Peak body Universities Australia was quick to comment on the new Times ranking yesterday, saying the results “sounded alarms” about the impact of funding cuts for Australia.
“These ranking results confirm our world-class standing – but also show this is at risk unless those cuts are reversed …we’ve been warning for some time about the damage of funding cuts on Australia’s rankings,” CEO Catriona Jackson said. She added THE comments about the impact of reduced public funding is, “like Moodys or Standard and Poor warning a government about a downgrade to a national economy.”
The Group of Eight was equally alarmed. Chief Executive Vicki Thomson pointed out six of her members are in the global top 100, with the other two in the next 50 but she warned of “worrying signs of a system under pressure” from “continual funding cuts” and international competition.
“Government must treat the higher education sector as the high-yield investment it is or suffer economic pain in the years to come.”
However, universities with something approaching good news came over all Johnny Mercer and accentuated the positive. University of Adelaide DVC R and Provost Mike Brooks said to be one of eight Aus unis in the world top 150 was “an excellent result” for the university and the state.
At the University of Canberra VC Deep Saini is pleased with a jump from the 351-400 band to the 251-300 group. And Victoria U is happy to be in the 301-350 group, placing it “in the top 2 per cent of universities word-wide.” La Trobe U moved up a band, to the 301-350 group to rate 18th in the country and Australian Catholic U ranks 25th in Australia. University of South Australia VC David Lloyd talked of ‘the vital spirit of collaboration that our researchers have” with THE reporting the university making the global top 250 as does neighbour Flinders U.