Conservatism discards Prescription, shrinks from Principles, disavows Progress, having rejected all respect for antiquity, it offers no redress for the present, and makes no preparation for the future." - Benjamin Disraeli
The VCAH as it became universally known was formed in 1983 and was incorporated as a company limited by guarantee in 1991. It provided a coordinated framework for the five colleges of Burnley, Dookie, Gilbert Chandler, Glenormiston and Longerenong, and the McMillan Rural Studies Centre to form a single institution. Separation from the Department of Agriculture had been a dream for decades and in becoming a reality created an innovative and flexible institution which enlivened Victorian agriculture and related education, creating real competition with the two university providers. With its subsumation into the University of Melbourne in 1997, fourteen years of determination can be seen to have yielded true dividends. In a hostile period, VCAH has proven an essential component to the preservation of practically oriented education for the primary industries sector. A thorn in the side of other institutions, it provided the reminder of the need for relevance and the strength of industry as a partner. Such resilience should not have surprised the universities or the Department of Agriculture, for it was an institution conceived in conflict and born strong after a difficult birth.
To understand the origin and importance of the Victorian College of Agriculture and Horticulture, it is essential to understand where it came from and how it came into being.
The agricultural colleges in Victoria were never independent entities. In the early days, a Council of Agricultural Education governed Dookie and Longerenong, and operating costs were funded not by an appropriation from government, but by monies gained from the leasing of Crown Land. An annually negotiated grant from government was provided for capital works. The colleges came closely under the control of the Minister of Agriculture, who had to see and sign all Council Meeting minutes, and who ultimately controlled funding. The Minister could take exception to decisions of Council and change them if he felt so inclined. The colleges were caught up in a bureaucratic web, with decision-making often far removed from the college lands. College Principals could not sell livestock without Council approval, and Council was Melbourne-based. This situation continued until 1945, at which time the government of the day decided that Dookie and Longerenong should join Burnley and Gilbert Chandler in the Department of Agriculture, and that the control of and revenue from Crown Lands should be removed to the Department of Crown Lands and Survey. Council considered these decisions, and conveyed its position that whilst they were prepared for the Crown Lands to be taken back, they would like to remain in control of the colleges.
The Minister stuck to his guns, supported by the Principal of Dookie, G.B. Woodgate. The colleges were then placed in the Division of Agricultural Education within the Department of Agriculture. Now all funds came from a government appropriation to the Department, within which the Director decided upon allocations between Divisions. This public service model was to continue to dog the agricultural colleges for decades to come.
No academic structures were ever established in the Division of Agricultural Education. Approval of any courses, buildings or finance required the approval of the Chief of Division, the Director of the Department, and frequently the Minister. At last the colleges had a livestock trading account and a small student amenities account, but no farm account. All monies raised outside these accounts were returned to Consolidated Revenue, providing no incentive for innovation or initiative.
In the 1960s and early 1970s, the Commonwealth Government made money available to Advanced Education. The Agricultural Colleges were out of the mainstream of education, but had by that time established a Year 11 (Leaving) entry level. After some negotiation Commonwealth funds were made available for the last two years of the three-year courses, but not for capital works. Very shortly, in all other States agricultural courses at the tertiary level became fully Advanced Education funded, and became competitive employers of academic staff. In Victoria, the public service structure and the lesser level of Commonwealth funding made it difficult to attract staff, and to retain staff of high quality in an inflexible system.
The VCAH traces its origins to the mid 1970s. The Advisory Committees at Dookie, Longerenong and Burnley in 1974 put to State Cabinet a proposal that their courses should become fully Advanced Education courses. Cabinet rejected the proposal. Early in the same year the Department of Agriculture convened a meeting of senior officers, the Principals and Chief of the Division of Agricultural Education Tom Kneen to develop a 'Proposed Future Role of the State Agricultural and Horticultural Colleges'. Peter Hyland, the Assistant Director of the Department who was responsible for agricultural education, chaired the meeting. It made two major recommendations: that the courses be re-designed and that a State-wide council be established to advise the Minister on the state of agricultural education, its administration, effectiveness, and how and why it should be modified.
