The University of Western Australia

Vision

The University of Western Australia will be recognised internationally for its excellence in teaching and research and as a leading intellectual and creative resource to the communities it serves.

Mission

To advance, transmit and sustain knowledge and understanding through the conduct of teaching, research and scholarship at the highest international standards, for the benefit of the Western Australian, Australian and international communities.

Values

The core values underpinning our activities are a commitment to

• a high performance culture designed to achieve international excellence
• academic freedom to encourage staff and students to engage in the open exchange of ideas and thought
• continuous improvement through self-examination and external review
• fostering the values of openness, honesty, tolerance, fairness, trust and responsibility in social, moral and academic matters
• transparency in decision making and accountability
• equity and merit as the fundamental principles for the achievement of the full potential of all staff and students

Defining characteristics

The University of Western Australia will be recognised by the following defining characteristics

• high quality, as the pervading criterion for all our activities
• comprehensive, with a broad teaching and research profile in the arts, sciences, and professions
• selective, within a comprehensive base, to develop particular areas of research strength and emphasis
• research-intensive, with a strong teaching and research nexus across all our disciplines
• internationally-focused, for both the content and standards of our activities
• technologically innovative, to maximise our flexibility
• responsive, to meet the needs of the community, our students and our graduates

Achieving international excellence as a comprehensive teaching and research university calls for fully funded growth to achieve economies of scale. The University has set a growth target to exceed 20,000 students by 2010 and to move towards a 70 per cent and 30 per cent profile of undergraduate to postgraduate students. See Key UWA Statistics.

Strategic priorities

The University has identified six priority strategic objectives of particular significance to achieving international excellence over the 2006 triennium

• Teaching and Learning - improve the quality of the student learning experience
• Research and Research Training - improve the quality and impact, and productivity of research and research training
• External Relations - improve the University's positioning, reputation and strategic relationships
• Resourcing - increase and diversify the University's income, with particular emphasis on general purpose income
• Staffing - recruit, develop and retain the highest quality staff, supporting development of their full potential, within a 'one staff, one University' philosophy
• Management - improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the management of the University.