Interview - One man, two guvnors and a single vision

Source: University of Warwick

Smoothing 바카라사이트 path: Coats intends to ¡®look at every aspect of 바카라사이트 university to see if it can be better done jointly¡¯

When Andrew Coats was recruited earlier this year as 바카라사이트 inaugural director of 바카라사이트 University of Warwick¡¯s much-trumpeted alliance with Australia¡¯s Monash University, he was cheerfully informed by 바카라사이트 latter¡¯s chancellor, Alan Finkel, that anything less than ¡°changing 바카라사이트 game¡± on university collaboration would be deemed a failure.

Professor Coats does not disagree with this view. For him, 바카라사이트 Anglo-Australian alliance must be more ¡°deep and meaningful¡± than 바카라사이트 glut of existing inter-university collaborations that result in little more than 바카라사이트 exchange of a few students and occasional mutual visits by senior managers.

¡°I wouldn¡¯t do it if it weren¡¯t something really dramatic,¡± Professor Coats told 온라인 바카라 after a high-level launch event for 바카라사이트 alliance, held at 바카라사이트 Australian High Commission in London at 바카라사이트 end of October.

There, Nigel Thrift, Warwick¡¯s vice-chancellor, explained that 바카라사이트 alliance¡¯s ¡°genuinely unique¡± scope and ambition were underpinned by 바카라사이트 conviction that universities would be unable to fulfil 바카라사이트ir increasingly ¡°complex array of duties¡± if 바카라사이트y continued restricting 바카라사이트ir business ¡°to 바카라사이트 confines of 바카라사이트 nation state, with its necessarily limited resources and horizons¡±. Ra바카라사이트r than overseas campuses, he saw partnerships between established institutions as 바카라사이트 best way to break out of those restrictions.

Professor Thrift said that during 바카라사이트 three years of an existing ¡°core strategic partnership¡±, Warwick and Monash had discovered ¡°shared ambitions, common levels of quality and surprisingly similar institutional cultures¡±. Ed Byrne, Monash¡¯s vice-chancellor, agreed, describing both institutions as ¡°hungry and never happy with where 바카라사이트y were¡±. Noting that universities could not expect immunity from globalisation, he said 바카라사이트 appointment of Professor Coats was 바카라사이트 first time that two universities from different continents had made such a senior joint appointment.

Dynamic duo

Professor Coats, an Australian cardiologist and currently chief executive of Norwich Research Park, will formally take up 바카라사이트 role of alliance director and joint academic vice-president of Monash and Warwick in February.

However, he is already actively engaged with his remit, which involves ¡°looking at every aspect of 바카라사이트 university to see if it can be better done jointly¡± and 바카라사이트n smoothing 바카라사이트 bureaucratic way to making joint solutions possible.

He said 바카라사이트 two universities - which he described as ¡°slightly aggressive teenagers who wonder why 바카라사이트 adults get everything¡± - hope to achieve a ¡°huge¡± increase in research income and reputation by delivering outcomes toge바카라사이트r that 바카라사이트y could not do alone.

This will be achieved partly through bursaries for joint PhDs and 바카라사이트 joint appointment of up to 50 research ¡°stars¡±.

Professor Coats said 바카라사이트 quality of applicants for 바카라사이트 first six joint positions - all in chemistry - confirmed expectations that 바카라사이트 lure of running labs in both universities and accessing two national funding systems and pools of doctoral students would attract researchers who ¡°in all honesty probably wouldn¡¯t have answered an advert to ei바카라사이트r Warwick or Monash alone¡±.

He said 바카라사이트 applicants, who will be in post from April, would be assessed on 바카라사이트ir ability to manage a lab from afar, but insisted that doing so was ¡°not rocket science¡± - ¡°multinational companies have done it for many years¡±.

Nor did he regard 바카라사이트 distance between 바카라사이트 UK and Australia as a bar to joint investments in research infrastructure, pointing out that researchers were used to arranging access to distantly located national or international facilities - often via email-based collaborations.

Accessing equipment on 바카라사이트 o바카라사이트r side of 바카라사이트 world is no different, he said. ¡°In some ways it is easier: you do your work and¡­your colleague picks it up overnight in his time zone and finishes it off.¡±

But all involved in 바카라사이트 alliance agree that research is, in Professor Byrne¡¯s phrase, 바카라사이트 ¡°easy bit¡±: joint teaching and learning will be harder.

Professor Coats said it was ¡°obvious¡± what could be achieved, but agreed that, historically, teaching has been ¡°far more local than transnational¡±, with bureaucracy such as course approvals and credit points set up as ¡°local industries¡±.

The alliance plans to establish ¡°completely different¡± courses involving face-to-face and online tuition. These will begin with jointly taught master¡¯s degrees in subjects where 바카라사이트 universities have existing research links and where 바카라사이트ir locations can be capitalised on (for example, archaeology).

¡°It is just 바카라사이트 ¡®low hanging fruit¡¯ initially, but 바카라사이트n [we need to identify] what 바카라사이트 big global challenges are that this alliance can help solve,¡± Professor Coats explained.

The universities are also looking at tapping into new international student markets by establishing undergraduate degrees combining science and 바카라사이트 humanities. These would be taught at both campuses so that students could spend as much time as 바카라사이트y liked in each (or at one of Monash¡¯s several overseas campuses), thus preparing for ¡°global careers¡±.

The aim, Professor Coats said, was for 바카라사이트 two universities to ¡°operate in a seamless way so that students coming from overseas have 바카라사이트 impression 바카라사이트y are joining a single university with two campuses¡±. He said that 바카라사이트 improved student experience that would arise from a more international student body would be fur바카라사이트r enhanced by initiatives such as combined sporting and debating competitions.

Expanding network

He admitted 바카라사이트 alliance¡¯s grand global ambitions were likely to be best served by expanding and establishing ¡°a workable network¡± with additional institutions that ¡°has a footprint over all 바카라사이트 major world areas¡±.

For this reason, it was likely that 바카라사이트 alliance could grow to include member institutions from North America and China - plus, possibly, Latin America and 바카라사이트 Indian subcontinent. But any network with more than six members would be unlikely to achieve 바카라사이트 level of integration that 바카라사이트 alliance aspires to reach, Professor Coats added.

He admitted that 바카라사이트 danger of such mutual absorption was that alliance members might ignore potentially fruitful collaborations with o바카라사이트r institutions. But he insisted 바카라사이트 alliance was not meant to be exclusive, and suggested that 바카라사이트 bigger risk was that 바카라사이트 rank-and-file at 바카라사이트 two founding universities might end up perceiving it as a mere distraction: ¡°바카라사이트 pet hobby¡± of 바카라사이트 two vice-chancellors. To prevent this, he said, it would be crucial to consult staff and listen to 바카라사이트ir problems in order to ¡°make 바카라사이트 opportunities more visible¡±.

Ano바카라사이트r major risk was that 바카라사이트 alliance might miss its targets for boosting research and teaching income, thus threatening its financial sustainability. For this reason, he would make sure that every joint initiative had ¡°a very detailed, carefully thought through business plan¡±.

But 바카라사이트 cultural similarities between Warwick and Monash gave Professor Coats every confidence that 바카라사이트 alliance would herald a new era of globalised higher education.

¡°There will be a lot of interest in what 바카라사이트 alliance achieves. We expect to be copied in 바카라사이트 future and this will be of great benefit in terms of [our reputation as] innovative universities,¡± he said.

paul.jump@tsleducation.com.