Charlotte Varcoe
THE new Adelaide University officially launched on Monday.
The university is a result of the amalgamation of University of South Australia and the University of Adelaide.
About 3000 staff from both universities attended the launch held in Adelaide early Monday.
The event also included the release of an initial number of degrees with further details about the new university to be shared.
By 2034 Adelaide University is expected to contribute an estimated additional $500m per year to the state economy, educate more than 70,000 students and create an additional 1200 jobs.
University of Adelaide vice chancellors Professor Peter Hoj and Professor David Lloyd said regional campuses would remain relatively the same.
Mr Lloyd said the official transition would happen in 2026 with the same commitment to engage with the region across the entire South East.
“We will also have the most compulsory curriculum available to students in South East regions and they will be able to learn in a different way to how they are learning now,” Mr Lloyd said.
“They will have access to a wider set of programs through the new attainment model that we put in place and I think that will be quite popular for learners in the South East.”
He said the entire curriculum of the university had been redone and rebuilt to be “modular and interoperable”.
“Our curriculum is going to have a digital underpinning and we have always been of the view that where we can deliver education arrangements we should be able to augment people’s activity to both accessing digital education and face-to-face,” Mr Lloyd said.
“The programs which are going to be viable face-to-face, we do believe the new curriculum will be so much more available to people which can be moderated and delivered in a way which is like brokered online education.”
Mr Hoj said he believed the way education was delivered would give them reason to believe in the different models to engage with.
“I do think there is an opportunity to have people do intensive two week internships where instead of having practical sessions once every Wednesday they do two weeks in one place so they do not have to turn up to university,” Mr Hoj said.
“There are opportunities to use our facilities more if we broaden the model.”
Acting premier Susan Close said the launch was an important step in creating a new university which would boost the states capacity by “providing the skills and education” South Australians needed into the future.
“The establishment of Adelaide University will also be of unprecedented value to students, staff and our community,” Ms Close said.
“It will transform education, research and innovation outcomes in our state, and will boost economic opportunities and prosperity.”
