February 25, 2019

Address highlights importance of education to Shoalhaven community

Student success, local innovation in the spotlight at annual business dinner

The relationship between the University of Wollongong and the Shoalhaven community was in the spotlight on Wednesday evening (20 February) during the region’s premier annual business event.

More than 100 business people and community leaders in the fields of health, education, politics, and the arts came together for the Shoalhaven Business Chamber’s 2019 Super Dinner, held at Bundanon Trust. UOW has long been a key sponsor of the event, which celebrates the achievements and economic development of the Shoalhaven.

Damien Israel, UOW’s Chief Finance Officer, delivered the keynote address, which highlighted the connections between the University and the local community.

He said UOW Shoalhaven has been a tremendous force for change in the region, providing young students with the opportunity to reach their potential and also helping to address the needs of the local community.

“Many UOW Shoalhaven students are the first in their family to attend a university,” Mr Israel told the crowd. “One of our recent students is a typical story, having only considered higher education after starting a family and never envisaging themselves with a university degree, commenced a Bachelor of Nursing.

“Having excelled in her studies, despite juggling the demands of raising children, this recent graduate has just landed a full-time position at Shoalhaven Hospital. Inspired by his sister’s achievement, her younger brother is now exploring a pathway to becoming a paramedic.

“This example highlights how having a local university campus provides pathways to a career for local people, inspires others to follow and addresses workforce needs to sustain local services and enterprises.”

In his address, Mr Israel also pointed to MIND the GaP, a $3.5 million facility that opened last July, and the Mundamia Early Learning Centre, which is linked with UOW’s Early Start Research Institute. Both services are based at UOW Shoalhaven’s West Nowra campus.

UOW Chief Finance Officer Damien Israel addresses the event.

MIND the GaP will bring together health care professionals, researchers, and frontline support services to create an integrated mental health and wellbeing facility to apply ‘best practice’ mental health care initiatives. The aim is to help improve the prevention, early recognition and treatment of mental health issues, including suicide prevention and trauma recovery.

“For its first two decades UOW Shoalhaven, like many such regional university campuses, focussed only upon teaching and research. However, in the past few years an important new dimension has been actively pursued, as a community service hub.

“Both these facilities demonstrate how UOW and our partners are leveraging the Shoalhaven campus to provide teaching and research integrated services that address the needs of the local community and position Nowra as a centre of innovation of national relevance. More such collaborative opportunities are likely to emerge in the years ahead.”

The 2019 Bundanon Super Dinner was held at Bundanon Trust’s Boyd Education Centre at Riverdale. Nestled among 1100 hectares of farmland on the banks of the Shoalhaven River given to the people of Australia by famous Australian artist Arthur Boyd, Bundanon Trust supports arts practice across all disciplines through its residency, education, exhibition, and performance programs.

UOW and Bundanon Trust have had a formal collaboration agreement since 2008. The collaboration aims to support creative arts and environmental stewardship while developing the next generation of creative thinkers.