UniSA’s Lloyd lays down four principles for future universities

David Lloyd invoked Cardinal Newman’s idea of the university in a CEDA speech yesterday; just not in language the cardinal would have got; “Let’s be clear. Programs are products. Modules are products. The university of the future should be manufacturing great products, great products that people want and actually need,” The VC of the University of South Australia said.

And he set out four principles for a world where universities adapt, expand and embrace ideas from within and without the academy.

* “We must move towards the provision of education on demand,  towards tailored education on demand which is decoupled from the confines of strict disciplinary shackles,  education which isn’t only linked to bounded degree parchments, but rather is linked to the validated competencies of the successful learner.

* “We must move towards an education where the assumed truths of information are constantly challenged, such as the assumed truth that a standardised year-12 examination is in some way a predictor of future academic potential or achievement.

* “We must adopt new ways to admit and to assess in our university of the future.

*  “We must move towards the university of the future being a forge, where new knowledge is created from many inputs – and in partnership with others beyond the institution.

A forge?” You bet – there is one at Stanford U, built at its founding to stand for the vocational education is was created to provide and it’s a symbol Professor Lloyd likes to use to remind university communities why they exist.

“You need to keep an eye on who you are there to serve,” Professor Lloyd said in a 2015 speech (CMM October 2 2015)


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