Selling university reform: the University of Melbourne and the press

Abstract

Since the advent of the Times Higher Education Supplement World University Rankings and the Academic Rankings of World Universities by Shanghai Jiao Tong University, some Australian universities have become especially concerned with being ranked among the 100 leading universities. The University of Melbourne, Australia’s second oldest university, is one such. As part of an agenda to remain one of the world’s leading universities, this university instigated major curricular reforms to align its degree structure with that espoused by the Bologna Agreement and consistent with those at North American universities. Aware that successful implementation of such a large-scale reform depended on its acceptance by internal and external communities, the University conducted an extensive press campaign promoting the reforms. This article explores the press reporting of this campaign over a two and a half year period, as the University of Melbourne sought to gain public support and acceptance of the Melbourne Model.