SA unis should “explore” mergers, new Adelaide Uni boss Peter Rathjen says

A MERGER of the state’s three universities “must be explored” for South Australia to reach its potential, Adelaide University’s new vice-chancellor says.

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A MERGER of the state’s three universities “must be explored” for South Australia to reach its potential, Adelaide University’s new vice-chancellor says.

Professor Peter Rathjen reignited the merger debate at the university’s annual forum of staff, students and graduates.

In response to a question from former Labor senator Chris Schacht about the prospect of Adelaide, Flinders and UniSA joining forces to compete with universities interstate and overseas, Prof Rathjen said the option had to be considered.

“It is difficult territory and it has been rehearsed so many times that it raises antibodies and fears every time it’s there,” Prof Rathjen told the forum.

“But all of this space must be explored if we, and this state, are to do as well as we possibly can.”

Prof Rathjen said there were already “active” merger talks between some of Australia’s biggest universities, which had ambitions of rivalling world-leading US colleges. “The one I know has an aspiration to grow to about $6 billion a year because it wants to compete with something like the University of Michigan,” he said.

“That is starting to look like top 25 (in the world) and those are the resources that you need.”

Prof Rathjen’s predecessor Warren Bebbington had opposed mergers, arguing “most of the first-class universities abroad to which we aspire are smaller than Adelaide”, though he accepted there was too much duplication of courses between SA unis. Adelaide University is as high as the 130s in world rankings.

In January, Prof Rathjen told The Advertiser universities needed to co-operate more closely but stopped short of recommending mergers, though he said the state needed a debate on whether it needed a uni inside the top 100.

New Adelaide University vice chancellor Peter Rathjen.

“Does this state have a view of what it wants to achieve with its university systems? I don’t think it does,” he then told the forum last month.

“That is what I was trying to achieve by pushing out that top 100 number.”

Prof Rathjen chose not to comment further yesterday.

Talk of mergers between the universities has swirled for years, the State Government and universities leading calls at different times.

Former UniSA vice-chancellor Peter Hoj lamented SA missed a “very special opportunity” when Adelaide University pulled out of merger discussions with UniSA in 2012.

Two years later Premier Jay Weatherill called for amalgamations following the release of a report from then-governor Kevin Scarce (who soon became Adelaide University chancellor) that recommended combining the business arms of the three universities to maximise the use of their research.

UniSA Vice-Chancellor David Lloyd this week said there was “no current talk of mergers”.

“As Peter (Rathjen) says, every idea should be looked at in terms of its individual merit,” he said.

“As the state’s largest university, UniSA has always been open to innovation that would advance our delivery of education and research.”

A Flinders University spokeswoman said a merger “isn’t on the radar at all”.

“Flinders is in a good position and remains focused on growing that,” she said.