Talk:Adelaide University

Incoming links need fixing, or article needs renaming

Since this used to be a redirect to University of Adelaide (and people commonly still refer to it as Adelaide University), either all of the incoming links need to be fixed (and editors need to remain eternally vigilant), OR we add a qualifier to this article. Laterthanyouthink (talk) 09:04, 22 April 2024 (UTC)

Arriving here from the WPDAB notification, with otherwise no knowledge of the specifics of this title. Ideally, updating all the incoming links should have been handled when the title was usurped for the proposed university. That aside, the key question is whether there is a primary topic for this title. If it is the proposed university, then no parenthetical disambiguation is needed.—Bagumba (talk) 11:36, 23 April 2024 (UTC)

Thanks - I've just responded to Certes there, and will get back to this in a couple of days. Laterthanyouthink (talk) 13:15, 23 April 2024 (UTC)

I haven't done anything about this yet, but thinking about creating the new Adelaide University with a date in parentheses for now, and copying this content over before converting this article back to a redirect, and pushing the decision down the line. The thing is, which year? It was officially created in legislation this year, but won't be operational until at least 2026 (see here), and I suspect that there will be delays. Laterthanyouthink (talk) 07:46, 28 April 2024 (UTC)

To shed some light on this. The new university was offically established as of March 2024 with the appointment of the transitional council and the passing of legislation. Some non-transition related operations should begin from 2025 and the transition will be finalised by 2026 for a full opening. SNITZ01 (talk) 03:12, 30 April 2024 (UTC)

Thank you. I posted this link explaining this on the DAB project page - also, note that it's still "subject to legal and regulatory approvals". My issue though is two-fold - firstly, that there are around 150 incoming links to this page intended for University of Adelaide, and secondly that the existing institution is often referred to as Adelaide University, in historical and current sources, and future editing is very likely to keep adding links to this article mistakenly, meant for the current institution. I think we need to rename this one with a descriptor in parentheses, such as (2026) or something like that. Laterthanyouthink (talk) 08:19, 1 May 2024 (UTC)

I've fixed a lot of the remaining links where it was used colloquially but there are still a large number of articles with "Adelaide University" mentioned that aren't linked or linked as "Adelaide University Boat Club" and similar names. I feel like the University of Adelaide article will likely be merged with this in the future because the names are very easy to confuse and a lot of the article applies to Adelaide University (e.g. the history, information about campuses, etc.). There are very minor changes and expansion that would actually be required. The National University of Singapore was formed through an amalgamation between Nanyang University and the University of Singapore but the latter doesn't have a separate article. There are a lot of examples where an antecedent institution has a similar name to the linear descendant but doesn't have its own article. I think the qualifier is fine but what about something like "Adelaide University (planned university)"? As for the date, 2026 would likely be less confusing to readers since there are two universities named Adelaide in 2024. According to the Adelaide University website, the core business functions would be up by 2026 and the "transformation" will continue through to 2034. I think it would be best to worry about potential delays when they happen.

As for the merger, I'm not from South Australia but based on my understanding, the main campus would likely be the University of Adelaide's current campus where the universities are currently neighbours on the east end of North Terrace as large chunks of UniSA's campuses were sold to the state government for future development. 𝓣𝓱𝓮 𝓔𝓭𝓾𝓬𝓪𝓽𝓲𝓸𝓷 𝓐𝓾𝓭𝓲𝓽𝓸𝓻 09:37, 7 May 2024 (UTC)

The last part isn't really relevant to anything. 𝓣𝓱𝓮 𝓔𝓭𝓾𝓬𝓪𝓽𝓲𝓸𝓷 𝓐𝓾𝓭𝓲𝓽𝓸𝓻 09:40, 7 May 2024 (UTC)

Please don't create a new page and paste. I know that it's not a long article but its better to move the page instead so that the authorship and talk page moves with. After moving the page, you can visit the following URL to change the redirect destination:

https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Adelaide_University&redirect=no 𝓣𝓱𝓮 𝓔𝓭𝓾𝓬𝓪𝓽𝓲𝓸𝓷 𝓐𝓾𝓭𝓲𝓽𝓸𝓻 10:36, 7 May 2024 (UTC)

Requested move 1 May 2024

The following is a closed discussion of a requested move. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section on the talk page. Editors desiring to contest the closing decision should consider a move review after discussing it on the closer's talk page. No further edits should be made to this discussion.

The result of the move request was: not moved. (closed by non-admin page mover) Celia Homeford (talk) 11:46, 8 May 2024 (UTC)

---

Adelaide University → ? – Please place your rationale for the proposed move here. Laterthanyouthink (talk) 08:22, 1 May 2024 (UTC) Per discussion below - looking for further ideas to get around the problem. Laterthanyouthink (talk) 08:22, 1 May 2024 (UTC)

Note This post was moved to the botton per WP:BOTTOMPOST, so "below" is now actualy above.—Bagumba (talk) 10:19, 1 May 2024 (UTC)

I like the idea of adding a (2026) to this article until either

1- The university is built and functional

2- A delay pushing it it 2027 (or farther) I like Astatine (Talk to me) 15:29, 1 May 2024 (UTC)

Until the university is operationalised, the proposed university is WP:CRYSTAL territory. Therefore it may be moved to Adeline University (proposed) – robertsky (talk) 09:05, 7 May 2024 (UTC)

The university was established on 8 March 2024. I'll update the article based on this to prevent further confusion.

