Plan for our first mega-uni
Dorothy Illing, Higher education writer
June 22, 2005

THREE West Australian universities could join forces to form the nation's first "mega-uni" with more than 70,000 students, in a higher education shake-up that could lead to other similar mergers.

The proposed University of Perth would become Australia's biggest university by combining the assets and resources of three institutions - Edith Cowan, Murdoch and Curtin universities - to compete aggressively for students in other states.

With students spread across 12 campuses, a combined budget of $750million and assets worth more than $1billion, the new group would rival the funding clout and influence of many of the nation's prestigious Group of Eight "sandstone" universities.

The merger push is being led by Edith Cowan University vice-chancellor Millicent Poole, who will take the proposal to her governing council tomorrow night. Edith Cowman, which emerged out of the West Australian College of Advanced Education, is now Western Australia's second-largest university, with 23,000 students.

Under changes ushered in by Education Minister Brendan Nelson, universities will compete in a market-driven system for students and industry and research funds. That is fuelling speculation the smaller players will find it difficult to survive or will be forced to focus on teaching, not research.

Professor Poole argues that the merger has been made necessary by federal government higher education reforms that benefit the "sandstone" unis such as Melbourne, Sydney, and the University of Western Australia.

"There are good indications that only the sandstones and a handful of others will benefit from these changes," Professor Poole writes in an opinion piece in The Australian's Higher Education section today.

"The unpalatable fact is that certain Western Australian factors - remoteness from Canberra, the sheer size of the state, the history of the three newer universities - will make it much harder for each individually to thrive, and certainly not without considerable re-engineering and the reallocation of resources."

Last night, Edith Cowan's two proposed merger partners appeared to be caught off-guard by the move and were forced to reveal they had been holding their own merger talks - which did not include ECU. A Curtin-Murdoch merger would create an institution with almost 50,000 students and nine campuses.

"Murdoch University understands a proposal for a possible three-way merger has been raised by Edith Cowan University," Murdoch's statement said. "However, Murdoch University has no knowledge of such a proposal."

But Professor Poole said she had briefed Curtin's vice-chancellor, Lance Twomey, on the plan and that Murdoch had been talking to Edith Cowan about mergers for more than 20 months.

"Mergers have always been on the table in Western Australia. What's new and what's different is the new policy parameters of Brendan Nelson's reform package."

The timing is also crucial: Professor Poole and her counterpart at Curtin retire soon, reducing the chances of a three-way tussle over leadership of the new mega-uni.

The University of Western Australia said yesterday it was not part of any merger plans.

West Australian Education Minister Ljiljanna Ravlich refused to say whether she supported the Edith Cowan plan.

"I can understand why the West Australian universities may feel they have to merge even to be noticed by the federal Government," she said.

Resource:http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,15691794%255E12332,00.html