University of South Australia, Adelaide

Location

UniSA has six campuses (City West, City East, Magill, Whyalla, Mawson Lakes, and Mt. Gambier) which include four across Adelaide and two in regional South Australia. Though a small city with a calm environment, Adelaide is a perfect fit for newcomers with plenty to explore. It is a charming locale surrounded by lush green parks, rivers, creeks and stunning beaches.
The city is also touted as the food and wine capital of Australia and has some interesting bars, clubs and restaurants. It has a lively vibe and is called Festival State since it hosts over 400 events in summer. Adelaide is a relatively inexpensive place which is an added benefit for students as it doesn’t dent their budget. Moreover, Adelaide is a compact city with a great public transport system connecting all main sites of the city.

Campus

The University of South Australia offers a broad range of academic courses for undergraduate and postgraduate programs under four faculties namely Business school, Health Sciences, Education, Arts and Social Sciences and IT, Engineering and the Environment.
Apart from the academic infrastructure, the University of South Australia has wonderful libraries on five campuses with more than 3 million online articles, eBooks, databases, images, printed books and journals. UniSA also operates a number of clinics (UniSA Medical Clinic, the Physiotherapy Clinic Podiatry Clinic and the Mammography Clinic) for students, staff and the general public. All the campuses are equipped with 24-hour computing facilities, quick and free wireless network connections, department labs and research centers. There are open learning spaces, sports facilities, cafés and restaurants. The University also boasts of state of the art audiovisual equipment, lecture/seminar theatres and interview rooms.

Residing Options

In terms of housing, the University does not offer on-campus accommodation but assists students in finding residential facilities as per their campus location and budget. There are plenty of options available ranging from hostels, residential colleges, student apartments (with all basic amenities like kitchen, bathroom, living area and laundry on sharing basis), homestay as well as private rentals.

Faculty

The teaching staff at UniSA is knowledgeable in their respective fields and actively engaged in various research programs. Class sizes are small with ample scope of interaction. Some lecturers are passionate about students and quite friendly but there are many who are unapproachable, do not respond to e-mails and are more focussed on their research paper and their own deadlines. Courses are well-designed but schedules are tight which can be sometimes frustrating. Selection of subjects is flexible with external and internal modes that facilities independent study. Tutorial, lecture notes are available online and there are also forums and discussion boards. There are too many foreign tutors and lecturers which make it hard to understand their English accent.
Since the University’s focus is on churning out bright professionals, the programs incorporate a fair amount of practical work, projects, assignments and real work experience which allows scholars to develop interactive and communicative skills.