How about "Adelaide University (planned university)" or something similar? It's not really a proposal anymore but the university doesn't yet have 1. TEQSA self-accreditation authority (though it has applied and likely won't take long to approve) and 2. a Table A amendment to the HEC Act 2003 for public funding and student loans. 𝓣𝓱𝓮 𝓔𝓭𝓾𝓬𝓪𝓽𝓲𝓸𝓷 𝓐𝓾𝓭𝓲𝓽𝓸𝓻 09:47, 7 May 2024 (UTC)

Actually, this idea is better. That way we don't need to come back later if delays happen. I like Astatine (Talk to me) 15:16, 7 May 2024 (UTC)

I can get behind this, and turn the base name into a dab/set index page. – robertsky (talk) 15:28, 7 May 2024 (UTC)

• Oppose. No justification yet made or even attempted in terms of our article title policy. The article is well sourced and the sources refer to it as Adelaide University, and this common name is well supported in other sources too. We have articles on other things that do not yet exist or even will never exist, such as Donald Duck or moon base. So there is no problem to be solved, or even the slightest evidence of a problem. Andrewa (talk) 10:02, 8 May 2024 (UTC)
• Oppose. Links incorrectly pointing to the Adelaide University article have been corrected since the move request was made. Most of the incorrectly linked articles were from before the Adelaide University name was announced in late 2023. It is unlikely that editors will select the incorrect Adelaide University when linking future pages. This will matter even less in the future if and when the two articles merge.

𝓣𝓱𝓮 𝓔𝓭𝓾𝓬𝓪𝓽𝓲𝓸𝓷 𝓐𝓾𝓭𝓲𝓽𝓸𝓻 10:18, 8 May 2024 (UTC)

The discussion above is closed. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page. No further edits should be made to this discussion.

Keeping University of Adelaide and Adelaide University in sync

I have added content to the University of Adelaide article, to which there are numerous incoming links to various sections, which currently does not exist in the Adelaide University article. What is the plan for keeping all of the info in sync (and with UniSA, for that matter)? There's nothing to stop people adding content to an old article which has effectively been merged, but is really a duplicate of a lot of content. I think that a discussion needs to be had about this so that we can draw up some guidelines, else it is going to just get messier and messier over time. Laterthanyouthink (talk) 08:56, 6 September 2025 (UTC)

Which sections in particular? The Prosh event, for example, is not mentioned once on the new Adelaide University website so while it would probably still continue, it falls under WP:CRYSTAL until it is mentioned somewhere at least once as the university could technically cancel the annual event before it launches. The same applies for the research institutes as there doesn't appear to be any information on which will continue, even if renamed or merged with the other research institutes. Sections that are notable (e.g. Australian Institute for Machine Learning) should link directly to the corresponding article and new articles can be made for the remaining (if and where notable). Unlike the recent City St George's University of London merger, Adelaide University is (as dubious as it sounds) a new university. It is legally distinct, substantially restructured and not the same institution as either. As such, the three articles will most likely remain separate but the University of Adelaide and University of South Australia articles may need to be trimmed down. The article on the historical University of Koblenz and Landau may be a relevant example and there is also Frelinghuysen University. For example, both antecedent universities are no longer admitting new students so sections on admissions and financial aid are no longer needed. If any faculties were obviously part of one institution and not the other, it may be possible to move the article (e.g. the underdeveloped Adelaide Dental School article, as the University of South Australia lacks one) and have it relate to the new university. Anchors to particular sections will also need to be updated on a case-by-case basis on or after 1 January 2026. Based on existing precedent, all articles on alumni should mention the name of the antecedent institution unless they graduated from Adelaide University. For example, "Jane graduated from the Roseworthy Agricultural College (now Adelaide University) in 1985". The three articles also need to use more Harvard citations to references in the Further reading section, which needs to be renamed to Sources as this would reduce size. The publication locations and places is also not reliable or useful and certain referencing styles (e.g. APA 7th) seem to be removing it altogether. My main priority while expanding the three articles were to archive the websites so that any useful information isn't lost so it's a bit of a mess at the moment. While I can re-write the Adelaide University article again sometime during the summer, I'm moving back to New Zealand next year so I'm a bit short on time at the moment. Although I've written a lot of the three articles, I've never stepped foot in Adelaide so feel free be bold and to improve it as you see fit as a local perspective can only make it better. I don't think anyone else is interested in improving the articles anyway. Jace Aotearoa AU (talk) 05:54, 7 September 2025 (UTC)

