Swinburne’s DNA is “fundamentally STEM” says new VC

In-coming VC Pascale Quester sets out her thinking

“One of the things we will do in relation to COVID-19… I am going to pare down everything that doesn’t speak to technology or science. Because, do we need to be the 10th  university that teaches Chinese or Italian? No… we are the Swinburne University of Technology, we are going to be working with industry and students on creating the technology of the future,” she tells Farrin Foster in the Adelaide Review .

Does Professor Quester care to expand? CMM asked.

She does.

“The process by which the university will focus on technology is not so much what I shall or shall not pare down. The intention is very much to lead the university to an agreed position in relation to our specific role, in a state where all other universities are  more or less trying to do everything. The quote merely illustrated that we should not need, nor want, to be doing the same as the others do.
“My vision for Swinburne is that we need to differentiate from the pack and that our DNA at Swinburne is fundamentally STEM and technology and preparing the human capital required to make it sing.”

Professor Quester takes over next month.