Welcome

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Foreword from the Chancellor Foreword from the Vice-Chancellor and President Measuring our impact

Foreword from the Chancellor

It is my great honour to introduce the University of the Sunshine Coast’s Strategic Plan for 2025–2028.

This document reflects a vision not only of ambition but of responsibility— one that builds on our strong foundations and charts a path to even greater service to our communities and nation.

Throughout my career, I have been guided by the principles of service, leadership, and a commitment to the greater good. I see these same values embedded within this plan. UniSC is uniquely positioned to make an enduring impact through its dedication to equity, sustainability, and innovation. These principles are not abstract aspirations; they are the foundation upon which we will prepare future leaders, tackle global challenges, and support thriving communities.

This plan represents more than strategic objectives—it is a collective commitment. It reflects the voices of our staff, students, and partners who have helped shape its vision. Together, we will expand our global footprint, lead in sustainability, and ensure that UniSC continues to provide an educational experience that is second to none.

I am particularly inspired by the university’s focus on addressing the challenges of our time, from introducing a much-needed medical program for the Sunshine Coast to advancing research that improves lives and protects the planet. These endeavours demonstrate the vital role UniSC plays in fostering resilience, adaptability, and hope.

As we embark on this journey, I am reminded that success is never achieved in isolation. It will require each of us to embody the values of integrity, collaboration, and purpose. By working together, we will ensure that UniSC continues to inspire, innovate, and lead with distinction.

Sir Angus Houston AK, AFC (Ret’d)

Foreword from the Vice-Chancellor and President

The next ten years will be a pivotal time in the modern history of the University of the Sunshine Coast.

Established in 1996 as a small but aspiring university college, UniSC has grown to be a vibrant and nationally recognised institution founded on the idea of servicing its regions and transforming lives through learning and knowledge. Over the last 28 years, we have achieved remarkable success in equity, diversity, inclusion, and impact across a vibrant and expanding geographic and digital landscape. We have risen to our greatest heights yet with 17,843 enrolled students in 2023 and 39,758 awards conferred.

We are proud to be Queensland’s leading public university for undergraduate educational experience and are ranked second nationally among public universities. We also continue to hold a top-two position in Queensland for postgraduate educational experience.

UniSC has become a global champion for sustainability, recognised by the Times Higher Education Impact Ranking as the best in Queensland for zero hunger and climate action, and among the top 4 percent of universities around the world for impact. We are committed to driving meaningful progress toward the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Our approach to the development of our new strategy For A Better Tomorrow has been deeply consultative, to underpin our ambition to drive lasting, significant, and positive change. Consultation with the university community, staff and students provided every opportunity to engage and discuss ideas, critical challenges and opportunities that will shape the next ten years of our university. I commenced this process with the release of a discussion paper entitled Toward 2035 in April, followed by a series of benchmarking reports, consultation workshops and surveys, ideation sessions, leadership forums and planning days across every domain of our university.

This new strategic plan includes several new and unique features. We have revised our vision and purpose to reflect not just where we are heading, but who we are and how we work. This vision articulates our student success by design, world-class research, sustainability leadership and expanding global footprint.

Our renewed purpose is an unambiguous statement of our core objective to transform lives through learning and knowledge, in every place we operate and with every community we serve. This is a purpose that remains true to our founding idea while driving our future aspirations beyond geographic and technological boundaries.

We have redefined and simplified our values to ensure they are known, understood, and lived by everyone involved in our story. These values set the tone for our culture, decisions, and behaviours across the university: integrity, community, and sustainability. Our new plan aims to realise a ten-year vision, achieved through three implementation horizons, each four years in duration. To ensure our plan is realistic and achievable, we have taken a long-term view underpinned by careful planning, pragmatic implementation and a precise but simplified suite of performance measures.

Hallmarks of this approach include five-year strategies for enrolment growth, research development and partner engagement to underpin growth and maturity in these vital areas. We will implement a significant evolution to our learning and teaching model to meet the future needs of learners, adopt a new transnational education strategy, and a university-wide approach to strategic workforce planning.

We will deliver the first-ever medical program for the Sunshine Coast by 2030 and a ten-year strategic investment plan to transform our built environment, learning and teaching, research, digital, data and enabling services. I am extremely excited by the prospects of our new strategy and looking forward to working together across our university community to make a difference.

Professor Helen Bartlett

Measuring our impact

In addition to reporting on the implementation of the UniSC Strategic Plan, a number of additional reports are produced to support transparency and good governance in three key areas to measure: our economic and social impact, student success and equity, and in regard to our carbon management plan and net zero target.

