Changes in campus service delivery at Australian universities as a result of VSU legislation
Who Delivers Campus Services, post-VSU?
Introduction
The introduction of VSU has brought on or precipitated major changes in the sector in terms of who delivers which campus services. The surveys issued for this study looked at who presently delivers which services and also asked questions about whether there have been changes in who delivers which services. This issue was also covered in the in-depth interviews conducted for this study.
In some cases universities have taken over some or all of the services previously delivered by student associations. In other cases private sector operators have taken over delivery of these services or at least the management of existing private sector operated services areas (for example, on-campus commercial tenancies) has been transferred from the student association to the university.
Changes in who delivers which campus services which have occurred since it became known by the sector that the introduction of VSU was a certainty185 typically occurred at roughly around the same time as, or following, changes in governance, management restructures, staff redundancy programmes and so on.
The intent of this Chapter is to look only at the changes in who delivers which campus services. Later Chapters look at the governance and management changes and at the impact on things such as the number of jobs in the sector.
University activity
Some universities are involved directly in the delivery of parts of the campus services mix. This was the case long before VSU was introduced.
Examples of areas which in the past have been operated directly by some universities are sporting services, on-campus bookshops, services to assist students to find accommodation and services to assist students to find part time or casual employment.
There are many other campus services areas which have in the past been operated sometimes by student organisations and sometimes directly by universities. Where universities deliver campus services in their own right there are a number of different ways that this can be implemented in terms of the legal status of the entity that delivers the services. The legal status of the entity delivering the services can be any of (not an exhaustive list):
- a university department which is an integral part of the main body corporate of the university;
- a company limited by guarantee established under the Corporations Act 2001 and which is a wholly owned and controlled subsidiary of the university; and
- an association incorporated under State or Territory associations legislation and where the university is the sole member of the association.186
There are many consequences flowing from university decisions on who is to be responsible for the delivery of campus services. It is often, but not necessarily, the case that it is more expensive for a university to operate campus services than it is for a student organisation to operate campus services.
For example, if a university decides that campus services are to be delivered by a university department as distinct from a student association then a probable financial consequence is that superannuation contributions to employees of the university must be paid at the higher rate of 17 per cent compared to the contributions at the minimum superannuation guarantee rate of 9 per cent paid to employees of the student association.
Various issues potentially arising from university decisions as to the type of entity used for delivery of campus services are listed in Table 6.1 below (note: the table does not necessarily provide a complete list of issues arising from these decisions).
Given the large ‘once off’ costs involved when a university steps in to take on the delivery of campus services, the potentially material changes to the cost of delivery of the services and the relatively permanent nature of this step,187 it is considered relevant to look at which universities are now delivering campus services in their own right and what changes have taken place in this area since VSU was introduced.
Since the introduction of VSU universities have increased the extent to which they deliver campus services in their own right and more generally have increased the level of control they exercise over delivery of campus services by student organisations.
Table 6.1
Issues Potentially Arising from Type of Entity Delivering Campus Services
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The extent to which universities are now delivering sporting services in their own right is looked at separately from those cases where universities are now delivering student union style services in their own right.
In overview it can be said that sector wide and since VSU has been introduced there has been a larger increase in the number of cases where universities deliver sporting services in their own right than for student union style services.
Extent to which universities are now offering sporting services in their own right
In the sport survey organisations were asked in question 1, “Is your organisation a department within the university (that is, not a separate legal entity from the university)?”
- 47.5% of respondents answered YES
- 52.5% of respondents answered NO
- EFTSL covered by answers 589,569 (96.7 per cent of the sector)
As can be seen from the above responses nearly half of the sporting services part of the campus services mix nationally is now delivered by university departments as distinct from wholly owned and controlled subsidiaries of universities and as distinct from student organisations.
After taking account of sporting services delivered by wholly owned and controlled subsidiaries of universities it is evident that roughly half of the sporting services part of the campus services mix is now delivered by universities acting in their own right. This is a significant change from the circumstances that applied before VSU was introduced.
Of the 19 sporting services provider survey respondents who indicated in their answer to question 1 that their organisation was a department within the university, six of them (covering EFTSL of 86,706 or 14.2 per cent of the sector) indicated in their answer to question 6 that they had since December 2005 taken over delivery of sporting services previously provided by another organisation.
Further, of the 19 sporting services provider survey respondents who indicated in their
answer to question 1 that their organisation was a department within the university, two of them (covering EFTSL of 19,394 or 3.2 per cent of the sector) indicated in their answer to question 5 that they had since December 2005 merged with another organisation which provides or used to provide sporting services.
From the above it can be seen that in the case of 20 per cent of the survey respondents
overall (covering EFTSL of 106,100 or 17.4 per cent of the sector) the relevant university department has, since December 2005, either taken over the delivery of all sporting services at its university or has increased the range of sporting services that it delivers at the university.
Where universities in their own right deliver sporting services (which as noted above is now roughly half of the sector) the breakdown between those who deliver all of the sporting services and those who deliver only part of the sporting services is:
- 60.0 per cent deliver all of the sporting services; and
- 40.0 per cent deliver part of the sporting services mix.
There has only been one new and very limited case of outsourcing of sporting services by campus services providers since introduction of VSU.
In the case of the one respondent who indicated they had since December 2005 outsourced part of the sporting services mix the respondent was a university and the service outsourced was the provision of the tennis and squash courts at one of the many campuses operated by the university.
In Table 6.2 below the universities that now provide in their own right part or all of the sporting services on their campuses are listed – along with their responses to various of the questions in the sport survey and along with other details such as legal entity status.188
Extent to which universities are now offering student union services in their own right
In the union survey organisations were asked in question 1, “Is your organisation a department within the university (that is, not a separate legal entity from the university)?”
- 15.4% of respondents answered YES
- 84.6% of respondents answered NO
- EFTSL covered by answers 363,973 (60% of sector)
In the union survey organisations were asked in question 5, “Since December 2005, has your organisation merged with another organisation which provides or used to provide services typical of student unions?”
- 15.4% of respondents answered YES
- 84.6% of respondents answered NO
- EFTSL covered by answers 363,973 (60% of sector)
Table 6.2
Universities Delivering Some or All of the Sporting Services in Their Own Right in 2007
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In the union survey organisations were asked in question 6, “Since December 2005, has your organisation taken over delivery of services typical of student unions previously provided by another organisation?”
- 26.9% of respondents answered YES
- 73.1% of respondents answered NO
- EFTSL covered by answers 363,973 (60% of sector)
In the union survey organisations were asked in question 7, “Since December 2005, has another organisation taken over delivery of some of the services typical of student unions previously provided by your organisation?”
- 23.1% of respondents answered YES
- 76.9% of respondents answered NO
- EFTSL covered by answers 363,973 (60% of sector)
Based upon the above survey responses and the in-depth interviews it is considered that more than one third of the campus services sector has been subject post-VSU to major changes in terms of which organisation delivers which campus services.
An increased number of services are now delivered directly by universities or by wholly owned subsidiaries of universities or by other incorporated entities controlled by universities.
Private sector activity
Post-VSU there has been an increase in the number of campus services activities which have been outsourced to private sector firms. This has particularly applied to services such as operation of refectories and cafes.
The take up of delivery of campus services by private sector firms has not been uniform across the sector. Notwithstanding government support via grants it remains the case that it is relatively more difficult to attract private sector operators to the regional campuses than it is to attract private sector operators to the major city campuses.
For more details in this area refer to the in-depth interview write-ups provided in Chapter 11.
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