The Open Door

There are similarities between universities and a five day cricket test match. To the uninformed observer, nothing exciting happens in either for long periods. The players are more interested in their own game than entertaining spectators. There is an air of timelessness over the proceedings. The controls over the performance are not obvious, the rules are obscure. The games are played by performers expected to behave like gentlemen. If there is any truth in this comparison, then La Trobe University has only just started its first innings: one wicket down and a fair sized total of runs on the board. Universities are institutions whose lives are measured in hundreds of years (a view spectators at test matches sometimes share) and twenty-five years is a short period. As I write, I am about to travel overseas and during the trip will spend a few days at the University of Bologna to join the celebrations for its nine hundredth anniversary. La Trobe is still young! In 1977, when I succeeded Or David Myers as Vice-Chancellor, I gave an inaugural lecture entitled 'A View from the Bridge'. Twelve years on, it is worth n.>ealling some of the content of that address. The title was intended to be a reference both to the Captain's role on the bridge of a ship and to the commanding physical view from the Vice-Chancellor's office. How do those remarks look now? How much of that vision for the future of La Trobe University has been achieved during my custodianship? I talked about research and its vital importance to a university. I emphasised the importance of the teaching role of the university and of our graduates, together with the significance of the relationship between teaching and research. There were some observations about morale of staff and students, and of relationships with Government. Finally I stressed the importance of building a bridge between the University and the local community. The purpose of this essay is not to provide a coherent history of the second half of the past twenty-five years. Instead, it wiJI aim at some snapshots of the highlights and an overview of our achievements in the light of that 'View from the Bridge'. The main characteristic of a university that distinguishes it from other institutions of higher education is the capacity to conduct research at a high level in a wide range of disciplines. Elsewhere in this volume are detailed accounts of our achievements. They are considerable and not fully recognised by the general public. Let it suffice to point out that La Trobe University now has a Special Research Centre, one Key Centre for Teaching and Research and a share in a second, all located here after intense competition between all Australian institutions of higher education. The gradual accumulation of these very visible centres over the last five years is a great tribute to the quality of the University's research. But that is just the \~sible tip of our efforts. The very readable annual Rescard1 Report gives more details of the \vide range covered; from herbicide performance on wheat to children's aUJuisition of aboriginal languages; from the detection of phenols in waste waters to Japanese economic and social change. The expenditure on research has mounted as the University has grown. In 1987, the University appointed a Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Research) to promote and coordinate its research effort. Increasingly we have been co-operating with industry and commerce, and obtaining substantial grants from them. This was an aspect of Australian academic life which barely existed in 1977 and whose absence I deplon.'