The year at UOW

Community ties

The University’s vision to provide world-class education to Sydney’s south west came to fruition in February. Chief Commissioner of the Greater Sydney Commission, Ms Lucy Turnbull, AO, was joined by Liverpool City Mayor Wendy Waller, UOW Chancellor Ms Jillian Broadbent AO, and UOW Vice-Chancellor Professor Paul Wellings CBE to officially open Liverpool’s South West Sydney campus in April.

Vice-Chancellor Professor Paul Wellings CBE opening Liverpool's campus South West Sydney campus.

Construction began in March of a purpose-designed $2.5 million initiative called Mental Illness in Nowra District: Goals and Prevention (MIND the GaP) facility – a joint initiative of UOW, Shoalhaven City Council and the Commonwealth Government for a region experiencing one of Australia’s highest rates of youth suicide.

UOW’s accommodation portfolio has been expanded, with the official opening of Bangalay in June. The 254-bed building on Northfields Avenue houses a mix of families, mature-age and postgraduate students. The unique design of the building led to a silver award in the 2017 Sydney Design Awards.

Individuals with cognitive and physical impairments can now experience the world in a very different way thanks to the June opening of the Illawarra’s first community based multi-sensory room. The project is the brainchild of UOW’s strategic interdisciplinary research program, Global Challenges together with CareWays Community.

Leading locally, competing globally

The year began with Australia Day honours for a Distinguished Professor and UOW’s Deputy Chancellor, with several students and alumni also recognised for contributions to the community. The accolades continued for the University throughout the year, with subject success in world rankings; student satisfaction at an all-time high in the Federal Government’s Quality Indicators for Learning and Teaching (QILT) rankings; being rated among the world’s best young universities with a climb to 30th in the world in the Times Higher Education Young University Rankings and securing top spot among Australia’s public universities for student experience ratings in the 2018 Good Universities Guide.

Two new Executive Deans were welcomed to the UOW family, with Professor Valerie Linton joining Engineering and Information Sciences, and Professor Theo Farrell welcomed into Law, Humanities and the Arts. Additionally, Professor Colin Picker joined UOW as the new Dean of Law, bringing a wealth of international experience.

UOW Dubai announced plans to transform its campus facilities with a major investment in a state-of-the-art development in Dubai’s Knowledge Park. A group of students and teachers from Hong Kong’s Community College of City University (CCCU)—UOW’s Hong Kong campus—were given a warm welcome during a two-week exposure program visiting Wollongong and Sydney.

The launch of a free-to-air digital network in May marked the start of the UOW SMART Infrastructure Facility’s moves to transform Wollongong into a living laboratory through an Internet of Things (IoT) network connecting individuals, community groups and businesses to help them improve the liveability of the city and its lifestyle through technology-based, research-oriented projects.

Solving the challenges facing communities in New South Wales was the focus of a new university alliance between the University of Newcastle, University of New South Wales and UOW launched in July by NSW Premier, The Hon Gladys Berejiklian MP.

The University Council reappointed Ms Jillian Broadbent AO as Chancellor in August for a further two years, and for the first time in its history elected two Deputy Chancellors following the retirement of long-serving Deputy Chancellor Mr Noel Cornish AM from the end of 2017. International ratings agency S&P Global Ratings praised the University for its “very strong” financial position when its annual Ratings Research Update affirmed UOW’s stand-alone credit profile as ‘AA’ and its outlook as “stable”.

His Royal Highness, Prince Andrew, The Duke of York, visited UOW in September for the Boot Camp leg of the Pitch@Palace Australia 1.0 event. Founded by The Duke in 2014, Pitch@Palace exposes entrepreneurs to powerful CEOs, influencers, mentors and business partners, supporting their growth and connection onto the global stage. During his visit, Prince Andrew also launched GOLEaD, a ground breaking new program giving high-achieving HSC students the opportunity to study, live, work and travel in some of the world’s most vibrant cities.

April’s autumn graduation celebrations saw UOW student Thomas Curran awarded the University’s most prestigious student honour – the Robert Hope Memorial Prize. Internationally renowned author Kathy Lette brought her quick wit and zest for life to the graduation celebrations, receiving an Honorary Doctor of Letters (Honoris Causa) in recognition of her successful novels and tireless advocacy for equality and human rights. Margaret Schuller, added to the knowledge bank at age 71, celebrating her PhD graduation in July.

Thomas Curran who received the Robert Hope Memorial Prize.

Student experience 

The year began with more than 6,000 offers to prospective undergraduate students to study at UOW in 2017, a two per cent increase on the previous year.

A record number of applications for UOW’s well-established Early Admissions Schemecontributed to the strong demand, with a record number of early round offers. Postgraduate students heralded the August launch of UOW’s ‘street smart’ Master of Business Administration (MBA), which combines industry practicality with academic experience to provide students with hands-on experience in real-life business problems.

In March UOW Law students Lachlan Auld and Nathan Johnston secured highly sought-after associateships with Justice Virginia Bell in the High Court – an honour reserved for only the most academically outstanding students.

The new library MakerSpace and MediaSpace facilities were unveiled, providing access to cutting-edge technology designed by students, for students.

The University attracted a record amount of government funding to support overseas student internships in the 2017 round of New Colombo Plan (NCP) mobility funding, and August was capped off with thousands of prospective students descending on UOW for its annual open day. 

Research success

A seven-year, $45.7 million quest to shed light on Australia’s iconic biodiversity and Indigenous heritage began with the official launch of the ARC Centre of Excellence for Australian Biodiversity and Heritage (CABAH) at Parliament House in June.

Director of UOW’s Centre for Environmental Risk Management of Bushfires Professor Ross Bradstock explored the potential role for government to help with the costly task of retrofitting houses in bushfire zones to meet current building standards, saving lives and property.

A ground breaking study by UNSW and UOW found exposure to opiates in the womb can have a negative effect on a child’s school results, meaning children with neonatal abstinence syndrome are more likely to underperform in NAPLAN testing.

An Australian-first research project between UOW and Sydney Water that turns food waste into energy is set to benefit households and businesses across Sydney and the Illawarra. UOW researchers also developed a new type of coating that prevents the build-up of mould, algae and bacteria which could provide major benefits for building products, the marine industry and hospitals.

Connecting the Illawarra and south-western Sydney was a major focus for researchers in UOW’s SMART Infrastructure Facility. A report released in August, commissioned by business advocacy group Illawarra First, recommended the construction of a new rail link referred to as the South West Illawarra Rail Link (SWIRL) – which would deliver overwhelming economic benefits.