Uni of Adelaide and UniSA merger is on the agenda: Peter Hoj

The University of Adelaide’s new vice-chancellor Peter Hoj says the question of a merger with UniSA must be engaged with.

Newly appointed University of Adelaide vice-chancellor Peter Hoj says merger talks with the University of South Australia are back on the cards.

The proposed merger between two of South Australia’s three universities is back on the agenda with new University of Adelaide vice-chancellor Peter Hoj saying financial pressures and the state election cycle could force a rethink on the issue.

Speaking exclusively to The Australian, Professor Hoj was candid about his past support for the merger as vice-chancellor of the University of South Australia from 2007 to 2012.

An in-principle agreement was struck between Adelaide University and UniSA to merge two years ago with a new name being agreed upon — the University of Adelaide South Australia — but talks soured amid tension over who would be appointed vice-chancellor.

Professor Hoj, whose five-year term as vice-chancellor starts next Monday, said if the issue were revisited it needed to be done on the basis of what was best for the state, not jockeying over positions.

“The question of mergers is something that is of such impact on the state that if mergers made sense, hypothetically speaking, it should never come down to two people’s employment,” Professor Hoj said. “My views many years ago were clearly stated. I saw a future where a merger was likely a good thing to do.”

Professor Hoj stressed he was not pre-empting any future talks and had not yet sat down with his senior executive and chancellor, Cathy Branson, to discuss the issue.

But he noted Ms Branson’s statement last year in which she said the university was “uncommitted but open to” the merger question. He also said it had become a matter of political discussion, with the state opposition adopting a pro-merger policy ahead of next year’s election.

“It’s already on an agenda outside the universities,” he said. “It has to be engaged with anyway.”

Professor Hoj said the revenue loss from the collapse in overseas student numbers also could add impetus to merger talks.

“Universities need to have a certain size to be globally visible and competitive,” he said. “The way they retained that in the last few years was exactly because of international students.”

Professor Hoj said he was confident Adelaide University would remain a member of the Group of Eight universities despite being its financially weakest member.

“I think it’s safe but it’s also clear that it has the smallest revenue,” he said. “It needs to make sure that there is a very clear deline­ation between this university and any other universities coming up beneath it. I am confident that we are safe, but we cannot be complacent.”