Triennial Economic and Social Impact Report

This report aims to comprehensively assess our economic and social impact on the communities we serve. This report explores how we inspire our communities to engage with the University, build social licence, brand equity and activation of campus communities. The report provides a detailed analysis across a range of related metrics and is produced every three years.

Annual Student Success and Equity Report

The student success and equity report is produced on an annual basis both as a requirement of government and to assess the University’s performance against its goals in relation to student success and equity participation, participation in higher education in campus regions and catchment areas, access and achievement, including employment of UniSC graduates in their local community.

Annual Carbon Management Plan Report

The Carbon Management Plan (CMP) is the University’s roadmap to achieve carbon neutrality across Scopes 1, 2 and 3 and 100% renewable energy, as it moves toward its net zero target by 2050. This report provides additional information on the achievement of UniSC’s net zero and carbon neutral goals, targets, and key outcomes.

Acknowledgement of Country

UniSC is a place where Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people’s perspectives, culture and knowledge is acknowledged, valued, and respected. We share deep pride in, and seek to uplift, empower, and give a voice to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and perspectives. If you are an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander person, we encourage you to join the long tradition of trailblazers at UniSC, impacting our university and our world. We acknowledge the Traditional Custodians of the land on which we work and live, and recognise their continuing connection to land, water, and community. We pay our respects to Elders past, present and emerging.

Our Vision

Our aspiration over the next ten years is to adopt a challenger mindset and be globally recognised in the following domains:

A CHALLENGER

A challenger mindset is one where we embrace agility and adaptability when presented with uncertainty; we seek to go beyond traditional limitations; we are optimistic and entrepreneurial; we pursue goals which are larger than ourselves; we anticipate and prepare for future challenges and opportunities; and we create a better tomorrow for all, where integrity, sustainability and community define who we are and how we work.

Our Purpose

Our first campus opened its doors in 1996 on a 100-hectare parcel of land at the Sunshine Coast. Opening in 1996, as the first greenfield university to open since 1971, UniSC has had a significant impact in its regions, generating productivity, innovation, educational participation, and incredible social and economic benefit.

With 17,843 students who represent our diverse and inclusive global university community, UniSC has invested over $700 million in infrastructure and generated more than $9 billion to our local economy.

Our newest Queensland campus opened at Moreton Bay in 2020, partnering with the City of Moreton Bay to rapidly expand the local community’s access to quality higher education and to expand economic productivity. UniSC is a nationally significant intellectual, social, and economic asset which operates across three adjacent
UNESCO biosphere reserves in the state of Queensland. At the end of 2024, UniSC also opened a new campus in Adelaide, South Australia.

Operating under the Sunshine Coast University Act 1998, our core functions aim to provide education at university standard; provide facilities for, and encourage, study and research; encourage the advancement and development of knowledge, and its application to government, industry, commerce and the community; provide courses of study or instruction, at levels of achievement the Council considers appropriate, to meet the needs of the community; confer higher education awards; disseminate knowledge and promote scholarship; provide facilities and resources for the wellbeing of the University’s staff, students and other persons undertaking courses at the University; exploit commercially, for the University’s benefit, a facility or resource of the University, including, for example, study, research or knowledge, or the practical application of study, research or knowledge, belonging to the University, whether alone or
with others; and to perform other functions given to the University under its founding act or constitution.

Our strategic plan articulates UniSC’s future vision and direction, and how these ambitions will be realised. As an agency established in the state of Queensland, our strategic plan is undertaken in accordance with the Queensland Government Financial Accountability Act 2009, Financial and Performance Management Standard 2009, and Performance Management Framework, and as a registered higher education provider with the Commonwealth Higher Education Support Act 2003 and Higher Education Standards Framework (Threshold Standards) 2021.
In addition to this, UniSC implements this plan in accordance with the University’s Planning and Reporting Governing Policy.

Our purpose and vision express our sincere and long-standing commitment to making a positive difference in the lives of others. Our purpose describes our focus on genuine collaboration with our communities, taking a place-based approach that appreciates the unique character of our own university campuses and their social, cultural, and environmental landscape. Our purpose appreciates every place we operate within and serves all our communities, locally, nationally, and overseas.

Values

Our values are intended to represent our collective identity and guide our actions. Our values set the tone for our culture, decisions, and behaviours across the university.

Integrity Community Sustainability

Our Pillars and Goals

Enablers

Our people Our physical, digital and data assets Our operating model Our strategic partnerships and brands