The Minister, Ian Smith, acted quickly on the recommendation for a State-wide Advisory Council. In 1975 he introduced an amended Agricultural Colleges Act which established the Victorian Advisory Council on Agricultural Education which met for the first time in late 1976.
The Council included representatives from the Graziers' Association, the Victorian Farmers' Union, the Victorian Dairy Farmers' Association, the Young Farmer Movement, the Fruit and Vegetable Growers' Association, the Departments of Labour and Industry, Education, Agriculture and the University. Stewart McArthur (a Western District grazier and Liberal Party member, later MHR, and a member of the Glenormiston Advisory Committee), chaired the Council, and its breadth of representation ensured that its views would be widely respected. The provision of a full time secretary meant it would ensure continuity between meetings. The Act defined that the Chief of the Division of Agricultural Education was to be the Executive Officer of the Council, a crucial clause in view of later events. Tom Kneen was Executive Officer from 1976 to 1978, Bob Luff from 1978 to 1983. Council created a number of sub-committees, one of which was instructed to 'investigate the role of the agricultural colleges and report on its findings'. In June 1978 this committee reported that:
As Council discussed implementation of such a scheme it became clear that funding and expenditure control would be key elements of the envisaged multi-campus institute. Ideally the funds would be Federal and the ability to spend them would be untrammelled by Ministerial or Departmental regulation. That is, maximum flexibility to meet changes in the dynamic field of education was required. The opportunity for such funding arose under the Whitlam Government's agglomeration of the Technical and Further Education (TAFE) sector. Council initially recommended that control of its proposed institute remain under the Minister of Agriculture, but called for re-assessment if and when TAFE sponsorship became feasible. It was becoming clear to Council that its envisaged institute would have to come closer to the recognised State body responsible for post-secondary education, the Victorian Post-Secondary Education Commission. Graham Allen, who was to play an important part in later developments, chaired the Commission.
By this time, the colleges were receiving some Federal funds through the Commonwealth Tertiary Education Commission (CTEC). Technical colleges, however, were receiving considerable Federal funding as components of TAFE. The agricultural colleges again had difficulties in gaining access to these funds, which flowed through the Ministry of Education, not Agriculture.
Notified that Council's investigations were beginning to take shape, Ian Smith sought a formal report on what Council proposed and its firm recommendations on strategy. Council obliged in mid-1978 with a firm proposal for an independent Victorian Institute of Agricultural and Horticultural Education run by a Council (an interesting parallel with 1885- refer to Chapter 2) with the minister represented by his Director General. The proposal was principally the work of Max Hopper, Director of the Gippsland Institute of Advanced Education, a person with a wide knowledge of tertiary education, its administration and funding. The proposed legislation aimed to preserve the institute's close working relationship with the Department of Agriculture while allowing it to relate to the Victorian Post Secondary Education Commission in the same way as other independent post secondary institutions. Under its Act, VPSEC covered all tertiary education institutions in Victoria and therefore all Colleges of Advanced Education (CAEs). VPSEC controlled universities for course approval and funding, but the universities were able to accredit their own courses once approved, an arrangement which did not apply to the Colleges of Advanced Education. To accredit their courses, VPSEC established the Victorian Post-Secondary Education Accreditation Board, which for a time dealt with both CAE and TAFE programs. Later, the State TAFE Board was set up to manage TAFE.
The proposed institute would be granted the power to 'allow it to allocate resources in a responsible manner in order to respond to the changing needs for agricultural education'. That is, by putting itself under VPSEC it would gain the funds and freedoms accorded to an advanced education college and at the same time be freed of the red tape and procedures imposed by the Public Service Board. The Minister indicated agreement in principle with the proposals and advised Council to discuss the matter with VPSEC, whose co-operation would be required not only to establish its educational credentials and career paths for lecturers but also to win full Commonwealth funding.
