The Regional Universities Network wants to save Flinders’ U academic John Halsey some time as he slogs through submissions for his  report on education challenges and barriers faced by country kids.   RUN has produced a Regional Higher Education Strategy Framework, “to better harness the capacity of regional universities, as anchor institutions for their regions, to be facilitators of economic and social regeneration.”

“The framework provides a structure, under which relevant policies and programs, which will evolve over time, sit,” says RUN chair and University of the Sunshine Coast VC Greg Hill.

The RUN plan includes a fair few programmes for universities to expand education access, drive relevant research and be embedded in whole-of-government regional planning. As such it builds on the University of Tasmania strategy that puts education at the centre of state development.  And assuming the worst in MYEFO the plan exempts regional universities from any change to the demand driven system or cuts to the Commonwealth Grant Scheme, “in view of their regional development mission.”