Pulse recently caught up with Head of School of Law, Professor Michael Adams, to learn more about his new role as Academic Director of the UNE Sydney campus.
Prof. Adams was a long-term academic at the University of Technology Sydney and rose up through the academic ranks to become a full professor in 2000. He then relocated to the University of Western Sydney as Dean of Law, where he learned about management, finance, HR and strategic planning across teaching, research, community engagement and international.
He arrived at UNE in 2019 – initially for one year – to help the Law School after major structural changes at the university before unforeseen events took over.
“Little did we know the pandemic would strike the world. Luckily Armidale was an amazing place to be during that difficult period. It will nearly be five years at the end of 2023, and moving back to Sydney was personally very important as my daughter Jessica is having a baby, my first grandchild, due very soon. I did not want to miss out on this major life event. Work is important but family and friendship are critical to our wellbeing. UNE is a very special place to work and be actively involved with and for the benefit of all our students and alumni.”
What does your role as Academic Director UNE Sydney involve?
I envisage the role as the traditional Provost position of a campus, which means ‘overseer’. My main role is to represent the Vice-Chancellor in Sydney. This has involved attending an awards ceremony for international students or attending a culture event in Parramatta. The Sydney campus has a Campus Manager, Leisa Rayner, and next to my office is Sue-Ellen Hogan, who is Director of UNE Metro and Regions. So, my role has an academic focus rather than on the professional, administrative and organisational side of the UNE business e.g. any academic across all UNE’s faculties can have confidential conversations about academic matters with me, which naturally leads to some mentoring roles and academic-career progression.
I often deal with external stakeholders from the private colleges we partner with, orthe local chambers of commerce and other professional groups. It is a real honour to not just represent the Law School, and in turn the Faculty of Science, Agriculture, Business and Law, but the whole of the University of New England. It is an opportunity to be the single point of contact for UNE in Sydney, so that I can then connect an external party with the relevant people within UNE. Sue-Ellen and I work closely in partnership on these issues.
How would you describe the UNE Sydney student cohort and academic offerings?
The UNE student cohort is very diverse and has been growing steadily since the then Future Campus was officially opened in 2013. Over the last two trimesters enrolments have increased by over 200 enrolments per trimester.
There are mainly two groups of students: those who are enrolled online like the majority of UNE students. For these students the Sydney campus provides a supportive environment where they can learn new skills, use the library, find support for tech issues or receive academic input. There are also over 500 students (mostly international or post-graduate) who are enrolled in degrees and have to be on campus either in intensive mode or regular weekly classes. There is also a large, and growing, cohort of nursing students.
On offer are a number of SABL courses from the MBA to the new Master of Cyber Security. HASSE is also developing new courses for this market. There are approximately 25-30 academic staff based at Parramatta from the three faculties.
Given the aggressive expansion of other universities in that area, what are our top priorities for UNE Sydney?
Getting the right balance between supporting our existing online UNE students and providing high quality on campus experience for our postgraduate and international students is critical. Yes, there is a lot of local competition, but the nursing courses we offer are of outstanding quality and the business programs are well known. I also believe enrolments in the new AI and cyber security qualifications will continue to grow.
What are the biggest challenges you have to content with?
Currently, the UNE Sydney campus is split over three buildings. The original 211 Church Street is a lovely old building and the majority of professional staff are based there. It has a few classrooms and breakout rooms, but it is small and not sufficient for the campus growth.
At 100 George Street, level 4, we have six state-of-the-art classrooms, which are flexible in configuration to accommodate 25 students or 60 or 100. These rooms have the latest audio-visual equipment so classes can be hybrid, combing face-to-face with online students. These classrooms are fully booked out and Leisa does an amazing job to manage all the regular bookings plus the intensive schools or other demands for teaching space.
When the NSW Government decided to build the new Metro (light-rail) in Church Street, our old teaching spaces opposite 211 Church was requisitioned by the government for the new Parramatta Metro station. This meant UNE had to find a new long-term lease in Parramatta. The old NAB bank was leased but it needs a major re-fit to make it appropriate for educational purposes. It has taken time to get designers and architects to come up with a detailed plan, as well as select builders and other suppliers to transform this old building. There have been many meetings with the Steering Committee, the Users of the Building, senior executives and UNE Council. The end result is that the DA (development application) has been lodged with the Parramatta City Council and, once approved, the builders can start work on level 1 and the ground level. Level 2 is already fitted out as office space, and has a number of offices, breakout rooms and big open-office space. On most days there will be 5-10 academics at their desks and a number teaching at the Nursing Clinical Simulation labs or at the teaching spaces at 100 George Street.
Level 3 is part of Stage 2, which will see more simulation labs as well as the roof top and basement designed as student areas. The ground floor will have a concierge and space to students. The ground floor will have a future hi-tech TEDx style lecture theatre for classes, major events and professional services activities. The designs are exciting and bold – between an up-market hotel and cool student spaces. The biggest frustration is having to wait until T2, 2024 to launch Stage 1 and an unclear timeline for Stage 2. But having the builders ready to go and all the designs completed, makes it a very exciting time to discuss UNE in Sydney.
How do you balance your role as Head of School of Law with that of Academic Director?
That is a great question – to be honest, I initially found it overwhelming and was concerned that I was not giving sufficient attention to the Head of UNE Law School role – I am officially three days Law and two days Sydney campus. After positive discussions with the Dean of SABL and the Deputy Vice-Chancellor, it was agreed that Professor Mark Perry would take the two spare days as a Joint Head of School. This has been a great relief and we work as a close team. It does mean I can focus on the dual roles in a clearer way – during 2024 this will transform again with my focus on Sydney, as 28 George Street is completed and in a law professor role, rather than Head of School. There are more details to work out, but I feel very supported by the University senior leadership team, as I move to a four-day week.