What's Unique About The University of Sydney
Rob Malicki: I think I'd seen a stat which Sydney was one of the top in the world, was it not, off the top of my mind?
Shane Griffin: Yes, yes we were. I think it varies between one and four in the world. I'm not sure where we are at the moment. Extraordinary statistics. It is, yeah. And, look, we are Fortunate to be able to draw our student body from among the best and brightest right across the country and internationally, across the world.
Shane Griffin: And that's fantastic.
Rob Malicki: Good day and welcome to the Choosing Your Uni podcast. I'm Rob Malicki, coming to today from Garal Land in Sydney and. When you say the word university to me, the image that comes into my mind is the magnificent quadrangle building at the University of Sydney. And if you haven't seen it, it's worth googling because it's literally the iconic image of a university here in Australia.
Rob Malicki: A beautiful sandstone building, wonderful architecture, and it's simply iconic. But of course an institution is way more than just one building or one iconic image. There's a lot that goes under the hood. And so to that end, I'm joined today by Shane Griffin, who's the Associate Vice President at the University of Sydney, to dig into what really makes this place special and makes it tick.
Rob Malicki: Shane, thanks for joining me on the Choosing Your Uni podcast. No worries. Great to
Shane Griffin: be
Rob Malicki: here. I thought we might start just by talking about some of your experiences. You've had a couple of different uni study experiences. On reflection, what sort of stands out to you?
Shane Griffin: I think when I, I look back at how I started, I was the first in my family to go to university, how unprepared I was for what I was doing is what I reflect on.
Shane Griffin: I can still remember my student number from that first year and it dates you because the first two numbers were the year that you started, but 914410 was the number. And I ended up at the University of Adelaide because my friends were going there. And I had a bunch of friends who. Frankly, we're a bunch smarter than I was.
Shane Griffin: And they were going to university and that seemed like a much more appealing option than going out and getting a job. So I sort of followed them and I ended up doing a history degree at the University of Adelaide, loved it. I never really have left university since then, to be honest, I did an arts degree in history.
Shane Griffin: I went back a couple of years later and did an economics degree. And then many years later at UNSW, I did a Juris Doctor at UNSW. So I've worked at universities now for 20 plus years. So I love the institutions. I love the sector. I love my time there so much so that my, my mother still asks periodically if I'll ever leave the university and get a real job, but I keep telling her that this is now officially me.
Shane Griffin: My job, it's not just a pastime.
Rob Malicki: It's funny, isn't it, because universities are addictive places to work. You know, that energy when students, you know, when you walk in in February, and there's all the new students there, and it's buzzing. There's almost nothing like it anywhere in the world, is there?
Shane Griffin: No, and it's guaranteed to, you know, Make you recognize your own age and mortality because every year students turn up and they seem to be younger and you suddenly realize they're not.
Shane Griffin: It's just that you're older. But it is really quite the buzz on a campus in that first couple of weeks where students are finding their way around and meeting new friends and joining clubs and society. There is really quite nothing like that. It does take you back very quickly to your own time and your own experiences, uh, doing that.
Rob Malicki: It's so rewarding, isn't it? When you're on campus and you know that you're part of that experience, you're actually here to help people.
Shane Griffin: Yeah. That's right. Or, you know, in, I think I'm viewed by students wandering past as a confused old man, and they're not quite sure why they're manning a suit on campus, but it is their campus.
Shane Griffin: You know, we just work here, but the campus is for the students.
Rob Malicki: Well, let's talk about the University of Sydney, and maybe let's start with this main campus at Darlington, because there are, there are a number of University of Sydney campuses, but this is the main one. Maybe just describe what it's like to be on campus on a regular day.
Rob Malicki: During semester, what's the vibe like here?
Shane Griffin: Look, during semester, the vibe is lively. It's a big campus and there's a lot of students. I think the thing that people don't appreciate is just how big the campus is. Because you're right, the pictures everybody sees are the pictures of the quadrangle building.
Shane Griffin: Now we have a, a, a magnificent campus. It's a museum, the Chowchak Wing Museum, which sits directly opposite it, which is an amazing contrast in architectural styles. But that is just a part of a university and, you know, it runs all the way along Parramatta Road and then there's the colleges down near the hospital.
Shane Griffin: So it's a big parcel of land. It's on the other side of City Road, depending on what faculty, what discipline you're studying. You might have a completely different campus experience to, to a quadrangle experience. And that's good and bad. The quadrangle is beautiful, but it's old. And, you know, as, as I personally know, getting older has its complications, the same for the buildings.
Shane Griffin: So, you know, it's lovely to look at the quadrangle. Sometimes it's nicer to sit in the brand new buildings in the engineering faculty or the medicine faculty, but yeah, it can really vary quite a lot between the different places.