OK. Here's my 10c. We are dealing with two long-established institutions. Their articles should document what (from 2026) was their history, including the merger plan. There is no need to prune them, except perhaps if they mention something that will happen in the future that will occur under the banner of the new institution (e.g. host a major event or something, which can be shifted into the merged institution's article). Graduates of each predecessor institution remain as such. Anything that happened pre-2026 at the predecessor institutions should use the old names and link accordingly. All pre-2026 mentions of the predecessor institutions in other articles should remain as the predecessor institution unless there is some particular reason to add "(now the Adelaide University)" which might occur in the bio of a student who completed one degree in the predecessor institution and a subsequent degree in the merged institution to make clear that it was more-or-less the same institution and not two different ones. The new institution article obviously starts its history at the merger plan, but probably should have a very abbreviated history of its predecessors (when they were established), but the bulk of the detail of the history of the predecessor instituions can remain in the predecessor articles. Yes, there might be duplication of topics within the new institution article wrt the predecessor articles (e.g. research centres may continue across the merger), but, having worked in the university sector most of my life, I'm guessing that faculties, research centres, etc may be merged or completely re-jigged in the new institution (regardless of what previously has been announced or promised to staff). And I would suggest a "source-date" / "access-date" test. Apart from the information about the history of the merger and a brief mention of the history of the predecessors, material in the new article should all have 2026+ source-dates and access-dates. If you are citing pre-2026 material or wanting to copy content with pre-2026 access-dates citation from the precedessor articles, then you are writing about the former institution not the new one. So don't carry over research centres etc until it is clear those centres are still operating in the new institution and there are 2026 citations from the new institution (or independent reporting of it) that support the information. Remember we are NOTNEWS and we are not the new institution's website. We do not have to have a complete and magnificent article on the new institution from its start date. Let it establish, let us see what it actually does, and then we can write about it. I suspect we will need to use section redirects and anchors and "See also" templates to allow a reader to transition between the articles. For example if research centre X from one institution and research centre Y from the other institution are merged to form research centre Z, then the new article can talk about Z with redirect links back to X and Y in the predecessor article. Generally, apart from the merger itself, keep pre-2026 info in the predecessor articles and 2026-onwards information in the new article. Kerry (talk) 22:24, 8 September 2025 (UTC)

Thanks, Kerry. Having had recent occasion to revisit the UniSA pages to fix up some history and links belonging to that institution, the messiness and duplication of effort has once again struck me, particularly with regard to the building and campus descriptions. There are already discrepancies and it's only going to get worse. In my view, it makes more sense to leave out all of the descriptive stuff and just include some of the background history, more detail of the recent history, and the governance arrangements. And calling those notable alumni when they were alumni of the two preceding universities does not seem correct to me. Laterthanyouthink (talk) 07:57, 25 November 2025 (UTC)

Considering that the university is opening next month, this may be a good time to start trimming down and re-writing the articles. You can be bold and make the changes you would like to see or I can start new drafts from scratch for the future articles if it makes the job easier. As for the alumni, they are alumni. The first sentence is pretty clear that the list includes its antecedent institutions and this is not the first Wikipedia article about a merged university to do that. Jace Aotearoa AU (talk) 11:52, 25 November 2025 (UTC)

My main concerns are duplication, especially out of sync duplication, bloat, and general confusion for readers. We don't know yet what how the IT departments of the constituent universities are going to handle the migration yet with regard to the websites (will links be lost, or will each one redirect to an appropriate rebadged page?) - and I'm glad not to be working in that space, I must say! I have been trying recently to provide an archived url for each new reference I add, when I remember (not just here), having come across so many dead links in other articles recently. It's a useful backup, and the citer tool mostly does them quite well.

I agree broadly with what Kerry has suggested above. What about just keeping this article confined to the transitioning period, the actual governance structure as of 1 January 2026, any applicable info re student enrolments and that kind of current info, and leave the history and descriptions of buildings ("things"), as well as research centres, annual events, etc., until we know more.

I know that the new university lists its alumni as its alumni, but all of those up until now will still be using the previous universities' names in their own articles, and each university also currently has its own separate list article of alumni, so I'm not sure how to tackle this.

I should add btw, lest it be thought that I have nothing but complaints, that on the whole the new article looks well-written, and I do appreciate the work that you have put into it.

I'll come back to it when I find the right time and energy. I don't want to start making wholesale changes until we have consensus from a decent number of editors. Laterthanyouthink (talk) 00:13, 26 November 2025 (UTC)

"predecessor" is a better word than "antecedent"

Now that the new merged university exists, I think the correct way to refer the former institutions is as the "predecessor universities". There is a difference in meaning between the two words. "Antecedant" is something that existed before in a more vague way, whereas "predecessor" has the more specific sense of one thing leading directly to another. See . So arguably, the University of Sydney is an antecedent university which is not what is intended in this article. I note that the term "predecessor" is used by other Australian universities for this purpose (e.g. and ) Kerry (talk) 02:03, 6 January 2026 (UTC)

Feel free to change it. I was mostly avoiding the word predecessor until the former universities close but that seems to make more sense. Assuming that nobody else wants to do it, I'll start re-writing this article tomorrow as things seem to have changed a lot. Considering its size, there's a lot to cut, rewrite and resynthesise so it might take a couple weeks to a month. My primary focus will be to apply the above recommendations and to make components reusable on other articles about Australian and New Zealand universities. Jace Aotearoa AU (talk) 14:50, 7 January 2026 (UTC)