Curtin and Murdoch universities are aiming to increase collaborative activities after deciding to not proceed with their proposed merger.
Curtin and Murdoch universities are aiming to increase collaborative activities after deciding to not proceed with their proposed merger.
The two universities said a joint feasibility study had concluded that a merger could be beneficial but would also be highly complex and expensive, with no guarantee of success.
They said there was “a significant risk that the outcomes would not justify the cost, which could be as high as tens of millions of dollars over many years”.
Curtin’s deputy vice chancellor, Jeanette Hacket, said the “reprofiling” of staff and the rationalisation of physical facilities were two of the biggest cost areas.
The merger decision is a big turnaround from the universities’ upbeat comments earlier this year, when they said a merger would offer many benefits, including enhanced teaching, increased course options and expanded research.
The merger had also been motivated by a desire to create a top-10 research university that would attract increased funding under planned federal government reforms.
Curtin’s retiring vice-chancellor, Professor Lance Twomey, who has been a long-time advocate of mergers, was talking up the planned marriage as recently as last month.
“We need another major university in Western Australia that is able to compete very strongly, that’s in the top 10 of Australia’s universities, and our proposal with Murdoch will deliver that,” he told a WA Business News forum.
The two universities are now hoping to achieve some of the expected merger benefits through increased collaboration in research and undergraduate activities.
Minerals, metallurgy, science and agriculture are likely areas for collaboration.
The universities already collaborate in these areas, for instance through the Parker Cooperative Research Centre for Integrated Hydrometallurgy, which is currently based at Murdoch but plans to relocate to Curtin.
The two universities said they would also explore joint steps to achieve greater back office efficiencies, to try and reduce their costs.
Targeted areas include IT systems, transaction processing, property management and human resources management.
In addition, they plan to examine options for increasing the viability of courses with low enrolments.
