Unisa Inc history

In 1892, it was the first in Australia to appoint a woman teacher of painting, Elizabeth Armstrong.

On February 6, 1906 the first free SA kindergarten was opened in a small rented cottage at 214 Franklin Street with Lillian de Lissa as the director.

The first nine students graduated on November 25, 1908.

In 1914 the School of Mines developed the Junior Technical School, a preparatory school for students they found weren’t well prepared for study.

UNISA moved to Pretoria in 1918 and under its auspices several colleges became autonomous (residential) universities in the South African higher (or tertiary) education system.

In 1946, as the last of Unisa’s colleges moved towards independence, Unisa began offering ‘postal tuition’. Since then, it has grown into one of the world’s largest distance learning institutions, with more than 400,000 students in some 130 countries.

The Levels, now UniSA’s Mawson Lakes campus was opened in 1960.

Then in 1963 Adelaide Technical High School moved to another site at Glenunga because it outgrew the Brookman Building.

In 1965, following the advice and active support of senior South African business leaders, UNISA decided to introduce a Master’s Degree in Business Leadership (MBL) in the Department of Business Economics of the then Faculty of Commerce and Administration.

The success of this programme, coupled with the unique characteristics associated with a multi-disciplinary Degree, led in 1969 to the establishment of the SBL as an autonomous body within the Faculty.

In 1993 UniSA established the Australian Technology Network (ATN) with the Queensland University of Technology in Brisbane, Curtin University of Technology in Perth, RMIT University in Melbourne and the University of Technology, Sydney.

The City West campus was officially opened by Governor General Sir William Dean in 1997 and the Samstag Museum was relocated at the same time from Underdale Campus to the new City West Campus, becoming the State’s second-largest public gallery devoted to the visual arts.

A Statement of Strategic Intent was formalised in 1998 to clearly define the University's character and objectives, and the current divisional structure replaced the faculty structure.

UniSA started sponsoring the Santos Tour Down Under in 2001, as named sponsor of the Australian development squad now officially named Team UniSA-Australia.

The first stage of the University’s $100 million capital development program, Blueprint 2005, was completed and five new buildings - the Kaurna Building, the Dorrit Black Building, the Garth Boomer Building, the Basil Hetzel Building and the Mawson Centre – were opened.

For two consecutive years (2010-11), UniSA was the most improved Australian university in the QS World University Rankings – UniSA’s ranking moved from 19 to 11 in Australia.

Since 2011, over 700 students have completed studies with UniSA College and over 80% gained entry to study a diploma or degree at UniSA.

Since commencing as Vice Chancellor in January 2013, Professor David Lloyd has been known for his strong and creative leadership, with new initiatives such as unijam, a world university first, which set the foundation for the University’s long term strategic plan, Crossing the Horizon.

UniSA moved to 49th place in the 2014 Times Higher Education (THE) international rankings of universities aged under 50.

UniSA’s Jeffrey Smart Building (JSB) won three accolades in the South Australian Architecture Awards 2015.

UniSA appoints Ms Pauline Carr as its new Chancellor, commencing in September 2018.