LA TROBE University hopes to boost the number of students studying in regional areas through the work of new Vice-Chancellor's fellow Cathy McGowan.
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The former Member for Indi was named in the role in Bendigo on Tuesday.
Vice-Chancellor Professor John Dewar said Ms McGowan would be taking part in events that promoted the university and its work in regional Victoria.
Professor Dewar said Ms McGowan would also help LaTrobe with advocacy at various levels of government and among the nation's decision makers.
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"Cathy is the person of all the people I've met the most passionate for regional Victoria and regional Australia," he said.
"You just spend five minutes in Cathy's company and that incredibly deep care comes across.
"She's also incredibly knowledgeable about the way Canberra works."
Ms McGowan said her job was to work with communities, universities and government for them to see the potential in rural and regional areas.
She said she wanted to encourage a culture in the country of really high quality education.
Ms McGowan said rural education was really important on three levels, local, jobs and economic growth.
She said providing local education for people in the country saved them the huge cost of going away to the city.
Secondly Ms McGowan said the country had fantastic jobs, but training was often in metropolitan areas.
She said that education was, thirdly, a driver of economic growth.
Professor Dewar said described attracting students to regional and rural areas as "one of the most important things facing the country at the moment", citing massive gaps in participation rates.
"The inequity between participation between rural and metropolitan Australia is simply enormous," he said.
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He said 45-50 per cent of Melbourne school leavers went on to university, compared to eight per cent in Mildura.
Professor Dewar said a lack of provisions and lack of culture around promotion of higher education in regional Victoria was behind the gap in participation.
He said elements of the workforce such as nursing and teaching depended on those with tertiary qualifications.
Professor Dewar said LaTrobe graduates who studied at a regional campus were far more likely to work in regional Victoria than students who'd never been to Melbourne to study.
Earlier:
FORMER Member for Indi Cathy McGowan has received a prestigious fellowship from LaTrobe University.
Ms McGowan was recognised as a Vice-Chancellor's fellow on Tuesday at the university's Bendigo campus.
The fellowship recognised Ms McGowan's commitment to and advocacy for higher education participation in regional and rural Victoria.
Ms McGowan said lifting rates of higher education in rural and regional communities should be one of Australia's top priorities.
She said regional towns and cities were crying out for more degree-qualified professionals in industries such as healthcare, education, planning and engineering.
"One of the best ways to strengthen the rural workforce is to support more regional students into university - which, as Victoria's biggest provider of regional higher education, La Trobe University does very well," Ms McGowan said.
"I will work with La Trobe, and communities across Victoria, to lift the aspirations of regional school- leavers, and hopefully remove barriers they face when considering further study."
People living in capital cities are almost twice as likely as those in regional areas to hold a Bachelor Degree or Higher.
LaTrobe Vice-Chancellor Professor John Dewar said Ms McGowan was an ideal candidate for the fellowship, showing deep commitment to rural and regional communities.
Professor Dewar said Ms McGowan intimately understood barriers facing regional school-leavers, such as housing, travel costs, or not having family or friends with university experience.
"La Trobe is dedicated to improving access to university for rural and regional students, which is why I'm particularly delighted to welcome Cathy and her shared commitment to regional education," Professor Dewar said.
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