Staff
Malcolm Baigent
CEO, University Partnerships Australasia - Navitas
Malcolm joined Navitas in 2013 as Campus Director of Edith Cowan College. In 2019 he was promoted to the role of Executive General Manager in the University Partnerships Australasia (UPA) division of Navitas, and in 2023 was appointed CEO of the UPA division.
Before joining Navitas, Malcolm gained extensive experience in the university sector, working across HR, strategy, and international education. He has also served in the Australian armed forces and represented the Australian Government on the Council for International Education.
With strong leadership and people management skills, Malcolm is dedicated to upholding and demonstrating the core values of Navitas.
“Unfortunately I didn’t have the opportunity to go through a Navitas pathway, I went through a mature age college that wasn’t set up to help students in the way that Navitas is, and my experience of first year university was really impacted by not having that support. I would have loved to have come through a Navitas pathway.”
Transcript
My name is Malcolm Baigent, I’ve been at Navitas for 13 years, and my current role is Chief Executive Officer of the University Partnerships Australasia division.
I was in the Army for five years before choosing to come back and study and come into higher education. Unfortunately I didn’t have the opportunity to go through a Navitas pathway, I went through a mature age college that wasn’t set up to help students in the way that Navitas is, and my experience of first year university was really impacted by not having that support. I would have loved to have come through a Navitas pathway.
So the importance of pathway for me, is whether we keep students in education and they get to go on and live their lifelong dreams, rather than losing them from education – and unfortunately, if you don’t get a student into the right program for them, you lose them from education altogether.
What I value most working at Navitas was the reasons that I came into Navitas back in 2013. I’d met Rod Jones on the road as a university partner, Rod was always very clear about the importance of the student, and how we wrap the support around the student. The other key aspects for me is the partnership side – so the importance of partnering with our university partners, and partnering with our agent network. They’ve been the most important aspects – and 13 years later they’re still relevant and as important as always.
It was fantastic to see Rod Jones up on stage celebrating the 30 years and having people around him who’d been on the journey with him from day one. Whether university partners or our agent network, and just seeing the importance of the relationships, which is really the core of our business.