The Plan is set against the context of COVID-19 and its profound impact on the world, on higher education and on La Trobe. All Australian universities face severe revenue losses. La Trobe may lose up to 25 per cent of revenue by the end of 2021, and a full recovery could take three to five years.
La Trobe Vice-Chancellor Professor John Dewar AO said the new Strategic Plan charts a future direction for the University which will ensure it remains relevant, valued and successful over the coming years.
“Our new Strategic Plan outlines how we will achieve future success and emerge as a more resilient, future-focused and necessarily more efficient institution that will flourish in a post-COVID world,” Professor Dewar said.
“While the severe financial consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic mean we’ll necessarily be a smaller institution measured by revenue, staff and students for the foreseeable future, we will continue to place our many communities at the heart of everything we do and will more sharply focus on our strengths in teaching and research, and retain our identity as a university with a strong sense of social responsibility.
“Our students will always come first. We are creating more pathways to qualifications which lead to successful career opportunities and offering more choice and flexibility around how we deliver our courses, including an expansion of online and mixed modes of teaching and learning.
“We’ll remain Victoria’s only state-wide University - educating more first-in-family and disadvantaged students than any other university in the state at our campuses in Bendigo, Albury-Wodonga, Shepparton and Mildura – and we will continue to play an important role on the international stage, with strong global partnerships leading to successful student recruitment and mobility, as well as research that makes a difference.”
Professor Dewar said the new Strategic Plan will help build a solid foundation on which to rebuild La Trobe’s future.
“Over the coming months, La Trobe will continue to face unprecedented challenges because of COVID-19. Our staff and students have demonstrated extraordinary resilience, innovation and care over the past six months - reflecting the University’s core cultural qualities.
“I look forward to leading the University into a successful future and one in which we will continue to make a positive difference in the lives of our students, staff, partners and communities.”
All La Trobe staff consulted on a strategy reset consultation paper and the draft Strategic Plan.
Actions within the Strategic Plan will take place at different stages over the next 10 years.
*La Trobe is ranked fourth in the world by the Times Higher Education Impact Rankings, and is in the top 250 of the Times Higher Education World University Rankings.
The Strategic Plan and a summary Plan on a Page can be found on the website.
Claire Bowers – c.bowers@latrobe.edu.au - 9479 2315 / 0437 279 903
