Vice Chancellor S Bruce Dowton sets out core issues for the coming five-year operating plan in a message to staff

* students first: including, supporting employability, simpler coursework, “clear and easy study plans”

* learning and teaching: “more from the course and major perspective and less from the perspective of aggregation of units. This is a significant cultural shift and one we need to embrace.”

* “harnessing the power of learning analytics”

* tough decisions on university investment in areas of research: with strong accountability for quality, productivity and outcomes

* people: harnessing the “good aspects” of the university’s culture. “Significant improvement” is needed, “in staff development, alignment of workforce profile and uplift of capabilities.”  “We need to get the intersection right between our culture and our aspiration.”

Professor Dowton says a “tangible plan” will go to staff within weeks, with implementation to start this year.