The University of Sydney

The University of Sydney is committed to:

  • high quality academic programs in the undergraduate sphere, taught by academic staff who are engaged in and thus informed by research, scholarship, professional practice and creative work relevant to their discipline;
  • support for research and research training whose success is measured against international standards in those academic units having the capacity and resources to engage in this activity. The volume of these activities should be large enough to allow the University to be numbered among the finest research universities in the world;
  • support for academic units that have the capacity to engage with the professions through a carefully judged mix of research and advanced professional training. Success in this area would be measured by both academic excellence and the level of support for these activities by the professions and the community.

The University is committed to ensuring quality in all its activities and demonstrates some of its significant achievements in this Quality Assurance and Improvement Plan. As is noted in the profile submission, it is undertaking a comprehensive review of its 1994-2004 University Plan with the development of new objectives and strategies.

In 1999, colleges and administrative groups will be asked to provide by June their complementary strategic plans for the period 1999-2004, incorporating a quality assurance and improvement plan. This latter plan should include preliminary qualitative and quantitative data that can be incorporated into the University’s educational profile submission for 2000-2002. Budget submissions will be required in August which will include preliminary operational plans for the coming year. In the year 2000 and thereafter colleges and administration groups will be expected to report performance against their strategic and quality assurance and improvement plans by February, providing the basis both for the Vice-Chancellor’s State of the University Report to Senate in March and the University’s Annual Report.

Teaching and learning

The University’s teaching and learning objectives include the following:

Students of quality: To attract, foster and graduate an increasing proportion of the most intellectually able students both local and international, including an agreed minimum proportion who have suffered social and educational disadvantage.

Strategies include providing advanced programs for specially talented students; scholarship schemes; special admissions schemes for disadvantaged students; improved provision of information for prospective students, parents and teachers; programs for ensuring effective transition from school to university; provision of adequate student support services; monitoring of progression rates; evaluation of teaching; and regular reviews of programs.

Indicator Outcomes
First preference

applications

The University attracts the largest number of University Admission Centre (UAC) first preferences of any University in New South Wales for its undergraduate programs commencing in 1998.
Median tertiary education rank (TER) In 1998 the University offered places to more students with a TER over 80 than any other University in the State.

The University’s median TER for new commencing undergraduate students increased from 82 in 1997 to 84 in 1998.
International students The proportion of international students has increased from 5.5% in 1995 to 7.9% in 1998 and is drawn from 55 different countries.
Proportion of Indigenous students The proportion of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students as a share of non-overseas students has increased each year since 1995, from 0.6% to 0.8% in 1997.
Access by NESB students The proportion of students with a non-English speaking background at 12% compares with an Australian average of 7%.
Participation by women in research The proportion of female postgraduate research students has increased from 47.6% in 1995 to 49.8% in 1997.

For the funded research projects that commenced in 1997, 26% of the Chief Investigators were women.
Composition of student population The proportion of full-time students has remained stable at approximately 73% between 1995 and 1997. (Australian average of 59%.)

The proportion of commencing students entering as recent school leavers has increased from 67.3% in 1995 to 75.6% in 1997.
Progress and retention rates Retention rates for undergraduate students at 81% and 82% in 1995 and 1996 respectively compare with the Australian average of 78%.

Progression rates for undergraduate students at 90% and 88% respectively in 1995 and 1996 compare with Australian averages of 86% and 85%.

The University’s undergraduate completions in 1995 and 1996 were the second highest in Australia.
Transition from school to university Students attending a student transition workshop and parents’ program adjusted better to university life and performed better than other students.

Challenging learning opportunities: To provide a rich diversity of formal and informal learning opportunities for all students that challenge them and so enable them to reach their full potential.

Informed curricula: To provide curricula that are informed by current research, scholarship, creative works and professional practice, are responsive to the needs of the many communities served by the University and result in graduates well equipped to contribute successfully both in the short and long term to the global society in which they live and work.

Strategies include commitment to the provision of a wide variety of course offerings, including opportunities for enrolment in combined degree programs and double major degrees; regular review of curricula with input from employers and the professions; development of generic and faculty specific attributes of graduates; and encouragement and support for innovative teaching.

Indicator Outcomes
Diversity of the University’s offerings The University is one of only three universities in Australia offering undergraduate and postgraduate courses in all 10 broad fields of study.

5893 units of study are offered in 609 degrees and diplomas.

Research degrees are offered through 17 faculties and over 100 departments.

