The University Imperative: Delivering Socio-Economic Benefits For Our World

Copyright © Nicholas Mathiou 2022

Nicholas Mathiou asserts his right to be identified as the author of this work.

Contact: www.linkedin.com/in/nicholasmathiou or www.nicholasmathiou.com

Brisbane, Australia

Title: The University Imperative: Delivering Socio-economic Benefits for Our World

Author: Nicholas Mathiou

ISBN: 9780645360424

Strategic Planning | Organisational Development | Social Impact

Book Production: www.bevryanpublish.com

DISCLAIMER

Opinions expressed in this book are those of the author and should not be considered as the official opinion or statement of any other party. The author takes no responsibility for any use that may be made of the information contained herein. The author specifically disclaims any liability, loss or risk incurred as a consequence, directly or indirectly, of the use and application of any contents of this work.

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

This document contains material protected under international and Australian copyright laws and treaties. Any unauthorised reprint or use of this material is prohibited. No part of this document may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system without the express written permission of the author.

Are you looking to make a positive impact for our world and transform lives for the better?

Are you seeking to deliver great socio-economic benefits from your university?

Are you trying to navigate the effect that dynamic and competitive environments are having on your university’s ability to derive impact?

Given our turbulent environments, is your university grappling with choosing what to do to derive impact and how to get that done?

If you answered yes to any of these questions, welcome to a group of dedicated people who know the importance that universities make to our society; people who are striving to make sure great socio-economic benefits are derived from universities now and well into the future.

CONTENTS

Acknowledgements

Preface

INTRODUCTION

PART I        ORGANISATIONAL DIRECTION

Chapter 1    North Stars

Chapter 2    Spheres of Impact

Chapter 3    Knowledge-Capital Value Chain

Chapter 4    Opportunity Spectrum

PART II       ORGANISATIONAL CHARACTER

Chapter 5    Critical Proficiencies

Chapter 6    Engagement Model

Chapter 7    Operating Model

Chapter 8    Implementation Model

Chapter 9    Developing an Ecosystem

CONCLUSION

Questions You Must Answer

Afterword

About the Author

List of Figures and Tables

DEDICATION

To Natalie, Isabella, and George

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Thanks to Stephen O’Grady for his endless patience, and whose editorial polish helped distil a collection of concepts, words and discussions into the coherent chapters of this book. Any incoherence is due entirely to me! I highly recommend Stephen.

He can be contacted at [email protected].

PREFACE

‘What was happening could be described as a great ship being turned and blunted and shoved about and pulled around by many small tugs. Once turned by tide and tugs, it must set a new course and start its engines turning. On the bridge, which is the planning centre, the question must be asked: All right, I know now where I want to go. How do I get there, and where are the lurking rocks and what will the weather be?’

—John Steinbeck, ‘The Winter of Our Discontent’

Ever since their establishment as institutions of higher education and research, universities have been different. Their evolution across the past ten centuries has seen them infused with an enduring ethos: to benefit society. Irrespective of individual institutional personalities and the manifold geographical coordinates of universities in general, this ethos remains a distinguishing characteristic of any such institute of higher learning. A university is still a community of teachers and scholars, and therefore remains a veritable epicentre of ideas, a concept factory, the rightful birthplace of innovations and products that make the world a better place in which to live; it is a think tank for the betterment of society, an environment where the very practice of education is an exercise in social enrichment.

Certainly, that remains the intent. However, today we live in a world of constant change, uncertainty and unprecedented challenges, a social situation accentuated by the global events of 2020 and 2021. We find ourselves in profoundly difficult territory.

On the face of it, universities continue to operate according to their broad traditional ethos; however, they are increasingly required to question whether they have the societal cut-through expected of institutions of higher education and research. Are the graduates emerging from universities today scholars in the truest sense of the word? Are they the thought leaders and change managers who are capable of not just meeting the demands of an uncertain environment but also transforming it for the greater good? Are the products at the end of the university assembly line utilised in the delivery of social benefit?

Achieving that cut-through and hitting those societal targets no longer happens as a matter of course; the digital revolution has seen to this. Technologies have changed the ways we think and interact forever, not least in terms of information and know-how, and how these are acquired and shared.

A new currency is at play in the business of knowledge, and the modern values of higher education and research have come under pressure. The academic foundations and research rigour that once positioned universities on a higher plane are now under siege from easily accessed information (frequently camouflaged as expert knowledge). Multinational tech companies have provided global platforms for the convenient proliferation of opinion in the absence of verified facts which run counter to universities’ endeavours and ethos.

What of society-serving universities and the platforms they provide for scholars and researchers, and the products of their academic enterprise? This prescient question has risen ominously as the university-funding model has been depleted and dented and ultimately damaged by a turbulent economic landscape, competition, the loss of traditional market share, and the ever-tightening public funding available to support university activities.

The need for universities to play their more than noble part in addressing societal issues has never been so clear. The onset of the global pandemic and its implications for health and governance into the future has amplified this need. Unless the role of the university is reinvigorated in proficient fashion, further challenges of profound import lay waiting for the people of this planet. There can be no doubt that universities—institutions of higher education and research, with their communities of teachers and scholars—are the entities best placed to meet these challenges.

Society needs universities to stay relevant and provide benefits for all their stakeholders, but staying relevant in a world of change requires change. And while a new or renewed way forward must be forged, it is incumbent on any university not only to do the right thing but also do it in the right way.

Staying relevant requires intent, focus, proficiencies and organisational character. It means shaking off moribund shackles of intellectual isolation, and re-engineering university mechanisms to harness the knowledge and energies of educators and researchers determined to flourish in the face of exponential change and challenges.

At the same time, the benefits of the educators’ and researchers’ work must accrue to the largest social cohort. If this does not happen, universities will not achieve their mission and their relevance will wane. Educators and researchers must be provided with the necessary platforms to nurture their sense of opportunity, allowing them to reach beyond campus boundaries and seek out tangible collaborations that can optimise the impact of their work on a broad and meaningful scale.

The aim of The University Imperative is to present universities of all shapes and sizes around the world with a sense of what is required in this current climate. It constructs a framework with which universities can confidently calibrate their operations. The enduring goal of the university has not changed; delivering a beneficial impact for society remains the order of the day. What has changed is the emergent need for commercial rigour in the delivery of social benefits.

Across nine chapters, The University Imperative constructs a conceptual scaffold that considers the bearing of universities in this hectic social space while also keeping a measured eye on the resources at their disposal. Any inclination to plot a way forward using rankings and recruitment as though they were GPS coordinates must be resisted. Rather, the abiding importance of tertiary education and research must be reasserted, perhaps recalibrated, so universities can deliver the graduate and research outcomes that make our new world of perpetual flux a better place for all.

INTRODUCTION

‘We might have the proudest tradition in the League but we haven’t won a premiership in nineteen years. Tradition, tradition, tradition. We’ve been strangled by it. The days when recruits would flock to the Club from all over the country simply because of its nameare long since gone. It’s no good waiting for players to come to you; you’ve got to go out there into the marketplace and fight for them.’

—David Williamson, ‘The Club’

KEY THEMES

•   Changing role of the 21st-century university

•   Competitive pressures brought about by technological advances

•   Understanding the need to navigate dynamic new environments

•   Choosing what to do and how to get it done

The traditional importance of universities to economic and social prosperity is enduring and far-reaching.