campusreview.com.au
VC’S CORNER
M @UOW
The University of Wollongong used its recent
milestone as a time to take stock and prepare
for growth and the needs of future students.
By Paul Wellings
A
round 40 years of age is often considered the peak time for
our working lives. A period when there is the right balance
of wisdom gained from life experience and the health and
vitality to continue to develop professionally and personally.
For the University of Wollongong (UoW), celebrating 40 years as
an independent institution last year made us pause for thought and
to reflect on the role UoW plays in the local and global community.
The university generates more than $2 billion in economic activity
each year, helping transform Wollongong from a steel town to a
university city focused on the knowledge economy.
We live in a world facing large and complex social, environmental
and economic challenges. Universities will play a central role in
keeping Australia economically competitive and socially cohesive.
The higher-education sector will be at the forefront of shaping
contemporary policies and a modern society.
To put this into perspective, the words of Britain’s Ronald Dearing
pointed towards the key role that universities are now expected to
play: “Just as castles provided the source of strength for mediaeval
14
towns, and factories provided prosperity in the industrial age,
universities are the source of strength in the knowledge-based
economy of the 21st century.”
This big-picture thinking led to us ask the question: “What will
the University of Wollongong look like in 20 or 30 years’ time as
we strive to meet the needs of the world around us and live up
to our goals of offering personalised education experiences in
outstanding learning environments?”
BUILDING ON A LEGACY
What came out of that process of concentrated reflection was a
sense of place, purpose and values. It allows us to build on our
humble beginnings on the site of an old dairy farm as a training
college for engineers, metallurgists and industrial chemists for the
heavy industrial plants in the region in the post-war innovation boom.
Our refreshed vision, the 2016–2020 Strategic Plan, anticipates
capital expenditure plans that release in excess of $300 million
within the next five years, so we need to plan thoughtfully for
how we approach our built and natural environments. After eight
months of planning, including six months of consultation, we
recently released the 2016–2036 Wollongong Campus Master
Plan, the single largest unified planning exercise this university has
undertaken in its history.
The campus master plan is a guiding vision for the next 20 years
and demonstrates our proud history as part of the city’s history of