The University includes by far the largest consortium of health science disciplines of any institution in Australia, Oceania and the Asian region.
Opportunities for advanced study Honours completions in 1997 made up 22% of total undergraduate completions.

In 1996 and 1997, 27% and 24% of graduates respectively went on to further study compared with 20% and 21% nationally.
Employment outcomes In 1996 and 1997, graduate full-time employment was respectively 80% and 81% compared with national averages of 76% and 75%.

The University has participated in the national Graduate Destination Survey since its inception in the 1970s and conducted its own survey for many years before that. In addition it conducts surveys at the faculty and departmental level and has recently conducted a pilot survey of corporate employers. In the Faculty of Health Sciences, for example, research was conducted to assess the perceptions of graduates, their teachers and employers regarding the adequacy of undergraduate preparation in meeting the demands of a changing health care environment. The concurrence of perceptions between these three groups informed curriculum development to better match the skills and attributes that graduates acquire as a result of their university education with the skills and attributes required of them in the workplace.

The University has developed a Statement of the Generic Attributes of Graduates printed as an appendix. Faculties add to this statement in respect of particular degree programs.

Committed teachers: To attract, develop and reward well qualified staff with a strong commitment to teaching informed by research and offer opportunities for teaching development.

Superior teaching environment: To foster an environment where quality and innovation in teaching and learning are valued and supported by appropriate resources and adequate recognition.

Superior learning environment: To strive to provide the best possible physical, social and learning support environment, incorporating extensive opportunities for access to information technology and recognising the multicultural nature of Australian society.

Strategies include incorporation of measures of teaching quality into internal funding mechanisms; a focus in the Capital Development Plan on provision of high quality space for teaching; significant investment in information technology (IT) improvement including improved access; and more explicit recognition of teaching in appointment and promotion decisions.

Indicator Outcomes
Student/staff ratios (SSRs) 1996 overall student staff ratio of 13 compares with national average of 16.

1996 SSRs are better than the national average in all 11 discipline groups.
Radical curriculum reforms Implementation of the now highly acclaimed graduate medical program with its innovative use of an intranet in support of problem-based, cooperative learning, the team primarily responsible being short-listed for an award in the inaugural National Teaching Awards in 1997.
Improvement in teaching facilities Continuing upgrading of general teaching space with expenditure of $10m since 1992 and upgrading of dedicated teaching spaces and laboratories.

Commencement of design of new auditorium complex with 1 x 500 seat auditorium/theatre, 1 x 200 lecture theatre, 14 x 40 seat tutorial rooms.

Completion of veterinary science conference centre.
Improvement in IT facilities 400% increase in University access modems. This is the largest facility offered by any Australian university to support off-campus access to resources on the University backbone.

Internet connection upgrade from 4Mbits/s to 16Mbits/s

200 more student open access workstations in 1998.

Course Experience Questionnaire

In 1996 and 1997, the proportion of first degree graduates expressing broad satisfaction on the good teaching scale was 69% and 73%; generic skills scale 83% and 84%; and overall satisfaction 85% and 86% respectively.

At an institutional level in 1997, the University of Sydney measured up well against the aggregated national means of 50.0 for these three items (respectively 49.5 for good teaching; 48.8 for generic skills; 48.7 for overall satisfaction) despite offering the most diverse range of disciplines (Nf=71) of any university in the country.

For the period 1995-97, the originally weakly performing discipline areas for good teaching of Accounting, Civil Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Medicine and Law have matched progressive national improvements in these fields.

Orange Agricultural College has performed strongly in comparison with national average scores in all three category items since it joined the University in 1994, a fact that serves to illustrate the value of a small, coherent institution serving a highly motivated mature age student entry.

Within the generalist Faculties of Arts and Science, several departments or schools with large enrolments (e.g. Biology, Geography, History) have performed strongly on all three items compared with national averages. Other departments (e.g. Anthropology) have performed strongly on all items, well exceeding national averages, while others (e.g. Archaeology) have demonstrated a strong improvement in Good Teaching outcomes between 1996-1997.

For the period 1995-97, progressive improvements in the overall satisfaction rating have been marked for the fields of Chemical Engineering, Civil Engineering, Mechanical Engineering and Law. In the case of Law, the University notes that 82.9% of its respondent 1995 graduate cohort are employed in professional legal work (compared with a national average of 72%); while 65.7% of respondents are in private legal practice (compared with the national average of 55%).

