News Archive

Colleagues,

In building on UWA's vision of international engagement and development, this month a number of senior staff, including myself, will embark on an overseas trip to the US, UK and China.

By following the example of other top 100 ranking universities, UWA recognises that our international alumni have much to offer.

We want to engage our alumni when building UWA's vision for the future; we want to be relevant in their lives -  to show how we are addressing some of the important issues they care about and providing network connections that will enrich their lives; we want to add value, in the same way we hope they will add value to the University and the broader community.

As public funding continues to be restricted, UWA as a provider of high quality education must diversify its income streams from both domestic and international sources. Since the establishment of the University's New Century Campaign , more than half of the $215m raised has come from alumni.

As part of this trip, we will be hosting alumni receptions in London, New York and Shanghai as well as a roundtable in Hong Kong which will allow us to talk to alumni about important factors such as graduate experiences, industry engagement and the future direction of the University.

Another important aspect of this trip is the internationalisation of the University's education programs, particularly in China. These programs provide immense opportunities for both staff and students.

The quality of research and education in China is on the rise and the relationships we have and are developing will be crucial to our ability to maintain our standing among the world's leading universities.

On this trip we will visit Southwest University, with which we propose to establish arrangements that will see 500 students each year enrolling in courses that offer them a pathway to UWA in engineering, accounting, economics, biology or media.  Entry into this pathway will require students to have an ATAR equivalent of at least 95.

This initiative is part of an engagement strategy with China that is designed to bring more highly qualified students to UWA.  Doing this through relationships with leading universities such as Zhejiang, Nanjing, USTC, Beijing, Southwest, Shandong and others allows us to build strong relationships between our staff and staff at these universities as well as at the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences.

I look forward to updating you when I return on the new opportunities that are created from this trip.

Paul Johnson

Vice-Chancellor