Editorial

Well, 2018 ended as it began, with the annual Mid-Year Economic and Fiscal Outlook (MYEFO) announcement, this time revealing the government will strip $328m in research funding to increase support for regional universities. This sits alongside the continued freeze on government funding for undergraduate places. On the back of this announcement are promises aplenty from political parties ahead of this year’s Australian Federal election. How this will impact on the strategic plans of our institutions will become obvious in the coming months, and no doubt busy work in this area has started already.

It is my great pleasure to introduce to you, via this month’s Institutional Researcher’s Corner interview (p. 9), your new newsletter editor, Dr Lizzie Li. Lizzie is part of the Strategic Planning team within the Planning and Information Office at The University of Auckland, New Zealand. I’ve been fortunate to meet Lizzie at two previous AAIR Forums—Melbourne and Alice Springs—and believe she will bring to the newsletter her enthusiasm for institutional research. Best wishes Lizzie!