From the Vice Chancellor: Do or do not

INSIDE UNISA

It’s been a big year. Cliché? Yes. True? Also, yes.

We’ve all been part of something historic in 2024. A once-in-a-lifetime type of milestone.

Yes, you guessed it, I’m talking about Adelaide University. Two small words with big impact that, by this point in the year, I understand you might be feeling a touch fatigued by! For all the amazing things that have happened, and will happen regarding the new university, I’m going to put the AU chat aside for a moment.

Instead, I want to reflect on what UniSA has achieved this year. Which, despite being busy launching a ground-breaking new institution, is quite a lot. Some may say we’ve been lucky, but as Obi-Wan Kenobi taught us in A New Hope, “there is no such thing as luck”.

According to Yoda it is a simple matter of “do or do not”.  And ‘do’ has certainly been the theme of this year.

Staying true to our values, we forged ahead with expanding student access to higher education, launching UniStart, a 100% fee-free online pathway program. UniStart will enable university access to a wider cohort of prospective students and set up success through building knowledge of how to study at a university level and developing essential skills such as critical thinking.

This additional pathway will ensure we continue to lead the way as the state’s most diverse university. We proudly have the largest cohorts of Aboriginal, regional, disability, low socio-economic and non-English speaking background students in South Australia.

We also continue to have the largest number of female students completing studies in non-traditional areas, as is the case of our 200,000^th graduate. In April, Emily Wilson graduated with a Bachelor of Psychology (Cognitive Neuroscience), marking this significant milestone for UniSA.

Through diversity and inclusion, we are shaping a better South Australia. The vision of betterment also drives our involvement and contribution to major projects within the state.

September saw the completion of the much anticipated $90m South Australian Sports Institute, which will provide our students with world-class learning opportunities, further expand our research collaborations, and support the development of all types of elite athletes within our state.

We also embarked on our mission to “boldly go” (I promise that’s my last sci-fi reference), with the launch of four new space projects totalling over $18m under the iLAuNCH program. Together with our industry partners, we’re at the forefront of advancing Australia’s space engineering ecosystem, which is an exciting place to be … the final frontier (okay, I really am finished this time!).

Speaking of excitement, very recently we received the news that Professor Leah Bromfield, Director and Chair of Child Protection at UniSA’s Australian Centre for Child Protection, has been named as South Australia’s Australian of the Year. Given that around 60% of Australians have experienced some form of abuse or neglect, Professor Bromfield’s work within the child protection sector is pivotal to breaking the cycle.

However, as is the case in most years, the highs are often bittersweet.

August saw our final ever UniSA specific open day events. We welcomed over 8000 prospective students and their families onto our campuses, delivering an outstanding series of events that were supported by our faithful ‘blue army’ of volunteer staff and students.

Earlier in the year, after almost five and half years at the helm, we farewelled Pauline Carr as Chancellor of UniSA, welcoming the Honourable John Hill into the position. Pauline’s connection to UniSA has continued, however, through her new appointment as Chancellor of the Adelaide University Transition Council.

While I did say earlier that I was going to put the AU conversation to the side for a moment, it would be remiss of me not to speak to it at all. As with anything worth doing, it has been, and continues to be a massive team effort. Bringing a new university to life is no small feat, especially alongside the day-to-day of business as usual. The energy and dedication that each of you bring to work each day is what makes great things happen. It is what has made UniSA, and what I know will also be the making of Adelaide University.

We’ve certainly worked hard this year, and we’ve got another big year ahead. So, to round things out, I’ll leave you with another cliché: the best is yet to come.

Professor David Lloyd
Vice Chancellor and President

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