Eleanor Mitchell

I think unquestionably one of the biggest highlights is the people at Navitas. It doesn’t matter who I’ve had contact with at Navitas, there is a huge commitment from all of the individuals that come through. 

When and how did your university come to partner with Navitas? 

I think one of the really exciting things in the past two years is that Charles Sturt University has formed a new partnership with Navitas. The University has an International Strategy 2030, which encapsulates a priority to look at educational delivery in metro campuses in Australia. Navitas participated in the formal tender process in the second half of 2022 and was selected as the preferred third-party provider for Charles Sturt University to partner with Navitas. So, it’s been a really exciting past few years in terms of establishing that relationship between Charles Sturt University and Navitas. 

On a personal level, I was very fortunate to lead the marketing and recruitment work stream to be able to launch this new partnership for, initially our first campus in Sydney, and as recently announced, our upcoming campus in Melbourne as well with Navitas. 

What has been a highlight of your time with Navitas?  

One of the greatest highlights of our partnership with Navitas is unquestionably our first intake at our brand-new Sydney campus. Our Sydney campus in partnership with Navitas is located in North Sydney, right in the vibrant heart of North Sydney, and welcoming the international students and domestic students onto campus in February of this year, 2024, was absolutely thrilling. We had a grand opening for the campus hosted by our Vice Chancellor, Professor Renée Leon, and Group CEO Scott Jones, and had some international students present there at that grand opening. And to hear their stories of their journeys, both the students were Bangladeshi…their journeys from their homes to be able to study with us at Charles Sturt University Sydney really brought together the work that’s gone in over the past really 18 months to bring the campus to fruition and for all of us to look forward to the many more future intakes that we’ll have together. 

On a fun note, a huge highlight for me in launching this new partnership with Navitas was in September 2023. I had the opportunity of traveling across South Asia with Tony Cullen and Jo Anthonysz to launch the partnership between Charles Sturt University and Navitas, and really announced to the fantastic extended education agent network that Navitas has about the new partnership and about the Sydney campus. That was really thrilling to be able to, on behalf of the university and in partnership with senior executives at Navitas, expand the Navitas global network by having this partnership at Charles Sturt University. 

And also, I think for anyone who know Tony or Jo, fantastic individuals who have such a breadth of international education experience, not just in Australia but globally. 

How has partnering with Navitas made an impact on the university?  

So, for Charles Sturt University, one of the biggest impacts of partnering with Navitas is to be able to deliver against a key pillar of our international strategy 2030. We want to be able to expand educational delivery beyond our regional footprint across NSW. And so by partnering with Navitas, we’ve been able to really make positive strides towards this key deliverable of the international strategy. Navitas has brought a wealth of experience to us in terms of their capabilities in educational delivery. And so for us, this is a key strategic deliverable that we will be hoping to see continue to grow over the course of the next for six years and certainly have the foundation strongly in place to be able to do so. 

I think the other component beyond just our metro campuses though is really the component of being able to internationalise the university. The benefits that come from having a broadened educational delivery both in Australia as well as transnationally and across a range of locations is something that internationalises us as an institution extremely effectively. This means expanding the Charles Sturt University brand as well. And this is where Navitas is such a strong partner for us. Their global recruitment network that spans the globe takes the Charles Sturt University brand globally in a way that we may not necessarily be able to as effectively on our own. 

What key achievements come to mind during the partnership with Navitas?  

I think unquestionably one of the biggest highlights is the people at Navitas. It doesn’t matter who I’ve had contact with at Navitas, there is a huge commitment from all of the individuals that come through. So, whether it’s an urgent matter that needs to be resolved and I need to pick up the phone or send a WhatsApp message at some odd time of the day, there is immediate engagement and support for that. Or, whether it’s a really strategic planning session with staff from all levels of the organisations, both at Charles Sturt and at Navitas, it’s that commitment to really looking at delivering the best outcomes possible both for the university as well as for Navitas. And so I think it’s those people that come through as a huge highlight because that’s what’s really embodied bringing this partnership to a very successful start in a really short period of time. 

So, that’s something I think has been a really big highlight in terms of working with Navitas, really strong relationships, rapport, trust and support that have enthused the working relationships between staff both at the university and at Navitas. It’s those very much supportive, reciprocal relationships that have been a big highlight. 

What would you say to a university considering partnering with Navitas?  

So, if you’re a university considering partnering with Navitas, I think the most important component is what won’t come through in the formal tender process. And you might say, what do you mean? Of course we’re going to have a really, you know, formalised process with lots of metrics in there. 

Absolutely, you should have that and every university will. But what comes through in a formal tender process is all of the risk management, all of the quality assurance, the compliance, the financial metrics, the load projections, the capabilities of the potential third party that you’re considering. And these are really important components and absolutely do need to be measured and considered for your university. 

But what is the biggest thing that we have, as a university, seen are the people at Navitas. There will be their CVs that come through. You will have them on a cap statement in terms of, who Navitas has in their senior leadership and, what sort of experience do they have from staff in a certain location for delivering what your university might be looking at partnering with Navitas with. But what’s hard to convey on a piece of paper, on a CV, in a formal tender process, is the passion and commitment that lies behind those individuals. That is extremely hard to measure in a formal tender process. That doesn’t convey the passion and commitment that you will receive from the Navitas staff. And I mean the people from operational individuals right through to senior managers, all the way up to the senior executive at Navitas. 

And so I think that’s the thing that just to keep in mind when you’re looking at Navitas as a potential partner that that really shines through as one of their strongest suits and I think is something that needs to have more weighting. It’s a bit hard to put a weighting on that in a formal tender process.

But, without question, it’s the people. And that’s something that will take your partnership forward in an extremely strong capacity for many years.