In 2020, UTS raised more than $1.6 million dollars through the UTS Staff Giving Program, providing vital financial support to those who needed it most.
A community that cares

Diversity Access Scholarship recipient Jordan Cham with staff donor and General Manager, Faculty of Science, Lara Jacques.
Despite the heavy toll of the pandemic on our community, the UTS Staff Giving Program raised more than ever before in 2020, with 24% more staff donating than 2019. One of these staff donors was Lara Jacques, General Manager of the UTS Faculty of Science.
“Education is vitally important for what we do as a community,” says Lara. “It’s really nice to know that even a small donation that you’re giving every fortnight is contributing to something so much bigger – and something more important and powerful than what any individual can achieve.”
On a personal level, Lara understands better than most how much every dollar matters when you’re working towards a degree. “When I was going through university as a mature aged student, I accessed scholarship support and I wouldn’t have been able to continue without it,” she explains. “Now that I am more established in my career, I really want to support as many students as I can – they are the reason we are here.”
Every year, UTS’s community of staff donors helps hundreds of students, but in response to the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, 2020 was the first year that UTS staff were also supported through the program.
“The way our community came together to help each other through this very difficult time was inspiring,” says Celia Hurley, Vice-President of UTS Advancement.
I really want to support as many students as I can – they are the reason we are here.
Empowering student success

Last year UTS staff raised more than 1.6 million dollars through the staff giving program, providing much needed financial support to the members of our community who needed it most. Despite the heavy toll of the pandemic on our staff community, this is the largest amount ever raised through the program with 24% more UTS staff donating in 2020 than in 2019.
Every year our community of staff donors helps hundreds of students but 2020 was the first year that UTS staff were also supported through the program and the way our community came together to help each other during this very difficult time was truly inspiring. To each and every staff donor, I want to say thank you the life-changing impact of your generosity will be felt for years to come.
My name is Lara Jacques, I'm the Faculty General Manager for Science. I've been at UTS for just under five years. I've worked both as the Faculty General Manager for Science and Arts and Social Sciences.
UTS is a fantastic place to work and so as a staff member now that I'm more established in my career, I really want to support as many students as I can and students are the reason why we're here and so when I was going through university as a mature age student I accessed support because I just wasn't able to continue with university without it, and so now that I'm more established it was really important for me to give back.
Hello I'm Jordan, I'm currently studying a Bachelor of Business and IT and I'm majoring in accounting and information systems. I'm proud that I got into UTS because I've always wanted to go here and just getting straight into it was a good feeling. A lot of teachers, they told me that there's a lot of scholarships up for grabs so before I started at UTS I found the Diversity Access Scholarship, because I was eligible for it and I applied for it.
I wanted to apply because I wanted to aid my education. There's a lot of financial burden in university that like a lot of people don't know about, so I wanted to be in a comfortable spot so that's why I applied to the Diversity Access Scholarship.
Motivation is a big factor between why I've survived as long as I could at university and I felt like the scholarship it more mentally, it helped a lot with surviving university. If I know that the university wants me to be there and to succeed then I want to succeed I want to make it through.
Education is such a vital importance for what we do as a community and so as a staff member I would strongly suggest that it's a really positive thing to do in the environment in our community at UTS but also it just really makes you feel good. As well, it's really nice to know that even just a small donation that you're giving every fortnight is contributing to something which is so much bigger and so much more important and powerful than what you can do as an individual.
My personal achievement, that I'm most proud of is just being happy and being comfortable with who I am right now especially at university when I started I didn't really like the degree and it was a weird transition point from my high school to university. It felt really awkward and it felt like I didn't belong there. Right now being happy is the best thing and no one can take that away from me and I feel like that's better than any other achievement that I could have.
One of the reasons why I love working here is because it's very values driven. It fits very closely with the types of values and my ethical beliefs as a human being.
So you could use me and as an example as to why someone would donate because it's helping me a lot. I needed a lot of financial security especially with university. Someone like me I spent it on textbooks and helping further my education and just being in a financially secure spot.
For Jordan Cham, receiving a Equal Access Scholarship in 2020 meant the difference between staying at university or dropping out of his double Bachelor of Business and IT degree. Since beginning his degree, he has worked daily in a fast food restaurant to make ends meet. Balancing his university commitments with work has been a challenge.
“I was so relieved when I found out I would be receiving the Equal Access Scholarship,” says Jordan. “People don’t realise how expensive university is. There is no way I would have been able to afford my textbooks, food, and train fare from Campbelltown.”
UTS staff donors played a vital role in supporting students through the COVID-19 pandemic, with their incredible generosity contributing to:
- 695 Equal Access Scholarships for students facing financial hardship (16% increase from 2019)
- 102% more disadvantaged students assisted with laptops, software and digital access compared to 2019
- 769 emergency grants, rental subsidies and vouchers given to students struggling with the cost of living.
Behind each of these numbers are students like Jordan. “My parents grew up in Cambodia, and never had the opportunity to go to university. They taught me the importance of education, and I’m so proud of the fact that I got into UTS. I worked really hard to get here,” he says.
“My own motivation is the main reason why I’ve managed to survive as long as I have at university. Mentally, the scholarship helped me a lot in this regard. When I first started university, I felt like I didn’t belong here. But now I know that the university wants me to be here and to succeed. I do fit in and I am determined to make it through.”