STEPS - Library - Central Queensland University

The vision
Part One: The history of STEPS
Dr Arthur Appleton, who was the Director of the Capricornia Institute of
Advanced Education, had a vision to increase the chances of adults wishing
to enter tertiary education. He elaborated on his vision to Greg Harper, who
had conducted some research on adult students and had found that they did
better than their direct entry counterparts. 1 Dr Appleton thought the solution
might be to offer more community-based courses aimed at up-skilling
adults in the community who were currently ineligible for tertiary
education. 2
Dr Appleton assigned Greg Harper the task of working out how the
Institute could practically offer continuing education courses. At the time,
Greg Harper was working under Dr John Dekkers who was the Head of the
Division of External and Continuing Education (DECE). They both initially
responded to Dr Appleton’s vision by providing short external courses for
trained nurses. Although the money derived from this service became the
Division’s bread and butter, the courses were short lived. 3
While Greg Harper and Dr Dekkers were devising strategies to offer
continuing education locally, the Federal Government was revisiting its
education policies, particularly those focussing on university education and
equity. Evidence collected by the government showed that specific clusters
of people were under-represented in university student enrolments.
Consequently, in 1985, the Higher Education Equity Program was
introduced. This program allocated funds to appropriate institutions to
establish bridging programs aimed at increasing the proportion of certain
groups in tertiary education. These groups included: Aborigines, migrants,
women, and people from low socio-economic backgrounds and isolated
areas. 4
Finding that the government was issuing grants to bridge the gap between
these groups and tertiary education, Greg Harper enlisted Gene Dayton to
help him write a convincing application. 5 The hours spent perfecting the
submission were recognised by the government, and the Institute was
awarded a $30,000 grant to fund a tertiary bridging program that would
comply with the rules and objectives set out by the Higher Education
Equity Program. 6
3