While the Universities Accord¡¯s interim report has elicited enthusiasm from vice-chancellors, many of its suggestions threaten their autonomy.

The two-year extension to?universities¡¯ ¡°funding floor¡± obliges them to?spend unused teaching subsidies on?support programmes for ¡°equity¡± students. Australian National University policy specialist Andrew Norton said this would tie administrators¡¯ hands and undermine the recommendation¡¯s main goal of?limiting staff cuts during what would probably be a?temporary downturn in?demand.

¡°[You] cannot redeploy a lecturer in accounting to provide mental health services,¡± he observed, adding that universities were not currently required to ¡°acquit¡± their spending at the proposed level of detail. ¡°Is [this] going to?create yet more red-tape reporting requirements?¡±

The government¡¯s pledge to recruit more higher education experience on to university governing councils could also be considered meddlesome. And a mooted levy on international students¡¯ fees is one of the few ideas to attract outright criticism.

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The Group of Eight warned of ¡°unintended consequences¡±, while Universities Australia was sceptical of a ¡°quick-fix solution¡± to the ¡°ongoing vulnerability¡± of research funding.

Another proposal could see rural institutions federated in a ¡°National Regional University¡±. Charles Sturt University vice-chancellor Ren¨¦e Leon said a ¡°proper study¡± was needed ¡°before this policy gets too many legs¡±. University of Newcastle vice-chancellor Alex Zelinsky said ¡°there has to be something in it for the institutions, because we¡¯re all operating on very thin margins¡±.

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Ant Bagshaw, senior adviser with LEK Consulting, said regional universities should be the biggest supporters of a report proposing ¡°a?pendulum swing¡± away from market-based approaches. ¡°The accord has recognised that the market system doesn¡¯t work for large parts of the higher education sector,¡± he said.

¡°A more planned and centrally controlled system, lived out through a national regional university, is a boon to providers which have struggled to recruit and retain students ¨C particularly international cohorts.¡±

The report also considers limiting universities¡¯ discretion to cross-subsidise their activities, and pressing them to train their teaching staff more effectively. A?proposed tertiary education commission to advise the government and oversee the reforms would also work as a ¡°pricing authority¡±, negotiating agreements with each university.

¡°Greater diversity and innovation in institutions is unlikely to emerge without proactive government intervention,¡± the report observes.

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La Trobe University vice-chancellor John Dewar said a commission would be needed to plan and coordinate the changes proposed in the report. Sources said a commission could make university leadership jobs far less appealing by reducing administrative discretion.

john.ross@timeshighereducation.com