2020 outlook for Deakin University in Warrnambool

Deakin University today engaged industry, community and educational leaders in a new conversation about the direction of Warrnambool Campus in 2020.

Addressing a 'Jobs of the Future' forum at Deakin's Warrnambool City Centre in Timor Street, Vice-Chancellor Professor Jane den Hollander said the University was strongly focused on meeting the changing needs of the region and preparing graduates for the jobs of the future.

"This year, we celebrate 25 years of Deakin University in Warrnambool community," she said.

"Deakin has a deep and longstanding commitment to regional and rural Victoria, and our Warrnambool campus has been integral to that. We are here today because we want to work with regional leaders to start to shape a new future for our Campus and the region we serve."

Professor den Hollander said Deakin had grown from Victoria's first regional university in 1974 to a thriving institution with more than 50,000 students from around the world, studying across campuses in Melbourne, Geelong, Warrnambool and online in the cloud.

"Our University has great faculties, staff, infrastructure and strong investment, and we are proud to be first in Victoria for graduate satisfaction for five consecutive years," Professor den Hollander said.

"In the face of uncertainty in the national higher education sector, we need to think more broadly and to steer a new direction for the campus – and to do that we need to engage with industry, government and the community."

Professor den Hollander said research showed that around 70 per cent of all jobs will require education beyond high school—up from roughly 25 per cent just 40 years ago – and 47 per cent of jobs may be computerised within one or two decades.

"If the Australian university sector is to thrive, indeed survive, it must develop organisational structures and business models that leverage ever-advancing technology with complementary human capital – creativity, entrepreneurism, intuition and cross-cultural understanding," she said.

"Warrnambool is no different: let's embrace change and take control of our future."

Deakin's new CEO Warrnambool 2020, Grant Sutherland, said the University wanted to ensure it was in step with regional leaders about what the region's future looked like.

"How will Deakin be successful? We need to determine what success looks like in 2020," Mr Sutherland said. "We need look different in 2020 – the key is to look at the shifts and trends ahead and ask how can we continue to add value to the social and economic fabric of the community?

"Deakin University's Warrnambool Campus is worth $53 million annually to the region's economy. The Campus also plays a vital role in producing skilled graduates for key local industries and provides jobs and income for many members of the community.

"We will explore closer connections to school retention and TAFE pathways through new thinking and leadership that will work for Warrnambool, the region and Deakin in the long term."

Deakin in 2015

Deakin has over 52,000 students from around the world, studying across campuses in Melbourne, Geelong, Warrnambool and online in the cloud.

The University is ranked number one in Victoria, number six in Australia and number 45 in the world in the Times Higher Education list of the world's top 100 universities under 50 years old and in the top 3% of the world's universities in each of the three major international rankings including the prestigious Shanghai Jiao Tong and Academic Ranking of World Universities.