KPMG Talking Tertiary

In this episode of Talking Tertiary, Stephen Parker is joined by Junyi Zhao, who is the National Undergraduate Officer for the Council of International Students Australia (CISA) as well as Bachelor of Accounting student at LaTrobe University in Victoria. CISA is the national peak student representative organisation for international students and advocates for the interests and needs of international students in Australia. 

Stephen and Junyi discuss the unique challenges faced by international students through the COVID-19 pandemic as well as the positive steps CISA has taken to support students through this challenging time while preparing them for the future. They also talk about the ways in which technology will change higher education delivery into the future as well as altering the expectations of the students of the future. 

For more information about the CISA, visit their website: cisa.edu.au  

If you would like further information about our series visit KPMG.com/au/talkingtertiary or email us at [email protected]

In this episode of Talking Tertiary, Stephen Parker is joined by Molly Willmott, President of the National Union of Students (NUS). The NUS is the peak representative body advocating for the rights of students across Australia. The NUS aims to positively impact the lives of students by campaigning for an accessible and equitable education system that creates opportunities and expands job prospects for young people.

Stephen and Molly discuss the issues facing students generally but also the ways in which COVID-19 has disproportionately affected students and young people and what this disruption means for the short and long-term future of the student experience. As well as student welfare, Stephen and Molly discuss what the degree of the future might look like and how the definition of a typical degree may change with the evolving workforce requirements.

For more information about the NUS, visit their website: www.nus.asn.au

If you would like further information about our series visit KPMG.com/au/talkingtertiary or email us at [email protected]

Stephen Parker is joined by Dr Sharlene Leroy-Dyer, Acting President of the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Postgraduate Association (NATSIPA) which is a national network of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander postgraduate students, non-Indigenous student supporters and Indigenous Elders and Alumni. NATSIPA's objective is to ensure that Indigenous Australians can access postgraduate education in a fair and equitable manner and it enables this by valuing Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders diverse cultures and histories and supporting their control over their own and their family’s education.

In this episode Sharlene discusses her lifelong commitment to learning, she has a PhD in management from the University of Newcastle and is currently completing a graduate certificate in tertiary education, management and governance, and the importance of advocating for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander post-graduate students at a national level. Sharlene and Stephen touch on the ways in which COVID-19 has disproportionately disrupted students in remote and rural areas where access to digital technology can be unreliable as well as the pitfalls of online learning which can lead to students feeling disconnected and isolated. They also discuss the importance of increasing funding for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students who are the most disadvantaged group in Australian society. For more information about NATSIPA, visit their website.

If you would like further information about our series visit KPMG.com/au/talkingtertiary or email us at [email protected]

In episode 4 of Season 2 Professor Stephen Parker talks to Jack Goodman, Founder and Executive Chair of Studiosity. 

Professor Stephen Parker talks to David Bowser, the CEO and Founder of Curio. This interview was recorded before COVID-19 became a pandemic, and before universities moved to put as much of their teaching as possible online. What David Bowser predicts as a future Business As Usual for universities, is turning into a Business As Now.

David Bowser is a neuroscientist and was an academic at Melbourne and Cambridge University before moving into consulting, where he was a Principal and the Education Sector lead at Nous Group.

Founded in 2016, Curio is an education consulting, learning design and platform development business with the aim of bringing together the creative and curious for human improvement driven through the power of education. Curio disrupts universities from within by working with their academics and subject matter experts to design and deliver online experiences, scale rapidly and develop products that are needed in the market within months, not years.

More information about Curio can be found on their website www.curio.co

In episode two of season two of KPMG’s Talking Tertiary Professor Stephen Parker AO talks with Professor Claire Macken of RMIT University.

Claire has had a career-long connection with education. After starting as a Legal Academic at Deakin University she then moved into roles such as Pro Vice Chancellor, Future Learning and Innovation at LaTrobe University and four years at Apple as their Higher Education Strategy Lead. Claire also spent time at KPMG in the Education Consultancy.

In this podcast Stephen and Claire discuss how technology has disrupted the traditional players in a number of industries and big names have disappeared while new entrants have become household names quite quickly. Claire shares her thoughts on the responsiveness of the education sector to disruption and how the changing landscape of the industry will force universities to analyse their vital and ongoing role in society. 

Visit: KPMG.com/au/talkingtertiary or email us at [email protected]