From the Vice Chancellor: There’s a new band in town
INSIDE UNISAI’d like to start with a huge “thank you” to all the staff and students who have volunteered their time to support our Open Day events this month – I know we’re all a bit stretched at the moment, so I’m incredibly grateful to everyone who has been out and about, welcoming future students onto our campuses.
As they do each year, our Open Days have displayed the incredible community we have at UniSA, and the great pride we have in our campuses and courses. And while this year’s events may be the final time we do it this way, they have also provided a glimpse of the shape of things to come.
If you happened along to Open Day on our city campuses last weekend, among the bustle of bright-blue-and-white-clad UniSA volunteers, you might have spotted a few people getting around in T-shirts of a deeper blue, bearing the Adelaide University logo. That was a first – and there are very few things that say “this is really real” like seeing someone wearing a T-shirt about it …
And it’s not just T-shirts. Since officially launching our new university on Monday 15 July, we’ve handed out around 6000 Adelaide University-branded lanyards to staff – not to mention more than 3500 Adelaide University-iced biscuits. (Lots of postcards too, although in a digital age, I suspect very few of them will ever make it into the post …)
After what feels like forever “talking about this”, it’s all tangible proof that we’re now “actually doing this”. You can not only hold it in your hand – you can even taste it!
But while the musician in me can’t escape feeling that good merch really matters, there are a lot of other milestones we can point to from the past month that matter more.
We’ve launched the Adelaide University website to the world, including information about our first group of around 200 coursework programs. We’ve established a strong network of international education agents and pathway providers, and we’re now open for international applications.
Transitional Academic Board has approved the Adelaide University Graduate Qualities, along with the first subject areas for our Common Core content, which will provide interdisciplinary learning opportunities available to all Adelaide University students. We’ll be discussing both these elements in detail at our next town hall event on Tuesday 27 August, which will be our first all-staff event since the launch.
Among other things, our Graduate Qualities will guide our curriculum development, which is also now well underway. Earlier this month, educators and academic developers began creating the first new courses for Adelaide University, and between now and December 2027, more than 1500 colleagues will be involved in that process. Staff can learn more about our new curriculum on the Adelaide University intranet, and over the coming months, we’ll be sharing similar updates with students (via social media, of course!).
Momentum is building, and between now and year’s end, many key details about Adelaide University will come to life.
It’s exciting, and, at the same time, a bit scary. But there is something reassuringly symbolic about where and how those first Adelaide University T-shirts appeared – surrounded by a sea of UniSA shirts, or, just down the road, a sea of University of Adelaide shirts. Introduced to the world as part of the community of dedicated staff and students who have made our two existing universities the fantastic institutions they are.
It's hard to think of a better place to start.
Professor David Lloyd
Vice Chancellor and President
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