iMORSE
Services

Five practices, led directly.

Every engagement is led directly by Professor Flitman. Scopes are confirmed in writing before work begins.

01 - Governance

Governance & Academic Boards.

For Councils, Academic Boards, and the Chairs who run them.

What iMORSE does here

Independent review of board and Academic Board effectiveness. Composition, meeting cadence, paper quality, committee structure, and the relationship between Council and Academic Board. Where appropriate, iMORSE takes Chair or Deputy Chair appointments directly.

  • Academic Board and Council effectiveness reviews
  • Committee architecture and terms of reference
  • Chair and Deputy Chair appointments (current and recent)
  • Board paper quality and decision-tracking
  • Governance remediation following external audit findings
Recent work. Chair of the Academic Board at Torrens University. Deputy Chair at ACAP University College. Academic Board positions at LCI Melbourne, CG Spectrum Institute and VIT.
02 - Strategy

Strategy & planning.

Institutional strategy, research strategy, and the choices under the mission statement.

What iMORSE does here

Board-ready strategy and planning advice. The work begins with the data - demand, ranking position, cost base, research concentration - and ends with a small number of defended choices. Options are stated. Trade-offs are named. Recommendations are singular.

  • Institutional strategy and planning cycles
  • Research strategy, concentration and investment
  • International branch-campus and joint-venture strategy
  • Merger, acquisition and partnership due diligence
  • AAT expert-witness testimony on university standards
Recent work. Global Consultancy-led engagement with a Middle Eastern university (2026). Branch-campus and Mandarin-delivery due diligence for Australian universities. Research strategy advice drawing on fifteen years as a DVC and Dean.
03 - Regulation

Regulation & quality assurance.

For providers working with TEQSA, and for international analogues.

What iMORSE does here

Registration, re-registration and Threshold Standards work for Australian public and private providers. Cyclic review, academic integrity frameworks, and the internal audit scaffolding that makes external audits survivable. International equivalents where applicable.

  • TEQSA registration and re-registration support
  • Threshold Standards gap analysis and remediation
  • Cyclic review and self-accreditation frameworks
  • Academic integrity and contract-cheating policy
  • Acting as a TEQSA auditor (independent panel work)
Relevant background. Current TEQSA auditor. Led the first Australian academic unit to ISO 9001 accreditation at Monash. Home Affairs submission on higher education, research and regulation (2021).
04 - Analytics

Analytics & modelling.

Quantitative decision support, delivered by someone who can explain the model to the Chair.

What iMORSE does here

Ranking, demand and risk modelling. Scenario analysis for Council. Performance dashboards built for governance, not for external communications. The underlying methods are disclosed. The assumptions are named. A board member without a quantitative background can follow the argument.

  • Ranking-position modelling and scenario analysis
  • Enrolment demand, retention and completion modelling
  • Financial and operational risk modelling
  • KPI frameworks designed for board review
  • Independent model validation and method review
Relevant background. PhD in Operations Research (Warwick). Fellow of the Operational Research Society and the Australian Computer Society. Chair of the Board of the Analytics Institute of Australia. Earlier career in financial and business modelling at Deloitte and PwC.
05 - Foresight

Foresight & simulation.

For decisions whose consequences arrive slowly - and need to be seen before they are made.

What iMORSE does here

System-dynamics modelling of an organisation as a structure of stocks and feedback loops. A policy change, a regulatory shift, a pricing or capacity decision is tested as a trajectory over time, not a single-year estimate. The model is calibrated to evidence and validated against a known history before it is allowed to look forward. The deliverable is a simulator a board or leadership team can drive and a short narrative of what the behaviour means. Although iMORSE's focus is higher education, this capability applies to any organisation - government, health or commercial. The modelling is currently delivered directly by Professor Flitman.

  • Dynamic modelling of viability, demand and policy impact
  • Validated, drivable simulators - scenarios compared side by side
  • Intervention testing: which lever actually bends the trajectory
  • Board-ready narrative reports - shapes and turning points, not jargon
  • Recalibration of a model to a specific organisation's records
See it work. A complete, validated demonstrator runs live in the browser - a representative provider under Ministerial Direction 115 and the onshore commission ban. Open the demonstrator and reports →

How engagements are structured.

A scope, a fee, a timeline, and a written deliverable. Nothing unusual.

Each engagement is a defined piece of work with a named output. Where continuity matters - a board seat, an ongoing advisory role - it is structured explicitly, not accreted quietly.

  • 01Scoping call. A free conversation to confirm the question, the audience for the output, and whether iMORSE is the right fit.
  • 02Written proposal. Scope, method, fee, timeline, and deliverables. No fine print. If the answer is a board paper, the proposal says that.
  • 03Senior delivery. All substantive work - interviews, analysis, drafting - is done by Professor Flitman.
  • 04Draft and review. Drafts are shared early. Factual corrections welcomed. Conclusions iMORSE stands behind are iMORSE's to defend.
  • 05Final paper. One or two-page executive summary, findings, options, a recommendation, the next step. Confidential.

Where iMORSE is not the right fit.

Three cases, for the record.

If the question fits, a short call will confirm it.

Scoping calls are free. Proposals are written. Decisions can wait until you have read one.

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