University of Technology, Sydney

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University of Technology Sydney
UTS logo

Motto: Think. Change. Do.
Established: 1988 (current form)
1870s (as SMSA)
Type: Public
Chancellor: Professor Vicki Sara
Vice-Chancellor: Professor Ross Milbourne
Staff: 2,555 (2008)
Students: 32,027 (2008)
Undergraduates: 21,125 (2008)
Postgraduates: 10,902 (2008)
Location: Sydney, NSW, Australia
33°53′1″S 151°12′3″E / 33.88361°S 151.20083°E / -33.88361; 151.20083
Campus: Urban
Colours: Green       & Black      
Affiliations: Australian Technology Network, Association of Commonwealth Universities, ASAIHL
Website: www.uts.edu.au

The University of Technology, Sydney (UTS), is a university in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It is part of the Australian Technology Network of universities, and is the third largest university in Sydney in terms of enrollment numbers. Founded in its current form in 1988, it is also the only university with its main campuses within the Sydney CBD. UTS has been ranked 234 in the World's Top 500 universities by the Times Higher Education Supplement (2008) and was one of two Australian Universities given A1 ratings across all major disciplines in 2007 and 2008 by the Federal Government Education department.

Contents

[edit] History

The present day University of Technology originates from the Sydney Mechanics' School of Arts (the oldest Mechanics' Institute in Australia). In the 1870s the SMSA formed the Workingman's College which was later taken over by the NSW government to form, in 1878, the Sydney Technical College. In 1969, part of the Sydney Technical College became the New South Wales Institute of Technology (NSWIT). It was officially unveiled by Neville Wran.

It was reconstituted as the University of Technology, Sydney (UTS), in 1988 under an Act of NSW State Parliament. In 1990 it absorbed the Kuring-gai College of Advanced Education and the Institute of Technical and Adult Teacher Education of the Sydney College of Advanced Education, under the terms of the Higher Education (Amalgamation) Act 1989.

Although its antecedent institutions go back as far as 1893, they took new shapes from the 1960s, creating a new University focused on practice-oriented education with strong links to industry, the professions and the community, and with a growing research reputation and a strong commitment to internationalisation.[1]

UTS has had three phases in its history. In the first phase, effort was concentrated on embedding an amalgamation of institutions which were culturally and structurally different. This strengthened the research culture and established a more consistent approach to teaching and learning.[1]

The second phase, beginning in the mid 1990s, saw a strong focus on international student recruitment, combined with an expansion of professional post-graduate programs for domestic students. Greater emphasis on both research and flexible learning also became priorities during this period.[1]

The third phase began in 2000 with a 10 year strategic vision. This involved concentrating research funding into four major research institutes, upgrading physical infrastructure at the city campus, enhancing teaching and learning, and continuing entrepreneurial activity.[1]

[edit] Timeline

  • 1893 - Sydney Technical College established - the precursor of the NSWIT.
  • 1940 - NSW Parliament passes Act to establish an Institute of Technology, World War II intervenes.
  • 1945 - Technical College Annexe of Sydney Teachers College was established in the late 1940s - ITATE developed from this Annexe.
  • 1946 - Lectures commenced at Balmain Teachers College with an enrolment of 210 students.
  • 1964 - Establishment of New South Wales Institute of Technology (NSWIT).
  • 1965 - NSWIT enrols first students into Science and Architecture; SE Barratt appointed Chairman of the Interim Council and the first Council.
  • 1967 - NSW Institute of Business Studies established and teaching commences at the Brickfield Hill Campus, George Street, Sydney. Professional recognition of NSWIT engineering courses.
  • 1968 - Amalgamation of the NSW Institute of Business Studies and the NSW Institute of Technology.
  • 1971 - William Balmain Teachers' College moves to Lindfield site (Kuring-gai Campus) NSWIT incorporated and Faculty organisational structure set up.
  • 1973 - William Balmain College declared a College of Advanced Education.
  • 1974 - William Balmain CAE renamed Kuring-gai College of Advanced Education (KCAE). NSWIT commences post graduate courses; occupation of Tower on Broadway begins.
  • 1976 - NSWIT establishes the first Law School in NSW outside the then university sector.
  • 1981 - Sydney CAE incorporated - ITATE was one of five semi-autonomous teaching institutes.
  • 1984 - NSWIT Brickfield Hill Campus relinquished in December after eighteen years - Faculties of Business and Law and the Library move to the Haymarket Campus.
  • 1985 - The new Haymarket Campus officially opened, the building shared between NSWIT and ITATE.
  • 1987 - Announcement on 8 October of the granting of university status to NSWIT, which was followed by the passing of the University of Technology, Sydney, Act 1987 and the appointment of Professor RD Guthrie as Vice-Chancellor.
  • 1988 - The School of Design of the former Sydney College of the Arts was incorporated into NSWIT on 25 January and on 26 January NSWIT became the University of Technology, Sydney, known as UTS.
  • 1989 - University of Technology, Sydney, Act 1989 No 69 assented to 23 May, forming the new UTS in combination with KCAE and ITATE from Sydney CAE .
  • 1990 - New UTS established from 1 January; inaugural meeting of Council on 15 November.
  • 1991 - Academic Structure of nine Faculties and 25 schools established - Faculties being Business; Design, Architecture and Building; Education; Law and Legal Practice; Mathematical and Computing Sciences; Nursing; Science; Humanities and Social Sciences.
  • 1999 - Sir Gerard Brennan QC installed as Chancellor. [2]

