Uni Melbourne stays committed “to broad and comprehensive education” 

The government’s proposed new undergraduate funding model could cost Uni Melbourne $3m, which Vice Chancellor Duncan Maskell says is a “small amount,” compared to the $900m the university expects to be down over three years due to COVID-19.

Uni Melbourne’s model has undergraduates taking a general first degree followed by a profession-focused specialisation. As such it does not appear especially suited to Education Minister Dan Tehan’s plan for students to focus on job-focused courses, with huge hikes to what students will pay for HASS courses.

However, Professor Maskell says, “we are well set up to offer our students maximum flexibility because of how our curriculum works and we remain committed to ensuring that they are well-equipped to take their place as future leaders in a time of rapid transformation.”

And he sticks to the inspiration for the Melbourne model, “Our educational principles remain unchanged – we value broad and comprehensive education and all the disciplines, including arts, humanities and social sciences are the threads that are woven into our fabric.”

Uni Melbourne doesn’t always pay heed to ministers when it comes to its model. Back in 2017 then education minister Simon Birmingham suggested phasing out its funding and while his legislation was before the Senate the university launched a student recruitment campaign based on the MM. The Senate knocked the bill back (CMM October 23 2017).