James Cook University
| James Cook University | |
|---|---|
 Coat of Arms of James Cook University |
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| Motto |
Crescente Luce |
| Established | 1970 |
| Type | Public |
| Chancellor | Lieutenant General John Grey AC (ret'd) |
| Vice-Chancellor | Sandra Harding |
| Undergraduates | 14,185[1] (2011) |
| Postgraduates | 3,715[1] (2011) |
| Location | Townsville, Brisbane, Cairns, Singapore, Queensland, Australia, Singapore |
| Campus | Suburban |
| Affiliations | IRUA |
| Website | http://www.jcu.edu.au |
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James Cook University (JCU) is a public university and is the second oldest university in Queensland, Australia. JCU is a high-ranking teaching and research institution. The institute of Higher Education, which compiles the Academic Ranking of World Universities, ranks JCU as one of the world’s leading academic and research institutions. JCU is placed among the top four per cent of universities around the world and is one of only nineteen Australian universities that were listed in the ARWU top 400 academic world universities in 2012. [2] The University's main campuses are located in the tropical cities of Cairns, Singapore and Townsville. The Cairns and Townsville campuses in Australia are close to two world heritage sites: the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park and the rainforests of the Wet Tropics Region, while Singapore is a thriving business hub of Asia. JCU also has study centres in Mount Isa, Mackay and Thursday Island. A Brisbane centre, operated by Russo Higher Education, delivers undergraduate and postgraduate courses to international students. The University’s main fields of research include marine sciences, biodiversity, sustainable management of tropical ecosystems, tropical health care and tourism. The University has received the Australian Government’s highest ranking of ‘well above world standard’ for its research in the areas of environmental science and management, ecological applications and medical microbiology. [3]
Over the past five years, JCU academics have been awarded 39 National Awards for Teaching Excellence by the Australian Teaching and Learning Council (now called Office for Learning and Teaching).
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History[edit]
The university is named after the British sea captain James Cook.
After being proclaimed on 20 April 1970 as an Act of Queensland Parliament, The University College of Townsville became James Cook University of North Queensland on 29 April 1970.[4] The official opening of the university was conducted by Queen Elizabeth II.[5] On 1 January 1982, JCU amalgamated with The Townsville College of Advanced Education located adjacent to the main campus in Douglas. The university established a presence in Cairns in 1987 and moved to its current location in the suburb of Smithfield in 1996. On 1 January 1991, the School of Art and Design of the Townsville College of TAFE was transferred to JCU.[4] The current name of James Cook University became official on 1 January 1998.[6] In 2003 the University opened an international campus in Singapore. The university further expanded its presence by establishing another campus in Brisbane, Queensland in 2006. In May 2008, JCU launched its Reconciliation Statement. This formalises the University's acknowledgement that ‘Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples are the original inhabitants and traditional custodians of this continent and that they have unique cultural and spiritual relationships to the land and waters’. Celebrations involving local Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities, students and staff on both the Cairns and Townsville campuses marked the occasion and the library on the Townsville campus was named the Eddie Koiki Mabo Library after the Torres Strait Islander who championed land rights for all Australian Indigenous peoples.
A year after JCU's proclamation, Cyclone Althea struck the Townsville region. This, together with the destruction caused by Cyclone Tracy in Darwin 1974, prompted the establishment of a cyclone research facility.[5][7] The Cyclone Testing Station started out as a small project of Professor Hugh Trollope and began its operations on 1 November 1977 as James Cook Cyclone Structural Testing Station.[7] The facility has since grown and changed its name to Cyclone Testing Station in 2002 to better indicate its scope of testing and services provided.[7] The Cyclone Testing Station operates as an independent unit of The School of Engineering and serves as an advising member to the Australian Standards committee in areas of structural design, more specifically wind actions.[8]
JCU Townsville redevelopment[edit]
The Discovery Rise project was announced in September 2007.[9] The $1 billion project is aimed at completely redeveloping the University campus (or, "The Estate"), faculties and attracting more students to JCU.[10] Initial stages of planning and design are currently under way and the project is estimated to be finished in 2015.[11] Included in the project will be major upgrading of student facilities, creation of extra on-campus residential housing, commercial site-leasing, a student village and upgrading of sports facilities.[12]
Campus and setting[edit]
Douglas Campus (Townsville)[edit]
JCU's main campus moved from a small campus in the coastal city of Townsville (Pimlico suburb) to a 386-hectare[13] area of bush land in the suburb of Douglas, near the army base and the lee of Mount Stuart. It has a widely spread out area of buildings in between remnant patches of trees. Around 11,500 students study at JCU Townsville, including over 1,500 international students. Close to the university is the new Townsville Hospital and Tropical North Queensland Institute of TAFE. Townsville has easy access to the Great Barrier Reef.
Cairns Campus[edit]
The Cairns Campus of James Cook University is located 15 kilometres NNW of Cairns CBD, a city on the east coast of Australia, in the suburb of Smithfield. Opened in 1996, this campus is situated in a mountainous rainforest area of tropical North Queensland.[14] Over 4,000 students study at JCU Cairns, including about 380 international students. The campus is located in the shadow of World Heritage listed rain forests and Great Barrier Reef.