Rob Malicki: I suppose that is one of the, the things that. You notice when you first come to campus is of course, you've got this contrast between old and new and the facilities.
Rob Malicki: I mean, state of the art across so many disciplines.
Shane Griffin: Yeah. And that's the challenge universities have is we are desperately trying to give our students the best possible education that they can have. And the technology and the equipment and the facilities that are required to provide that education are constantly evolving.
Shane Griffin: So that's the challenge. We have new buildings and engineering on the other side of City Road down in the Gadigal Lawns, which have world class engineering equipment that I couldn't contemplate explaining because it's well outside my area of expertise. But you know, the university makes a huge investment in that equipment to make sure that students, when they come out as graduates, are properly trained in equipment that is at a level with, and in many cases, exceeding what they'll work with any sort of corporate world post graduation.
Rob Malicki: You've been here for a number of years now. So when I say to you, or ask you. What's unique about the Uni of Sydney? What's the first thing that comes to mind? I
Shane Griffin: think there's a couple of things. The history is one. And the history You see it in the buildings. You see it in the, in the knowledge. You know, everybody knows about the University of Sydney.
Shane Griffin: You don't have to explain who is the University of Sydney. So that history is one. I think the other big thing is the breadth. We teach everything from architecture to agriculture to engineering. To space engineering, to medicine, to veterinary studies, to dentistry studies. So whatever you are looking to study, it exists at the University of Sydney and that's a huge advantage, but it comes with the challenge for some students of trying to navigate their way around and having to make decisions about the difference between the different science degrees, which are not necessarily obvious just by their name, but require a bit of research.
Shane Griffin: So yeah, the breadth of program available is enormous, which is a huge advantage, but can be a challenge. be a bit overwhelming for some students until they start to do their research.
Rob Malicki: Just on that, in terms of changing between degrees, because obviously a lot of people, I can't remember what the statistic is, but it's quite a significant percentage of people, will start a degree and then will get to Uni, discover something else that really piques their interest and change.
Rob Malicki: How easy is that here?
Shane Griffin: It's relatively easy in a, it's, Again, it depends on the degree, you know, we obviously have programs like medicine and law that are in enormously high demand and a lot of students want to get in and there's a limited number of places. So there are opportunities to transfer into those degrees after first year and another degree, but there's not a lot of places.
Shane Griffin: So we need to be clear that it's a tough pathway and requires students to do exceptionally well. But for most other programs, it's entirely valid as an option and what we encourage as the main pathway options. So, my eldest son is in year 12 this year, he's going to university next year. and he has no idea what he wants to do.
Shane Griffin: He is, frankly, somewhat stressed about the fact that he doesn't know what he wants to do because his friends all know and they want to be in psychology and other programs. He doesn't have a clue. But the only advice I can give to him is start in a generalist degree like an arts degree or a liberal sciences degree or a commerce degree and then work out what you want to do after that because I didn't know when I started either.
Shane Griffin: I still don't know to a certain extent. But you can do a year in that degree and think what Oh, look, this is great. I found the rotbot I really like. And then trans, or you can transfer into another degree at the end. You just have to submit an application. You have to have passed your subjects or achieved a certain mark.
Shane Griffin: But it's an entirely viable option. A lot of students do it. And it's a really good way, if you don't know what you want to do, to start your university career. And I keep telling my own son, it is okay to not know what you want to do. Most people, I would suspect, don't know what they want to do when they start.
Shane Griffin: And university is a great place to find out what you like and what you don't like.
Rob Malicki: That's so true, isn't it? I remember looking at the student handbook, I went to Macquarie University for my undergrad and ended up in a general science degree and was looking through and went, oh, there's soils. Like, you can learn about soils and soil bacteria.
Rob Malicki: Like, it's just,
Shane Griffin: it becomes so niche and you never know what you're going to find. And I'm always amazed at the students who do know what they want to do. I once worked at another institution which had a range of different programs in material science and how someone knew at the age of 17 they wanted to do metallurgical science as opposed to mechanical sciences, I have no idea.
Shane Griffin: They do. And so I have a lot of admiration for people who have that drive in a particular discipline. I never did. And I think most students probably don't. They sort of find their way over time as they meander through the different opportunities that are available.
Rob Malicki: Your background is quite interesting because your first degrees were in history and economics.
Rob Malicki: Economics, which on paper, I mean, to me, I think it's a perfect combo, right? Like history is teaching about what's happened in the past. Economics is looking at evidence and looking at what human behavior and everything like that and looking towards the future. But that's quite an interesting combination.
Rob Malicki: What led you to choose those two?
Shane Griffin: I did the history. I really enjoyed history at school. And so I chose history. And I think in retrospect, I'd like to think that was a plan, but it was just, uh, fortuitous, I think. But it was the right thing to do was to follow what I really enjoyed because I would have struggled if I was doing something I didn't enjoy.
