At the signing of the UOW Local Community Partner program … (front row, left to right) Disability Trust COO Edward Birt, UOW Acting COO Matthew Wright, Healthy Cities CEO Kelly Andrews. Back row: Greenacres CEO Chris Christodoulou, Manager UOW Local Tania Brown, Raising the Bar General Manager Daniel Chin and Illawarra Academy of Sport CEO Salv Carmusciano. Photo: Jen White.
The University of Wollongong has strengthened its ties with five key Illawarra not-for-profit groups in a new community partnership program.
The deal will open doors for students for workplace training and placements and will offer the organisations access to the university’s facilities and research.
The UOW Local Community Partner program was launched on 18 July at a signing ceremony with the Raising the Bar Foundation, Healthy Cities Illawarra, The Disability Trust, Illawarra Academy of Sport and Greenacres.
Healthy Cities Illawarra CEO Kelly Andrews congratulated UOW on the program and said it was a genuine effort to collaborate and increase the collective impact on the health and wellbeing of the region.
“Healthy Cities has worked closely with UOW for decades to support one another’s work in research, teaching and learning,” she said.
“Our staff provide input into subject development, guest lectures for example, and we enjoy student placements from social work, health promotion, public health, nutrition, dietetics, business and marketing students, offering them real world opportunities to put theory into practice.
“We are also fortunate to work with UOW academics from a range of disciplines who assist us in measuring the impact of our programs through evaluations and publications.
“Genuine partnerships between key organisations and institutions strengthens our collective impact.
“We are stronger together, and we bring different strengths and opportunities to common goals, so I’m looking forward to working with UOW Local to improve the health and wellbeing of our vulnerable communities in particular.”
UOW Acting Chief Operating Officer Matthew Wright said the program would be of mutual benefit to the university and the organisations.
“We have engaged with all of these organisations for many years across a range of endeavours, from research partnerships to student placements and partnered on local and charity initiatives,” he said.
“The UOW Local Community Partner program formalises our relationship and enables us to build on this partnership for the benefit of each organisation.
“For UOW the opportunity to assist our students with workplace training and placements is invaluable. It also gives us the opportunity to showcase the depth and breadth of our research, particularly that which has practical applications for the not-for-profit sector.
“We are privileged with the facilities and grounds we have here at UOW, and through this program we can now share access to these facilities with our partners, so that they can enjoy a different experience for their yearly workshops, induction days or to host international visitors.”
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