Meet the Executive: Hawkesbury campus

Monday, 5 August 2013

A summary of matters discussed at ‘Meet the Executive’ is provided below.


Recruitment of the New Vice-Chancellor

Professor Barney Glover has been announced as UWS’s new Vice-Chancellor and President. Currently Vice-Chancellor of Charles Darwin University, Professor Glover will formally commence at UWS on 1 January 2014.

UWSCollege

UWSCollege is increasingly an important pathway to University for the people of Greater Western Sydney. Growth plans for the College—including an outreach campus in Lithgow and new buildings on the Nirimba Precinct, and the Bankstown and Penrith campuses—are on track.

Parramatta CBD Location

UWS is leasing space in the Parramatta CBD. The space will be used primarily for teaching purposes; teaching will commence at the beginning of 2014.  A communications strategy is being developed to keep staff and students informed of progress on this initiative.

UNE also has a presence in the Parramatta CBD. In an increasingly competitive higher education sector, it is possible that other universities—domestic and international—could take up residence in Parramatta as well.

HESP: Proposed Research and Research Training Standards

The Research and Research Training Standards proposed by the Higher Education Standards Panel (HESP) are, to a considerable extent, a formalisation of what UWS already does. If accepted, the standards will require UWS to undertake additional reporting to TEQSA.

The proposed Research Standards encompass responsibilities for the conduct of research, the skills of the staff involved, an academic governance framework, maintenance of a repository of research outputs, reporting and analysis of research outputs by the provider, and a reference to the Australian Code for the Responsible Conduct of Research. The proposed Research Training Standards presuppose that the provider conducts research in the field in which research training is offered and meets the Standards for Research as a pre-requisite for offering research training.

For details of the proposed standards, see the Australian Government's Higher Education Standards (opens in a new window) webpage.

Australian Strategic Research Priorities

The Australian Research Committee (ARCom), which is chaired by the Chief Scientist Professor Ian Chubb, has developed 15 priorities for strategic research. The priorities address the following challenges: living in a changing environment; promoting population health and wellbeing; managing our food and water assets; securing Australia’s place in a changing world; and lifting productivity and economic growth. UWS is looking at our areas of research that scored well in the ERA assessment and which are aligned with the new priorities. ARCom is going to map research capacity and capability onto the priorities before determining Research Funding Priorities.

For more details, see the Australian Government's Strategic Research Priorities (opens in a new window) webpage.

Research at UWS

The University’s audited research income for 2012 is very healthy, well above 2011, with a further increase anticipated this year.

UWS has been successful in winning a Cancer Council Chair worth $500k per annum.

Research Institutes and Research Centres at UWS are increasingly being invited to join in applications for Cooperative Research Centres and ARC Centres of Excellence. UWS was involved in eight Centre of Excellence expressions of interest and is on four of those that have been shortlisted (a success rate of 50% compared with 20% sector wide).

UWS is encouraging interdisciplinarity in its research by various means, including facilitating meetings of Research Institute Directors, to discuss potential collaborations across academic disciplines.

How does UWS differentiate itself from other Australian universities?

Some of the ways in which UWS differentiates itself from other universities include: extensive use of technology (such as iPads) in the curriculum; the development of high profile Research Institutes and Research Centres in niche areas; the provision of a pathway from UWSCollege to UWS; having expertise in specialised areas, such as international law and human rights; a strong focus on regional engagement; and diverse staff and student communities.

UWS Hawkesbury Campus

Hawkesbury will continue to be a vital campus for UWS. Thought is being given to the disciplines that will be offered on the campus, into the future, as well as the areas of specialised research.

The Greening of UWS

UWS is recognised for its ‘green facilities’, and excellent management of water and energy use. Recent benchmarking activities place the University in the top eight universities in Australia in this regard.

Educational Technologies at UWS

UWS is implementing a Blended Learning Strategy, which covers everything from fully face-to-face teaching to fully online delivery. Technology will change and shape the way academic staff teach students and, in turn, what our students expect. The potential for the University to offer MOOCs (massive open online courses) is being explored. UWS is investing in infrastructure to support the increasing use of technology in teaching and learning.