Shane Griffin: I loved history. I love modern European history. I did a degree in that. I also loved economics, but economics required a higher score and required back then mathematics, and I hadn't done the mathematics. And. After I enjoyed my first degree so much, I thought, well, I would rather now go and do an economics degree, which is quite different to a history degree.
Shane Griffin: But I look back now, I still do my referencing as I was taught in 1991 in my first year in my arts program. I still measure things with an economist's sort of hat on when I'm looking at what we're doing as an institution and how we go about it. Those two skills are both really, really important. And I know some, there's this sense sometimes that arts degrees are easy and other degrees are hard.
Shane Griffin: I got my poorest marks in my arts degree. I did much better in economics and law than I did studying history.
Rob Malicki: Yeah. It's funny, isn't it? So we've talked a little bit about how you can find your pathway by coming into uni and obviously University of Sydney, so much breadth, as you've said, starting with a general degree and then sort of narrowed down from there.
Rob Malicki: But what other ways, and maybe here we can, we can sort of touch on some of the things that are unique here at this university. What other ways do you think people can narrow down their choices?
Shane Griffin: I do think. The first thing to do is to consider what it is that really interests you. So, and again, it's hard to generalize because there are people who know from an early age, they desperately want to be an engineer.
Shane Griffin: That's what my friends all did. They all knew they wanted to be an engineer. I was always envious of them about having that certainty and they followed that path and they still work as engineers until today. But for others, it's not a known thing at all. And I think for those who don't know, the best thing you can do is find a pathway Where you are going to be doing things you think you are going to enjoy.
Shane Griffin: Because it can be a challenge. There's, I mean, there's always subjects I couldn't stand. Econometrics in economics. I'd still shudder at the thought of it. But I had to do it. But I didn't start with it. I started with the stuff that I really liked. And there'll be stuff that, you know, you'll find you don't like during the course of your degree.
Shane Griffin: And you can just navigate your way around into the right sort of areas. And I think too, It goes with what you want to do when you finish university. It's okay to not know what your career path is going to be at the end. You've got time to find that. It's a tough road for students coming out of high school, particularly at the moment, the students coming out of still, you know, they've been disrupted during their high school years.
Shane Griffin: That has had an impact, I think, on the student body that's coming in and their preparedness, and we're looking to help them as best we can. So, it's a tough road. Pick the area that you're really passionate about, is the thing I'd recommend to everybody.
Rob Malicki: One of the things that always strikes me when I come here on campus in the term time, is just the number of opportunities for students outside of class.
Rob Malicki: Clubs, societies, you mentioned museums just before. Like, just the sheer volume of opportunities to explore. Do you Talk a little bit about some of those opportunities that are available across campus that are non academic. Yeah.
Shane Griffin: Yeah, I think that is what I fell in love with the university for. There are so many clubs and societies on campus.
Shane Griffin: It doesn't matter how obscure your interest is. There will be a club for that at the University of Sydney. It is quite remarkable. There are clubs that are interested in K pop, in Dungeons and Dragons, in anime, in, um, every sport you can imagine, skiing. I mean, I have, I have three boys. My middle boy's coming into year 11, he'll be in year 11 next year.
Shane Griffin: And he's different to the other kids. He's into things that other kids aren't into. And I just keep saying to him, mate, get through school. Get to university. There'll be plenty others there who are into the, what I consider to be, odd things that you're into. And he will, he will find his tribe when he's at university.
Shane Griffin: So, I encourage everybody. Join as many clubs as you think are going to be relevant to you. It doesn't matter if you later drop out of that club or you find out that it's not for you. One of them will be. And it's just such a great way to meet people. Because, you know, people starting in first year, they've come from a school environment which is different to what a university environment's going to be like.
Shane Griffin: It's not as structured. And they need to find a new group of friends, a new social circle. And that can be difficult in an, you know, you, if, you know, A large institution has tens of thousands of students, so finding your group of friends early on is a great way to do it. And I mean, I always reflect, when I think back, when I started back at the very beginning, I made friends lining up to enrol, because in the old days you had to line up and there was big sheets of paper, and it was two and a half hours in a line waiting to enrol.
Shane Griffin: That's where I met my first friends, was lining up. Now everything's digital now, so that's not, Necessary and I sometimes reflect on whether we should bring back the queues just to get people talking to each other but the clubs are the best way to find the right people. Right group of people to be friends with and then when you're in the university Take advantage of other opportunities if you can so there will be opportunities to do moot courts in law There'll be opportunities to do international exchange or study abroad And they're often the experiences more than the classes themselves that people think are the best Uh, the transformational experience that they look back on and go, I had a great time at the University of Sydney.
