Public perceptions of Australian Universities - announcement from Australian Universities Community Engagement Alliance

The following announcement has been made at the AUCEA website.

Universities Australia recently commissioned consultants to undertake a major study on the public perceptions of Australian Universities. In this request,  the consultants are seeking to ensure they have access to the most relevant literature to inform their work.  Please support this work in any way you are able, in particular by providing the Consultants as soon as possible with any relevant literature and/or studies you are aware of or think will assist their work.

The request

You may be aware that Universities Australia has recently commissioned the Allen Consulting Group and Wallis Consulting Group to conduct research on public perceptions of Australian Universities. The research will be completed by mid 2012 and will involve focus groups and one-on-one consultations across a range of stakeholder segments and sub-groups of the population, and a national survey of the business and general community. This is an exciting research project. It aims to allow Universities Australia to improve its practices and models of engagement to positively influence decision makers. It will also give options to improve universities’ reputation and standing in the public sphere.

The project will commence with a literature review on existing research on community and stakeholder perceptions and expectations of universities and the higher education sector. This literature review will focus on any Australian evidence about public perceptions, as well as identify any similar research in comparable countries, especially the UK, Canada and the US.

Much of this literature will be publicly available, however, we are aware that many universities may also have conducted similar research for their own organisational needs. To ensure that the literature review is as comprehensive as possible to inform our empirical work, we are asking if you would be able to share any relevant research you are aware or may have conducted for your own organisations on a confidential basis, as well as inform us of any publicly available research that you think we should be aware of. Please forward any material directly to Allen Consulting Group c/o Senior Consultant George Onisiforou. You can contact George on 02 8272 5100 or e-mail him on [email protected].