Despite considerable lobbying and fine tuning of the proposals to suit requirements, VPSEC found itself unable to assure Council that the Commonwealth would accept full responsibility for funding. Although the Minister had indicated his commitment to the idea of an independent Council, VPSEC's inability to guarantee sponsorship threw him back on his own Department. After consultation with Treasury and the Public Service Board he informed Council he believed that problems within the existing College system could be solved whilst the colleges remained under Department of Agriculture administration. A closing remark in the Minister's letter gave Council hope. It said: 'In the event of satisfactory arrangement not being obtained, then I plan to proceed with your committee's recommendations'.
A Cabinet re-shuffle in February 1981 found Council introducing a new Minister, Tom Austin, to its special world. The Department of Agriculture for various reasons did not want to relinguish control of the Colleges and attempted to pursuade the new Minister against it. Fortunately, Council Chairman McArthur was a personal friend of the Minister. Meanwhile Tom Kneen had retired as Chief of Division of Agricultural Education (1978) and been replaced by Bob Luff, a former senior lecturer at Longerenong under Kneen and McMillan and later founding Principal at Glenormiston Agricultural College in 1970. Glenormiston's proximity to the farms of Stewart McArthur and former Minister, Ian Smith, meant both these men knew Luff and thus further lines of communication were opened by Luff as the new Chief of Division. It will be remembered that as well as being Chief of the Division of Agricultural Education, Luff was also Executive Officer to Council under the 1975 Act. These roles increasingly conflicted as the views on the future of the college held by the Council and the Department diverged.
During the above period of committees, recommendations and promotions, the Colleges continued to function under the existing system, growing increasingly restive about restricted funding, lack of decision-making power and the dead hand of the Public Service Board on the promotion and classification of College staff. Around this time, the situation became somewhat more complex as the Gilbert Chandler College and the Garden Advisory Service were brought into the Division of Agricultural Education. Frustration within both Council and the Colleges led to a meeting between McArthur and the College Principals and executive staffs in May 1981. This meeting discussed and delineated the difficulties under which the Colleges functioned and the results were conveyed direct to the Minister.
In August 1981 the newly-formed TAFE Board, of which McArthur was a member, notified Council, of which McArthur was Chairman, that it would support a re-drafted institute proposal. The news was conveyed to the Minister, who expressed surprise, saying he thought the institute proposal was 'dead'. The following month the VPSEC accepted the revised proposal and sent letters of confirmation to Ministers of Agriculture, and Education, Employment and Training. Intense lobbying by Council's component groups continued, with the Press being used adroitly by both sides. In particular, Jim Saunders, President of the United Dairyfarmers of Victoria, and an executive member of the Victorian Farmers Federation, was an outstanding proponent of change. He went on to become the first President of Council, and was followed in that role by Peter Wood, who had also lobbied strongly for change on behalf of the horticultural industry. The Department, however, was now openly campaigning against the proposed changes.
The debate over the formation of what was to become VCAH went for eight pages in Hansard. By early 1982 the Department of Agriculture raised objections based on the difficulties of partitioning functions of a proposed institute from itself, and threatened to withdraw Departmental cooperation in conducting short courses with any proposed institute.
In March 1982, Council Chairman McArthur wrote to the Minister pointing out that in the 30 months since the firm proposal for an institute was first put to his predecessor, support had been expressed by the TAFE Board, VPSEC, the Minister for Education, all College Principals, the Victorian Farmers' and Graziers Association Education Committee, and several other bodies. A further fillip was the Opposition leader John Cain's notification that he had included the institute proposals in his election platform.
Three days later, on March 19 1982, the Minister opened the McMillan Centre for Rural Studies at Warragul. After some introductory remarks on the difficulties of administering the State's agricultural education system he said:
'You will be aware of the discussions on proposals for changing the administration of the Agricultural Colleges. The issue is a very complex one. There is a strong desire to free colleges from the restraints imposed by the Public Service Board and the State Treasury.
