The University of the Sunshine Coast has revealed its four-year strategic plan and ten-year vision, with flexibility for students and enrolment growth among its ambitions.
The plan, called For a Better Tomorrow, is now available to the public after staff, student and community consultation.
It places strong focus on offering flexibility and choice for students, and building global partnerships that benefit students and researchers.
Vice-Chancellor and president Professor Helen Bartlett said one of the most important changes was to the flexibility of study options.
“From 2026, students will be able to choose between fast-tracking their program or pacing it over time to fit around their lifestyle, through a mix of online and in-person teaching,” she said.
“We already have some of the country’s best outcomes for student experience, but we talk to our students and prospective students and we know that we can do even better. That is why our new learning and teaching model puts the student at the centre, where they have more options to learn at their own pace.
“Another focus for us will be sustained enrolment growth underpinned by research development and partner engagement.”
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Professor Bartlett said the next decade would be a “pivotal time” for the university, which began in 1996 on the Sunshine Coast, before adding campuses at Fraser Coast, Gympie, Caboolture, Moreton Bay and Adelaide. It now has almost 19,000 current students and has conferred 39,758 graduate awards.
“UniSC has doubled in size over the last 10 years and is now well-positioned for continued sustainable growth as we respond to the needs of our growing communities,” she said.
“Covid affected all Australian universities, and it is incredibly gratifying that we have recovered our trajectory and have seen an uplift in international and domestic student numbers, as well as a surge towards our online offering.
“This plan is our roadmap for how we are to transform our built environment, learning and teaching, research, digital, data and enabling services to ensure we are growing in the ways that our community needs.”
In the last year alone, UniSC opened three additional modern campus buildings at Moreton Bay, launched the National PTSD Research Centre and opened a campus in Adelaide while securing major funding for research projects.
It also announced its first-ever end-to-end medical program would be available by 2030 in a major step towards addressing doctor shortages on the Sunshine Coast.
“Underpinned by careful planning, pragmatic implementation and a suite of performance measures, this plan is the key to how we will continue to serve our communities now and well into the future,” Professor Bartlett said.
