BL U
EPR BLUEPRINT NT
SMO1.04
1 Higher education is an international enterprise with local and national significance, and is subject to a complex array of forces which drive continuous change at many levels. Governments, students and the broader community have high expectations of universities, and rightly see institutions such as QUT as being pivotal contributors to the future—a future which will be marked by major economic, social, environmental, and technological challenges.
QUT is an energetic and highly successful university which has ambitious plans for its own future, and which welcomes new opportunities to build and demonstrate its relevance and impact in ways which make a lasting and positive difference to the lives of individuals and the community.
Over recent years QUT has made excellent progress against its plans, which call for rapid but sustainable growth in research capacity and performance, and in the development of the quality of our learning and teaching environments. However in the years ahead we can expect heightened national and international competition in all areas of academic activity, and increasing pressure on our resources and on the infrastructure which supports teaching and research. Technological change will also offer new opportunities and challenges across all areas of the University’s work, and demographic changes will have a major impact on both our student and staff populations.
QUT is well placed to meet the challenges of the future and to continue the momentum of successful development, but it is essential that we prepare for that future by:regenerating, and in some cases reinterpreting, those characteristics that define and distinguish us; engaging with our communities and building capacity to take advantage of new opportunities and to sustain quality; setting ambitious goals and working towards them; and experimenting with new ways and approaches to our work.
QUT Blueprintupdated May 2008
2
QUT is a leading Australian university which aims to strengthen its distinctive national and international reputation by combining academic strength with practical engagement with the world of the professions, industry, government, and the broader community.
In line with this aim, QUT’s overall vision for the future is:
• to provide outstanding learning environments and programs that lead to excellent outcomes for graduates, enabling them to work in, and guide a world characterised by increasing change;
• to undertake high-impact research and development in selected areas, at the highest international standards, reinforcing our applied emphasis and securing significant commercial and practical outcomes; and
• to strengthen and extend our strategic partnerships with professional and broader communities to reflect both our academic ambitions and our civic responsibility.
Five key goals will guide QUT’s progress towards attaining this vision:
• to build our research capacity in selected areas;
• to strengthen our reputation for quality teaching and learning and provide among the best learning environments in Australia;
• to strengthen our ‘real-world’ positioning in teaching and research through better partnerships across internal and external boundaries;
• to integrate information and communications technology into our teaching, research, business support functions and infrastructure; and
• to develop environments that foster and reward high-quality scholarship and that build a sense of community.
While good progress has been made in recent years, the overall vision and goals remain relevant and key to QUT’s future development as an internationally respected university, one capable of delivering on the high expectations held by those who share an interest in QUT and the high standards we set for ourselves. Our challenges for the future are to see their implementation through, and to refine particular objectives and strategies to ensure that we remain on course.
ImplementIng the BlueprInt and achIevIng our goals
QUT recognises the need for staff to have appropriate room to exercise professional judgements and to determine locally relevant strategies which contribute to the overall goals of the university. The role of the Blueprint is to articulate the broad goals and aims of the University and to identify particular university-wide strategies, while more specific objectives and strategies are set out in the top-level or university-wide plans in the areas of Research and Innovation; Learning and Teaching; Finance and Infrastructure; and People and Culture. Supporting strategies are also prepared to guide QUT’s involvement in international activities, the University’s investment in and use of information technology, and the strategic use of space.
Running through these plans is a strong commitment by QUT to advancing its goals through mutually beneficial partnerships and engagement with our various communities.
In addition to this framework, QUT has since 2001 adopted a Reconciliation Statement and Indigenous Education Strategy to make explicit our commitment to improving educational outcomes for Indigenous Australians and addressing Indigenous issues in teaching and research.
This Blueprint reaffirms these commitments.
This university-wide framework guides the development of five-year plans for Faculties and other organisational units, as well as organisational and individual performance management systems.
QUT’s vision and goals
3
Discovering and applying knowledge:
ReseaRch and InnovatIon
Expanding the University’s research profile is a major challenge in the face of continuing financial constraints on budgets, heightened competition for scarce research resources, and a possible new method of assessing research quality and funding. QUT remains committed to the development of a full spectrum of scholarly work across the range of its academic offerings, and so must necessarily combine a broad and strong encouragement to research in disciplinary and cross-disciplinary areas, with a selective application of limited resources.