Some people consider than an independent college will fit in better with a system of independent regional colleges of technical and further education and advanced education. However, others see this as possibly more costly and more able to wander away from the purpose... of serving farmers.
...the Government believes that there is some logic in the advanced education and middle-level certificate areas of TAFE conducted by the Agricultural Colleges coming under the administration of the TAFE Board and VPSEC.
However, as these systems are the responsibility of the Minister for Education, the same logic seems to suggest that the new organisation should be responsible to the Minister for Education rather than the Minister for Agriculture. I will be discussing this with my colleague, the Minister for Education.'
He continued: 'There will be an institute. I will set up a consultative council to advise upon the details.' The die was cast.
By March 30, 1982, the Minister had named the members of this consultative committee which was to define the relationship between the Department of Agriculture and the new Institute, which Cabinet had agreed should be responsible to the Minister of Education, not the Minister of Agriculture. The consultative committee was chaired by the Director General of Agriculture, Dr David Smith - a previously strong opponent of the Institute proposal. The Minister directed the Committee to report by May 30.
In the interim, John Cain, whose father's demise as Premier had marked a new deal for Dookie in 1955, became Premier and the new system was created. The new Minister for Agriculture was Eric Kent, an East Gippsland farmer with family roots which went back some 120 years to the Wimmera.
The Minister of Agriculture was Robert Fordham. He set up a Working Party to establish the VCAH, now decided upon as the Institute's name. The Working Party comprised the Chairman of VPSEC, Graham Allen, the Chairman of the Victorian Advisory Committee on Agricultural Education, Stewart McArthur, the Assistant Director of the Department of Agriculture, Peter Hyland, with Luff as Executive Officer. The Working Party quickly went into action and had all the details of the establishment of the new College agreed upon by October 1982.
Development of the VCAHThe Victorian College of Agriculture and Horticulture was a multi-sector, multi-campus post-secondary education institution for agriculture, horticulture and dairy technology. The College became operational on 8 March 1983 under the Victorian College of Agriculture and Horticulture Act, 1982. This provided for a coordinated framework for the six existing colleges of agriculture, horticulture and dairy technology which were originally part of the Department of Agriculture. At this time the College was incorporated by the Victorian Post-Secondary Education Commission under the Post-Secondary Education Act, 1978. The College was managed and controlled by a Council set up as a body corporate by order-in-council pursuant to the Post Secondary Education Act, 1978. In December 1989 the Council approved the Heads of Agreement between VCAH and the University of Melbourne to effect closer cooperation and association. In September 1991, in anticipation of the affiliation with the University of Melbourne, the College was incorporated under Corporations Law as a company limited by guarantee known as The Victorian College of Agriculture and Horticulture Limited. In July 1992, after a long period of negotiations, the College was formally affiliated with The University of Melbourne. The objectives and operating rules of the College were laid out in the Memorandum and Articles of Association which provided for the establishment of a Council of thirteen Directors who were appointed or elected and were responsible for the business affairs and property of the College. |
The institute was formally created by the Victorian College of Agriculture and Horticulture Act of December 1982. The Act was proclaimed on March 8, 1983. The VCAH as was known, comprised Dookie and Longerenong Agricultural Colleges, Burnley Horticulture College, Glenormiston Agricultural College, the Gilbert Chandler College of Dairy Technology, and the McMillan Rural Studies Centre, together with the Head Office of the Division of Agricultural Education. The Garden Advisory Service, a relatively recent addition to the Division, was excised and stayed with the Department.
The new Act abolished the old Act and thus the advisory Council chaired by McArthur which had laboured so long and hard to bring VCAH into being. It placed VCAH under the control of the Minister of Education and established a governing Council to run it. The new 21-member Council was widely representative of the industries and communities served by VCAH. The VCAH Council became a corporate body with financial responsibility for its own administration. Each component of VCAH was called a campus. Luff became the foundation Director, and all College Principals became Heads of Campus but retained the title 'Principal'.
