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Volume 6, Edition 3 – May 2010 |
ATN in PROFILE
Moves to establish a 'My Universities' website to enable greater
transparency to assist prospective students in making informed choices have
been welcomed by the Australian Technology Network of Universities (ATN)
ATN Executive Director Vicki Thomson said the site will be an important tool
in giving prospective students the ability to make an informed choice about
the most appropriate university for their needs.
“The ‘My University’ website has the potential to provide much greater
transparency in the way that universities are performing and will be a
valuable tool to highlight the quality of Australia’s higher education
system.” Ms Thomson said.
“However as we move forward with this initiative, it will be vitally
important for us to make sure that the measures developed to support the
site are robust, meaningful and credible. This is particularly the case as
we move into a demand driven university system, in which the kinds of
comparative indicators that will be presented by the site have the potential
to have a considerable effect on university enrolments and funding, via its
effect on students’ decisions on their provider of choice.
“A central and neutral resource available to the public that allows the
performance of Australian universities to be compared will be invaluable for
a whole variety of reasons – as long as we get it right. There are a lot of
choices for students out there, some of which have quite specific missions
and areas of strength, and it will be important not only that all providers
of higher education be included on the website, but that those differences
are represented in the indicators we provide.
“The Minister’s statement that the site will be developed in consultation
with the sector shows recognition of this important goal and the ATN looks
forward to contributing to these consultations to assist in the development
of a robust and credible resource for measuring university performance.”
