By Jenna Price

Copyright smh

There’s a moment when you realise it’s all going to hell, when the institutions you thought stood for something stand for nothing but profit. Going to university was exactly what Mum expected of me. My sister tried, failed. I wasn’t brilliant, either (at first, hah!). No idea what to do or how to do it. It took university to change my life.

In my years at the NSW Institute of Technology (now UTS), I learnt how to learn. Extraordinary teachers, historian Ann Curthoys, author Drusilla Modjeska, journalists like Chris Nash, the bloke who brought about the undoing of a federal Liberal treasurer in the ’70s. And the late David Dale.

I worry university students will never have that time again. Demanding academics (Modjeska made me rewrite my final ever essay). Difficult course workloads. Kind professional staff. I feel grief at what university is becoming and fear the changes spell the end of learning that generations need. To question, to answer, to argue. To show you know. Universities don’t need to spend $93 million on insultants (an insult to those on staff who are actually experts) to tell them what’s wrong.

Major change must happen within higher education in Australia if kids like the one I was – first-generation, woggy – are ever to get that transformative experience. University governance needs a massive overhaul. Too many on university councils are chosen because of connections, not expertise. In business, board members know the business inside out. After speaking to council members across the nation over the past few weeks, it’s clear to me that for many, backing the vice chancellor is the necessary skill to keep the gig.