24 April 2020: “The way forward is together.” New University of Canberra Vice-Chancellor and President, Professor Paddy Nixon, plotted the course for UC’s pivotal role in the ACT region’s post-COVID-19 recovery and resilience—with a focus on education for all and community connection.
Professor Paddy Nixon began his tenure as the sixth Vice-Chancellor and President of the University of Canberra on Monday 6 April.
Professor Nixon has addressed staff at the first virtual Town Hall as the University unites to demonstrate its contribution to Canberra and the region by supporting students, industry, partners and the wider community through the COVID-19 pandemic and its health, social and economic ramifications.
“Although this pandemic has created uncertainty, higher education and reskilling can provide new opportunities and positive potential for the future,” Professor Nixon said.
The University of Canberra is implementing six-month short courses in areas of national priority such as health, digital communications and IT, with further opportunities in other areas to be rolled out from June.
“No Year 12 student—or anyone looking to reskill for life-long learning—will be left behind, with many alternative pathways for higher education,” said Professor Nixon.
“Here at the University of Canberra, we don’t believe ATAR scores provide the full picture, and we want to ensure that students out there who have the will to study and the initiative to work hard and apply themselves at university will have the opportunity to do so.”
The UC Uplift program offers well-established pathways, other than ATAR scores, to access higher education and ensure equal opportunities for all through the Schools Recommendation Scheme; the Educational Access Scheme; the Portfolio Entry Scheme and entry pathways for professionals. UC will deliver a special early offer round in August based on the principles of the Schools Recommendations Scheme (SRS).
Professor Nixon called on the collective innovation of the University to continue to create solutions-based ideas and new models for place-based connection. Professor Nixon extended the theme to reflect on the contribution that the University had been working in lock-step with the Canberra community in the bushfire recovery and pandemic effort.
“The way that UC has stepped up to support Canberra and the ACT region is nothing short of extraordinary. From providing senior nursing staff to key roles to assisting the transition to teaching online in our schools, UC has been working with our community every challenging step of the way.”
UC has mobilised support and expertise in response to key areas such as health, education and business recovery through:
- Senior skilled health academic staff seconded to Canberra Health Services to support the COVID-19 health services response;
- Health discipline students taking up roles in the surge workforce with many moving into employment as Assistants in Nursing, Diagnostic Radiography, Pharmacy, Pathology and other allied health areas;
- Students undertaking voluntary training and work to assist with contact tracing of instances of and response to COVID-19;
- Providing advice to the ACT Education Directorate on its transition to online teaching in ACT schools;
- Working with the ACT Education Directorate and the Teacher Quality Institute on a new placement model where students work in partnership with school teachers to deliver online teaching;
- Working to develop a suite of short courses to support members of the Canberra community unemployed and underemployed to upskill towards more secure employment in priority areas;
- Offering expertise and services to businesses experiencing difficulties following the bushfires and further impacted by the COVID-19 crisis; and
- Converting the Small Business Legal Advice clinic to an online forum, offering legal advice via phone or video consultations to small business clients in the region.
A technologist and computer scientist, Paddy Nixon joins the University of Canberra from the multi-campus Ulster University, Ireland, where he championed the ethos of a ‘civic university’ and the critical role that higher education plays in the broader community.
Professor Nixon also acknowledged the service of Interim Vice-Chancellor and President, Belinda Robinson, for guiding the university through an unprecedented time of intense external forces from January to April—from bushfires and hailstorms, to the transition to a virtual campus due to the pandemic.