From the Vice-Chancellor: Every day is Open Day

Vice-Chancellor

Community engagement at the University of Adelaide is an intrinsic part of our campus culture.

Everything we do is undertaken in partnership, with the community, with other educational institutions, with government at all levels and with industry.

It is absolutely vital to our continued development as a higher learning institution that we engage with the South Australian community and harvest the potential of our shared problem-solving capacity.

A contemporary university should not stand apart from the community but be an integral part of it.

Our University is the intellectual heart of the city. A city that embraces learning and is deeply proud of its tradition of scholarly achievement at home and across the globe.

We are very fortunate to be in a position where we can offer the University community and the people of South Australia access to some of the city's most outstanding resources, including libraries, arts spaces and sporting grounds.

But true community engagement is much more than sharing facilities.

The idea that universities exist in a rarefied bubble of intellectual cogitation could not be further from the truth.

The University of Adelaide is a member of the Australian Universities Community Engagement Alliance. Together with other enlightened institutions that recognise the benefits to be derived from integrated community engagement, we are working to enhance our access and collaborations through a range of initiatives.

Our engagement encompasses all aspects of University life - research, learning and teaching, student experiences, volunteerism, cultural and sporting activities.

For example, the community is a major partner in our research journey. The public interest in and support for our research portfolio is astonishing. As an institution, we work hard not only to share the outcomes of our endeavours but also to involve the community as part of that process of discovery.

This may be through the recruitment of volunteers for studies or clinical trials, interaction with local schools and businesses or participation in consultation and market research. This is encapsulated in our public lecture series, Research Tuesdays, which provides a valuable arena for the University and the community to meet and discuss how our research may potentially affect their lives.

South Australians are wonderfully curious people. They are proud of their state's tradition of learning and relish the opportunity to be involved in fostering education and innovation.

So, it comes as no surprise that one of the most well-known and tangible areas in which the University and the community come together continues to be through our many general public events and activities.

The University's annual Open Day is undoubtedly a highlight of the academic year. It is a special day for past and present staff and students as they showcase their achievements to more than 15,000 people who visit the North Terrace precinct. It is also the perfect opportunity to introduce the next generation of students, their families and friends to campus life and learning.

I believe it is a privilege for us to share our facilities, our expertise and ideas and our vision with the community. This allows us to harness and reinvest the community goodwill that has sustained the University for more than 130 years.

Community engagement, in all its manifestations, will always be a fundamental part of the University of Adelaide. It underpins our research and teaching and enhances the experience of those who study, work and visit our campuses.

Quite simply, every day at the University of Adelaide is Open Day.

I do hope you will join us this year on Sunday 15 August.

PROFESSOR JAMES A. McWHA
Vice-Chancellor and President