Curtin warns of merger’s cultural consequences

Curtin University has highlighted cultural misalignment between Western Australia’s four public universities in its opposition of a mooted higher education merger in the state.

In a submission to the WA government review of the tertiary education sector, the university said it was not in crisis and cited a lack of evidence to support a merger with other WA universities.  

“We consider that any merger involving Curtin would seriously derail our current strategic trajectory and jeopardise all the things we have worked – and continue to work – so hard to achieve,” the submission said.

The independent review into the structure of WA’s four public universities was announced in February by the McGowan government citing declining federal funding, relatively low student enrolment growth, and a declining share of Commonwealth-funded research grants. 

It was designed to explore changes that could better support the financial sustainability and performance of Curtin, The University of Western Australia, Murdoch University and Edith Cowan University. That could include merging institutions.

In its response, Curtin said suggestions that university amalgamation would lead to greater financial benefits for institutions were off the mark.

“Serious consideration needs to be given to the cost of any merger and its perceived financial benefits,” it said.

“Indeed, there is no concrete evidence in the literature to indicate that significant cost savings or synergies have been delivered by university mergers.

“Separately, a key driver in the success (or lack thereof) of merger implementations is cultural alignment.

“The apparent lack of complementary cultures or curricula between WA’s public universities should dissuade any notion that merger is a good idea.”

Curtin said it expected any merger to have a seriously negative impact on the student experience.

Despite its opposition, the university said it was broadly supportive of initiatives that encouraged greater collaboration in WA’s higher education sector “that will benefit students, staff, research outcomes, and the WA economy and community”.

The state’s review of the sector followed calls in 2021 by WA chief scientist Peter Klinken, who made the case for a merger of all four institutions to form a single entity. 

A final report from WA’s review into the sector is expected in the second half of the year.

The idea of university mergers is not without precedent. At the end of last year, two South Australian universities – the University of Adelaide and the University of South Australia – signed a statement of cooperation with the South Australian and federal governments to explore the feasibility of a merger.

Curtin is the largest university in the state with more than 38,000 students, according to Data & Insights, followed in size by UWA, ECU and Murdoch.