Page 3344 - Week 11 - Tuesday, 22 September 2015

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There is a lot written on this subject. I refer members to some of the books that are around. One I particularly like is The university & urban revival. It is written about the University of Pennsylvania and their efforts. Judith Rodin, the then, I guess, equivalent of our vice-chancellor, said that you have to have five things:

First, any successful urban strategy must be that—strategic. It must be bold yet based on a realistic and full assessment of social, economic, and political forces at work, and it must have a clear roadmap towards implementation.

Yet when Mr Coe and I had briefings on what was happening, I think it was less than clear and the government’s bill of intent was less than clear. Indeed, we were promised that over six months it would unfold. And so it does. Professor Rodin went on to say:

Second, we have seen that a holistic approach has a greater chance of both capitalising on resources more effectively and promoting greater sustainability.

You have to work out where the university sits in its surrounding neighbourhood and how it works. It is not going to be competition, surely. Many are simply asking for a level playing field with the rest of the community rather than privileged status. She then went on to say:

By increasing the neighbours’ sense of control and empowering them to have a voice and real options for action, we increase chances for meaningfully changing behaviour and improving social outcomes.

But to do that, as I say, you have to have a holistic approach. And then she said:

Third, collaboration and transparency are critical to success.

Where is the transparency in some of the things the government has done? Again, simply making announcements is not collaboration and transparency. I read that quote again:

Then:

Fourth, we learned that an institution that appears rich to others must be extremely careful about raising expectations.

Again, I think people think universities are probably rich. I think we all know that UC is probably not as rich as some of the other institutions in this city and around the country. But again, it is about the use of government dollars; it is about the use of moneys that they have and making sure it is right.

Then:

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