BLU EPR NTBL

UEPR

INT

1

Higher education is an international enterprise

with local and national significance, and is subject

to a complex array of forces which drive continuous

change at many levels. Governments, students and

the broader community have high expectations

of universities, and rightly see institutions such

as QUT as being pivotal contributors to the

future—a future which will be marked by major

economic, social, environmental, and technological

challenges.

QUT is an energetic and highly successful

university which has ambitious plans for its own

future, and which welcomes new opportunities to

build and demonstrate its relevance and impact in

ways which make a lasting and positive difference

to the lives of individuals and the community.

Over recent years QUT has made excellent

progress against its plans, which call for rapid

but sustainable growth in research capacity

and performance, and in the development

of the quality of our learning and teaching

environments. However in the years ahead we

can expect heightened national and international

competition in all areas of academic activity,

and increasing pressure on our resources and on

the infrastructure which supports teaching and

research. Technological change will also offer new

opportunities and challenges across all areas of the

University’s work, and demographic changes will

have a major impact on both our student and staff

populations.

QUT is well placed to meet the challenges

of the future and to continue the momentum of

successful development, but it is essential that we

prepare for that future by: regenerating, and in

some cases reinterpreting, those characteristics

that define and distinguish us; engaging with

our communities and building capacity to take

advantage of new opportunities and to sustain

quality; setting ambitious goals and working

towards them; and experimenting with new

ways and approaches to our work.

QUT Blueprint updated May 2008

2

QUT is a leading Australian university which aims to

strengthen its distinctive national and international reputation

by combining academic strength with practical engagement

with the world of the professions, industry, government, and

the broader community.

In line with this aim, QUT’s overall vision for the future is:

• to provide outstanding learning environments and

programs that lead to excellent outcomes for graduates,

enabling them to work in, and guide a world characterised

by increasing change;

• to undertake high-impact research and development in

selected areas, at the highest international standards,

reinforcing our applied emphasis and securing significant

commercial and practical outcomes; and

• to strengthen and extend our strategic partnerships with

professional and broader communities to reflect both our

academic ambitions and our civic responsibility.

Five key goals will guide QUT’s progress towards attaining

this vision:

• to build our research capacity in selected areas;

• to strengthen our reputation for quality teaching

and learning and provide among the best learning

environments in Australia;

• to strengthen our ‘real-world’ positioning in teaching and

research through better partnerships across internal and

external boundaries;

• to integrate information and communications technology

into our teaching, research, business support functions

and infrastructure; and

• to develop environments that foster and reward

high-quality scholarship and that build a sense

of community.

While good progress has been made in recent years,

the overall vision and goals remain relevant and key

to QUT’s future development as an internationally

respected university, one capable of delivering on the

high expectations held by those who share an interest in

QUT and the high standards we set for ourselves. Our

challenges for the future are to see their implementation

through, and to refine particular objectives and strategies

to ensure that we remain on course.

ImplementIng the BlueprInt and achIevIng our goals

QUT recognises the need for staff to have appropriate room

to exercise professional judgements and to determine locally

relevant strategies which contribute to the overall goals of the

university. The role of the Blueprint is to articulate the broad

goals and aims of the University and to identify particular

university-wide strategies, while more specific objectives

and strategies are set out in the top-level or university-wide

plans in the areas of Research and Innovation; Learning

and Teaching; Finance and Infrastructure; and People and

Culture. Supporting strategies are also prepared to guide

QUT’s involvement in international activities, the University’s

investment in and use of information technology, and the

strategic use of space.

Running through these plans is a strong commitment

by QUT to advancing its goals through mutually beneficial

partnerships and engagement with our various communities.

In addition to this framework, QUT has since 2001

adopted a Reconciliation Statement and Indigenous

Education Strategy to make explicit our commitment to

improving educational outcomes for Indigenous Australians

and addressing Indigenous issues in teaching and research.

This Blueprint reaffirms these commitments.

This university-wide framework guides the development

of five-year plans for Faculties and other organisational

units, as well as organisational and individual performance

management systems.

QUT’s vision and goals

3

Discovering and applying knowledge: ReseaRch and InnovatIon

Expanding the University’s research profile is a major

challenge in the face of continuing financial constraints

on budgets, heightened competition for scarce research

resources, and a possible new method of assessing

research quality and funding. QUT remains committed to

the development of a full spectrum of scholarly work across

the range of its academic offerings, and so must necessarily

combine a broad and strong encouragement to research

in disciplinary and cross-disciplinary areas, with a selective

application of limited resources.

