About the University

The University of South Australia is one of the newest of Australia's universities, formed through the merger of the South Australian Institute of Technology with three campuses of the South Australian College of Advanced Education. These former institutions traced their history back to the South Australian School of Mines (1889) and the Adelaide School of Arts, founded in 1856, just 20 years after the proclamation of the colony of South Australia. From this mix of youth and tradition has grown a University which is progressive, innovative, responsive to change, and in touch with community needs.

The University has strong and expanding links with educational partners in Asia, Europe, the Middle East and North America. More than 1200 international students are currently enrolled and contributing to the rich and diverse cultural and intellectual life of the campuses, the city and the state. The University's commitment to serve the community by ameliorating educational disadvantage wherever possible has seen it establish, for example, a relationship with the University of Fort Hare in South Africa to provide in-service education for black teachers whose role will be pivotal to the rebuilding of post-apartheid South Africa. The University of South Australia was the first in the country to establish a Faculty of Aboriginal and Islander Studies and has a distinguished Aboriginal Research Institute.

The University's four divisions offer the widest range of professional education courses of any university in South Australia. They are Business and Enterprise; Education, Arts and Social Sciences; Health Sciences; Information Technology, Engineering and the Environment. Courses are based on areas of research strength and community need and support priority areas for local and regional development.

Ranked in the top band of Australian universities in 1994 for the quality of its teaching and learning, the top university in the state for 1995 for graduate employment success, the University of South Australia is committed to student centred, resource-based, flexible learning systems which emphasise appropriate use of technology, student autonomy and independence and real world experiences as part of the learning process.

Mission

To advance, disseminate and preserve knowledge through the provision of a teaching, learning and research environment which fosters excellence in scholarship, innovation and social responsibility.

Teaching and learning programs of the highest quality, graduates ready to take their place as professionals in the work force, research of national and international repute, and a commitment to serve the broader community - these are the distinctive characteristics of the University of South Australia.

The largest university in South Australia, with over 24,000 undergraduate and postgraduate students on six campuses, the University of South Australia is a resource for the whole State. And the University's influence reaches outside South Australia, to other parts of the country, the Asia-Pacific region and beyond.

The University of South Australia contributes at all levels to the social, intellectual, economic and cultural development of the community. Teaching and research are constantly enhanced by the University's close working links with industry, the professions, business and government. University of South Australia graduates become significant contributors to their chosen professions - people who are instrumental in reshaping the nature of contemporary Australian and regional society.

Quality
Excellence in teaching and learning outcomes is achieved through nationally recognised quality improvement procedures and professional development programs which support change and encourage innovative approaches to teaching and learning.

Graduate qualities
There is commitment at all levels of the institution to the development of graduates who possess a set of distinctive qualities which encompass:

• professional knowledge 
• commitment to life-long learning 
• problem-solving abilities 
• capacity to operate both autonomously and collaboratively 
• ethical and social responsibility 
• effective communication skills 
• an international perspective.

Flexible learning
The University of South Australia is recognised internationally for its leadership in the fields of distance education and flexible learning. The policies and skills, infrastructure and support mechanisms of the University's Flexible Learning Centre underpin exemplary distance education programs in fields as diverse as nursing and information technology for more than 4000 students worldwide. By further embracing the opportunities for educational delivery provided by communications technologies, the University has moved progressively and strategically towards flexible delivery of internal courses. Flexible teaching and learning strategies emphasise student-centred, individualised learning and give students greater control over the time, place and preferred style of their educational activities.

The University of South Australia is committed to the application of knowledge. Its emphasis is on applied research that produces substantial benefits for those who use research results. Collaboration with other universities, industry, government, and community groups ensures research relevance and community benefits.

Collaboration
The University of South Australia is a national leader in the field of collaborative research. It has been consistently ranked in the top five universities in the country for success in obtaining industry-linked research funding.
 