Research

The University’s research objectives include the following:

Research excellence: To encourage research of national and international standing in both existing and emerging areas.

Focused research support: To identify and enhance areas of excellence in basic, strategic and applied research, including the establishment of Centres that promote inter-disciplinary research and the participation in the application of research outcomes to the benefit of the community.

Researchers of distinction: To attract, encourage and reward staff, including research fellows and other research-only staff, with a demonstrated commitment to excellence in research, and to create opportunities for all staff to maximise their research output including opportunities for intellectual renewal through the provision of special studies programs and special duties overseas.

Researchers for tomorrow: To attract more students with research potential, to provide more support for research training and recognition for outstanding research students, to assist the transition of students into research based programs through opportunities provided within undergraduate programs, and to foster and reward skills and achievement in postgraduate supervision among university staff.

Strategies include the identification of areas of research strength and the prioritisation of areas for support; driving a significant proportion of internal funding through research performance indicators; provision of increased numbers of scholarships for research students; provision of additional dedicated space for postgraduates; and a continued focus on improved postgraduate supervision practices.

Indicator Outcomes
Performance in competitive grants The University received a 26% increase in the number of new Australian Research Council (ARC) grants from the 1996-97 round and a 35% increase in funds awarded.

The University this year has the highest success rate in the ARC large grants scheme in the Group of Eight (GO8) universities, an outstanding performance in attracting fellowships and in gaining Strategic Partnerships in Industry Research Training (SPIRT) funding for new grants. Its 80 new ARC large grants worth $13.7m over three years was the largest funding to any institution.

The University won the largest grant awarded by the National Health and Medical Research Council (NH&MRC) in 1998 amounting to $1m over its five year term.
Performance in relation to centres of excellence The University has two of the 19 Australian Special Research Centres (Astrophysics and Ecological Impact of Coastal Cities) and two of the 11 Key Centres of Teaching and Research (Transport Management and Microscopy and Microanalysis).
Research population The University has the largest research higher degree program in Australia: 3354 postgraduate research student enrolments in 1998, 3224 in 1995. In the same period research load increased from 2537 equivalent full-time student units (EFTSU) to 2623.

The number of postgraduate scholarship holders continues at over 1100 following increases made possible by the University’s U2000 program.

Research degrees awarded rose from 386 in 1995 to 458 in 1997.

In 1998 there are 90 postdoctoral fellows compared with 71 in 1997.
Application of research for community benefit The University is a participant in six of the nation’s 67 Cooperative Research Centres (CRCs)

The University, through its participation in the Australian Technology Park, promotes the incubation of small high tech companies.
Library expenditure Library expenditure per EFT population in 1996 and 1997 was higher than that of the GO8 universities with the exception of the Australian National University.

The University of Sydney library offers staff and students access to the largest on-line medical and health science literature service in the world.

 

Management

The University’s management objectives include the following:

Strategic planning: To develop improved capacities for strategic planning in all academic and administrative activities within the University that make effective use of management information as part of goal-setting, acknowledge quality assessment and assurance and incorporate interactive and consultative, fiscally responsible budget processes based on strategic academic goals and emerging priorities.

Superior management systems: To provide management systems, procedures and practices that effectively support the University's academic and administrative activities and allow effective devolution of management through the provision of clear delegations of authority, accountability requirements, training and readily available policies.

Service focus : To ensure the quality of service provision meets the agreed needs of students and staff.

Diversified funding base: To diversify and strengthen funding bases of the University and develop the capacity to accommodate changes in the funding environment.

Capital development plan: To develop and implement a capital development plan that balances effectively the needs for maintenance and renewal with the pressures for responses to changed needs and new technologies.

Strategies include completion in 1998 of a revised University Plan incorporating strategies that reflect current priorities; development of a budget process that more effectively links strategic planning and budgeting; implementation of new human resources, finance and student information systems; a review of how central administrative portfolios should be funded; introducing a mid-year intake of undergraduate students; expanding summer school activities; development and implementation of an overall management information strategy; and implementation of intranet support of business processes.

Indicator Outcomes
Institutional restructuring The University has successfully implemented new academic and administrative structures (17 faculties in three colleges and three administration groups).

Reviews of administrative units, such as the Office of Facilities Planning, have led to restructuring to achieve more effective provision of services.

Negotiations were successfully concluded in 1998 with the University of New South Wales leading to the merger of the two universities’ business schools.
Diversification of the funding base A summer school was held for the first time in 1998 with very positive outcomes as measured by a review.

