Latest / 360 with Katie Woolf / CDU’s Vice Chancellor Scott Bowman says placement caps have been increased for nursing, teaching and engineering degrees in a bid to address skill shortages

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CDU’s Vice Chancellor Scott Bowman says placement caps have been increased for nursing, teaching and engineering degrees in a bid to address skill shortages · 360 with Katie Woolf

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Now we do know that Charles Darwin University has been
• 0:03
  Speaker 1: awarded more than eight hundred university places to tackle skill
• 0:07
  Speaker 1: shortages and give more people from under representative well underrepresented,
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  Speaker 1: I should say backgrounds are the chance to go to
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  Speaker 1: university in the Northern Territory. So the Federal Minister of Education,
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  Speaker 1: Jason Clare announced this yesterday, saying that twenty thousand additional
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  Speaker 1: places would be allocated for students who are underrepresented at
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  Speaker 1: Australian universities, including those from poorer backgrounds, Indigenous Aussies and
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  Speaker 1: students from rural and remote Australia. Now joining me on
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  Speaker 1: the line to tell us a little bit more about
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  Speaker 1: how this is actually going to be implemented and how
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  Speaker 1: it's going to work is Charles Darwin University's Vice Chancellor
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  Speaker 1: Scott Bowman. Good morning to you, Scott, Hi KB, good
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  Speaker 1: to have you on the show now, Scott, this seems
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  Speaker 1: like a great announcement, more than eight hundred additional places.
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  Speaker 1: What areas of study will we see these numbers increased in.
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  Speaker 2: They're kind of right across the board, but the key
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  Speaker 2: areas where the big numbers are are in things like nursing,
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  Speaker 2: teacher education, engineering, really all the areas we've got skill shortages,
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  Speaker 2: we've got extra places, and so it's really good news.
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  Speaker 1: And so how exactly is it going to roll out?
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  Speaker 1: Because I think that was the big question that we
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  Speaker 1: sort of all left yesterday wondering what it all meantor
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  Speaker 1: how it's going to roll out.
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  Speaker 2: Well, really, in some ways it's business as usual. So
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  Speaker 2: what we will be doing is carrying on recruiting. But
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  Speaker 2: we've got an extra eight hundred and fifty places that
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  Speaker 2: we can recruit to. A lot of our students in
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  Speaker 2: the NT come from those background backgrounds, were all remote,
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  Speaker 2: first in family, low socio economic and indigenous students, so
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  Speaker 2: it gives them great opportunities. So yeah, I guess that's sound.
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  Speaker 2: We're going to roll it out.
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  Speaker 1: Will the students not have to pay fees or how
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  Speaker 1: exactly does it work?
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  Speaker 2: Yes? Now, I saw a headline and another media around
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  Speaker 2: that said three places. In fact, that's not correct, so
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  Speaker 2: the students will still have to pay hecks. Now, they
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  Speaker 2: like all of the students, they won't have to pay
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  Speaker 2: that up front, so it's free the point of delivery,
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  Speaker 2: but when their salary gets to a certain point then
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  Speaker 2: they have to pay that hex back. But what it
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  Speaker 2: means is that there's getting on for an extra thousand
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  Speaker 2: places that we can open up and taint more people.
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  Speaker 2: Because at the moment the universe is capped, the government
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  Speaker 2: says you can take there's many places and we will
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  Speaker 2: fund you to that many places. But now that that.
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  Speaker 1: Has gone up, yeah, right, so I reckon that's what
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  Speaker 1: people like. A lot of people will probably be a
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  Speaker 1: bit surprised or you know, not too sure you know
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  Speaker 1: what that all means, because I think that a lot
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  Speaker 1: of people yesterday thought that it would mean that students
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  Speaker 1: were actually getting you free university fees.
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  Speaker 2: What the government said it will pay the government loading
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  Speaker 2: on those places. So in the past, students have applied
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  Speaker 2: and we have said, look, we're really sorry. You're a
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  Speaker 2: great person, but we just haven't got a place for you,
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  Speaker 2: and you know, we're full up. Try again next year.
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  Speaker 2: Now we can say to more students, well, actually no,
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  Speaker 2: we do have a place. You can come and join
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  Speaker 2: us and do the degree that you want to do.
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  Speaker 1: Okay, and so how like who's going to be eligible
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  Speaker 1: or how will you work through those eligibility requirements?
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  Speaker 2: Well, look, in fact, just about everyone's eligible because we've
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  Speaker 2: still got all the thousands of places below that eight
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  Speaker 2: hundred and fifty, So we are definitely looking and we
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  Speaker 2: will be going out and strongly looking for indigenous students
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  Speaker 2: lost socio economic first and time, and we will be
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  Speaker 2: targeted in them. But even if you don't fit in
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  Speaker 2: one of those groups, you can probably get one of
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  Speaker 2: the places sit in below those. So go through the
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  Speaker 2: normal applications, give it a go and you are much
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  Speaker 2: more likely to get a place next year and the
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  Speaker 2: following year because of those extra places.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, right, And so do the extra places sort of
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  Speaker 1: require additional staff or infrastructure or anything like that. Out
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  Speaker 1: at Charles Dale.
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  Speaker 2: UNI look not as much infrastructure, but we are definitely
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  Speaker 2: as our numbers go up, then we do put more
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  Speaker 2: staff on and that's linked with the income to the
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  Speaker 2: university because also at the same time we look in
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  Speaker 2: to have a dramatic increase in the number of international
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  Speaker 2: students and of course you do need extra people to
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  Speaker 2: deliver that education. In terms of facilities, we're pretty and
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  Speaker 2: with our new campus coming up in the city then
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  Speaker 2: you know we've got those facilities coming online as well.