Singapore International Campus[edit]
The James Cook University Singapore was opened in 2003 as JCU's first offshore campus.[15] On 18 July 2008, JCU Singapore relocated to a new campus at 600 Upper Thomson Road. There are currently around 2200 students studying with JCU Singapore. This campus provides courses in business, education, information technology, psychology, marine science, and tourism and hospitality.
Other facilities[edit]
Apart from the three main campuses, JCU has more than 20 specialist research centres and institutes throughout Queensland and New South Wales with the most prominent ones being in Mount Isa, Thursday Island, Mackay, Brisbane and Sydney.
The university is home to the "Cyclone Testing Station" which operates as a self-funded unit within the School of Engineering and is a contributing member of the Australian Standards with regards to Wind Actions.[7][8]
Academia[edit]
The university serves as a catchment area for students in the whole region and in 2007 its student population was at 16,338 which includes 3,450 international students.[1]
The university is well known for its medicine, marine sciences,[16] comparative genomics, engineering and tourism. In 2001 the university took in its first medical students in its then-new School of Medicine. An undergraduate veterinary degree was added to the university for the first time in 2006. The university is also offering degrees in astronomy, including a Doctor of Astronomy degree, through on-line courses.
In 2010, James Cook University ranked in the list of the top 400 world universities by the Shanghai Jiao Tong University.[17]
James Cook University became the seventh member of Innovative Research Universities Australia in 2007.[18]
Organisational structure[edit]
The university is organised into faculties, schools and departments/divisions.
Faculty of Art, Education and Social Sciences[edit]
- School of Art and Social Sciences
- Department of Anthropology, Archaeology and Sociology
- Department of Humanities
- Department of Psychology
- Department of Social Work & Community Welfare, including Centre for Women's Studies
- School of Education
- School of Indigenous Australian Studies
Faculty of Law, Business and the Creative Arts[edit]
Faculty of Medicine, and Health and Molecular Sciences[edit]
- Australian Institute of Tropical Medicine
- Indigenous Health Unit
- Mount Isa Centre for Rural and Remote Health
- School of Medicine and Dentistry
- School of Nursing, Midwifery and Nutrition
- School of Pharmacy and Molecular Sciences
- School of Public Health, Tropical Medicine and Rehabilitation Sciences
- Public Health and Tropical Medicine
- Occupational Therapy
- Physiotherapy
- Speech Pathology
- Institute of Sport and Exercise Science
- School of Veterinary and Biomedical Sciences
Faculty of Science and Engineering[edit]
- School of Earth and Environmental Science
- School of Engineering and Physical Sciences
- School of Marine and Tropical Biology[19]
- Australian Centre for Tropical Freshwater Research
- ARC Centre of Excellence - Coral Reef Studies
Rankings[edit]
Research produced by the Melbourne Institute in 2006 ranked Australian universities across seven main discipline areas: Arts & Humanities, Business & Economics, Education, Engineering, Law, Medicine, and Science. For each discipline, James Cook University was ranked:[20]
| Discipline | R 1 | No. | R 2 | No. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Arts & Humanities | 23 | 38 | 20 | 38 |
| Business & Economics | 30 | 39 | 32 | 38 |
| Education | 26 | 35 | 22 | 34 |
| Engineering | 18 | 28 | 25 | 28 |
| Law | 23 | 29 | 25 | 28 |
| Medicine | 12 | 14 | 13 | 13 |
| Science | 10 | 38 | 10 | 35 |
- R1 refers to Australian and overseas Academics' rankings in tables 3.1 - 3.7 of the report.
- R2 refers to the Articles and Research rankings in tables 5.1 - 5.7 of the report.
- No. refers to the total number of institutions in the table against which JCU is compared.
Student Association[edit]
The James Cook University Student Association[21] is the main representative body for students studying at JCU. It is directed by elected students, and aims to provide equal representation to all students, as a body independent of the university. The elected student council includes students from Cairns and Townsville campuses, as well as the smaller regional study centres. Ten students sit on the JCUSA council, including the President, Vice President, Cairns and Townsville Campus Officers, a Remote and External Officer, Equity and Diversity Officer, Postgraduate Student Officer, and an International Student Officer, as well as a number of ex-officio members. Council members work on issues directly influencing students in their portfolio, directed by the Association’s Constitution.
Historically, the Student Association included sub-organisations of the Cairns Campus Student Association and the James Cook University Postgraduate Student Association,[22] a member of the Council of Australian Postgraduate Associations. However, the Student Association Council has since merged into one representative body.
The Student Association provides a number of free services to all students, such as academic and student welfare support, as well as organising non-academic and educational activities on campus. The Student Association also publishes ‘The Bullsheet’, as student newspaper run by and for students.
