The Melbourne Model is a standardised academic degree structure which was introduced at the University of Melbourne in 2008. The Melbourne Model is designed to align itself "with the best of European and Asian practice and North American traditions" specifically for "[i]nternationalising academic programs and aligning degree structures with the 'Bologna model'". As a result of its implementation the university's 96 undergraduate courses were replaced with six undergraduate degrees and professional programs. These were Arts, Science, Environment, Biomedicine, Music, and Commerce. Agriculture was added later, and Environments controversially replaced by Design. The idea was that career-oriented specialisation would occur at postgraduate level, rather than in the broad undergraduate degree itself. The shifting of Medicine and Law to postgraduate level was new in Australia.
The Melbourne Model received criticism from students, academics, unions, and the Australian press with the criticism focused on the loss of jobs (and the consequent negative impact on staff to student ratios) rather than the Model itself. The idea that students needed to take a postgraduate degree to obtain qualifications necessary for employment (e.g. in Law, Education, and Social Policy) was perceived as a way to capture more fee-paying students at postgraduate level.
Job losses were initially concentrated in the Arts Faculty but later spread to other faculties, including the Victorian College of the Arts (VCA or VCAM). Although the program is often compared to the American tertiary education system, it uses only three-year undergraduate degrees whereas in the United States bachelor's degrees are almost universally designed as four-year programs.
Since the consolidation of the Melbourne Model, the university was placed 28th in the world in the Times Higher Education World University Rankings for 2012–2013 and 36th in the world in the QS World University Rankings for 2012–2013. In 2019, the university was 32 in the THE rankings and 38 in the QS. The university was placed 33rd in the 2022 THE rankings and 33rd in the 2023 QS rankings.
Reasoning behind the move to the "Melbourne Model" In their Growing Esteem whitepaper the University of Melbourne put their rationale for the move in this manner:
Criticism
The University of Melbourne introduced the Melbourne Model officially in 2008. By the end of the academic year it was reported that administration had admitted to some subjects being either too broad or too narrow and the need for a reassessment on the Model. A leaked document revealed the University of Melbourne will have spent $11.6 million on marketing for the Melbourne Curriculum by the end of 2008, followed by another $16 million by the end of 2010. The university's "Dream Large" slogan has since been a source of ongoing ridicule by some University of Melbourne students and students have even called for the sacking of Davis as Vice-Chancellor over the curriculum changes. Students initially disrupted the official 2007 launch of the Melbourne Curriculum which has been followed by various demonstrations and student occupations against the Melbourne Model and the university in general. However, data show that since the consolidation of the Melbourne Model, the university has been placed top in Australia and 33rd in the world in the Times Higher Education ranking.
Response
Trade and Student Unions
National Tertiary Education Union accused the university of "PR spin" over the decision to address media over the potential loss to 130 jobs in the Arts Faculty before speaking to staff or the union. The union also criticised Melbourne over their call for voluntary redundancies after the union released results of a survey finding "more than 90% of staff said their workload had increased" since 2007 and the same percentage of respondents "reported having concerns about restructuring or changes to their area..."
National Union of Students Education Officer, Colleen Bolger, stated that staff "are being told they will need to front up at McCarthy-style "trials" to plead the case for their subjects over their colleagues'" criticising the university's Dean of Arts Belinda Probert and the "business mentality of those who run universities", many of whom, she claims, also sit on company boards.
Australian Law Students' Association Vice President (Education), Mitch Riley, conceded the pedagogical benefits of the Melbourne Model but claimed students from low socioeconomic, rural and indigenous backgrounds would not be able to study at Melbourne with the high fees involved.