The Blueprint goal of building our research capacity

in selected areas has been advanced over recent years on

a number of fronts, including recruitment of early career

academics, development of the Institutes and, particularly,

the recruitment of high-performing professors.

While this strengthening of capacity will continue, and is

expected to be reflected in higher performance in securing

external research support, we should also acknowledge the

performance of our existing researchers. As we continue to

implement strategies aimed at strengthening capacity at the

top level, the next phase of development needs to extend

downward, and attend to the support of existing as well as

new staff. Accordingly, QUT will continue to:

• provide research development opportunities for promising

junior to middle level staff; and

• develop mechanisms to attract and support early career

(postdoctoral) research active staff.

Disseminating knowledge: leaRnIng and teachIng

QUT has an overall student population approaching 40 000.

It is not envisaged that this will increase significantly, rather

we will see shifts within the population, with an increasing

proportion of higher degree research students and growth

in high-quality postgraduate offerings, including professional

education and corporate program opportunities. At the

undergraduate level, we wish both to broaden the social

profile of our student population and to be seen as an

attractive destination for high-performing students. While

domestic undergraduate numbers are not expected to

rise overall, growth in the international student population

will continue, and our attention in that sphere will also be

weighted increasingly to postgraduate and research activity

and professional education. In the international arena we

will continue to focus on particular quality niches and any

expansion of offshore activity will be subject to close attention

concerning quality assurance and financial viability.

While student demand will continue to be a dominant

force shaping our profile, other considerations will be

important. Key among these is a focus on skills shortages,

particularly in areas such as health and human service

delivery and in the sciences and engineering. In line with

the goal of strengthening learning through improved

partnerships, the move to double degrees and the

emergence of cross-faculty, jointly designed and jointly

delivered degrees will be supported and strengthened.

Evidence from QUT and elsewhere underlines the

importance of continued focus on the first year experience,

looking not only at teaching but also at questions of course

structure and management of student expectations.

The issue of practical, work integrated and professional

experience is also of particular and major importance for

QUT. Around half of QUT undergraduates experience some

form of workplace, practice-based or service learning during

their studies. A more systematic approach will be taken to

how we offer and coordinate such opportunities, including

how we support and assess practice-based learning, with

a view to making such experiences more typical of study

at QUT.

The goal of integrating information and communications

technology into our academic and support activities remains

a key priority for QUT. In coming years the University will

adopt major new platforms for administration and teaching

and exciting new possibilities will emerge as students

continue their take-up of rapidly evolving home-based and

portable technologies. QUT will continue to contribute to,

and learn from, new developments in pedagogy, including

those arising from technological change. While remaining a

predominantly campus-based university, QUT will explore

new opportunities for using technology to complement

and enhance the campus experience, and to improve

communication with students.

regenerateengageexperiment

5

A stimulating and rewarding place to study and work: PeoPle and cultuRe

QUT recognises the need to support and strengthen the

human and social dimensions of the University. High-quality

scholarship requires environments which encourage the free

exchange and development of ideas, and which stimulate

intellectual development and reward achievement. Delivering

the benefits of scholarship—through teaching, research and

other forms of application—also requires the capacity to

engage internally and externally, and to coordinate activities

to best effect, including working towards greater consistency

of student experience across the university. QUT must also

manage its resources carefully, anticipate and manage

risks, and operate in line with a complex array of regulatory

requirements. Drawing together these imperatives is a

challenging task, particularly when operating resources are

scarce, and success depends on a positive and collaborative

organisational culture as much as on formal policies and

procedures.

Reference has been made to anticipated changes

in QUT’s student population, and over the next decade

demographic factors will also result in a major shift in QUT’s

staffing profile. These changes provide opportunities for

renewal as well as challenges in attracting and retaining

high-quality staff in the face of national and international

competition.

The People and Culture Plan articulates QUT’s values

and objectives to support the Blueprint goal of developing

environments that foster and reward high-quality scholarship

and build a sense of community. The next phase of

development will include:

• renewed commitment to implementing cross-organisational

development and collaboration initiatives in areas such

as the Business and Services Improvement program;

the progression of Institutes; development of structured

learning programs and experiences for students; and

implementation of the QUT Reconciliation Statement;

• driving a culture of reward and recognition for excellence

by the further roll-out of broadly targeted reward and

recognition strategies to support excellence; and

• encouragement of leaders and managers who will

create an environment of trust and recognition to lead

the development of staff capabilities and management

of change.

regenerateengageexperiment

6

Supporting our academic goals: fInance and InfRastRuctuRe

QUT seeks to build integrated visions for our campuses,

which will develop distinctive roles in supporting study and

scholarship, as well as being sites for cultural activities

and other forms of engagement with the community. Such

developments must be mindful of the resourcing constraints

on the development of QUT’s infrastructure, which

necessitate careful assessment, planning and management

of our assets, and closer alignment of physical and virtual

considerations.

