Adelaide University reveals its new logo for a merged institution

There’s no shield in the new logo for Adelaide University, formed from a merger of SA’s two largest higher education institutions.

Adelaide University’s new logo.

Adelaide University, created from the merger of South Australia’s two largest universities, has launched its new logo, abandoning the traditional shield of a Group of Eight university.

The new design is multifaceted, including, among other things, an outline map of the state in the top right-hand corner and empty space which, the new university says, nods to the absence of a shield in the logo.

The new university’s co-vice-chancellors, Peter Hoj and David Lloyd, who head the two universities in the merger, launched the logo on Monday at the Adelaide Convention Centre in front of staff of the existing University of Adelaide and the University of South Australia.

After the merger Adelaide University will be a member of the elite Go8, and Go8 chief exercutive Vicki Thomson said the other members looked forward to welcoming the new university.

Adelaide University says it will offer a new curriculum with a comprehensive range of study programs when it begins teaching as a united institution in 2026, and include all major disciplines currently offered by the two institutions.

Domestic students will be able to apply to the new university from August next year.

But it will immediately begin marketing to international students, and Professor Hoj said the federal government decisions this year to limit student visas and hike the student visa application fee were concerning.

The new university’s courses will “stackable” in the sense that students will be able to exit with a diploma or an associate degree before completing a full bachelor degree. This will give them the option to return later to take their qualifications to a higher level. The university says its academic calendar will be flexible and that every study program will have work integrated learning in the core curriculum.

Professor Lloyd said the new university would have a strong digital presence with online being a “core component”.

“We’re very much of a view that this is an institution which services not just South Australia but the whole of the nation,” he said.

The new university plans for its online infrastructure to support international students to study in their home countries.

“We actually believe that when online becomes as sophisticated as we know it can become, that there will probably be many international students who might do the first year overseas in our online environment,” Professor Hoj said.

Adelaide University says its goal is to be ranked in the top 1 per cent of universities globally, in the top five universities nationally for student experience and top in the nation for student employment outcomes.

The new university also will have an Aboriginal name but this is yet to be announced.