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  Speaker 1: And so what what means for the Northern territory do
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  Speaker 1: you think Scott when it comes to the workforce issues
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  Speaker 1: that we are saying. I mean, I know that we
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  Speaker 1: all talk a lot about growing our own, but university
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  Speaker 1: degrees do take a number of years. So I've no
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  Speaker 1: doubt that in the future it will have a big impact.
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  Speaker 1: But what do you reckon it's going to mean when
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  Speaker 1: it comes to those to those workforce issues that we've got.
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  Speaker 2: Look, I think it will help. I mean, as you know,
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  Speaker 2: we are probably bigger problems than any other state or
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  Speaker 2: territory because we've just got this explosion of projects and
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  Speaker 2: the economy is just going great guns. So you know,
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  Speaker 2: we do Facebook challenges. This is definitely a help along
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  Speaker 2: with bringing in more international students. So yeah, it's going
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  Speaker 2: to help. It's not going to solve all the problems,
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  Speaker 2: you know. I think that was recognized by the federal government. Yeah,
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  Speaker 2: because we did better than just about any other university
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  Speaker 2: in this allocation.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, you must have been pretty chafed when you'd seen
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  Speaker 1: that we were getting more places in most other locations.
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  Speaker 1: Why were we such a focus?
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  Speaker 2: Look, because I think we put in a very strong
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  Speaker 2: application and we did really emphasize that this was really
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  Speaker 2: needed in the territory. You know, as you've heard me
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  Speaker 2: say before, for the whole of Australia, the Northern Territory
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  Speaker 2: is so important. We're important for food security, water security,
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  Speaker 2: defense security, energy security, you name it. This is where
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  Speaker 2: it's happening. If you want, if you want Australia to succeed,
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  Speaker 2: the territory's got to succeed and you do that by
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  Speaker 2: education and training, and so we put that very strongly.
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  Speaker 2: We demonstrated we also had a very strong track record
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  Speaker 2: working with equity groups. We have one of the highest
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  Speaker 2: purpose of Indigenous students and first in family. So it
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  Speaker 2: was a pretty good application for the places.
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  Speaker 1: So how soon do you reckon that they're going to
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  Speaker 1: be able to start studying? Will it be at the
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  Speaker 1: beginning of next year?
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  Speaker 2: Beginning and next year? So this is a two year program,
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  Speaker 2: So we're taking students in at the beginning of next
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  Speaker 2: year and the following year onto the program. And then
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  Speaker 2: obviously if you start in twenty four and you're doing
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  Speaker 2: a four year degree, then you know that will go
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  Speaker 2: on for another four years. So this will have an
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  Speaker 2: impact potentially for six years, but it is only for
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  Speaker 2: a two intakes. Yep.
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  Speaker 1: Well, look it sounds like it's going to be a
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  Speaker 1: good thing. Hey, while I've got you though, how is
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  Speaker 1: you mentioned it just before? How is the construction of
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  Speaker 1: that new campus going? It does seem as though it's
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  Speaker 1: really sort of taking off.
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  Speaker 2: It's really coming out of the ground now, isn't that?
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  Speaker 1: Yeah?
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  Speaker 2: I know it's kind of sat in the hole for
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  Speaker 2: a long time. So a lot of difficult construction in
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  Speaker 2: the underground levels, the car part lads, and the first
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  Speaker 2: two floors. I'm told that's where all the really difficult
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  Speaker 2: engineering was. We're now through that stage, so you should
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  Speaker 2: see it now go up really quickly. We're hoping that
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  Speaker 2: we will top out that building in March, yep, February
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  Speaker 2: March time, and then that gives us a year to
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  Speaker 2: fit it out and we're still aiming to get students
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  Speaker 2: in it for term one twenty four. So look, I'm
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  Speaker 2: going to say the builders have done an incredible job.
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  Speaker 2: With all the shortages of staff and materials, they've kept
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  Speaker 2: it on track. The actual builders and themselves. I mean,
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  Speaker 2: you know, we're down in that whole weather, no wind
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  Speaker 2: or anything in right through the wet season, through the humidity.
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  Speaker 2: I take the house to them. Incredible workers appear in Darwin.
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  Speaker 1: Well, good stuff. I think I drive past her a
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  Speaker 1: couple of days ago and thought, oh, all of a sudden,
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  Speaker 1: you can this building like it's quite tall after driving
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  Speaker 1: past here and you know, seeing action but not being
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  Speaker 1: able to see a huge amount. So hopefully everything runs
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  Speaker 1: on time and we'll get those students in there as
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  Speaker 1: quickly as possible.
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  Speaker 2: Oh look and yeah, and we've just had a team
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  Speaker 2: come back from India and Nepal Bangladesh and it's really positive.
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  Speaker 2: I think our applications a term one next year from
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  Speaker 2: International Europe over two hundred percent. So hopefully we're going
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  Speaker 2: to bring lots of new people to the territory who
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  Speaker 2: again will help fill some of those labor shortages.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah. Well, Scott Bowman, it is always great to catch
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  Speaker 1: up with you. Thank you so very much for your
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  Speaker 1: time this morning.
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  Speaker 2: Great talking to you as always.
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  Speaker 1: Thank you,