Shane Griffin: And what I remember most is a six month placement at the University of Texas. That's brilliant because there's someone in Texas going, the best thing about my studies was I spent six months at the University of Sydney. So those opportunities, which aren't for everybody, but if they are for you, really grab them with both hands and give it a try.
Rob Malicki: Can we talk a little bit more about that international study experience for a moment? Because that's my background, honestly, in higher education. And I know the Uni of Sydney has got one of the most comprehensive international study offerings from all of the Australian universities. I mean, literally thousands of students come here to study, but then go and do a study tour in Malaysia or an internship in the USA.
Rob Malicki: How valuable is that for students?
Shane Griffin: Oh, look, it's critical and it's critical. Critical from a personal development sense, and it's also critical from a career development sense. So we have an ambition to have more than 50 percent of our students having an international experience while they're here. And we have a range of scholarships and awards to encourage students to do that if it's not within their means to do it.
Shane Griffin: And a lot of students do. We have a lot of students who go to the US, to Canada, to the UK, to Europe. We're really encouraging students to consider Asia as well. There's an increasing number of opportunities in India, in Southeast Asia that we really want students to do. Because that is who our business partners are going to be.
Shane Griffin: They are the people that we are going to be working with in the future. And the better understanding we have of other countries, cultures, and ways of experiencing life, the better off we're going to be in the future to, to manage those relationships. So we have a lot of students who do an exchange placement in China.
Shane Griffin: We have a growing number in India and Vietnam and other parts of Southeast Asia. And we really want to expand that because it's such a transformational experience. I don't think anyone comes back. without their perspective changed in some way from that time living overseas.
Rob Malicki: I love that. And the flip side of that coin is of course, international students here in Australia and University of Sydney is one of the most international institutions in the country.
Rob Malicki: And I love what you've just said, you know, this is the world. This is the working world that you're going to walk into, whether you're working in a school, whether you're working in a business, whether you're going into health, it doesn't matter. We're so globalized. So talk to me a little bit more about the internationalization that's going on.
Rob Malicki: people can expect to experience here on campus in Sydney.
Shane Griffin: Yeah. International students are a critically important part of our student body. All universities in Australia have gone down a path of accepting more international students. And those students contribute to the vitality of the classroom, they contribute financially to the university, and to enabling us to provide the facilities to our local students as well.
Shane Griffin: But it's important to note, no local students miss a place because of an international student. They supplement it.
Rob Malicki: Yeah, I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. Jump in there. I'm really glad you said that because that is such a myth that God knows where it started, but you know, I think it's probably one of those political things that comes up.
Rob Malicki: Yeah. So just reset, like no Australian student misses out on a spot because of an international student.
Shane Griffin: No, that's right. And look, we're looking at expanding how many students we can take from our local market from, from New South Wales and Sydney and how we can expand that to cohorts that haven't traditionally been, you know, they might be live further away from our campus than we are.
Shane Griffin: It makes it easier to get here. So. We've looked at scholarships to support students to be able to come in and join us. But our international students contribute to that classroom vitality. I think it's also worth noting too, there's a big split between undergraduate and postgraduate studies. So for most local students entering the university, they enter it at an undergraduate level.
Shane Griffin: And there's probably in the 30 odd percent of students who are international students at an undergraduate level. In postgraduate studies, there's some programs that are really popular with international students and they're really popular within their own international market. That's less relevant to us here.
Shane Griffin: They're not programs that are regarded in the same way. So it is good to get beyond some of the headlines about international, or the internationalization of Australian universities. They provide a lot of benefit in the classroom, and they are really valued members of our community and our campus community as well.
Rob Malicki: I think it's incredibly important for institutions, I mean, the vibrancy, as you've said, that is on campus because of that changed, increasing culture, you know, that we find is just so valuable. And yeah, I think it's a real advantage.
Shane Griffin: It makes the sort of international food fairs around campus that occur once a month all the better, I can promise you.
Shane Griffin: Whenever they appear outside my office and see the food trucks setting up, that's the day to head out and get your lunch. Yeah.
Rob Malicki: Can we talk about food for a second? Because one of the advantages, I think, or the unique things about the institution is its location. I mean, obviously here on campus, lots of different options, but just down the road there from the main campus, Newtown, I mean, yeah,
Shane Griffin: Newtown Glebe.
Shane Griffin: We're really lucky in that regard. We have. Chinatown off to one side, we have King Street extending up from the university, and King Street has some of the best sort of Thai and Vietnamese restaurants in the city. Then we have Glee Point Road just down the other side as well. So there is a huge range of options for students, and it is such a big thing.
Shane Griffin: We have a bunch of students from India here on scholarships, and every time they arrive, the first thing that hits them, the first thing that hits them is, element of shock that they confront is the food. And, uh, so we've sort of started to prepare them that it is not going to be as spicy as you used to, but here are some places that are so particularly if they're living in college with, uh, with local students, that can be somewhat of a challenge to them.
