THE University of Newcastle has taken top honours in two categories in the 2024 Financial Review Higher Education Awards.
The awards recognise and celebrate the efforts of Australian universities during the past year across eight different categories which include; community engagement, emerging leadership, employability, industry engagement, equity and access, research commercialisation, and teaching and learning excellence.
UON's Teachers and Teaching Research Centre won the Community Engagement category for its quality teaching rounds at Cessnock High School.
Collaboration with one of NSW's most disadvantaged high schools with almost 70 per cent of students in the lowest socio-economic status, centred on delivering better outcomes for students and the community.
Focusing on quality teaching and quality relationships with students, principal Peter Riley saw an immediate difference in student engagement and learning outcomes.
"We're very proud of where we've got to. There's always work to do but we are making a difference in our school," he said.
The university was also the winner in the Equity and Access category with its Pathways and Academic Learning Support (PALS) Centre.
For 50 years, the Open Foundation has offered students from diverse backgrounds a tertiary education experience and is Australia's first enabling pathways program.
Over 70,000 students have participated in PALS enabling programs and each year one in five commencing undergrad students enter PALS.
UON Vice-Chancellor Alex Zelinsky said to win two out of the eight national awards was outstanding.
"We already know that our staff are high achievers delivering world-class work, but to hear others recognising their calibre is even more special," he said.
"Our University is proud of what we do and we are proud to be a university for our region. Our pathway programs and Quality Teaching Rounds are examples of the tangible differences our staff are making in our community."
"For 50 years, we have set the bar when it comes to pathway programs, including Open Foundation, and our staff have changed thousands of lives in the process. QTR is having a similar impact - the fantastic work of our staff has had a tremendous impact on learning outcomes for Cessnock High and it's incredible to see this now being rolled out to some of the most disadvantaged schools in the state."
An awards night to celebrate the achievements was held at The Fullerton Hotel Sydney on Tuesday evening, August 20.
