May 27, 2020

Faculty realignment announced

UOW begins preparing for a post-COVID-19 world

Schools and disciplines at the University of Wollongong (UOW) are to be realigned from five faculties into four as the University is reshaped in response to the irreversible changes brought by the COVID-19 pandemic.

“COVID-19 has brought permanent, far-reaching changes to our world and to higher education in Australia and globally.

“International relationships have changed; teaching and learning have changed; and the expectations of students, regulators, communities and governments have changed.

“It has never been more important for publicly funded universities to demonstrate value-for-money by contributing to economic recovery via quality teaching and research aligned to national priorities.

“We have already responded quickly to the government’s call for education to support economic recovery by establishing short courses. Now we must think broader and longer-term to reshape our Institution in preparation for a very different higher education sector in a post-COVID-19 world.

To this end, we are moving to realign our University from five faculties into four,” UOW Vice-Chancellor, Professor Paul Wellings CBE, said.

The schools comprising the current faculties of Business (BUS); Law, Humanities and the Arts (LHA); and Social Sciences (SOC) will be realigned to form the Faculty of Business and Law (BAL) and the Faculty of Humanities Arts and Social Sciences (HASS).

The reorganisation will see the School of Law, along with the Australian National Centre for Ocean Resources & Security (ANCORS) join with the schools currently hosted in the Faculty of Business to form the new Faculty of Business and Law (BAL) under the leadership of Professor Colin Picker, currently the Executive Dean of the Faculty of Law, Humanities and the Arts.

The schools of The Arts, English and Media; Liberal Arts; and Humanities and Social Inquiry are proposed to join with the schools and research entities currently housed in the Faculty of Social Sciences to form the new Faculty of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences (HASS) under the leadership of Professor Glenn Salkeld, currently Executive Dean of the Faculty of Social Sciences.

The Faculty of Science, Medicine and Health (SMAH) and the Faculty of Engineering and Information Sciences (EIS) will remain unchanged,

“This faculty realignment builds on the existing strengths of our people and disciplines as well as promoting closer collaboration across teaching, research and engagement,” Professor Wellings said.

The grouping together of HASS disciplines and business and law schools into single faculties more closely aligns UOW with the disciplinary groupings commonly found in many other universities in Australia and overseas.

The realignment will not impact front line academic teaching or research roles, but will create efficiencies at senior executive and senior management levels, with one Executive Dean position dissolved immediately.

Students will be unaffected, with existing schools to remain and teaching of existing courses and subjects to continue as scheduled.

Staff have been notified of the change, with further information being provided on the University’s intranet.