Shane Griffin: They find our diet a bit bland. It's fair to say, but yeah, the food's really important, but we are blessed to be surrounded by really great restaurants in every direction. So yeah, great for students to be able to get out and wander the streets around the uni.
Rob Malicki: You sort of mentioned living in this area and staying on campus, or sorry, living on college.
Rob Malicki: Do you want to talk a little bit about the accommodation options that are around here, the sort of things that people might expect to find as possibilities?
Shane Griffin: Yeah, so there's a range of accommodation options and we have colleges on campus, which are sort of independently run, but focus mainly on domestic students or local students and a lot of students from the country who come in to study with us will stay at a college.
Shane Griffin: They typically include room. Class board. So your meals as well. There's other university accommodation where you're paying for a room and they've got shared kitchens, and some have shared bathrooms, and then there's a lot of private accommodation as well. So there is a, the full suite of accommodation available in Australia.
Shane Griffin: It's still the case, most students. Drive or catch public transport to and from the university. And so that's fine. That's great. Uh, the public transport options are growing around New South Wales all the time. So it's getting easier and easier. I think it's like half an hour between our campus and Parramatta.
Shane Griffin: Um, so we are increasingly connected to the West and we're surrounded by Redfin station and Central station. So you can't be more. Centrally located in that. There's also the private accommodation market as well. So a number of students, often they'll start at the university, they'll stay in on university accommodation for the first year.
Shane Griffin: Then they typically make some friends, they might get a, a share house somewhere around Newtown or Glebe or somewhere else. But, you know, Sydney's a big city. I, I know it's not cheap to do that. It's not for everybody, but it is for, it is for some students.
Rob Malicki: Good day. It's Rob here. Hey, are you a parent or a carer of a student that's thinking of going to uni in the years ahead?
Rob Malicki: Did you know that Choosing Your Uni has a whole bunch of resources just for people like you? And you can find those at parents. choosingyouruni. com You're going to find things like links to our Facebook community, downloadable worksheets, and heaps of advice.
Rob Malicki: It's all the sort of stuff that you need to help guide your student on their journey to uni and beyond. Check it out now!
Rob Malicki: So, we've been talking quite a lot about the main campus here where we're recording today. What about some of the other campuses, because there are a number of other campuses, what are the other sort of main campuses that the institution has? So, sorry, the reason for the question is obviously some degrees are taught exclusively elsewhere.
Rob Malicki: That's what I'm trying to get to, is like,
Shane Griffin: so we have a number of programs that are taught outside of the Camperdown campus, so probably the biggest one would be the Conservatorium, so that's down in the Domain. Right near the Opera House in an absolutely magnificent building down there. That looks out over the harbour.
Shane Griffin: It is an amazing place to be able to study. But that's for our students interested in music. That's one of the bigger campuses that we have away from Camperdown. There's a shuttle bus that runs between the two campuses. We're about to open a new digital music program in Western Sydney in coming years.
Shane Griffin: So that'll be an exciting extension that's part of the Conservatorium, but it'll be at a different place again. That's scheduled to, to happen in a couple of years time. So we're really excited about that. We also, agriculture, they have farms. We have farms scattered around Sydney. There's a whole range of different places where you might end up depending on the nature of your degree.
Shane Griffin: It's funny, isn't it? It's like,
Rob Malicki: oh, it can even just marvel as I've driven around parts of Sydney, even parts of New South Wales, you'll be driving around and suddenly there'll be a sign up. That just says University of Sydney, blah, blah, blah.
Shane Griffin: Yeah. I get surprised myself sometimes. I was in a Lidcombe dropping someone off somewhere.
Shane Griffin: And as I drove past, I saw a university of Sydney. So I thought, there you go. We're at Lidcombe. Okay.
Rob Malicki: So we're talking about what's unique and a couple of things that I sort of picked up recently, firstly, the extraordinary ranking around sustainability, I think is, is huge, and that's obviously a massive issue for young people these days.
Rob Malicki: And then the other one you're talking about sort of social equity and, you You know, trying to increase the number of people from diverse backgrounds coming to university. Do you want to talk to a couple of those points?
Shane Griffin: Yeah. So sustainability is a big focus of the university. It's a big focus of all universities, but you know, we are large organizations and we have responsibilities in sustainability and we take them very seriously.
Shane Griffin: That is not only how we operate, but it's also how we teach and what we teach and how we prepare our students to be able to act in a sustainable manner when they graduate and about the breadth of the students. So, We recognized, you know, a few years ago, that we want to be the university for everybody.