[edit] Faculties

The University has faculties of[3]:

Faculty Link
Arts and Social Sciences More than 2000 students are enrolled in the faculty of Education. http://www.communication.uts.edu.au/
http://www.education.uts.edu.au/
http://www.internationalstudies.uts.edu.au/
Business The largest faculty at UTS and one of the largest business schools in Australia with more than 10,000 full-time equivalent students and an active global network of almost 50,000 alumni. The Dean is Professor Roy Green.[4] The schools of Accounting and Finance have AACSB and CFA accreditation respectively. http://www.business.uts.edu.au/
* Accounting
* Finance & Economics
Design, Architecture and Building http://www.dab.uts.edu.au/
Engineering and Information Technology UTS Engineering is one of the largest providers of engineering education in Australia and teaches over 5,000 students, both within Australia and in international locations. http://www.eng.uts.edu.au/
http://it.uts.edu.au/
Law Approximately 2,500 students and an average of 90% of undergraduate students working full-time. http://www.law.uts.edu.au/
Nursing, Midwifery and Health UTS: Nursing, Midwifery and Health offers the only stand-alone Bachelor of Midwifery in NSW http://www.nmh.uts.edu.au/
Science http://www.science.uts.edu.au/
The Tower building is the tallest educational facility in Australia with 32 levels

[edit] Insearch

Insearch is the learning pathways provider for UTS. Insearch offers English language courses to prepare international students for entry to UTS bachelor's degrees and post-graduate study. Insearch provides courses that lead to university degrees in the area of Business, IT, Engineering, Science, Nursing, Communication, Design and Architecture.

Insearch has an operation at the University of Essex, UK [5]

[edit] Current standing

In keeping with its former nature as a Technical Institute and its current name, UTS designs its courses to contain a high level of practical technical knowledge as opposed to pure theory, and maintains close links with industries in order to do this. Its faculty structure also reflects this emphasis on technical knowledge; for example, its Law faculty contains a Practical Legal Training course, its Humanities degrees are heavily geared towards journalism and media productions and its IT and Engineering degrees offer one year of industrial training.

The UTS faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences is widely known for its practical media/ communications degrees, along with its thorough focus on critical theory.[citation needed] UTS is also host to the Australian Centre for Independent Journalism (ACIJ). Graduates from this faculty serve as a feeder to the Australian Broadcasting Corporation conveniently located just across the road, and the Fairfax Group of newspapers.[citation needed]

[edit] Reputation and Achievements

  • Each year UTS attracts the highest number of first preference applications for Creative Arts courses in the state.[6] These courses include the Bachelor of Design courses offered by the Faculty of Design, Architecture and Building and the Bachelor of Arts (Communications) courses offered by the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences.
  • In December 2006 the UTS Faculty of Business earned accreditation from AACSB International. To contextualise this there are only 5 institutions that have received this accreditation in Australia, and just 540 worldwide (less than 10 per cent of the world's business schools). This comes on the back of being ranked in the top six business/economics faculties for the DEST Learning and Teaching Performance Fund (2007).[7]
  • At the end of 2007 UTS became the first undergraduate CFA (Chartered Financial Analyst) Program Partner in Australia based on the Bachelor of Business with a major in Finance. The UTS Finance major is still the only undergraduate degree in Australia to be acknowledged by the CFA.[8]
  • In October 2007 UTS received the equal highest allocation of the "Learning and Teaching Performance Fund" alongside the University of Wollongong. The university received an A1 rating for all four discipline groupings (science, business, humanities and health).[9]
  • UTS has earned an EOWA (Employer of Choice for Women) citation every year since it was launched in 2001, and has been rated as a best practice organisation by EOWA for the past ten years.[10]
  • The Australian Graduate Survey results (2007) showed that 90% of Graduate School of Business graduates secure employment three months after graduating with an average starting salary of over $80,000 while the average salary for undergraduates were $50,760.
  • In 2008 UTS received the equal highest allocation of the "Learning and Teaching Performance Fund". The university received the highest rating for all four discipline groupings (science, business, humanities and health).[11]

[edit] Campuses

Haymarket Campus
Campus Address Location Map
Haymarket Quay St, Ultimo Road and Darling Drive City Map
Broadway Broadway, Harris St & Thomas St City Map
Kuring-gai Eton Road Lindfield Map
St. Leonards Reserve Road Artarmon Map

[edit] Campus architecture

Building 10, formerly known as the Fairfax Building

The University of Technology, Sydney is a unique mix of architectural styles reflecting the different periods in which the buildings and grounds were constructed and renovated. The famous 'Tower' building is an example of brutalist architecture with square and block concrete designs. Built following massive student protests in U.S. colleges like Berkeley and Kent State University, the building was designed to do away with large, outdoor areas and hence limit students' ability to stage large protests. The Haymarket campus (building 5) is a mix of Colonial and Modern and the recently completed buildings 4 and 6 are designed with high-tech architecture.

