A Charles Sturt University academic has received the prestigious honour of a $230,000 fellowship, which is one of just two fellowships offered across Australia for 2025.

Charles Sturt University Sub-Dean, Student Retention Associate Professor Kelly Linden has been selected for the Australian Centre for Student Equity and Success’ (ACSES) 2025 Equity Fellowship Program. Only two fellowships are awarded each year and are valued at up to $230,000 each.

Professor Linden’s fellowship will support her project, ‘Is the Problem Us? Helping Part-Time Students Succeed in a Full-Time World’. The project aims to identify key interventions for part-time students that will help policymakers and universities address the anticipated increase in university enrolments from under-represented groups.

Professor Linden said that much government funding and support is geared towards students with full-time study loads which is why her project will focus on assisting part-time students to fulfill their university goals.

“Traditional university students are seen as studying full-time or close to full-time,” Professor Linden said.

“It is therefore not surprising that studying part-time is one of the leading predictors of failure and attrition and is one of the longest-running and consistently vexing challenges in higher education.”

Professor Linden said the average number of full-time Australian university students was declining which increased the need for the sector to better support part-time students to succeed, particularly those from non-traditional backgrounds.

“We know that the personal barriers a part-time student faces are complex and difficult to address. However, there are changes at both a government and institutional level that could have a significant impact on the success and completions of part-time students.”

The aim of this fellowship is to identify key interventions for part-time students that policy makers and universities can implement to help meet the anticipated increase in university enrolments from under-represented groups.

The Equity Fellowship Program is part of ACSES’ ongoing efforts to raise the profile of student equity in higher education and broaden access for people from disadvantaged backgrounds. As a fellow, Professor Linden will contribute to these efforts through her targeted project, helping address some of the sector’s most pressing challenges.

The 2025 Program will provide two fully-funded annual fellowships for researchers and practitioners in higher education, to complete a project that will inform an area of Australian higher education practice and policy in relation to domestic students, via a combination of research, translation, best practice implementation, evaluation, and knowledge transfer.

ENDS