Universities struggling to make on-campus services in rural communities viable, such as CQU, could be shielded from considerable market pressures due to falling domestic student demand if the government designated them “national priority campuses” according to a prominent education policy analyst.

“Institutions can’t jack up [domestic] fees or they’ll discourage more students,” said Griffith University’s Gavin Moodie at a CQU Learning & Teaching seminar in Rockhampton on Tuesday June 5.

At the same time however, Moodie believes rural campuses cannot be allowed to run down and fall prey to full market pressure or commercialisation because of inadequate federal funding formulas.

Moodie claimed rural campuses need political protection, just as nursing and education have protection from the competitive pressures that exist in the other disciplines.

“I suggest that if elections are won and lost [by either major parties] on the rural vote then any government would see virtue in having national priority campuses,” explained Moodie, a regular contributor to The Australian’s Higher Education section.

“It’s a significant matter if these widespread campuses close. There’s no place that these students can go, especially mature-age students,” he added.

In his presentation, New institutional roles for a new environment, Moodie outlined what he described as a kind of “dual system” that could exist within the Australian higher education sector. He predicted there would be full open-market competition in some areas and disciplines but considerable protection in others due to various political reasons which would not allow for the vagaries of the market.

“I don’t see any alternative,” he concluded.

Gavin Moodie’s one-hour presentation is available on-line at http://streaming.cqu.edu.au/staff/vc_staff_forum.htm. It also covers curriculum for international students, education standards and areas of innovation at CQU.