Parliamentarians¡¯ nostalgia for a?bygone academy contributes to?the ¡°social licence¡± issues plaguing today¡¯s universities, Times Higher Education¡¯s World Academic Summit has heard.

University of Sydney vice-chancellor Mark Scott said his discussions ¡°with lots of?politicians¡± when he?commenced in?the role had revealed misgivings about the present-day sector.

¡°They reflected almost joyfully on their own experience as a student, but in a more ambivalent way about the experience that they saw that their children were [having] at universities,¡± Professor Scott told the summit.

¡°Politicians who are making decisions around higher education are looking at a lens through domestic student experience as a key judgement as to the value and contribution they see the sector making.¡±

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Professor Scott said Sydney, the summit¡¯s host this year, had changed dramatically since his undergraduate days there with 20,000 fellow students and no tuition fees.

¡°Now [there are the] best part of 75,000 students [who] pay significant fees, and the cost of living around the university [is] far more expensive, so many of our students are working to support themselves, and there is a risk of it becoming a more transactional experience. Rather than just deeply immersing in the experience of the university, it¡¯s, ¡®How quickly can I?get out and get that piece of paper?¡¯¡± he said.

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Professor Scott said students deserved a good experience after handing over their money and time. ¡°But I?also think it¡¯s a vital part of our licence to operate.¡±

UNSW Sydney vice-chancellor Attila Brungs said that while the student experience was paramount, ¡°we have to be careful where we get our signal¡±.

¡°I¡­have politicians telling me, ¡®You should give the students the same experience that I?had,¡¯ assuming that the students want that experience.¡±

Professor Brungs said universities must avoid treating students as a ¡°homogeneous block¡± and instead become ¡°much more heterogeneous¡± in their offerings. ¡°Students come with very different needs [and] expectations of what they want the university experience to?be,¡± he said.

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This presented ¡°huge challenges¡± in terms of cost, expectation and ¡°sometimes having to push back on the government and say, ¡®This is what our students would actually like, because this is what they told us.¡¯¡±

But Swinburne University of Technology vice-chancellor Pascale Quester said there were also signal problems in the messages from students. ¡°Sometimes the students will say they want something and¡­their behaviour does not necessarily affirm this,¡± she said.

She cited the post-pandemic demand for on-campus lectures. ¡°We have some legends in our staff who can¡­deliver the lecture that makes everybody so happy to be there. And then we¡¯ve got the ones where the student loses the will to live after 10?minutes,¡± she said.

¡°The students¡­vote with their feet, and three weeks later that lecture theatre is empty. So the students will tell you they want a live lecture, but what they¡¯re telling you is they want something really exciting.¡±

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Rebekah Brown, Monash University¡¯s deputy vice-chancellor for research, said the student body had become ¡°really segmented¡± over the past decade or so. ¡°I¡¯m not sure that our parents are at the same place, necessarily, as our students,¡± she said.

john.ross@timeshighereducation.com