To be strong and sustainable, regional universities have a key role to play in driving economic growth and jobs in the regions we serve.

At Federation University Australia, we are embarking on transformational change to make Federation the first choice for regional students who want a head start on a successful career and for regional employers wanting graduates primed for the workplace.

In doing so, we must be responsive to the needs of our students and industry partners.

Take the Bachelor of Arts (BA), for example. There's a lot of nostalgia surrounding the traditional BA, but the world is changing, and students are making other choices.

The BA is suffering the effects of the massive fee increase, under the previous Government's Job Ready Graduates package, and ongoing reduction in demand in regional Victoria. We have seen a 67 per cent fall in student numbers in BA programs over the past five years, with no sign of improvement.

Students are voting with their feet and, as a smaller regional university, we cannot afford to ignore the message they are sending. We do not have the luxury of being able to prop up unviable programs, even though we know that many in our communities, including me, have extremely fond memories of completing a BA.

It makes better sense for us to channel our resources into designing programs and courses that will result in successful careers for our students.

So, our focus moving forward will be on supporting degrees that help to drive economic and jobs activity in the regions we serve.

This doesn't mean that people in our communities cannot make the choice to complete a traditional BA. There are lots of other options including online programs for those who cannot travel long distances.

And it doesn't mean that many of the courses offered as part of the BA will not continue at Federation. In fact, most of them will. We will retain over 40 of the courses that were part of the BA program within different programs that are in demand.

They will be embedded into other programs, enhancing our offerings by making them relevant to the needs of students and industry. The skills developed through the courses we retain and reshape for contemporary society will become even more important as all graduates require deep thinking in design, communication, ethics (for example in artificial intelligence), critical thinking and problem solving.

Preparing our students for the future requires collaboration across disciplines, ensuring that learners graduate from Federation with a multidisciplinary education that recognises the rapidly changing world of work.

Despite some claims to the contrary, this decision does not impact performing arts or our vision to move our creative arts activities from Camp Street to a new purpose-built Arts Academy on the SMB Campus.

In coming weeks, Federation will also unveil an Australian first plan to ensure that all our students are work ready once they graduate, no matter what program they chose to complete.

By making changes like this, we will be in a strong position to meet our strategic objectives of transforming lives and enhancing communities.

Professor Duncan Bentley, Vice-Chancellor and President, Federation University Australia