Twenty-first International Conference on Knowledge, Culture, and Change in Organizations

Abstract

Australian Higher Education institutions educated 1,562,520 tertiary students in 2018. Therefore, have a high duty of care to ensure the learning experience is rigorous academically, intellectually stimulating, and prepares graduates for a myriad of professional careers. This is more likely to occur if students are actively engaged in the learning process. However, several participants in a recent study positioned the lack of student engagement as a higher education challenge. “The lack of engaged students is a problem for the sector” (citing Simon Marginson, Howes, in press). This topic was also explored in detail by Hil (2015) presenting findings that should be a concern for all staff working in the Higher Education sector. Creative strategic planning framed on the values and aspirations of ALL the university stakeholders has the capacity to “excite and inspire academic communities in universities throughout Australia” (Howes, 2018). This research project presents the results of a documentary analysis of Australian university strategic plans, focusing on the values expressed in the strategic aspirations and the social production of the document (Punch, 1988). The results of a survey constructed to answer the question posed by Carolyn Noble (Howes, in press), “what a Strategic Plan would have to look like to get students excited” provides the code frame. The findings recommend executives engage students in strategic planning and position them as the most important stakeholder in Australian universities. The results suggest that students who are “strategically powerless” are less likely to be motivated and engaged in the learning process.