Tania Broadley talks with Paul Gough

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[Tania Broadley]

Hi, I'm Tania Broadley. I'm Deputy Pro Vice-Chancellor Learning and Teaching. And today, I'm here with Professor Paul Gough, our PVC of DSC. And I'm going to have some words with Paul about his time at our College and at RMIT, and in Australia. And look forward to sharing some of that with you.

So, Paul, six years here at our wonderful RMIT. And in our College. And what I'd really like to know from you today is, what have some of the highlights been?

[Paul Gough]

Highlights? Many, many highlights. But if you go back to when I started in 2014, extraordinary shape the College was in then. I mean, it's a big organisation. Big, complicated College. 26,000 students. Although, 24,000 students then. So, it's actually bigger than Swinburne University. And when I first came, I could see this enormous project that we had ahead of us. And, I guess, we did four or five things then. And I look back now and these were real highlights. One was the Portfolio of Programs. And we did a huge amount of work on that, culminating recently in the Academic Discipline Strategy. We did a big review of our research. All the research centres and started to consolidate those, so they are aligned with the capability platforms. We did a lot of work around master planning. Because when I arrived, we had over 50 buildings. So, we did a lot of work to think how best to deploy those buildings, the equipment, the machinery we had, and all the kind of state to best advantage.

So, those are three of the big projects we did. And then, when I think of other highlights, I think of creating the Vocational Education School, which was embedded, as you know, right the way across all of the College. And so, those were some of the big projects. Portfolio, place, people and programs.

[Tania]

So, thinking about, as I take over from you in this interim PVC role, what other things do you think we've got to look forward to as a College?

[Paul]

Oh, a huge amount. And when I think of the leadership team that I inherited, terrific set of leaders. But I sense that we needed to look after those who weren't just the Deans, the Directors, the Deputies. But all of those Associate Deans. All of the program managers. All of the school managers and the technical leaders that really need masses of support. And they need to know that we, the exec level, stand right behind them. Work with them, want the best from them. And play into their strengths. Play to what wonders they do with our students and the staff and all the stakeholders.

So, it's a people business. And, I think, part of our job is to make sure we are as open as possible, as available to staff as possible. And out there, living the world that they are in, but also being able to pull back and say, look, we're not, as leaders, able to look over the horizon, to make the big decisions that sometimes can't be very difficult decisions. We're not doing that, then no one else is doing it. So, we are both to keep an eye on the detail down here, but also up there. And that requires a kind of dual lens. But you'll be fantastic at that.

[Tania]

Well, that sort of leads into my next question. You've touched on a few points. But any other tips for me to consider? Apart from wearing colourful socks.

[Paul]

The colourful socks are good. Because DSC is an extraordinary creative environment. Whether it's across the Social Sciences, whether across all the Design subjects or-- you know, you think of what we do brilliantly well. And, I think, the work we did around partnerships, there was a Partnership College, means that we are out there. We're not just saying, internal struggles, internal work matters. Because it does, to a degree. But a part of what we do so well as a College, and we see this through our QS rankings, through our global impact, through our HDR students, through our WIL work, through our social mobility and student mobility. We've got the ability as a College to reach out, to make a difference all over the world. And, I think, that's where a College like DSC, remember, isn't just an urban-- a Melbourne-based environment. But some of the great projects we have worked on-- and I think of Hanoi where I was recently, or in Saigon, what we're doing in Hong Kong or all of the global networks, that's I think where DSC is at its best. Pushing out the great stories, the quality that we have embedded in our staff and students.

[Tania]

Any other last tips or things to thank the College for?

[Paul]

Oh, I thank the College for everything they've done. The opportunities are given to all of us, really. Not just to me, but to all of us to have a privilege. Last night, for instance, I went to see a VE show in building 94, the Visual Studies. I went along to the School of Art opening. Last week I was at a journalism event, across its translating and interpreting event not long ago. So, we have a privilege to see what our students and staff are doing and never, ever miss those privileges. To connect with the staff, connect with the students, see what they are doing and sell the story. Because, I think, promoting quality, promoting our signature pedagogy, which is Industry Partners Learning and Work Integrated Learning. I think, those are the powerful messages.

And if I think of one other, and I think of Brunswick and the Reconciliation Action work they've done across there through a physical embodiment in that Dye Garden and in the story of the crow. I just think that's where the narratives, the stories, which are after all what people really feel compelled by, is what DSC does so well.

[Tania]

So, Professor Paul Gough, thank you very much for your time at RMIT. On behalf of the College and the University, we wish you well as you go on your travels back to the UK.

[Paul]

Thank you, Tania. I wish I could take the weather with me. It's been such a great journey, I've enjoyed every minute of it, and I wish the College all the very, very best. Thank you so much for looking after me for six years, and I will watch with great interest.

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