Shane Griffin: In the sense that, we don't want anybody to not be able to come to the University of Sydney because of their circumstances that are not academic. If students want to come to the University of Sydney and they get the grades to do that, we want to be able to welcome them. And the challenge we have for some students is, In sort of the further away from the campus is that it's expensive.
Shane Griffin: So we came up with a scholarship program a couple of years ago called the My Sydney Scholarship Program, where for every student from a low SES background, that's the bottom 25 percent economic quartile, we'll provide them with a scholarship of 8, 000 for the duration of their degree. Now they don't have to do anything.
Shane Griffin: We will reach out and find them and say you are eligible for this scholarship, but that just offsets some of the costs, whether that be a deposit for. an apartment or a accommodation, whether that's for paying public transport costs, whether that's for textbooks, that's entirely up to the student what they want to do with it.
Shane Griffin: But we really want to open the university up to a broader range of students and over the last two years we've had that program in place, we've grown by over 30 percent from that cohort. So we're really pleased with how it's going and we're looking at what we can do. I should say too, it's not just the financial support, but the university puts a lot of support around those students when they start.
Shane Griffin: So connecting them with other students that they might know, connecting them within different, certain groups of the, of the university, making sure that they feel like this campus is, is their campus as much as anybody else's.
Rob Malicki: I think. Parents, who might be listening to this, and they know, you know, kids are finishing up year, or finishing up high school, or they're going to go off to university.
Rob Malicki: Obviously, career is, is one of those big considerations in the minds of, of parents. And universities these days do a lot to help students prepare for that next step. Beyond university, can you talk a little bit to what the University of Sydney is doing in terms of working integrated learning or opportunities like that?
Shane Griffin: Yes, most students who start at university are thinking about what their career is going to be when they finish from pretty early on, even if they don't know, they're thinking about how do I narrow it down to get to university. closer to what I think it might be. So we do a range of things. So there are work integrated learning opportunities.
Shane Griffin: So work integrated learning is where you will spend time in the workforce or with a company and what you learn in the company is integrated into your learning on campus and as part of your degree. It's a really great way to develop more skills. skills based learning and make yourself better prepared when you join the workforce.
Shane Griffin: So we have as many of those opportunities as we can. We work with companies across Sydney and New South Wales to make sure that our students are well placed. We have the advantage that our students are in really high demand. So our graduate employability rates are outstanding. We're really pleased about that.
Shane Griffin: It's a really important metric for us. I
Rob Malicki: think I'd seen a stat which Sydney was one of the top in the world. Was it not? Yes.
Shane Griffin: Yes, we were. I think that's I don't know, what is that, yeah. Varies between one and four in the world. Um, I'm not sure where we are at the moment. Extraordinary statistics. It is, yeah.
Shane Griffin: And look, we are fortunate to be able to draw our student body from among the best and brightest right across the country and internationally across the world. And that's fantastic, and that's important. an increasingly broad range of people. It's not just the smartest people from the private schools.
Shane Griffin: It's not just the smartest people from the selective school network. It's, it's really right across the state, which is fantastic. But work integrated learning is really important. Internships are really important as well. So we support students to find those internships. In some programs like engineering, every single student does a placement throughout the course of their degree that can be self sourced or that can be the university consistent in that as well.
Shane Griffin: So, yeah, there's a range of opportunities. And we really try and work To connect our students to the employer cohort.
Rob Malicki: If anyone's watching this on the video, the lights have just gone off on us in the meeting room. It's quite funny. Shane's just going to go and hit that button. So then we find ourselves in the dark.
Rob Malicki: There we go. And we're back. Let's talk a little bit more about. Uh, rankings because we've touched on it several times in preparation for this interview. I was just looking through the kind of current set of rankings 18th in the world at time of speak. That's unique but then also in individual discipline areas.
Rob Malicki: Extraordinary statistics.
Shane Griffin: Yeah. And look, Australian universities in general have done an outstanding job and it is a Credit to the education sector in general that Australian universities, per head of population, are ranked as highly as anywhere in the world. I think we have four universities in the top 20 in the world.
Shane Griffin: I think it's like eight or nine in the top 100. There are outstanding universities throughout Australia. Rankings in and of themselves don't mean much. There are a relative scale that give a sense of how you're performing compared to everybody else. It's a good indicator that you're on the right path, but in and of itself, it doesn't do much.
Shane Griffin: So we are still focused on how can we improve the student experience? How can we develop students such that they've got the right employability characteristics? How do we make sure that the students who come to us get that transformational experience that enables them to join the workforce and look back fondly on their time at the University of Sydney?
Rob Malicki: I think I've got one more question, which is, and feel free to take a moment before answering this, because as you said, it's a huge institution. Like, what's new here? What's new and exciting and different? It's been coming up or in the last couple of years or,
Shane Griffin: yeah. So there's a couple of things that are going to be different for next year for the University of Sydney.
