Mid-year numbers up as new students take opportunity to reset

Classes for session 2 have just started and the University’s overall new domestic enrolments are up 35% year-on-year. This figure confirms that many people took a COVID moment to consider what really matters to them for the second half of 2020. All teaching at Southern Cross University will remain online for session 2.

“This is an exciting moment to take control of your future by embarking on study with Southern Cross University. Congratulations on your decision,” said Professor Nan Bahr, Deputy Vice Chancellor (Students).

“COVID-19 has presented many challenges and changes relating to family, work, community and health. We look forward to helping you create new opportunities.

“If you need support during your studies we are here for you. Our Libraries, Student Administration, Technology, Student Welfare and Advisory Services will continue to provide top-quality online support for session 2 as they did during the first half of this year.”

The most popular study areas for new students in session 2 are the Sciences (up 192%) and Health (up 54%) but so too are Teaching (up 39%), the Arts and Social Sciences (up 14%) and Law (up almost 5%).

As well, a new suite of six-month online short courses, backed by Federal Government’s COVID-19 relief package and designed to upskill and retrain Australians for in-demand jobs, have proven to be a good fit for many.

Offered for the first time in session 2, the most popular courses are undergraduate certificates in education (15 students) and psychological science (15 students). Once completed, these and other undergraduate certificate and graduate certificate courses give students the option to transition into studying a full diploma or degree.

A total of 2010 new students are enrolled at Southern Cross for session 2. The University has 18,432 students.

Session 2 runs from July 6 to October 16.

University libraries set to re-open July 13

The University’s libraries are set to re-open for staff and students on Monday July 13 under appropriate social distancing measures. Access will be by ID card only. The libraries will operate on limited opening hours to start with and the collections will remain closed.

Staff expected to return to campus from August 1

Southern Cross will begin a phased return of staff from August 1. The University will transition back through a hybrid model – a combination of face-to-face and work from home – to ensure a safe distribution of staff across the working week.