Residential colleges[edit]
The Douglas Campus has eight on-campus residential colleges which can accommodate about 1,400 students. Student accommodation at the Cairns Campus can accommodate 240 students. However, this accommodation is not located on the campus grounds, being directly opposite the campus.[23] The halls of residence/colleges are:
Douglas Campus[edit]
| College | Affiliation |
|---|---|
| St Mark's Colleges | 1965[24] |
| University Hall | 1967[25] |
| The John Flynn College | 1968[26] |
| St Paul's Colleges | 1969[27] |
| St Raphael's Colleges | 1971[28] |
| Western Hall | 1981 - 2007[25][29] |
| Western Courts | |
| Rotary International House | 1990[25] |
| George Roberts Hall | 2002[25] |
Accommodation is also available when the university is not in session.[30]
The individual colleges provide different services and support to students and are also situated in the tropical gardens of the campus.
Notable alumni and staff[edit]
- Andrew Stoner, National Party Member for Oxley in the New South Wales Legislative Assembly
- Bruce Kapferer, Australian social anthropologist, Foundation Professor, 1996–1999
- Dale Spender, Australian feminist scholar, teacher, writer and consultant
- Eddie Mabo, indigenous community leader and human rights activist employed at JCU as a gardener-groundsman between 1967 - 1971.[31]
- George Musgrave, awarded an honorary Doctorate of Letters for his knowledge of traditional law
- Henry Reynolds, Australian historian
- John Newfong, Aboriginal Australian journalist
- Josh Hall, professional Australian Rules Footballer for the Gold Coast Suns.
- Margaret Reynolds, former Australian Senator
- Mike Reynolds, former Australian Labor Party member for Townsville and Speaker in the Legislative Assembly of Queensland
- Paul Fairall, founding dean of University of South Australia was a law professor at JCU and the Dean of Law between 1998 - 2002 before becoming the Dean of Law at the University of Adelaide in 2002.[32]
- Percy Trezise, Awarded an honorary Doctorate of Letters in recognition of outstanding service to the community of Far North Queensland
- Robert M. Carter, Geologist and climate change skeptic
- Silma Ihram, Pioneer of Muslim education in Australia
- Tommy George, Awarded an honorary Doctorate of Letters for his knowledge of ecological expertise
- Tony Mooney, Former mayor of Townsville[33]
- John Quiggin, Australian economist
- Sonny Thoss, PBA Player of Alaska Aces
Official website[edit]
www.jcu.edu.au
References[edit]
- ^ a b c "2007 Student Statistics". Retrieved 2007-10-16.
- ^ "Academic Ranking of World Universities".
- ^ "Excellence in Research for Australia 2012 National Report".
- ^ a b On reverse side of all JCU official Statement of Academic Record sheets printed after January 1998.
- ^ a b "Townsville History (City Council)". Archived from the original on 2007-10-15. Retrieved 2007-10-18.
- ^ "Higher Education Legislation 1998". Retrieved 2007-10-18.
- ^ a b c d "Cyclone Testing Station". Retrieved 2007-10-17.
- ^ a b Structural design actions, Part 2: Wind actions. Sydney & Wellington: Standards Australia & Standards New Zealand. 2005. ISBN 0-7337-4473-7.
- ^ "Discovery Rise Media Release". Archived from the original on 2007-09-02. Retrieved 2007-10-18.
- ^ ABC News: James Cook Uni plans Townsville campus facelift
- ^ "Discovery Rise Timeline". Retrieved 2007-10-18.
- ^ "Discovery Rise Key Elements". Archived from the original on 2007-09-07. Retrieved 2007-10-18.
- ^ "Douglas Campus Grounds". Retrieved 2007-10-17.
- ^ "Cairns Location". Retrieved 2007-10-17.
- ^ "JCU Singapore Background". Retrieved 2007-10-17.[dead link]
- ^ "Tropical research". Archived from the original on 2007-09-22. Retrieved 2007-10-16.
- ^ "Academic Ranking of World Universities". Archived from the original on 2007-10-11. Retrieved 2007-10-16.
- ^ "Innovative Research Universities of Australia". Retrieved 2007-10-16.
- ^ Official Website of the School of Marine and Tropical Biology, James Cook University
- ^ "Melbourne Institute Rankings" (PDF). Archived from the original on 2007-09-28. Retrieved 2007-10-17.
- ^ JCU Student Association
- ^ JCU Postgraduate Student Association
- ^ "Residential Colleges". Archived from the original on 2007-09-07. Retrieved 2007-10-16.
- ^ "Date of St Mark's College Establishment". Retrieved 2007-10-19.
- ^ a b c d "Dates of Halls of residence establishment". Archived from the original on 2007-09-16. Retrieved 2007-10-19.
- ^ "Date of The John Flynn College Establishment". Retrieved 2007-10-19.
- ^ "Date of St Paul's College Establishment". Archived from the original on 2007-11-02. Retrieved 2007-10-19.
- ^ "Date of St Raphael's College Establishment". Retrieved 2007-10-19.
- ^ "Western Hall Closes". Retrieved 2007-11-13.[dead link]
- ^ "Douglas Halls of Residence". Archived from the original on 2007-09-10. Retrieved 2007-10-18.
- ^ "Eddie Mabo". Retrieved 2007-10-16.
- ^ "Paul Fairall" (PDF). Retrieved 2007-10-16.
- ^ "Tony Mooney". Retrieved 2008-03-22.
Notes[edit]
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