When the VCAH entered the mainstream of education, it did it wholeheartedly. For the first time, the administration of the College was established along the lines of educational institutions rather than public service institutions. Managers of Educational Services, Administrative Services and Finance were appointed; management of the College was to be based on these functions.
The most important development was the establishment of an Academic Board. This gave explicit recognition to the fact that education was the paramount activity of the VCAH, and was the central force for coordination and improvement. The Academic Board was represented on the College Council, and on key Committees of Council. It ensured that all courses were reviewed and accredited through the appropriate bodies - initially the VPSEAB, later the TAFE Board and the University. Academic programs were modified to provide greater flexibility, and overseas expertise was brought in to advise on direction. Bill Simpson and Tony Harris from the UK and Howard Brown and Joe Sabol from the USA helped to raise the quality of provision. Meg Probyn, first as Academic Registrar and later as Assistant Director, played a crucial role in all the academic administration of the College, codifying and documenting developments and negotiating change within the VCAH and with the accrediting bodies. She played a major role in the development of a generic degree structure, which permitted better use of college resources between campuses, provided greater flexibility for students, and eased negotiations on course structures with the University. John Hoffmann undertook the major task of helping to bring the College's TAFE activities into the mainstream of that sector, and helped to achieve the VCAH's lead role in TAFE in the management of curriculum in agricultural and horticultural courses.
The VCAH continued to make good use of industry representation on its course advisory committees, which reported directly to Council and could therefore strongly influence the direction of change. All courses had these committees, which by VCAH legislation must have majority external membership.
On the financial front, Nigel Wood finally achieved what had been thought to be impossible by gaining full Commonwealth funding for the Higher Education programs of the College. Later he was able to negotiate major funding totalling more than $1 million from Commonwealth and University sources to establish video-conferencing resources at all campuses and in the Office of Director. The VCAH Foundation provided a focus to help gain philanthropic funding, and VCAH Services Ltd, the College company, provided the opportunity to venture into areas which would otherwise have been risky.
There is some irony in the fact that just before the Federal Minister for Education, Employment and Training, John Dawkins, began his pressure for amalgamations it appeared that the VCAH as a multi-level provider had at last found a home in the education system. CTEC had recognised cross-sectoral Institutes of Tertiary Education and the VCAH fitted the model well. As soon as Dawkins' guidelines were made known, it became clear that the College would need to seek a partner - but who should it be? The prospective partner would need to provide not only recognition of the College's courses, but also to permit a separate TAFE administration since the TAFE Board would not agree to their programs being directly administered by a Higher Education institution.
Luff advised Council that a consultant should be employed - and who better than Graham Allen, who had already played a key role in the development of the VCAH and understood its situation. Allen interviewed the Vice-Chancellors of all the Victorian Universities and reported that the company structure proposed by the University of Melbourne retained the key aspects of the College's activities. Council agreed with Allen's recommendation and moved to develop a Heads of Agreement with the University. After lengthy and sometimes difficult negotiation between the VCAH, the University and the Government, Minister Haddon Storey led through legislation the University of Melbourne (VCAH) Act, which brought about affiliation and established VCAH Ltd with its own Board (entitled the College Council).
As we have seen, the agricultural colleges were to a large extent shackled by public service structures and mentality before the formation of the VCAH. In the move to the new Faculty of Agriculture, Forestry and Horticulture, it should be remembered that the new College brought agricultural education from a fragmented collection of courses to a structure and to quality control mechanisms which matched those of the established educational institutions. The University commissioned reports by Jubb, by Caro and by Greenland, all of which found a good deal of merit in the College's courses and educational and financial management, and all of which encouraged the University to believe that through amalgamation it was acquiring an asset of value. That is one of the reasons why we are so confident of the future of this exciting new Institute of Melbourne School of Land and Environment.
