University of Western Sydney - UWS College

UWS College

In 2009 UWS opened UWSCollege at the old Blacktown campus of the University after protest about the divesting of property and resources from the site.

The UWSCollege Nirimba campus is built on the site of HMAS Nirimba, a former naval aviation base, and is also known as the Nirimba Education Precinct, in Quakers Hill, about a 10 minute drive from Blacktown. The nearest railway station is Quakers Hill. The campus has many historical buildings and 2 crossed air runways.

Nirimba Campus has student accommodation, air-conditioned lecture theatres and rooms built in the 1990s. The campus has views of nearby Schofields Aerodrome. Campus numbers have dwindled since the university reduced the range of courses available. It is primarily a single-discipline campus, offering business courses which are also taught at other UWS campuses. Nirimba campus is not far from Norwest Business Park.

Located in the Nirimba Education Precinct in Quakers Hill, the campus is the home of the UWS owned UWSCollege. UWS shares the precinct with TAFE NSW-Western Sydney Institute, Nirimba College, Catholic College, Nirimba Campus and Wyndham College. Together they propose to "work through a collaborative partnership focusing on innovation, enterprise and dedication in achieving the best possible outcomes for students."

In recent times there has been much controversy over the status of this campus, at one point UWS was depicted in the media as abandoning the campus and the local area it served. There was even a Council run protest at the closure called Save UWS Nirimba, where politicians and the University were petitioned to save the campus from closure, later it was decided rather than divesting they would set up UWSCollege.

UWS has recently announced for its Blacktown campus a brand new Medical facility called the Blacktown-Mount Druitt Clinical school which would be based at Blacktown Hospital, making it the second clinical school associated with the School of Medicine.

UWSCollege is a "pathways to university" institute and caters to those who wish to go to the University.

The library located in C21 was originally a dual purpose library, though run and staffed by UWS it was also used as the TAFE library. Now a 'triple purpose' library is also caters to the students of the UWSCollege. Both WSI TAFE and UWSCollege provide funding to UWS for this privilege, however as with all UWS libraries, purchasing, collection maintenance and staffing is managed centrally.