” Mr Bentley said meetings with industry and regional leaders highlighted a need to refocus the education industry to follow an ‘earn and learn’ format for university courses. “We would like to see what the demand will require in terms of resources and facilities, what employers will bring to the table, what we can
bring to the table and how soon we can get it going,” he said. “Even further to this, we’re looking at a type of ‘earn and learn’ focus, where students start working from day one in a job. Students are more likely to stay in the region when they get into jobs right from the word go.” Formerly a branch of the University of Ballarat, the Wimmera campus was part of a 2014 Ballarat merger with Monash University Gippsland to form Federation University. The university confirmed last year it would phase out its Bachelor of Social Sciences. The move meant the Horsham campus no longer offered undergraduate degrees. Wimmera campus supports about
500 students in a range of mostly Technical and Further Education, TAFE, courses including Vocational Education and Training Delivered to Secondary Students, VETDSS. Mr Bentley said the biggest challenge leaders were facing was marketing courses to the Wimmera’s diverse needs. “The big thing at the moment is how do you deliver to really thin markets where you have constantly changing needs?” he said. “How do we make it so you don’t have to go all the way to Ballarat or Melbourne to be able to get your training. Because if you leave, it’s much more difficult to get you back again.” Continued page 5
ININ THIS ISSUE • Crisis accommodation plan • •Quantong residents stand strong • Football-netball action THIS ISSUE • Lucy ‘living her dream’ Domestic rail on agenda • Football-netball action
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