by: Dianne van Eck

This is it – the end of 2025 is looming very fast! Hello everyone, I hope you are well.

We have had lots of activity at DVE since my last update to you. From communicating best practice via our webinars to managing critical projects for our clients, to engagement across the sector on how to improve work, processes, roles and systems, the DVE team has been fully engaged and enjoying every moment of our work.

There have been quite a few discussions and media about the challenges the Higher Education sector has been facing during 2025, with commentary about change and uncertainty. Amid all that, I was keen to seek out some of the positive stories because many institutions are undertaking great work. Below are a few examples:

• Flinders University has developed a new student portal
• The University of the Sunshine Coast (UniSC) has expanded their Clinical Trials facility at Morayfield
• UNSW is building a new campus in Canberra

Expert Council on University Governance in Australian Higher Education releases final report and principles.

The Final Report includes Principles, Recommendations, key findings and commentary that will provide a strong basis for strengthening and improving university governance across Australia’s public universities

Prof Kerri Lee Krause summarises the following from the report: (source Linked In)
📍5 priorities for rebuilding trust in universities and their governance (p.27):
i. Leadership and culture ii. Accountability iii. Inclusion and engagement iv. Transparency v. Remuneration of Vice-Chancellors
📍8 principles for strengthening and continuously improving university governance (p.39): i. Accountability ii. Diversity of perspectives iii. Independence iv. Transparency v. Trustworthy vi. Inclusive + responsive vii. Sustainable viii. Responsible
📍At the end of the day: ‘strengthening culture is key to sustainably lifting the governance performance of universities’ (Cilento, p.2).

Many, if not all institutions will need to take heed of this report.

Tertiary Harmonisation

Professor Denise Bradley at UniSA City West Campus, 2003

For further information about the current Federal government program, read the Tertiary Harmonisation Report.

AI and Higher Education

DVE continues to explore ways to utilise AI to improve processes, both internally and for our clients. Despite recent press about some consultancies using AI to deliver findings and reports, DVE is committed to honest and ethical use of AI in all DVE projects.

A new collection of essays,  AI and the Future of Universities  (HEPI Report 193) edited by Dr Giles Carden and Josh Freeman, brings together leading voices from universities, industry and policy. The collection comes at a point when Artificial Intelligence (AI) is projected to have a profound and transformative impact on virtually every sector of society and the economy, driving changes that are both beneficial and challenging. The various pieces look at how AI is reshaping higher education – from strategy, teaching and assessment to research and professional services. (sourced 23 October 2025).

DVE is acutely aware of the dual mandate across the sector: leveraging AI to improve accessibility and student support, whilst safeguarding academic integrity and public trust. DVE works from a compliance-first foundation, aligning with regulatory expectation and institutional policies before introducing AI tools or features. From there, the focus is on responsible, ‘human-in-the-loop’ uses of AI that genuinely support staff and students to enhance their experience.                                 

Adelaide University

It’s almost time! The University of Adelaide and the University of South Australia will formally merge to create Adelaide University at the beginning of 2026. This has been a long and interesting program of work with many stakeholders involved to ensure all activities will transition well into the new university. It may feel somewhat like Y2K for some people!

DVE has worked alongside several teams during the past 18 months to bring together people and processes in a united approach. It has been wonderful to see the goodwill of so many staff from across both universities working hard to make this change as seamless as possible. Good luck to you all and see you in 2026!

Placements/WIL Communities of Practice (CoP)

Our 3^rd Community of Practice (CoP) was held in September. Managing Consultant Larissa Pearce faciliated discussion about placement/WIL activities across the sector.

Co-designed by users from multiple universities over the past 15 years, P+ adds high quality value to placement management. P+ is a flexible, purpose-built solution with the user in mind, that supports placement needs across rural, remote, and urban settings. It is highly adaptable and would be well suited to Business, Law, Engineering, Social Work, Psychology, Education, Health and other disciplines.

This quarter also brought exciting news for Placements Plus – Jo was awarded a State South Australian Government $60,000 Fearless Innovator Grant for 2025, for her work on developing Placements Plus, recognising her leadership in developing innovative, technology-enabled solutions for the higher education sector. The grant will help further strengthen DVE’s work in advancing placement and WIL systems across Australian universities.

Contact Jo today for further information about Placements Plus. Jo.Schneider@dvesolutions.com.au

The DVE Team continues to grow

DVE has recruited two more experienced consultants to the DVE team.

Chris Bishop, previously Director College Services at the College of Science and Engineering and prior to that the College of Business, Government and Law at Flinders University.

Chris’s experience as a successful and contemporary executive leader at GM/Director and CEO levels with extensive Education, Not-for Profit, Commercial and Government experience. Chris has an MBA, Engineering Degree and an AICD Diploma. His expertise and skills include organisational development and growth, leading large (300+) staff teams, enterprise wide and local change management, business development, contract management and negotiation, government relations and stakeholder management, strategic and business planning, corporate governance and financial management ($40 million+ per annum budgets) and risk management.

Chris has been a DVE Client whilst working in both Colleges and will now sit on the other side of the desk to provide services back to the sector. It will be great working with Chris, particulaly with his deep knowledge of College/Faculty/School operations in HE. If you would like to chat to Chris he can be contacted at chris.bishop@dvesolutions.com.au.

Also joining DVE is Matthew Hodge, technical developer supporting the Digital Transformation team. Matthew, or ‘Hodge’ as he is the second Matthew at DVE, is an experienced Full Stack Developer with a demonstrated history of working in the information technology and consulting industry. Matt is skilled in various technologies with a Bachelor of Computing (BComp) focused in Programming from Monash University. Hodge will work with Matt Brown and the team building and implementing Placements Plus.

It’s exciting seeing the DVE team grow as our solutions continue to be implemented across the sector.

DVE Webinars

During the past several months, DVE has presented a selection of webinars, supported by experts across the sector. The following webinar recordings are now available:

• Shifting Sands: How technology is changing the way students choose a university. A conversation with Rob Malicki.
• What You Need to Know to Register as an Institute of Higher Education in Australia
• From Policy to Practice: Aged Care Compliance in Action Webinar

Follow DVE Solutions on LinkedIn for updates and details on upcoming sessions.

Conferences

• The ATEM 2025 IMPACT Conferencee was held on 7 – 10 September in Canberra with ANU as the ATEM Conference partner. By all accounts it was a great success with many networking and learning opportunities provided.
• The 2025 Heads of Student Administration (HOSA) conference was held in Christchurch, New Zealand in early September, also providing opportunities for networking and sharing of best practice across the leaders of student administration and services.
• DVE is a SILVER sponsor of the NAFEA 2025 Conference: The WIL Effect. Shaping the Future World of Work, held in Geelong, Victoria on 29 – 31 October. CEO, Jo Schneider and Managing Consultant, Larissa Pearce co-presented a workshop with Flinders University Director of Graduate Career Readiness, Nalini Klopp titled ‘Beyond the Checklist: Embedding Risk Visibility, Safety and Wellbeing into Rural WIL Systems’. The workshop leveraged insights from DVE’s 2^nd sector-wide WIL survey which is due to be released any day now. If you would like to receive a copy please email info@dvesolutions.com.au using the subject line ‘Requesting WIL Survey Link’.

Thank you for taking the time to stay connected. If you would like to catch up for an online or in person coffee at any time, please contact me on 0412 417774.

All the very best for the holiday season with family and friends.

Warm regards,

Dianne

Dianne van Eck
Director Higher Education