Each year the Vice-Chancellor and President’s Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Awards acknowledge and celebrates UniSC staff, students, and graduates who have made an outstanding and demonstrable contribution to equity, diversity and inclusion within the university and/or its broader community over a sustained period of time.
Congratulations to this year's award recipients, and all nominees and previous recipients for their outstanding achievements and notable achievements to date.
Award categories
The Vice-Chancellor and President’s Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Committee assess all nominations for Inclusion Awards and Reconciliation Awards. Up to six awards may be made each year, although in exceptional circumstances the Committee may recommend additional awards be granted.
Nominations will be assessed on the basis of outstanding achievement in one or more of the following categories for each award:
| Inclusion Award |
| Sub Category: Developing teaching practice, curricula or learning environments that foster inclusion for a diverse range of students |
| Sub Category: Building and supporting inclusion and diversity at USC, fostering inclusive teams and positively influencing the working and/or learning environment |
| Sub Category: Enhancing cohesion and understanding in a diverse community for staff and/or students and/or community |
| Sub Category: Engaging with the wider community to encourage participation by disadvantaged groups |
| Reconciliation Award |
|
Sub Category: Commitment to building and promoting reconciliation between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians |
| Sub Category: Contributions to implementing strategies to increase the participation rate of Indigenous Australian students in higher education study |
| Sub Category: Contributions to implementing strategies to increase the number of Indigenous Australian academic and/or professional staff |
Selection criteria
The Vice-Chancellor and President's Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Award nominees are individuals who are acknowledged are working to an exceptionally high standard and with a significant impact within or beyond the scope of their role.
This impact could be defined by one or more of the following:
- Scale – large numbers of colleagues or students have been impacted by the individual's work or there is whole-of-institution change
- Depth – only a small number of people have been impacted but there have been significant positive changes for those individuals
- Duration – the individual's work (e.g. a project or initiative) is well-established with good metrics or it is more recent but has the potential to bring about long-term change
- Innovation – the individual's work (e.g. a project or initiative) is novel, is the first of its kind in the sector and/ or takes a creative approach
Nominated awards will be limited to a maximum of one award per individual or team every two years, except where the nomination clearly demonstrates the initiative, activity or program is different from the prior year. In this instance, the nomination will be referred to Committee to be considered.
Nomination process
Nominations are received by the Access and Diversity team and provided to a sub-committee of the Vice-Chancellor and President's Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Committee for judging.
The panel encourages nominations for initiatives, activities and programs that foster inclusion for a diverse range of staff, students and/or community.
This may include encouraging or enabling the participation of disadvantaged or underrepresented groups, or initiatives that make a significant contribution to reconciliation.
For further information, please contact diversityawards@usc.edu.au.