Content
USC gains five stars for teaching quality
The University of the Sunshine Coast has continued to shine as a five-star achiever in the 2012 Good Universities Guide that was released today.
For the third consecutive year, USC has stood out as the only public university in Queensland to gain five stars for teaching quality.
The annual independent Guide, produced by Hobsons, also awarded five stars to USC for its graduates’ satisfaction with the generic skills they gained while at university, and for Indigenous participation.
USC scored well (four stars) for access by equity groups, gender balance, and for graduates’ satisfaction with their overall university experience.
Its ratings for graduates’ satisfaction have also remained the highest awarded to any public university in Queensland.
The Good Universities Guide bases its ratings on data from the Commonwealth Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations, Graduate Careers Australia’s Course Experience Questionnaire and other sources.
Vice-Chancellor Professor Greg Hill said this recognition for the University’s teaching quality comes a day after 10 USC staff received awards at the 2011 Australian Awards for University Teaching ceremony at the Sydney Opera House.
These included five Australian Learning and Teaching Council awards, worth $10,000 each, which recognised USC academics’ dedication to student learning in disciplines ranging from Accounting, Social Work, and Nutrition and Dietetics, to Education and a bridging program called Tertiary Preparation Pathway.
USC also received a $25,000 award for its concerted efforts in raising the educational aspirations of people from north Brisbane to Hervey Bay, particularly for its range of pre-university programs available to high school students.
“Together, these show that not only does the sector recognise our quality of teaching, but also our graduates do,” he said. “We’re extremely proud of the fact that we have the highest quality teaching of any public university in Queensland.”
Professor Hill said he was also pleased that USC’s commitment to equity had gained greater recognition in the Good Universities Guide.
“We have one of the highest proportions of Indigenous students of all the universities in Australia, and that says something about the type of institution that we are,” he said.
Professor Hill said USC has been focusing in recent years on improving areas such as research grants and graduates’ employment outcomes.
“For the categories where we are at the other end of the rankings, we’re working hard to make changes over the years ahead,” he said.
“You have to remember that USC is only 15 years old, not 150 like most of the universities that gained five stars for research. We are taking important steps to boost our research capacity, such as the appointment this year of a Pro Vice-Chancellor for Research, and our success in gaining significant research grant funding.”
Professor Hill said USC was in close contact with industries across the region to determine which study programs could help provide much-needed graduates.
“We will soon have larger numbers of graduates in professions that are in high demand locally, such as Nursing, Psychology, Engineering, Paramedic Science and Occupational Therapy,” he said.
— Terry Walsh