Attila Brungs, vice-chancellor and president of the University of Technology Sydney, says newer universities tend to “focus on being collegiate and open” across the whole institution, which in turn enables them to be “far more agile”.
“A number of young universities make this part of their culture because they’re young and they have to take other advantages than the weight of tradition and history,” he says.
“That’s not a criticism of older universities or [to say] that all older universities don’t have these characteristics. But I think some of the characteristics are easier for young universities.”
I think having the reputation that you are agile and have the right courses and the right student experience outweighs, or at least balances out, hundreds of years of history
Brungs says these qualities helped UTS “respond very quickly to some big changes that we needed to make” during the pandemic and will also enable the 33-year-old institution to “drive some of the strategies that we want in a post-Covid world”, such as preparing students for the “next generation of jobs” and doubling down on lifelong learning.
“At the moment, over half our students come out of school into university. While that is always important, in the future that will be a very small proportion of the students that we have at UTS. Similarly, while blended learning is really important, particularly for an undergraduate context, in the future we’ll have the majority of our students engaged remotely with our campus or engaging in a very different way,” he says.
“We have lots of teams working on how we have this real shift in the university. I think it’s easier to do as a young university.”
Brungs also believes that newer institutions are “seen as far more relevant for people’s careers” and are therefore increasingly appealing to students.
...Brungs argues, the prestige that comes with age is a less valuable asset during the current crisis.
“In past crises, the weight of hundreds of years of history would have been a great benefit. But I think the market now is looking far more for what are the courses – particularly the lifetime learning [courses], microcredentials, short courses, postgraduate courses – that are really fit for purpose. So I think having the reputation that you are agile and have the right courses and the right student experience outweighs, or at least balances out, hundreds of years of history,” he says.