The Blueprint goal of building our research capacity in selected areas has been advanced over recent years on a number of fronts, including recruitment of early career academics, development of the Institutes and, particularly, the recruitment of high-performing professors.
While this strengthening of capacity will continue, and is expected to be reflected in higher performance in securing external research support, we should also acknowledge the performance of our existing researchers. As we continue to implement strategies aimed at strengthening capacity at the top level, the next phase of development needs to extend downward, and attend to the support of existing as well as new staff. Accordingly, QUT will continue to:
• provide research development opportunities for promising junior to middle level staff; and
• develop mechanisms to attract and support early career (postdoctoral) research active staff.
Disseminating knowledge:
leaRnIng and teachIng
QUT has an overall student population approaching 40 000.
It is not envisaged that this will increase significantly, rather we will see shifts within the population, with an increasing proportion of higher degree research students and growth in high-quality postgraduate offerings, including professional education and corporate program opportunities. At the undergraduate level, we wish both to broaden the social profile of our student population and to be seen as an attractive destination for high-performing students. While domestic undergraduate numbers are not expected to rise overall, growth in the international student population will continue, and our attention in that sphere will also be weighted increasingly to postgraduate and research activity and professional education. In the international arena we will continue to focus on particular quality niches and any expansion of offshore activity will be subject to close attention concerning quality assurance and financial viability.
While student demand will continue to be a dominant force shaping our profile, other considerations will be important. Key among these is a focus on skills shortages, particularly in areas such as health and human service delivery and in the sciences and engineering. In line with the goal of strengthening learning through improved partnerships, the move to double degrees and the emergence of cross-faculty, jointly designed and jointly delivered degrees will be supported and strengthened.
Evidence from QUT and elsewhere underlines the importance of continued focus on the first year experience, looking not only at teaching but also at questions of course structure and management of student expectations.
The issue of practical, work integrated and professional experience is also of particular and major importance for QUT. Around half of QUT undergraduates experience some form of workplace, practice-based or service learning during their studies. A more systematic approach will be taken to how we offer and coordinate such opportunities, including how we support and assess practice-based learning, with a view to making such experiences more typical of study at QUT.
The goal of integrating information and communications technology into our academic and support activities remains a key priority for QUT. In coming years the University will adopt major new platforms for administration and teaching and exciting new possibilities will emerge as students continue their take-up of rapidly evolving home-based and portable technologies. QUT will continue to contribute to, and learn from, new developments in pedagogy, including those arising from technological change. While remaining a predominantly campus-based university, QUT will explore new opportunities for using technology to complement and enhance the campus experience, and to improve communication with students.
regenerateengageexperiment
5
A stimulating and rewarding place to study and work:
PeoPle and cultuRe
QUT recognises the need to support and strengthen the human and social dimensions of the University. High-quality scholarship requires environments which encourage the free exchange and development of ideas, and which stimulate intellectual development and reward achievement. Delivering the benefits of scholarship—through teaching, research and other forms of application—also requires the capacity to engage internally and externally, and to coordinate activities to best effect, including working towards greater consistency of student experience across the university. QUT must also manage its resources carefully, anticipate and manage risks, and operate in line with a complex array of regulatory requirements. Drawing together these imperatives is a challenging task, particularly when operating resources are scarce, and success depends on a positive and collaborative organisational culture as much as on formal policies and procedures.
Reference has been made to anticipated changes in QUT’s student population, and over the next decade demographic factors will also result in a major shift in QUT’s staffing profile. These changes provide opportunities for renewal as well as challenges in attracting and retaining high-quality staff in the face of national and international competition.
The People and Culture Plan articulates QUT’s values and objectives to support the Blueprint goal of developing environments that foster and reward high-quality scholarship and build a sense of community. The next phase of development will include:
• renewed commitment to implementing cross-organisational development and collaboration initiatives in areas such as the Business and Services Improvement program;
the progression of Institutes; development of structured learning programs and experiences for students; and implementation of the QUT Reconciliation Statement;
• driving a culture of reward and recognition for excellence by the further roll-out of broadly targeted reward and recognition strategies to support excellence; and
• encouragement of leaders and managers who will create an environment of trust and recognition to lead the development of staff capabilities and management of change.
regenerate engageexperiment
6
Supporting our academic goals:
fInance and InfRastRuctuRe
QUT seeks to build integrated visions for our campuses, which will develop distinctive roles in supporting study and scholarship, as well as being sites for cultural activities and other forms of engagement with the community. Such developments must be mindful of the resourcing constraints on the development of QUT’s infrastructure, which
necessitate careful assessment, planning and management of our assets, and closer alignment of physical and virtual considerations.
