The leadership of the troubled Australian National University has vowed to get the institution back on track by 2030 after suffering a series of serious mishaps which severely dented its reputation.
Its newly-published strategy, "ANU by 2030", admits that mistakes were made but vows that they will be rectified.
The glossy 15-page document also says that artificial intelligence (AI) will take over some of the administrative tasks currently done by human beings.
"Artificial intelligence enabled services will handle the routine reliably and at scale, freeing our people for the wisdom and care that only people can provide," the document says. It imagines a future where "human and machine intelligence work in concert, expanding what we can imagine, discover and achieve together".
The ANU has gone through a series of crises in the last two years since its serious financial difficulties emerged in 2024. In May, its chancellor Julie Bishop resigned. In September last year, the vice-chancellor Genevieve Bell, responsible for the day-to-day leadership of the ANU, resigned. This means that both of the top positions at the ANU remain unfilled on a permanent basis.
Professor Bell was succeeded by interim vice-chancellor Rebekah Brown. In June, she told the Senate education committee that the best estimate of the cost of the reputational damage of the repeated crises was $100 million.
Now, in "ANU by 2030", she vows to put the failures right: "Good governance at ANU will be transparent, inclusive and fiscally responsible," the document under her name says.
"It will deliver community safety; academic freedom; disciplined risk management; and contestable resource allocation. We recognise that we have not always met these standards. Rebuilding trust requires us to be open about where we have fallen short and disciplined in how we improve.
"Our institutional governance will be informed by meaningful staff and student participation and engagement. Institutional decisions will be communicated clearly, with the rationale, evidence and risks openly explained. We will deliver a responsive budgetary model that will sustainably support our purpose."
When Professor Brown took over as interim vice-chancellor, she abandoned Professor Bell's "Renew ANU" which had become highly controversial and vehemently opposed on the ANU campus.
Its aim was to cut $250 million of expenditure by the start of this year, including $100 million off the salary bill. Much of the costs to be cut were through losing staff and merging departments.
Professor Brown has not made clear since how she would get costs down or revenues up, and the new "ANU by 2030" document does not provide any details - it is long on broad aspirations and short on specifics.
But one view is that the deficit was overstated by the ANU's previous leadership. It may not be as bad as previously touted, on this argument.
The main union takes that view. "This strategy is not where you'll find the finances and needs to be read alongside other things like the University's corporate plan. We don't believe there is still a gaping hole in the budget or a financial crisis, and instead sensible management should be able to ensure sustainability," Lachlan Clohesy, Secretary of the National Tertiary Education Union in the ACT, said.
"This has been a consultative process, which has been in contrast to what we'd seen and experienced under the leadership of Bishop and Bell."
Professor Brown has been active in trying to shore up the relationship with the federal government, particularly because the ANU is the only truly national university funded by the Commonwealth.
It has a unique role, receiving a National Institutes Grant to (as it puts it in internal documents) "recognise the role the University plays as a national institute in facilitating key activities that are of national significance" like "maintaining and enhancing distinctive concentrations of excellence in research and education, particularly in areas of national importance to Australia".
The aim may be to signal a new start to government. It was founded 80 years ago under a previous Labor premier.
In "ANU by 2030", Professor Brown states: "Then prime minister Chifley's proposition remains as relevant today as it was in 1946: that Australia should develop its own understanding of the world and place that knowledge in service of the public good. We, at ANU, embrace and celebrate our ongoing obligation to achieve this national mission."
