The role of universities has been evolving over the last 20 years, from a focus on teaching and research towards an enabling, partnership role with industry, government and communities in their proximate geographical spaces. Universities are increasingly linked to place. This paper reports on a case study of a peri‐urban Australian university that has chosen to link its identity with the development of its proximate communities. In doing so, a number of levers of change have been employed, amidst ‘push’ and ‘pull’ factors that have challenged the institutionalisation of change. The strategies employed by university managers have included: industry, government and community participation in university governance; a cooperative education programme; and changes to systems for promotion, performance and recognition. There have been a number of obstacles to change, some of which continue to beset the embedding of a focus on regional and community engagement. Although at a formative stage, this change is already showing promising results. The change levers employed provide some interesting insights for university managers, academic staff and students of organisational change, more generally.