BEAMING smiles and graduation caps thrown up into the air was the scene on Tuesday, as the University of Newcastle kicked off the first three of its 12 graduation ceremonies.
This week more than 3,300 students will walk across the Great Hall at the university's Callaghan Campus in the institute's biggest graduation ever.
From December 12 to 15, the students will join almost 171,000 Newcastle alumni who stretch across 153 countries around the globe.
University of Newcastle teaching academic Nicole Hainsworth is graduating with her PhD focused on midwifery continuity of care.
Beginning her career as a registered nurse, Ms Hainsworth was inspired to pursue a career in midwifery after working with a midwife in Maitland.
She said she has always wanted to improve practices for the mother and baby and investigated the continuity of care.
"It's about forming relationships and the research shows it improves outcomes for women and their babies, from stillbirth to preterm birth to interventions in labour," she said.
She hopes her findings can support the implementation of an educational framework that is based on the learning outcomes achieved by midwifery students through continuity of care experiences.
University of Newcastle Vice-Chancellor, Professor Alex Zelinsky, AO congratulated every student graduating this week on their "dedication, persistence and commitment" to achieving their education goals.
"All of the people we will see graduating in this week's ceremonies, in fields from information technology to medicine, criminology to midwifery have made an investment in their future and we know that they'll reap the benefits of that investment for a lifetime," he said.
"I'm sure they'll be seen as an inspiration for many people considering studying with us next year. We want all of those future students to know that there's a place for them at the University of Newcastle."
Notable speakers including Federal Minister for Education the Honourable Jason Clare, Governor of NSW Her Excellency the Honourable Margaret Beazley AC KC, Founder and CEO of @IndigenousX Luke Pearson and City of Newcastle Lord Mayor Nuatali Nelmes will be in attendance.
