LA TROBE University is looking to focus on its regional campuses and students in its strategic plan for the next 10 years.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The university has released a revised, draft plan to its staff for consultation.
La Trobe Vice-Chancellor John Dewar AO said the university would be a "smaller institution measured by revenue, staff, and students for the foreseeable future" as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Professor Dewar said the university could lose up to 25 per cent in revenue by the end of 2021.
La Trobe Pro Vice-Chancellor (Regional) Guinever Threlkeld said 239 staff members at the university had already taken voluntary redundancies as a result of the pandemic.
Twenty-five of those workers were from the Bendigo campus.
"A lot of sectors of industry and society have been affected," Dr Threlkeld said. "Our anticipated revenue drop has reshaped our strategy and we're consulting with staff about that.
"No decisions have been made yet, but what's guiding us is community need and opportunity."
La Trobe has campuses in Bendigo, Albury-Wodonga, Shepparton, and Mildura. Dr Threlkeld said the university wanted to keep its focus on regional and rural Victoria.
"We take our role in regional Victoria as really central to our mission," she said. "That's in our ongoing statement of purpose and we're really committed to that."
Read more:
Dr Threlkeld said as part of the proposed plan, the university's centre for undergraduate engineering degrees would move from the Bundoora campus to Bendigo.
There could also be some changes to the way courses were delivered.
"We're looking to play to our strengths in health, nursing, allied health, dentistry, education, and law," Dr Threlkeld said. "A whole gamut of courses that are in Bendigo.
"Where demand is weaker, we will look to move courses to a blended model so some elements will be online. In other areas, we are looking to offer programs online to expand the choices available.
"With all of that, we will be offering fantastic services at our campuses to support learning and improve employability.
"We will continue to link students in both face-to-face and online programs to local industries."
Dr Threlkeld said the university was also looking at ways to strengthen its partnerships with TAFE.
"We're working with them to make the transition from TAFE to university as smooth as possible," she said. "We're committed to working collaboratively to ensure we offer the best opportunity for the community.
"It can be quite complex navigating the two systems, so we think if we can work together, we can remove that complexity."
All La Trobe staff were previously given the opportunity to provide feedback on a strategy reset consultation paper, which helped inform the draft strategic plan.
Staff have until August 21 to provide feedback to the university, which would then be considered and developed into a further strategy draft.
Have you signed up to the Bendigo Advertiser's daily newsletter and breaking news emails? You can register below and make sure you are up to date with everything that's happening in central Victoria.