Friday evening Charles Sturt U issued a statement of the “nothing to see here,” kind – thus ensuring speculation that there is

Early this month the Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency announced that it had renewed CSU’s registration for four years, the norm for universities is seven. TEQSA also imposed a range of performance conditions on the university (CMM May 6).

The university was quick to address issues and within a week TEQSA was sufficiently assured to lift the most onerous of conditions, concerning a CSU partnership with a pathway provider. But the abbreviated registration sticks.

This news has been a slow burn, with media in CSU’s regional heartland picking up the story last week, which might explain the reason for (if not the timing of) VC Andrew Vann’s statement, Friday.

“I can assure all staff, students, alumni, partners and community members that the conditions imposed by the regulator pose no risk to our current operations or long-term viability. … Our degrees and course accreditations are unaffected and remain valid and credible.  The conditions do not impact current students or alumni in any way. It is business as usual for teaching and learning delivery while we work on ensuring our academic governance processes are demonstrated to be robust,” Professor Vann said.