Victoria University (VU) is a dual-sector tertiary institution (higher education and TAFE) based in Melbourne, Australia. VU has nine colleges, each covering a broad discipline of study, six research institutes and seven research centres. The University has nine campuses in Melbourne's CBD and western region, and a tenth campus in Sydney. It also offers courses at partner institutions throughout Asia. More than 47,000 students, including around 15,000 international students, study VU courses worldwide. In 2016, VU will celebrate its 25th anniversary as a university, which will also mark its 100 years as an educational institution.
History
VU was founded in 1916 as Footscray Technical School. It grew rapidly over the following 70 years, with several name changes and mergers with other educational institutions across the west of Melbourne.
In 1990, it was established as a university by the Victorian State Parliament as Victoria University of Technology. In 2005, The Victoria University of Technology Act 1990 was amended to rename the University as Victoria University, reflecting the development of the University's teaching research into wider domains
The institutions that combined to form VU over more than 80 years, include:
- Footscray Technical School, renamed Footscray Technical College and later Footscray Institute of Technology
- Newport Technical College, renamed Newport College of TAFE
- Melbourne School of Hairdressing
- School of Painting, Decorating and Sign Crafts
- Melbourne Technical College of Hairdressing
- Melbourne College of Decoration]
- Footscray College of TAFE
- Flagstaff College of TAFE
- Western Institute
- Gellibrand College of TAFE, renamed Western Metropolitan College of TAFE.
- Western Melbourne Institute of TAFE
- Victoria University of Technology
Notable alumni
- Ali Abdo, Olympic wrestler
- Liam Adams, long-distance running champion
- Ngconde Balfour, former South African sport and recreation minister
- Ron Barassi, Australian Football League legend
- Nathan Buckley, former Collingwood captain and current Collingwood coach
- Jeffrey Cheah, founder of the Sunway Group
- Simon Garlick, CEO of the Western Bulldogs
- Andrew Gaze, former basketballer
- Karen Jackson, professional water skier
- Alan Kohler, financial journalist
- Telmo Languiller, Victorian MP
- Tammy Lobato, Victorian MP
- Mike McKay, Olympian and member of the 'Oarsome Foursome'
- Pia Miranda, actress
- Catherine Ng, Melbourne City councillor
- Natalie O'Brien, Melbourne Food and Wine Festival CEO
- Campbell Rose, former CEO of the Western Bulldogs
- Larry Sengstock, former basketballer
- Fatai Veamatahau, finalist, The Voice 2012
- Mitch Wallis, footballer, Western Bulldogs
- Kim Wells, Victorian State Government Treasurer
VU structure
Seven of the University's nine colleges offer internationally recognised qualifications ranging from certificates and diplomas through to higher education degrees, postgraduate masters programs and doctoral research degrees (PhDs). The two additional colleges offer vocational education courses.
- The College of Arts offers a range of pre-degree, undergraduate and postgraduate courses and conducts research in arts, cultural studies, communication, community development, creative arts and industries, psychology, social science and social work.
- The College of Business is one of the largest business schools in Australia. Training is provided across various business-related areas including business, management, accounting, finance and human resources. It conducts research at its associated centres: the Centre for Tourism and Services Research and the Centre for Strategic Economic Studies.
- The College of Engineering and Science offers architectural, building, civil, mechanical, electrical and sports engineering courses, as well as courses in information technology, building surveying and science.
- The College of Education emphasises workplace learning in teacher and youth work education through its partnerships with schools, community organisations and industry, especially in Melbourne's west. It is one of the few Australian universities to offer a Bachelor of Education (P-12) so graduates can teach at any level.
- The College of Health and Biomedicine provides hands-on learning, teaching and research in nursing and midwifery, dermal therapies, osteopathy, beauty therapy, nutrition and paramedics. Learning in simulation labs and training clinics and salons is part of most courses.
- The College of Law and Justice operates through The Victoria Law School at the University's City Queen Campus in Melbourne's legal district. It offers undergraduate and postgraduate law degrees as well as continuing legal education for legal professionals. Second and third-year students participate in real cases at the Melbourne, Sunshine and Werribee Magistrates' Courts.
- The College of Sport and Exercise Science offers courses in aspects of sport, physical education, recreation management, coaching and exercise science. The courses are based mainly at Footscray Park Campus, site of the University's new sport and learning precinct and its Institute of Sport, Exercise and Active Living (ISEAL).
- Trades College offers nationally accredited trade courses in construction, engineering and machining, hairdressing, hospitality and make-up. These courses include skills development for pre-apprentices, apprentices, trainees and current workers, as well as tailored workforce development for enterprises both nationally and internationally.
- VU College provides a range of student support programs for local and international students across all University colleges, including assistance with English language, literacy and numeracy. It also delivers nationally accredited and customised courses, and career development services.
Research
Victoria University emphasises research that is of relevance to the community, industry and government - both nationally and internationally, but particularly in the western region of Melbourne. The University's Research Plan 2012-2016 supports multidisciplinary research in several target areas: applied informatics; creative arts and writing; diversity and wellbeing; education, diversity and lifelong learning; food and nutritional sciences; medical and health sciences; supply chain, logistics and transport; sport, exercise and active living; strategic economics; and sustainable environmental technologies.
Victoria University has six research research institutes and seven research centres.
