������ý

Hi everyone,

Another day, another headline about ANU. It’s never easy to read about a place you love couched in constantly critical terms, especially when you know how much good happens here too. Don’t get me wrong, there is a lot here we need to fix, there are real challenges we need to face, and a lot of things we need to change. And we have been doing a lot of changing recently, big, and small.

Change by its very nature is never easy. It took hundreds of decisions and choices, small and large, by people all over the University to get us to this point over many years, and it will take hundreds of decisions and choices, small and large by people all over the University to get us back on a sound footing, not just financially, but operationally and structurally. It will mean new ways of doing things, focused on accountability, financial prudence, and a whole-of-university approach to systems improvement. Another step in that path is the change proposals, released for PSP and ITS that are currently in consultation and I encourage you to read them and provide your feedback. And I thank and acknowledge our staff who are impacted for your ongoing commitment to this place, and your work.

And beyond those specific change proposals, there will continue to be change for all of us. We are going to continue to address places at the University where areas have overspent budgets, or where there are duplications of activities. It means we are going to keep monitoring our excess leave balances and our travel costs and better manage our liabilities. And it means we are going to continue to work on achieving more savings in our non-salary expenditure and better aligning to the rest of the sector in our service delivery.

But this isn’t just about financial stewardship. Even as we make meaningful progress on achieving financial sustainability, we are also making meaningful progress on improving our systems and processes. Across HR, finance, research, education, and governance, we are finding better ways of doing things, with clearer accountable owners and better metrics. Historically, we have often just addressed things in pockets. And now we are working to address the broader eco-system of campus. This means we are working on long-term improvements, rather than short or quick-fix solutions. And it is going to take time.

For me it is important to remember that amidst all this important change, our mission and our purpose hasn’t changed. As our legislation makes clear: we should create and transmit knowledge through teaching and research of the highest quality. And we are.

And the world, who see beyond the headlines, remember and acknowledge that. We are lucky to have people all over the University who love this place, I count myself among them. We are lucky to have people all over Canberra and Australia who are our fondest critics and friends. They are the steady stream of conversations in my office, from federal politicians and bureaucrats, to my Vice-Chancellor peers, our ANU NTEU branch head, visiting delegations, students, alum and the occasional CEO. These conversations come with candour and care, and like me, they want the best for this place and they know we can and will be better than we have been.

Change doesn’t stop great work from happening, and we continue to see that excellence in action every day. Just this week, we have seen some great stories from ANU. The appointment of Professor Nerilee Abram as the for the Australian Antarctic Program (read: WOO HOO!), to the work of ANU Professor Mark Polizzotto on “” cancers (read: hope for so many), to the daily cohort of academics who are across media platforms around the world, talking about their research and sharing their expertise. I am always interested and impressed by the far reach of our experts, and the diversity of the coverage from regional Australian papers to the New York Times and everything in between.

Good thoughts to where this may find you,
Genevieve