Over recent years QUT has developed distinctive academic presences at Kelvin Grove (Health, Education and Creative Industries) and at Gardens Point (Business, Law, Engineering and Built Environment, and Science and Technology), and has developed focal points for research, teaching and engagement in the form of the Creative Industries Precinct within the Kelvin Grove Urban Village, the Cultural Precinct at Gardens Point, and the Institute of Health and Biomedical Innovation (IHBI) at Kelvin Grove. There is potential for such a precinct approach to guide the future development of the Gardens Point campus, with a focus on science and technology, and this is a key priority in the period ahead.
QUT’s Caboolture campus, which is being developed in conjunction with TAFE, will also continue to grow over coming years. This campus is seen by QUT as an important expression of the University’s commitment to extending the benefits of higher education more widely, and the expansion of offerings at Caboolture will have a particular focus on partnerships with TAFE and other educational institutions and on the provision of programs which reflect the needs and aspirations of students and the region.
QUT’s teaching and research profiles are shaped by a range of factors, including student demand, government policy and opportunity for new developments.
The unpredictability of such factors means that plans for infrastructure will need to be flexible and linked strategically to the ongoing development of our academic activities.
While appropriate objectives for this purpose have been identified in the Finance and Infrastructure Plan, implementing coordinated infrastructure planning across the physical and virtual dimensions of our activities remains a significant challenge.
Planning for future use of space must also be accompanied by a more rigorous approach to our current practices. Policies and practices governing our management of infrastructure, and physical space in particular, need to be made clearer and deployed in ways which make optimum use of scarce and costly resources.
The Finance and Infrastructure Plan will also continue QUT’s commitment to using our resources in ways that best support our academic goals, in line with our obligations to support the Queensland Government’s social and fiscal objectives. This means not only aligning resource planning and budgeting, including for infrastructure, with our strategic priorities but also ensuring that our everyday activities deliver the best value from their investment. The Business and Services Improvement program will continue to be an important part of this endeavour, by reviewing support functions from the point of view of clients, rather than pre-existing organisational perspectives, and by contributing to the development of a culture of continuous improvement.
7
Ke y P er fo rm an ce In di ca to rs
8
Discovering and applying knowledge:
ReseaRch and InnovatIon
• Research Income
• Higher Degree Research (HDR) completions
• Higher Degree Research (HDR) load
• Postgraduate Research Experience Questionnaire: overall satisfaction for research graduates
• Peer-reviewed research publications
• Percentage of income from commercial and cooperative research/consulting
• Success rates for competitive research grants
• Percentage of research-active staff
Disseminating knowledge:
leaRnIng and teachIng
• QTAC first preferences: offers ratio
• Student progression
• Student: staff ratios
• Learning Experience Survey: teaching satisfaction
• Number of grants, fellowships and awards from the Australian Teaching and Learning Council
• University student retention rates
• Graduate Destinations Survey outcomes for bachelor graduates looking for full-time work
• Course Experience Questionnaire, overall satisfaction for bachelor graduates
• Interfaculty course load
A stimulating and rewarding place to study and work:
PeoPle and cultuRe
• International commencing students (proportion of all commencing)
• Domestic fee-paying students (proportion of all commencing)
• Staff Opinion Survey: overall satisfaction
• Proportion of academic staff completing the QUT Early Career and Mid-career Academic Recruitment and Development Programs
• Qualifications of academic staff: PhDs
• Indigenous commencing students (proportion of all commencing)
• Low-SES commencing students (proportion of all commencing)
• Indigenous staff (proportion of all staff)
• Women in senior positions (proportion of all staff)
Supporting our academic goals:
fInance and InfRastRuctuRe
• Economic dependency (share of income derived from government)
• Operating margin (unadjusted and adjusted)
• Employment benefit costs as share of total income
• Liquidity ratio
• Usable Floor Area per EFTSL
• Student access to technology
© QUT 2008 Designed and Produced by QUT Publications 14925 CRICOS No. 00213J
Queensland University of Technology GPO Box 2434 Brisbane QLD 4001 www.frp.qut.edu.au/frptoolkit/corpplan/index.jsp