Research centres have outstanding records in gaining government and industry sponsored research funds and in producing research outcomes that add value to both the national economy and the quality of life of the region in areas as diverse as:
 

• nursing and health care 
• indigenous studies 
• computing 
• gender studies 
• pharmaceutical research 

Serving the Community

A defining characteristic
Service to the community is a defining characteristic of all University of South Australia activities. The driving force behind both the University's excellent professional education programs and its applied research focus is that of meeting the present and future needs of the society of which it is part. The University itself is enriched through its interaction with different communities, gaining insights and knowledge which feed back into more relevant teaching and more focused research.

Through close working links with the wider community the University is able to identify unmet needs and generate new programs or refocus existing activities in order to address community priorities. The distinctive feature of the University's approach to community service is its declared intention to target those sections of the community where its interaction will have the greatest impact.

For example, podiatry, physiotherapy, psychology, mammography, ultrasound and nursing clinics provide a low cost service to the public, while simultaneously providing senior students with invaluable clinical experience. With interaction between the theoretical and the practical a constant feature in their courses, University of South Australia graduates are well prepared for the realities of the workplace and well equipped to become leaders in their professions.

Through targeting communities which have experienced disadvantage, students learn that their interaction makes a difference to people's lives, thus fostering a lifelong sense of social responsibility, a commitment to building a more just society.

Intellectual, cultural, social and racial diversity is woven into the fabric of the University of South Australia.

Indigenous
The University was the first in the country to establish a faculty of Aboriginal and Islander studies and has a distinguished Aboriginal Research Institute. It plays a central national role in indigenous higher education development and has made significant contributions to the process of reconciliation between indigenous and non-indigenous Australians.

International
The University of South Australia has strong and expanding links in teaching, research, consultancy and continuing education with partners in Asia, Europe, Africa, the Middle East and North America. Over 2,000 international students are enrolled as both undergraduate and postgraduate students and contribute to the rich and diverse cultural and intellectual life of the campuses, the city and the State of South Australia.

Opportunity
To honour its legislated commitment to provide higher education for the widest possible range of Australians, the University of South Australia has in place a broad range of programs designed to increase opportunity. Individual divisions have developed courses for people who have experienced educational or social disadvantage. The University has established an extensive range of credit transfer arrangements with the vocational education and training sector. High quality teaching and extensive student services support students who enter using alternative pathways. The University of South Australia actively encourages the participation of women in non traditional areas of study and employment.

With six campuses, the University of South Australia embraces the geographic and social diversity of Australia's third largest State.

In the city
Two campuses, City East and City West, are in the centre of the State capital Adelaide, at opposite ends of North Terrace, the city's gracious, tree-lined, cultural and educational boulevard. Adelaide is a well planned, low-cost, accessible city of some one million people, with a pleasant Mediterranean climate and a relaxed and cultured lifestyle. From the 19th century elegance of Brookman Building at City East to the high modernism and wired technology of City West (opened in 1997), the 'University in the City' is attuned to its surroundings, reaching out to its neighbours.

In the suburbs
The Magill and Underdale campuses are in the eastern and western residential suburbs respectively, each in leafy landscaped grounds with modern buildings and excellent facilities for both study and recreational activities.

At the centre of modern living
The Levels campus, in the northern suburbs, is home to the University's highly regarded institutes and centres for research in such areas as particle and materials technology, digital and telecommunications, engineering and manufacturing. Neighbours at The Levels include Technology Park and Mawson Lakes, MFP Australia's smart green city of the 21st century. This strategic location has facilitated collaborative research in areas as diverse as water quality, and innovations for communities which are environmentally aware, culturally rich, and learning and enterprise focused.

In the regions
The University's Whyalla campus is 400 kilometres north west of Adelaide in the industrial city of Whyalla, just a short distance from outback landscapes of stunning beauty. The campus offers courses of direct relevance to the industries of the region, and serves a huge area of the State's remote north and west - approximately 80 per cent of the geographical area of South Australia. Whyalla campus is an active participant in the life of its community, and the hub for university study centres which provide electronic and telecommunications support for distance education students in remote townships and Aboriginal communities.