Shane Griffin: One is we have a couple of new programs that are starting, well, combinations of existing programs. So we will have a program where you can do a combined degree In commerce and science and a combined degree in science and arts. So if you're not sure what you want to do, you can come out with two degrees in two different disciplines and you can enroll in that from the beginning.
Shane Griffin: So that's going to be a new thing for us for next year. I think the other thing that's new for us is we have had a mathematics prerequisite. for a long time. They are being removed from a number of programs for next year. That's not because maths is any less important. It's absolutely it's as important as it's ever been.
Shane Griffin: But New South Wales high schools have changed the mathematics process and so what we will be doing is rewarding students who have done mathematics with some what used to be called bonus points to add to their ATAR and also doing mathematics preparation courses when they arrive to help those students come through.
Shane Griffin: So if you think maths is going to stop me getting into university of sydney It's likely that's not the case anymore. So check the websites, check the UAC websites or wherever else you're going to be applying through, because there'll be a broader range of programs open to students without mathematics than what they have been previously.
Rob Malicki: Can we talk briefly then about early offers? This is important to quite a few students, as well as maybe different pathway options into the institution. So maybe early offers to begin with?
Shane Griffin: Yeah. We don't have as many early offers pathways as other institutions for us as a university. It's really important that students finish their studies, stay focused on their studies through high school and get the best possible marks in their exam.
Shane Griffin: I often think of it, you know, it's a bit like final year of university. You may have a job lined up, but it's still important. You finish your university, complete your degrees and graduate. We think of high school the same way. Now we have a couple of early offer programs, uh, where. Admission is based on another criteria.
Shane Griffin: So for audition for the conservatorium or for a portfolio for some of the architecture type programs, you know, where there's, we may be able to do early offers where we're not just waiting on an ATAR. But in general, we think it's really important students finish high school and finish their exams to the best of their ability.
Shane Griffin: They are going to need that knowledge when they get to university. So it's important that they actually get it while they're still at high school. For pathways, The main pathway into the University of Sydney, if you don't get into your dream degree, and the University of Sydney is the institution you really want to go to, the main pathway in is to do another degree and then transfer across.
Shane Griffin: A lot of the time, students will, I desperately want to be an engineer, but I haven't quite got the marks, so they might go in and do a, say, a science degree. Often they find that they love science and they'll stick with it, even though they were adamant they were going to be an engineer, but for those who still think, I really want to be that engineer, They can then look to transfer at the end of first year.
Shane Griffin: And a lot of those courses will transfer across and it's not a wasted year. It's because it'll count to their electives and other things that they need to do. That's the best way. That's the best pathway. And if you don't quite get what you want, another alternative is to start at another university and then you can transfer at the end of a year as well.
Shane Griffin: So we have a lot of students who really want to come to the University of Sydney, but may not have got the mark that they need to get into their preferred degree. They want to start in that preferred degree. So they might go and start somewhere else. They can always then apply. to come and join us at the end of a year and transfer across.
Shane Griffin: But again, often they'll find that found friends and they've enjoyed themselves and they're at another great university and that's fine as well. It's entirely up to them.
Rob Malicki: Yeah. We'll come and do your post grad here. Yeah, that's right. Yeah. I would absolutely consider coming here to do my, to do another master's level degree for sure.
Shane Griffin: Yeah. And I think. Having a postgrad experience that's different, not just in the nature of the studies, but where you studied is a really good way to do it. I mean, I did my undergrad in Adelaide. I did my postgrad at UNSW. It's a really different sort of sense of study and different stage of life. And I'm really glad I had different experiences.
Rob Malicki: Maybe just to finish up, we're coming up towards open day season here in Sydney. What sorts of things can people expect when they come to open day here at Uni of Sydney?
Shane Griffin: A lot of people. Um, so Ever since the, the lockdowns ended, number of people attending Open Day has just ballooned. It's been amazing. So it's a full day of activities.
Shane Griffin: It's a full day of academics here, providing advice to students that are coming in. It is, it can be almost a sensory overload and my members of the team I work in. It's an enormous event. It takes a full year to put together. But there are academics available from every program. There'll be activations around campus where you can see labs in action, where you can see experiments happening, mock courts, lectures.
Shane Griffin: It's all available to come and see. Most universities for their open day will have a plan your day section where you can look at what's available and I strongly suggest people do that. parents do that because often things will fill up on the day and we are bound by restrictions on how many people can be in a certain room and there are always people that are disappointed.
Shane Griffin: So use that facility, make sure you've planned your day out. It's always good to come early. It's always busy at lunchtime. You can almost tell when kids sports finished because you can feel the crowd come into the university and I say that as a parent who's done a lot of driving around to kids sport.