Over recent years QUT has developed distinctive

academic presences at Kelvin Grove (Health, Education

and Creative Industries) and at Gardens Point (Business,

Law, Engineering and Built Environment, and Science and

Technology), and has developed focal points for research,

teaching and engagement in the form of the Creative

Industries Precinct within the Kelvin Grove Urban Village, the

Cultural Precinct at Gardens Point, and the Institute of Health

and Biomedical Innovation (IHBI) at Kelvin Grove. There is

potential for such a precinct approach to guide the future

development of the Gardens Point campus, with a focus on

science and technology, and this is a key priority in the

period ahead.

QUT’s Caboolture campus, which is being developed

in conjunction with TAFE, will also continue to grow over

coming years. This campus is seen by QUT as an important

expression of the University’s commitment to extending the

benefits of higher education more widely, and the expansion

of offerings at Caboolture will have a particular focus on

partnerships with TAFE and other educational institutions and

on the provision of programs which reflect the needs and

aspirations of students and the region.

QUT’s teaching and research profiles are shaped

by a range of factors, including student demand,

government policy and opportunity for new developments.

The unpredictability of such factors means that plans for

infrastructure will need to be flexible and linked strategically

to the ongoing development of our academic activities.

While appropriate objectives for this purpose have been

identified in the Finance and Infrastructure Plan, implementing

coordinated infrastructure planning across the physical

and virtual dimensions of our activities remains a

significant challenge.

Planning for future use of space must also be

accompanied by a more rigorous approach to our current

practices. Policies and practices governing our management

of infrastructure, and physical space in particular, need to be

made clearer and deployed in ways which make optimum

use of scarce and costly resources.

The Finance and Infrastructure Plan will also continue

QUT’s commitment to using our resources in ways that best

support our academic goals, in line with our obligations to

support the Queensland Government’s social and fiscal

objectives. This means not only aligning resource planning

and budgeting, including for infrastructure, with our strategic

priorities but also ensuring that our everyday activities

deliver the best value from their investment. The Business

and Services Improvement program will continue to be

an important part of this endeavour, by reviewing support

functions from the point of view of clients, rather than

pre-existing organisational perspectives, and by contributing

to the development of a culture of continuous improvement.

7

Key P

erfo

rman

ce In

dica

tors

8

Discovering and applying knowledge: ReseaRch and InnovatIon

• Research Income

• Higher Degree Research (HDR) completions

• Higher Degree Research (HDR) load

• Postgraduate Research Experience Questionnaire: overall

satisfaction for research graduates

• Peer-reviewed research publications

• Percentage of income from commercial and cooperative

research/consulting

• Success rates for competitive research grants

• Percentage of research-active staff

Disseminating knowledge: leaRnIng and teachIng

• QTAC first preferences: offers ratio

• Student progression

• Student: staff ratios

• Learning Experience Survey: teaching satisfaction

• Number of grants, fellowships and awards from the

Australian Teaching and Learning Council

• University student retention rates

• Graduate Destinations Survey outcomes for bachelor

graduates looking for full-time work

• Course Experience Questionnaire, overall satisfaction for

bachelor graduates

• Interfaculty course load

A stimulating and rewarding place to study and work: PeoPle and cultuRe

• International commencing students (proportion of all

commencing)

• Domestic fee-paying students (proportion of all

commencing)

• Staff Opinion Survey: overall satisfaction

• Proportion of academic staff completing the QUT Early

Career and Mid-career Academic Recruitment and

Development Programs

• Qualifications of academic staff: PhDs

• Indigenous commencing students (proportion of all

commencing)

• Low-SES commencing students (proportion of all

commencing)

• Indigenous staff (proportion of all staff)

• Women in senior positions (proportion of all staff)

Supporting our academic goals: fInance and InfRastRuctuRe

• Economic dependency (share of income derived

from government)

• Operating margin (unadjusted and adjusted)

• Employment benefit costs as share of total income

• Liquidity ratio

• Usable Floor Area per EFTSL

• Student access to technology

© QUT 2008 Designed and Produced by QUT Publications 14925 CRICOS No. 00213J

Queensland University of Technology GPO Box 2434 Brisbane QLD 4001www.frp.qut.edu.au/frptoolkit/corpplan/index.jsp