Uni is not the place it used to be

I hope we can reverse the direction that UTAS is taking and put our only university back the way it was, writes Bruce Scott

HAVING happily spent a sizeable slice of my life at UTAS, first as a student and then 43 years as a member of staff, I mourn for those now not receiving similar experiences, being trapped in what is now an uncaring institution.

It is an institution where the academics have little say in how it operates, where it appears education is of lesser importance than real estate, and where public opinion is disregarded. How could UTAS have fallen so low in community regard?

In my day UTAS was run by academics and was a valued and respected institution in the community.

The former rifle range at Sandy Bay had been gifted to it as an ideal location on which to operate. Over the years I have visited many universities in mainland Australia and overseas, and the UTAS campus stands out as one hard to beat.

Faculties and departments were moved there from the former Domain campus in the 1950s and 1960s and it became a true university where academics could teach in lecture theatres, classrooms and laboratories, and undertake research in an uncluttered environment.

There were fine facilities for students of a wide range of disciplines where they could meet, interact and debate, play sports and form clubs and societies. Members of the community were welcome to join in university activities, and academics were frequently called on to provide public lectures on special topics of concern.

Buildings on the campus are now no more than 70 years old, and most would be still “fit for purpose” with a bit of maintenance.

Medicine was the first major faculty to depart from the well-rounded university education provided by UTAS in Sandy Bay. Since it was established in the 1970s the faculty has always been closely aligned with hospitals in the CBD, and all senior teaching was provided by doctors there. But more recently it was decided that the more general aspects of the university experience at Sandy Bay would be abandoned, and the whole medical curriculum would be taught in a hospital environment in the CBD.

While it is acknowledged that new doctors have much to learn, it is sad that this must be done without also interacting with other students with wider interests.

I sometimes wonder whether the reluctance of new young medicos to serve in the community as general practitioners is in some way related to the cloistered nature of their training. The concept of a family doctor appears to be disappearing fast. This departure from the broader university education for medicos will unfortunately soon become the norm.

The faculty of agriculture is to be banished to the North of the state, thus depriving staff and students of contact with the disciplines of biology, chemistry and the other sciences, engineering, economics and all the rest.

Likewise, marine science is isolated away from other faculties at the Sandy Bay campus. And now the law and economics faculties are earmarked to go to the old forestry building in the CBD.

Year by year other disciplines will disappear from the Sandy Bay campus and emerge as isolated pockets scattered around the CBD and elsewhere. Even within those pockets, education is often far from ideal, when senior staff are not there to provide inspiration and debate through lectures to groups of students.

Teaching is now often on-line, leaving students lonely and frustrated.

It is distressing to read of the bad UTAS experiences of some of the existing students. Their comments are obviously a concern for prospective students, and for their parents trying to find what is best for them.

Since there is no other university in the state, many who can afford it may look to study at mainland universities, and a mass exodus would be a tragedy for Tasmania if it leads to a brain drain of our brightest youngsters.

My hope is that there are enough people in Tasmania with clout – politicians, councillors and members of the public – who know what a true university should be: a community of teachers, researchers and scholars within the broader community, as it has been for centuries, and not merely a place for professional training. Together we can take the necessary steps to halt and reverse the direction that UTAS is taking and put our only university back the way it was.