The university’s last plan was bold, times have changed

The present strategy is supposed to run to 2022 but VC John Dewar says COVID-19, “requires us to urgently re-think our future” with a new plan for ten years.

And that means smaller; with fewer staff and students ,but stronger, in a smaller number of teaching and research areas.

Specific university performance targets include; in the top-12 for student experience in the QILT survey, a 50 per cent rise by 2025 in medical research funding from the two major public providers, an “increase” in student numbers studying at or supported by regional campuses and a 20 per cent staff productivity improvement.

It’s way different to the last, five-year, plan, which confidently spelt-out big objectives and ambitious targets, including $1.1bn in turnover by 2022, (CMM November 17 2017). There is no mention of money in the new plan but the statement announcing it does state, “La Trobe may lose up to 25 per cent of revenue by the end of 2021, and a full recovery could take three to five years.”