Research institutes
- Victoria Institute
- Institute for Sustainability and Innovation (ISI)
- Institute for Supply Chain and Logistics (ISCL)
- Institute of Sport, Exercise and Active Living (ISEAL)
- Victoria Institute of Strategic Economic Studies (VISES)
- Mitchell Institute for Health and Education Policy
Research centres
- Centre for Environmental Safety and Risk Engineering (CESARE)
- Centre for Applied Informatics (CAI)
- Centre for Chronic Disease Prevention and Management
- Centre of Policy Studies (CoPS)
- Work-Based Education Research Centre (WERC)
- Western Centre for Health Research and Education
- Centre for Cultural Diversity and Wellbeing
Research ratings
In the Excellence in Research Australia (ERA) ratings published in 2012, VU achieved the top ERA ranking of 5 (well above world standard) in:
- human movement and sport science, including elite athlete development and diabetes research
- electrical and electronic engineering, including research in control systems and signal and image processing
- pharmacology and pharmaceutical science, including cancer and gene therapy research
an ERA rating of 4 (above world standard) in:
- applied mathematics
- medical physiology
and an ERA rating of 3 (world standard) in:
- artificial intelligence and image processing
- distributed computing
- chemical engineering
- civil engineering
- food sciences
- nursing
- social work
- psychology
- performing arts and creative writing
- cultural studies
Campuses
Victoria University has nine campuses located across Melbourne's western region and the city centre. A tenth campus is located in central Sydney.
VU courses are also delivered by several partner institutes in Asia. Two of the largest partners are Sunway University College in Malaysia and Liaoning University in China.
Footscray Park
Footscray Park Campus on Ballarat Road, Footscray is the University's main campus and administrative centre. It offers higher education courses primarily in engineering, education and sport-related disciplines. It occupies a seven-hectare site overlooking Flemington Racecourse and the Maribyrnong River. A $68.5 million sport and learning precinct, including sport and exercise science research labs, was completed in early 2011. The Campus also has a 25-metre swimming pool and a childcare centre.
St Albans
St Albans Campus on McKecknie Street St Albans is the University's health and education hub, with a focus on psychology, nursing, arts, paramedic and biomedical science. It is set on 32 hectares of native grasslands and sugar gums. The new St Albans Health and Fitness Centre was opened in 2013.
Footscray Nicholson
Footscray Nicholson Campus is in central Footscray, on the corner of Nicholson and Buckley Streets. It delivers TAFE, VCE and short courses. Its new learning commons was opened in 2013 offering a broad range of educational and student services.
City Flinders
City Flinders Campus is situated in two buildings at 300 Flinders Street and 301 Flinders Lane in central Melbourne. The Flinders Lane building focuses on osteopathy and English language training, and is also the University's administrative centre for international student recruitment and support. The 19-storey Flinders Street building overlooks Melbourne's historic Flinders Street Station, the Yarra River and the Southbank precinct. The University's postgraduate business courses and many of its courses in graphic design, visual art and multimedia are taught at this campus. The Flinders Street building also contains convention facilities.
City King
City King Campus is located in a high-rise building close to Southern Cross Station. It provides health and beauty courses, and includes a hair and beauty salon that is open to the public.
City Queen
City Queen Campus occupies two heritage buildings at 283 and 295 Queen Street in the heart of Melbourne's legal precinct. The Campus houses the University's College of Law and Justice, a Law Library, The Sir Zelman Cowen Centre and two moot courts. It offers undergraduate and postgraduate law courses, including continuing legal education courses for legal professionals.
Werribee
Werribee Campus is located in the Werribee agricultural research/tertiary education precinct, and spreads over 16 hectares. It offers trades training as well as facilities for water, food and fire safety research.
Melton
Melton Campus offers a range of TAFE and community courses at its Rees Road, Melton South site. Many programs are taught in partnerships with secondary schools in the region.
Sunshine
Sunshine Campus is located on Ballarat Road, Sunshine and offers TAFE courses, focusing mainly on business and the construction industries. The $44 million high-technology Construction Hub was opened in 2013 for building and construction training. The Campus also has a convention centre with a 200-seat auditorium.
Sydney
Victoria University delivers a number of business courses to international students only at its Sydney Campus in central Sydney, which operates in partnership with the Education Centre of Australia (ECA).
Whitten Oval
In late 2010, VU opened an $8 million Sport and Recreation Learning Centre in partnership with the Western Bulldogs Football Club at Whitten Oval in West Footscray. The Centre contains massage therapy clinics open to the public as well as a 140-seat lecture theatre, a library, classrooms and offices.
Students
In 2013, VU had 47,187 students. The cohort was divided almost equally between those studying higher education degree programs and TAFE training courses. Of these students, 4867 were international students studying onshore at one of VU's Melbourne or Sydney Campuses, and 9973 were international students studying VU programs offshore at one of its partner organisations located mainly in Asia.
Student accommodation
VU owns and operates a range of student accommodations for VU students, staff and guests of the University.
The Student Village is a University-owned residential complex on Williamson Road, Maribyrnong near Highpoint Shopping Centre. The Village provides accommodation for 510 students. Priority is given to students from VU, but when vacancies exist, accommodation is available to students from other universities.
Victoria Place is a three-storey apartment complex at 117-119 Ballarat Road, Footscray, a five-minute walk from Footscray Park Campus. It has fully furnished and self-contained apartments, as well as three-bedroom units with en suite and disability access.
International House, a traditional residential college located at the University of Melbourne, also offers places to Victoria University students.
Books
Rasmussen, Carolyn (1989), Poor Man's University: 75 years of Technical Education in Footscray, Melbourne: The Press of the Footscray Institute of Technology ISBN 1-86297-000-9
90 Years, 90 Legends (2006), Melbourne: Published by Victoria University ISBN 1862726655
See also
- List of universities in Australia
References
External links
- Victoria University
- Friends of Victoria University
- Universities Australia
- Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency
Interesting Informations
Looking products related to this topic, find out at Amazon.com
Source of the article : here
EmoticonEmoticon