Introduction of local undergraduate fee-paying students successfully managed.
Benchmarking Winner of the 1997 Outstanding Achievement in Public Sector Accounting Award from the Australian Society of Certified Practising Accountants.

Community service

The University interacts with a wide range of communities at local, regional, national and international levels. Its objectives in this area include:

Community leadership: To ensure that members of staff and students are encouraged, supported, recognised and rewarded for the assumption of leadership roles in the community.

Community support : To identify areas where the University is able to support the community through provision of expert services and resources and through engagement with alumni and its Foundations.

Influential contribution: To ensure the University plays an important role as an influential contributor to local, national and international debate.

Cultural focus: To enhance the role of the University as a cultural focus for the community in which it is located and to identify and maximise opportunities for the University to contribute its intellectual capital to relevant community events of local, national and international significance.

Strategies include establishing strategic links with key international universities; highlighting international achievements of staff; encouraging and supporting student exchange; developing links with schools to support teachers; and further opening of the University campus to the public including the development of enhanced sporting facilities.

Indicator

Outcomes
External links
  • University partnership with the Australian Brandenburg Orchestra
  • New links with schools in areas such as Science Alliance which is a partnership and support system between schools that have a record of excellence in science and mathematics and the Faculty of Science.
  • 56 exchange students went to 21 universities in 12 different countries.
  • Inaugural member of the Association of Pacific Rim Universities.
Provision of services to the community
  • The Centre for Continuing Education enrolled more than 18 000 students in over 1000 courses in 1997.
  • A publication produced to highlight contributions of the University to health development in developing countries.
Alumni satisfaction
  • The University annual appeal raised $200 000 more in 1997 than in 1996 with half of the funding raised being directed towards student scholarships
Cultural focus
  • The Sydney Conservatorium of Music presented over 300 public events during 1997 to an audience of over 20 000.
  • Public forums organised by the Research Institute for Humanities and Social Sciences have been held on Wik and on Divided Work, Divided Society.

Quality assurance

This plan has largely presented institutional indicators of performance. However in this very large and diverse institution quality assurance and improvement are addressed at all levels. Many performance indicators are most useful when an examination is being made of how successful, for example, individual programs of study have been, and such indicators are determined and published through the Web. Comprehensive policy documents are also maintained on the Web allowing access both within the University and externally. Flowing from these policies are internal reporting requirements through the successive governance levels of the institution, for example, from individual course coordinator, through department, faculty, Academic Board committees and the Academic Board itself to the University’s Senate.

Contact

Professor Ken Eltis, Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Planning and Resources)

Tel: (02) 9351 4796

Fax: (02) 9351 4177

Email: k.eltis@vcc.usyd.edu.au

 

Appendix

Generic Attributes of Graduates

The University has adopted the following statement of the generic attributes of graduates. Individual faculties add to these generic attributes in respect of their own degree programs.

"As a result of completing any undergraduate degree course at the University of Sydney graduates will be more employable, more able to cope with change and more developed as people. In specific terms, graduates of any faculty, board of studies or college of the University should have:

1. Knowledge skills

Graduates should

  • have a body of knowledge in the field(s) studied;
  • be able to apply theory to practice in familiar and unfamiliar situations;
  • be able to identify, access, organise and communicate knowledge in both written and oral English;
  • have an appreciation of the requirements and characteristics of scholarship and research; and
  • have the ability to use appropriate technologies in furthering all of the above.

2. Thinking skills

Graduates should

  • be able to exercise critical judgement;
  • be capable of rigorous and independent thinking;
  • be able to account for their decisions;
  • be realistic self evaluators;
  • adopt a problem solving approach; and
  • be creative and imaginative thinkers.

3. Personal skills

Graduates should have

  • the capacity for and a commitment to life-long learning;
  • the ability to plan and achieve goals in both the personal and the professional sphere; and
  • the ability to work with others.

4. Personal attributes

Graduates should

  • strive for tolerance and integrity; and
  • acknowledge their personal responsibility for their own value judgements and their ethical behaviour towards others.

5. Practical skills

Graduates should

  • be able to use information technology for professional and personal development;
  • and, where appropriate, be able to:
  • collect, correlate, display, analyse and report observations;
  • apply experimentally-obtained results to new situations;
  • test hypotheses experimentally; and
  • apply technical skills appropriate to their discipline."

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