UOW reaffirms excellent teaching, learning reputation
The University of Wollongong’s (UOW) standing among Australia’s leading teaching and learning institutions has been reaffirmed, receiving five stars and ranking ahead of all other NSW universities in several categories in the 2020 Good Universities Guide.
The annual publication, released on Tuesday 1 October, ranked UOW first in NSW and gave five-star ratings for the categories of Staff Qualifications, Skills Development, Learning Resources and Learner Engagement.
UOW ranking first in NSW for Staff Qualifications means UOW has a greater proportion of staff who hold a masters or doctoral degree than all other NSW universities.
The rankings reveal UOW students are more satisfied with the skills they develop during their studies, the learning resources they are provided with and how engaged they and their fellow students are in learning than at any other NSW university.
UOW also received the highest possible rating of five stars for the critical category of Student Support.
This rating indicates high levels of student satisfaction with the support they receive from the institution, including efficient enrolment and admission processes, helpful orientation activities and helpful staff, including career advisers and academics.
The University also achieved outstanding ratings in the specific subject areas of Creative Arts, Teacher Education, Agriculture and Environmental Studies, Business and Management, Law and Paralegal Studies, and Engineering. UOW achieved outstanding graduate outcome results in Medicine, Computing and Information Systems and Nursing.
Creative arts students at UOW are more satisfied with their skills development, learner engagement, teaching quality and overall quality of educational experience than students at all other Australian universities.
In Teacher Education, UOW leads the way nationally in its learning resources and is ahead of all NSW universities in the overall quality of educational experience and skills development.
Students studying programs in the Agriculture and Environmental Studies category at UOW report Australia’s highest satisfaction with their learner engagement, teaching quality, skills development and overall quality of educational experience.
UOW’s Business and Management students are NSW’s most satisfied with regard to their Learning Resources and Skills Development.
UOW’s Engineering students boast NSW’s best median salary after graduation, while its Medicine graduates achieved a nation-leading 100 per cent full-time employment rate.
UOW Vice-Chancellor, Professor Paul Wellings CBE, said this year’s impressive results were yet another confirmation of UOW’s commitment to its students.
“I want to acknowledge all staff for their unswerving commitment to excellence in teaching and learning.
“The support our students receive through teaching, resources and skills development is a testament to the hard work of our staff at every level.
“Our students thrive in intellectually challenging programs and graduate prepared for careers that allow them to make a positive impact on the community.”
The results also show that 76 per cent of UOW graduates are employed full time within four months of completing their course, which is above the national average.
The announcement comes weeks after in the Times Higher Education World University rankings, where UOW rose from 243 to 238 in the world.
