ON CAMPUS
campusreview.com.au
Photo: Sally Tsoutas
W
WSU’s new lecture
theatre-free, high-
rise campus is the
latest in a trend
among educational
institutions to
move away
from traditional
classrooms and
teaching spaces.
Denise Kirkpatrick
interviewed by
Gemma Purves
estern Sydney University has officially
opened its new campus in Parramatta.
Named after the current chancellor, the
Peter Shergold Building is the first vertical campus
for the university and contains some of the most
advanced technology available to university students
in Australia.
Challenging traditional teaching methods, the new
campus has no lecture theatres, and instead houses
collaborative learning studios. The technology used
includes writable walls, interactive touch screens and
cameras to allow students to quickly collaborate on
work with their peers, in order to mimic the work
environment most students will be participating in
once they graduate.
As well as being home to WSU’s business school,
it’s home to offices for PwC and WaterNSW. WSU
already has 130 students from the campus working
with PwC, with plans for many more.
Campus Review sits down with professor Denise
Kirkpatrick, WSU’s deputy vice-chancellor and vice-
president (academic) to discuss the philosophies that
drove the development of the new campus.
CR: Western Sydney University already has a number of
campuses. Why was it so important for you to open this
new campus and to have it in the centre of Paramatta?
DK : We do have a number of campuses throughout
the Greater Western Sydney region. We believe
though that there is certainly an advantage for us and
for our students to have a campus that is located in
the centre of the CBD in Paramatta. It was a fabulous
opportunity for us with the new development
24
that Parramatta City Council has underway around
Parramatta Square. It gives us the advantage of locating
our business school in the heart of Parramatta CBD,
surrounded by business. We have businesses as co-
tenants in our building as well. But there is also, not to
be underestimated, a real convenience factor for our
students as well. This is a vertical campus, a high-rise
campus, located on the doorstep of a major train hub,
so it provides convenience for students in terms of
transport, the amenity, the social and civic life of being
part of a CBD.
What’s the benefit of having PwC and WaterNSW
located on the campus?
We think there are many substantial benefits to be
derived, and we’re starting to see them already. If I
use PwC as an example, we’re already working with
them on a range of initiatives. PwC will be employing
up to 130 of our third-year students, working on a
major project that they have underway, so providing
some great work-integrated learning and employment
opportunities for our students. We’ll continue to
work with PwC to generate more internships for our
students. Our School of Business is currently working
with PwC to develop a suite of executive programs
for their staff, but we’re also very excited about the
potential of having partners from PwC teach into our
undergraduate and our postgraduate courses. We
love the idea o