University of Wollongong to establish Western Sydney campus

THE University of Wollongong will establish a campus in Western Sydney, the Premier will announce today, and promises to grow it to hold 7000 students by 2030.

UWS students Brandon Hickmott, 21, Emily Lam, 23, Tiana Podinic, 21, Elliott Richardson, 21, Danielle Elmasri and Vipul Prasad, 20 at Bigge Park, Liverpool. Picture: Jonathan Ng

THE University of Wollongong will establish a campus in Western Sydney, the Premier will announce today, and promises to grow it to hold 7000 students by 2030.

Opening in 2017, the new campus will initially occupy two floors in Liverpool City Council’s Moore Street building before moving into larger premises in Liverpool’s new Civic Place development, expected to be finished in 2019.

The investment comes with Western Sydney University to create its own 1000-student 3000 square metre Higher Education Centre in Liverpool from next year.

Construction work at the new UWS building on Macquarie Street, Liverpool. Picture: Jonathan Ng

That centre will provide courses in business, information technology and health and is being billed as a “high-quality, modern, technology-rich and highly-flexible space and will include the University’s Launch Pad smart business centre” which provides mentorship to start-ups.

The University of Wollongong says it will offer programs at its campus reflecting Liverpool residents’ preferences, spanning from the University’s faculty of law, humanities and the arts; faculty of business, faculty of engineering and information sciences and faculty of science, medicine and health.

A school of nursing will be there, which is important as it is listed in the top three preferences of students from south western Sydney. Mr Baird welcomed the University of Wollongong announcement today. “The NSW Government is committed to supporting the growth of South Western Sydney, which is a powerhouse of the NSW economy,” Mr Baird said. “Providing quality educational facilities that allow people to study close to their homes and employment is vital, as is training the next generation of nurses who are the backbone of our health system.

“I applaud the strong partnership between the University of Wollongong and Liverpool City Council which is bringing real and lasting economic and social benefits to communities in Sydney’s south west.

“This is exactly the kind of innovative collaboration between government, business and higher education we want to see across NSW.”

Law student Emily Lam, 23, communications student Elliott Richardson, 21 and business and law student Tiana Podinic. all three attend UWS. Picture: Jonathan Ng

The University of Wollongong Vice-Chancellor, Professor Paul Wellings, said the university planned to grow from “modest beginnings” to house 7000 students.

“In our recently released 2016-2020 Strategic Plan we declared our intention to create a lasting impact and contribute more to society’s needs by aligning our facilities with changes in centres of population, the demand driven system and emerging research priorities,” Professor Wellings said. “Liverpool and South Western Sydney’s population and growth opportunities are booming yet higher education needs have been underserviced, with no major university campus in Liverpool and more than 7000 resident students leaving Liverpool to study.

“UOW’s South Western Sydney campus will provide greater choice for those preferring to study close to home and bring substantial economic and social benefits by keeping Liverpool City’s brightest minds in the area. “ Liverpool Mayor Ned Mannoun describes the University of Wollongong’s announcement as: “a huge boost for our city, its people, and a wise investment for the University.” “Liverpool is one of the fastest growing regions in Sydney, as well as one of the youngest,” Mr Mannoun said.

The University of Wollongong already boasts two international campuses in Dubai and Hong Kong as well as two existing Sydney campuses in Circular Quay and the Sutherland Shire.

Both universities are making the investment with Liverpool one of Sydney’s fastest growing cities, with a population of more than 200,000 set to exceed 325,000 by 2036.

At Western Sydney University, more than 4,000 of the university’s 44,000 students are from Liverpool.

One of those students, Tiana Podinic, 21, of Bossley Park, said a campus at Liverpool would have made a huge difference to her.

“I’m studying business and law at Parramatta campus. It takes me about an hour to get there by car,” Ms Podinic said “Even public transport it takes 50 minutes. Liverpool in traffic is 20 minutes. It would make so much difference if I saved all that time in traffic.”

Western Sydney University Vice-Chancellor Professor Barney Glover said that the move to create the campus at Liverpool was “meeting the higher education and employment needs of a young and growing city, where almost half the population is under 30 years of age”.