Shane Griffin: So yeah, if you can do it either early or late, there's nothing wrong with that. No difference as far as what's available. So make the most of your day and use public transport. The other thing I'd recommend as well.
Rob Malicki: What I wanted to ask you about was just the sheer, the uni represents society. I mean, we've just had, and this may be dates the episode a little bit, but we just had the sort of camp in protests about the war in the Middle East here on campus.
Rob Malicki: But this has also been the birthplace of the education of conservative prime ministers. Yeah. So you literally have this enormous diversity and everything in between.
Shane Griffin: Yes. Yeah. Yes, we do. Look, it is a very active campus, and I think that's one of the things that separates the University of Sydney from most other Australian universities is the level of activity around campus is far greater than it is in most places.
Shane Griffin: That's great. We live in some contentious times, and there are some really great things going on. Difficult global issues at the moment that the world is contending with, and the university is no different in how it has to respond to some of those contentious issues, and there are wildly differing views.
Shane Griffin: We manage that, we encourage open expression in an appropriate, safe, and non threatening manner, and we accommodate that. Descending Voices wherever we can, but it does add to the life and the vibrancy of the campus. But yeah, it's been an interesting six months or so.
Rob Malicki: It's society though, isn't it? I mean, that's what I find fascinating as an external observer and also once again, maybe dates the podcast, but the current vice chancellor is the former managing director of the ABC.
Rob Malicki: So obviously somebody who's adept in dealing with. Broad, diverse views and, uh, you know, creating still a harmonious organization that still works.
Shane Griffin: Yes. I don't envy him that role, if I'm honest. The university community is large and broad and not short of opinions. So everybody has an opinion. Very few of them are the same as someone else's opinion.
Shane Griffin: So that breadth of conversation and argument is really important part of what the campus is. But. Yeah. Thanks. It can make, uh, for a challenging management environment, I would imagine.
Rob Malicki: Yeah, but I think that's what one of the things I, once again, as an external, I, I really appreciate when I look at the Uni of Sydney and I think, you know, people will go there, they will find their place, they'll find their tribe, but they'll also have their views challenged because it's not just like a homogenous environment where everyone's going to be the same.
Rob Malicki: And I think that's such a healthy thing, regardless of whether you're from the left, the right, you know, you've got a view on this or that. It doesn't matter.
Shane Griffin: Yeah, that's right. I remember again of my time starting at university and I was incredibly strident in some views and I look back and thank God there was no social media around because it'd be on the permanent record some of the ridiculous things I argued in my time.
Shane Griffin: But everybody comes with a set of opinions and university is absolutely the place those opinions should be challenged because there are people with just as strongly felt opinions. from, from those that you come with, and you get to a better position by arguing your case, by making your points respectfully, and then having to justify your arguments.
Shane Griffin: Uh, and now I guess that's one of the big differences from a high school life to a university life is, the university isn't going to tell you what your opinions need to be, but you're going to have to justify why you think a certain way, because there'll be someone who's willing to have a, have an argument with you.
Rob Malicki: Wonderful. Well then, lastly Shane, student who's thinking about Choosing the Uni of Sydney, what's next?
Shane Griffin: I think get to a few open days, consider what you're interested in, what you're looking at studying, then look at where you might want to go and study it. So course first, university second, get to as many events as you can to learn about what you think you might be studying, attend open days.
Shane Griffin: The other thing is if you're applying through UAC, get your preferences in early and remember that preferences are that. You should put in as your first preference the course you really want to study. You might think I'm not going to get the marks required for that program, but you don't know. You may surprise yourself and you've got five preferences.
Shane Griffin: So if you don't get your first preference, you can get your second preference or your third preference. That's the way the system's designed. So put in your number one preference as the thing you really want to do. It is no different whether you get in on your first preference, your second, third or fourth.
Shane Griffin: The day after it's done. The other thing I'll say too, that applies to your ATAR. Your ATAR is critically important. For the next three months, and then pretty much no one's ever going to ask you about it again. So, once you're in, don't sweat too much on it. Try as hard as you can. There's a range of pathways into the programs that you're looking for, and there's so many good universities throughout Australia.
Shane Griffin: There is probably a pathway for you. It's just a matter of finding it. It is not worth stressing it to the point where You can't operate, just do your best, and then find your pathway through.
Rob Malicki: Shane Griffin, thanks for joining me on the Choosing Your Uni podcast.
Shane Griffin: No worries, great to be here, thanks.
Rob Malicki: At Choosing Your Uni, our mission is to make finding your ideal institution and your degree fun, easy, and stress free.
Rob Malicki: So if you're looking to save some time, to discover more, and to get personalised advice for every step of the way, Check out choosingyouruni. com Our theme music is composed by Parsha Shoghi and his band Flo and this episode has been researched and constructed on Garigal land in Sydney. Until next time, have yourself an awesome day.