The East facing view from level 23 of the tower building

In October 2006, the university's tower building was voted by 23% of the total vote in a poll hosted by Sydney Morning Herald as ugliest building in Sydney.[12]

The University recently acquired the former Sydney Institute of Technology building that stands opposite to Building 10 (on Jones St) and adjacent to Building 2. This building was named Building 7, but was demolished to make way for an extension of Alumni Green.

Fairfax building


[edit] Libraries

The university provides two campus libraries: The Blake Library (City campus) and the George Muir Library (Kuring-Gai Campus). The Blake library is currently a 4 floor facility. Levels 4 and 5 are in the process of being re-furbished to create more learning spaces and room to house collections. The new library will be 'greener' as well with significant savings in energy usage.[13]

Alumni Green

[edit] Housing

The University offers modern, self-catering accommodation in four buildings named Gumal Ngurang, Geegal, Bulga Ngurra, and Blackfriars. Gumal Ngurang is the largest complex and is located on Broadway, just down the road from Bulga Ngurra.

[edit] Future infrastructure projects

2009 will see the construction of a new building on Broadway to house the Faculty of Engineering and Information Technology. In the medium term future UTS will make a significant investment in its facilities intending to create a world-class campus. This is part of the UTS City Campus Masterplan which was approved by the University Council in August 2008.[14] This plan which was unveiled to the public on January 19, 2009 will commence in mid 2009 and involve:[15]

  • New buildings: a nine-storey "gateway" building on Broadway adjacent to Building 10; a five-storey building facing Thomas St; and, a nine-storey building on the former Dairy Farmers site in Ultimo Road
  • New student housing in a multi-storey block to be built over the rear of Building 6
  • Extension of the Tower podium to create a new entry zone, improved Broadway street frontage and a "student commons" hub
  • Refurbishment of existing buildings, including a major reconfiguration of Building 2 to house an "integrated learning commons" comprising a new library and associated study spaces
  • The rejuvenation of Alumni Green, including the construction of a multi-purpose hall under its northern end
  • New intra-campus pedestrian networks, including the proposed closure of Jones St to create a pedestrian thoroughfare

[edit] Student life

The Bell Tower of the old markets building at the Haymerket Campus

The UTS Union[16] is the organisation which runs a range of on-campus student services, including food & beverage outlets, cultural activities, student social events, and is responsible for overseeing UTS clubs & societies, sports clubs and other recreational activities. The UTS gym has recently been renovated. The City Campus is home to two licensed bars, 'The Glasshouse' and 'The Loft'.

UTS has its own community radio station on campus, 2SER FM. The studio is located on level 26 of the UTS Tower and broadcasts to the entire Sydney region. The station is jointly owned by UTS and Macquarie University, with a second studio at Macquarie University. UTS Journalism students help produce the station's news and current affairs programs including "The Wire" and "Razors Edge".

The UTS Students' Association is the representative student organisation at UTS. It publishes the student newspaper, Vertigo, runs the second hand bookshop, and advocates on behalf of students both individually and collectively.

The UTS Writers' Anthology is the yearly creative writing anthology produced by UTS.

[edit] Notable alumni

[18]

[edit] Staff

[edit] Sports Clubs

The gold medal winning 2007 men's basketball team
  • UTS has a famous rowing club located at Haberfield. The UTS Rowing club produced all four crew members of the coxless fours at the 2000 Sydney Olympics and Julia Wilson, Monique Heinke and Victoria Roberts who were members of the team involved in the Sally Robbins controversy in 2004.[citation needed]
  • The UTS Hockey club is one of the biggest sporting clubs at UTS, playing in the top grades of men and women's hockey in NSW.[20]
  • The UTS Northern Suburbs Athletic Club competes in the Australian circuit and has produced many National Champions. They won the national championship in 2006 and became the first club from NSW to win.[23] Its athletes include Nick Bromley, Stuart Paterson and Tristan Garrett.
  • The UTS Volleyball Club is the largest university volleyball club in NSW. Both the Men's and Women's teams compete in the state's premier league - the Sydney League.[24]
  • The UTS Basketball Club compete in the Sydney Basketball League.

Other popular sports at the University include Ultimate Frisbee, touch rugby league and 5-a-side football. The general sporting colours at UTS are green and black.

UTS won the East Coast Challenge for the first time in 2008, winning both the 'Overall Points Score' and the 'Per Capita Champion Award'. Macquarie University finished 2nd and Sydney Uni 3rd.[25]

[edit] References

[edit] External links

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