How a grouchy baker became a lecturer to more than 40,000 students | UniSC | University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, Australia

Qualified baker Greg Nash had grown tired of the impact working in the early hours of the morning was having on his family’s lifestyle.   

Then a surprise letter from the University of the Sunshine Coast changed his life.  

He discovered a love of learning which propelled him from university student to becoming a lecturer and researcher with a desire to help first-year students who were beginning their journey – just like he had a few years before. 

When Dr Nash first began teaching two decades ago, he set a rule. 

“Be student focused. The five minutes that I gave a student…could be the difference between whether I saw them tomorrow, next week or in two months’ time.  

So, I always gave them that five minutes which meant I couldn’t walk across campus when I had [course] COR109 because I had so many students. So, you’d hide a bit!” he said. 

This year, he calculates he’s taught about 43,000 students who have enrolled in courses that he’s coordinated since he began teaching at UniSC in 2005. 

“I couldn’t really go anywhere on the Sunshine Coast for seven or eight years without seeing a student.  

“Now there are so many different graduates in our community doing great work. For me, it’s just been great to be part of their learning journey,” he said.

Originally a baker, pastry cook and cake decorator, his own UniSC learning journey began at UniSC after his wife secretly enrolled him in a Bachelor of Arts (creative writing). 

“My wife just got sick of me complaining about graveyard shifts. I went on holidays and I came back and there was a letter in the mailbox which read ‘Congratulations! You’ve been enrolled at the University of the Sunshine Coast.’”  

Dr Nash recalls his first experience as a student in 2002. 

“I did this subject called COR109 Communication and Thought and I failed the first piece of assessment which absolutely gutted me” he said.  

“I thought ‘I’ve just got to go back to making doughnuts.’”  

It wasn’t the case and he completed three degrees back-to-back – his undergraduate, honours and doctoral degrees. 

And as it turned out, Dr Nash later coordinated COR109 for 10 years which he described as a wonderful experience.

He’s now a senior lecturer in education in the School of Education and Tertiary Access with research interests in assessment design and practice and improving the first-year experience of university students. 

As he reflects on his 20-year career, he reminisces about a time before the advent of interactive, personalised digital technology that changed the nature of teaching.  

“Back in the olden days, we’d be in the classroom with the goose-neck overhead projector and if you wanted to watch a video, you’d have to roll the TV in. It was one of those nice big fat ones with a video machine underneath it.” 

During that time, he’s also witnessed the university’s expansion across southeast Queensland at Gympie, Fraser Coast, Caboolture and Moreton Bay. 

“I’ve been at the opening of all the campuses. I’ve had a really great time here. This place is like home to me. It’s changed my life. It’s been a great journey,” he said.