Dear colleagues
I feel so fortunate to work in a supportive, collegiate University community that places excellence at its core. Last year, we conducted the Insight staff survey to gain your feedback on the University’s strengths and areas of opportunity for improvement. Your responses provided valuable insights, and everyone has been working hard to deliver improvements in identified areas such as innovation and leadership. To ensure we continue to improve, we have launched the Insight Pulse survey to find out what you think of our progress to date. Please do take the time to complete the brief survey emailed to you last Wednesday, so we can better understand what we can continue to do, or change, to make UNSW an even better place to work.
International student caps legislation delayed
The federal government’s proposed legislation regarding caps on international student enrolments at Australia’s higher education institutions (the ESOS Bill) was delayed in parliament last week and will now not be debated until November 2024 at the earliest. This means we are still uncertain about whether and when the legislation will come into effect. We are also still in discussion with the department to gain clarity on the modelling and exemptions to confirm what our final target will be.
At this stage, we are continuing to plan for 2025 based on the assumption that the government’s proposal will pass in some form. We know that if the legislation passes, there will be significant financial implications for UNSW. While we are in a solid budgetary position at present, it is important that we all take active steps to reduce discretionary spending (including really interrogating the need for consultants or travel) and engage in weathering the immediate government reductions and avoiding the need for major cost reduction programs.
I assure you that the Government Relations Team, my ULT colleagues and I continue to engage actively with the government, the opposition, the cross-bench and the bureaucracy to ensure they understand the impact this poorly designed policy and law will have on Australia’s economy, the higher education experience of all students – domestic and international, the research landscape and our reputation internationally.
I ask everyone at UNSW to look out for each other as uncertainty and the politicisation of our international students for housing affordability and migration agendas take their toll on valued members of the University community.
I will keep you informed as we know more about the passage of the ESOS Bill and the implications for UNSW.
Support available for students and staff
The conflict in the Middle East, the loss of life, serious injuries and displacement of so many people continue to have deep impacts on people in the UNSW community, in Australia and throughout the world.
The recent expansion of the conflict into Lebanon has brought these impacts even closer for many people in Australia and our University community, particularly those of us who have family and friends in or from Lebanon. The Australian Government is undertaking significant repatriation efforts to assist Australian citizens and permanent residents to return safely from Lebanon to Australia. Visit the Australian Government’s Smart Traveller Lebanon webpage for advice and updates about the situation.
I acknowledge again all in our community who are reeling under the impacts and ramifications of the Middle East and other international conflicts. I again thank everyone who is making special effort to look out for and support people who need us at this time. I reiterate my call for each of us to take responsibility for respectful behaviours and interactions, now and always. The safety of everyone in the UNSW community and on our campuses is paramount.
Please, if you need help or support, do not hesitate to contact one of our services listed below. I would like to remind colleagues that our EAP support services also extend to family members.
Support for students
- Situation in the Middle East | Mental Health Support
- UNSW Student Support Services
- UNSW Mental Health Connect
Support for staff
Celebrating our friends at Arc
Above: Past and present Arc leaders celebrate at the annual Arc dinner.
I was very sorry to have missed the recent Arc dinner (pictured above) due to COVID, an annual celebration of our wonderful friends at Arc and the importance of student experience. Thank you, Professor Sarah Maddison, DVC Education and Student Experience, for speaking on my behalf.
UNSW has had a long and impactful relationship with Arc, built on our shared mission to make sure every student knows – and feels – they belong, no matter their background, interests, skills or field of study. It is an absolute pleasure to work together with Arc to create a positive, thriving, vibrant student life experience, with the fabulous variety of programs and activities to satisfy our diverse student body.
I am very grateful to our friends at Arc who generously give their time to support the wellbeing of their peers and friends. One of Arc’s awesome wellness initiatives, Check Point, focuses on providing support at high pressure times when prioritising wellbeing may be hard, like exams and early mornings. At a Wellness Check Point students can take a mindful break from studying while Arc volunteers [pictured top] take care of breakfast and dinner. Along with their food, students get bitesize opportunities to practise the skills needed for good wellbeing. The initiative is based on the premise that the more Wellness Check Points students visit, the more their skills will improve and the better they’ll feel.
Practise COVID-safe behaviours
The annual Arc dinner was just one of a number of events I missed recently due to a nasty bout of COVID (my first) that basically flattened me for two weeks with significant breathing difficulties. It’s easy to become complacent, but I’d like to remind everyone to continue to take precautions to keep well and to protect others in the community. Winter may be over, but COVID is still around. Many of the safe behaviours we have practised over the past few years, such as washing hands regularly and staying home if you are unwell, are effective in stopping the spread of COVID-19.
UNSW Strategy: Progress for All is making great progress!
Our next strategy, UNSW Strategy: Progress for All, is taking great shape following our comprehensive consultation and engagement process with students, staff and strategic stakeholders, and intensive workshopping by the ULT.
Yesterday we had a special session with UNSW Council to guide them through the nine Strategic Themes and the objectives under each. We received thoughtful, constructive feedback that will help us ensure the strategy fulfils its purpose to focus our efforts and equip our University for the next 10 years and beyond. Thank you to the team who facilitated this really productive session, including Strategy Lead Davina McArthur, Provost Professor Vlado Perkovic, VP Professor Verity Firth and DVC Professor Leanne Holt.
Now that we’re really getting down to the brass tacks of the objectives and flagship initiatives, next week’s Strategy Expo – Connecting you with Progress for All is going to be a wonderful opportunity for students and staff to see where we can really ‘turn the dial’ over the next 10 years and maximise our positive impact.
From 21–24 October, through stands in the Michael Crouch Innovation Centre (MCIC) and a Talks Series from a range of UNSW experts, the Strategy Expo will explore themes including:
- accelerating the transition to a sustainable future
- advancing economic and social prosperity
- enabling healthy lives
- fostering societal resilience, security and cohesion
- integrating AI into UNSW
- building and harnessing our global partnerships
- incorporating Indigenous Knowledges.
The Strategy Expo will be the ultimate engagement experience before we finalise the strategy in readiness for 2025.
I invite you to come along to the MCIC on lower Kensington campus between 9am and 5pm from Monday, 21 to Thursday, 24 October. Or join one of the Talks Series in person or online. Please come and say hello if you see me there.
Find out more about the developing UNSW Strategy: Progress for All on the strategy website.
There’s even more Inside UNSW…
- This edition’s staff profile is Dr Alexander Smith. Read his inspirational story including how he found a new way of living after a motorcycle accident left him with a traumatic brain injury.
- UNSW has partnered with the non-profit XPRIZE Foundation to deliver a world-leading academic enrichment program to NSW high schools which aims to inspire the next generation of inventors and entrepreneurs. XPRIZE Connect invites students to think about the biggest challenges facing the world and guides them to develop innovative solutions.
- Congratulations to Scientia Professor Liming Dai, Scientia Professor Toby Walsh and Professor Chuan Zhao who have been elected Fellows of the Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering for their outstanding contributions to high-tech plastics, artificial intelligence and green energy.
Best regards
Attila
Professor Attila Brungs
Vice-Chancellor and President
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