Opinion
May 28 2010
A gift that powers our future
It has just come round to my favourite time of year again. This week UniSA awarded 119 grants and scholarships to students studying at the University.
As Acting Director: Development at UniSA this event is a highlight because it is so real – it is where I can see that my work matters and the generosity of our donors start to transform lives.
The outcome of the Bradley Review of Higher Education pointed directly to our need to increase participation in higher education with a target to ensure 40 per cent of the population between the ages of 22 to 34 years attain at least a bachelor’s degree by the year 2020.
While this is about building the intellectual capital of the whole country, it is also about giving more Australians the skills to have richer lives – economically, culturally and psychologically.
What my involvement in scholarships has taught me is that a key barrier to higher education is financial and while that often starts early with disadvantage being a factor that impacts throughout a child’s life – there is also a critical point at entry age to university where finances can have a very big influence – not only in coming to university but also on succeeding while you are there.
Students who absolutely need to work long hours to stay at uni obviously have less time to devote to their studies. Interestingly though, our own institutional research shows that students from low socio economic backgrounds who have not had the advantages that propel them to get the best TER scores – given the even break of entry to uni and some financial support - soon start to achieve as well as their advantaged classmates.
This year through the UniSA Foundation almost $500,000 has been awarded to students.
They come from all walks of life. They are from far flung and isolated farming regions in South Australia and from some of the State’s poorest suburbs, they are often married with children or single parents, they are some of the State’s brightest and some who have simply worked very hard to make the grade, some are fresh faced and some are a little more world -worn. The one thing they have in common on the night that we present their scholarships is a real excitement and happiness.
Their aspiration to learn and grow as people is palpable and to help them achieve their goals is a real privilege.
The way we do that is through the generosity of people who also recognise that money is often most powerful when it supports education.
UniSA has hundreds of donors. Many of them are our own graduates – people who have already learned that education can make a difference to their lives and know intimately how a few extra dollars to buy a much needed text book along the way can be powerful in ways people don’t usually consider.
Some of our donors can afford and are generous enough to give substantial amounts of money, some donate a small amount annually but we are grateful for every cent because we see how it creates opportunities.
There are a lot of theories about why people choose to be philanthropic – the credibility of the cause, the passion and enthusiasm reflected in the beneficiary organisation, the opportunity to meet like minded people, because other people have recommended it as a worthy cause or even simply because someone asks you for a donation.
I think it is all about the result and the opportunity to make a difference.
Last year UniSA conferred its 100,000th graduate since it was founded in 1991. In the past 19 years more and more scholarships have been made available. In 2009, about 2,200 students were given some support to attend UniSA.
Every recipient has the potential to go out into the world and do something amazing and we know they do – they are great designers, health workers, scientists, teachers, architects, engineers and business leaders.
They are the social worker who founds a charity in South America, the engineer who builds a safer bridge, the nurse who cares for your ageing parents, the scientist who finds a way to deliver a better cancer treatment – they are our progress and innovation.
And when you think about the power that these graduates have to make change in the world, it is hard not to get excited.
Every supporter of a UniSA scholarship is in fact “paying it forward”
because they are nurturing human potential and contributing to the power of
one.
By Yvonne Clark, Acting Director: Development at UniSA.
An edited version of this article was published in the Independent Weekly newspaper on May 28th, 2010