Victoria University, Australia
| Victoria University | |
|---|---|
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| Established | 1990 |
| Type | Public |
| Chancellor | George Pappas |
| Vice-Chancellor | Professor Peter Dawkins |
| Location | Melbourne, Australia |
| Campus | Urban |
| Website | www.vu.edu.au |
Victoria University (VU) is a multi-sector tertiary institution (higher education and TAFE) based in Melbourne, Australia.Operating out of 11 campuses in Melbourne’s CBD and western regions, VU offers qualifications in higher education through its Faculties of: Arts, Education and Human Development; Business and Law; and Health Engineering and Science; as well as vocational education (TAFE), and short courses though its Faculties of: Technical and Trades Innovation, and Workforce Development.
VU was founded in 1916 as Footscray Technical School. After successive mergers with TAFE colleges in Melbourne’s western suburbs, Victoria University of Technology was established in 1990. It was renamed Victoria University in 2005.
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[edit] Structure
VU offers internationally recognised qualifications ranging from short course diplomas through to vocational training (TAFE), higher education degrees, postgraduate masters programs and doctoral research degrees (PhD).
There are three Higher Education faculties:
The Faculty of Arts, Education and Human Development offers a range of undergraduate and postgraduate courses. It provides opportunities for integrated work placements and multi-disciplinary programs. The Schools within the faculty include: Communication and the Arts, Education, Sport and Exercise Science, Social Sciences and Psychology.
The Faculty of Business and Law has more than 10,000 students sfrom all over the world and an extensive network of international partnerships. It contains the Schools of: Accounting and and Finance; International Business; Management and Information Systems; and the Victoria Law School, incorporating the Sir Zelman Cowen Centre. It also provides a range of consultancies and customised professional development programs for executives through its Executive Education Unit. The Business and Law Centre for Work Integrated Learning prepares students for employment by providing them with work experience. The Public Sector Management Unit offers university qualifications in public sector management.
The Faculty of Health, Engineering and Science contains the Schools of: Biomedical and Health Science; Engineering and Science; and Nursing and Midwifery. Many HES courses contain a team-based Problem-Based Learning approach that uses real-life problems for teaching and learning. Faculty-based research is conducted into a range of areas including fire safety, food science, mathematical applications and biotechnology.
Within Vocational Education (TAFE) there are two faculties and one service area:
The Faculty of Technical and Trades Innovation includes trades training and para-professional education in areas such as engineering, information technology, building and construction, hospitality, and personal services. It contains the Schools of: Engineering and Industrial Training; Construction Industries; and Service Industries.
The Faculty of Workforce Development delivers a range of certificates, diplomas and advanced diploma courses through its four Schools: Business Services; Health and Community Services; Information Technology and Creative Industries; and Sport and Science. It also offers workplace training and skills assessment and recognition programs .
VU College provides a range of of student support programs for local and international students across all VU faculties, including assistance with English language, literacy and numeracy. It also delivers nationally-accredited and customised courses, and career development services.
[edit] People
[edit] Students
In September 2011, VU had 57,716 students enrolled in onshore and offshore courses. The student cohort included 4,397 course enrolments of international students studying onshore, and 8,722 course enrolments of students studying VU courses at offshore partner institutions across Asia, including China, Singapore, Malaysia, Hong Kong and Vietnam, as well as Germany. Onshore, VU had 20,948 higher education students (43%) and 27,960 vocational and further education students (57%). More than 90 nationalities are represented within VU’s student body. About 35 per cent of students are from non-English-speaking backgrounds, and 45 per cent are from Melbourne’s west. VU also has arrangements with nearly 100 institutes around the world for student exchanges.
VU has a range of clubs and societies related to courses, sports and recreation, culture, religion, community work and politics.
Learning in the Workplace and the Community is an umbrella term that encompasses several models of on-the-job assessment and training embedded in the curricula. This includes a Students as Staff program which provided more than 900 on-campus jobs for VU students in 2011.
[edit] Staff
As of 2011, the University had a total staff of just over 2700 employees. Professor Peter Dawkins is VU’s Vice-Chancellor and President, and the Victoria University Council is led by the Chancellor, Mr George Pappas.
[edit] Alumni
All graduates of Victoria University and its forerunner institutions are VU alumni. The VU Alumni Association has more than 80,000 members in more than 140 countries, including in international chapters in Malaysia, Singapore, Hong Kong, China, Vietnam, Bangladesh and Thailand. In 2011, the University held its inaugural Alumni Awards. Recipients included Victorian Treasurer, Kim Wells MP. Current students, staff, former staff and friends of the University are also considered members of the broader VU Alumni Community.
[edit] 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 VU Research Plan 2012-2016 supports multidisciplinary research in seven target areas: applied informatics; diversity and wellbeing; education, diversity and lifelong learning; supply chain, logistics and transport; sport, exercise and active living; strategic economics; and sustainable environmental technologies.
Victoria University has six research centres, four institutes and one research group.
INSTITUTES
- Victoria Institute for Education, Diversity and Lifelong Learning
- Institute for Sustainability and Innovation (ISI)
- Institute for Supply Chain and Logistics (ISCL)
- Institute of Sport, Exercise and Active Living (ISEAL)
RESEARCH CENTRES
- Centre for Environmental Safety and Risk Engineering (CESARE)
- Centre for Strategic Economic Studies (CSES)
- Applied Informatics Reseach Centre
- Centre for Tourism and Services Research (CTSR)
- Work-based Education Research Centre (WERC)
RESEARCH GROUP
[edit] Research Partners
VU conducts research with a wide range of partners including The Western Bulldogs, City West Water, Western Health, Linfox, the Victoria Employer Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the Australian Institute of Sport, all levels of government, and other educational institutes in Australia and overseas.
[edit] International Research
VU has research partners around the world. In 2011 it strengthened partnerships in China, Brazil and Malaysia. A new social computing and e-health laboratory opened in Beijing as a collaboration with the Graduate University of the Chinese Academy of Sciences to provide cross-disciplinary research in information science, health and social computing. VU introduced research SEED funding program to support collaborative research in applied economics, accounting, tourism, sports management, information technology and logistics at China’s Central University of Finance and Economics, and the Beijing Jiaotong University. VU developed a research partnership with Brazilian researchers and conducted a sports science research symposium that attracted sports science researchers from Brazil and Australia, including senior researchers from the Brazilian Olympic Committee. VU also developed a research partnership with the University of Malaya in sports science and biomedical disciplines.
[edit] Community Partnerships
Victoria University works in partnerships with a diverse range of community and industry organisations, many in Melbourne’s west. They include community groups, secondary schools, and local government authorities including the Footscray Community Arts Centre, the Western English Language School and the Maribyrnong City Council.
[edit] Campuses
Victoria University's 11 campuses campuses are located across Melbourne's western suburbs and the city centre.
Victoria University courses are also delivered by several partner organisations. Two of the largest affiliates are Sunway University College in Malaysia and Liaoning University in China.
[edit] Footscray Park
The Footscray Park campus on Ballarat Road, Footscray is the University's primary campus. 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.
[edit] St Albans
The St Albans campus on McKecknie Street St Albans is the University's health and education hub, with focus on psychology, nursing, arts, paramedic and biomedical science. It is set on 32 hectares of native grasslands and sugar gums. A new Sport, Recreation and Health Centre is under construction and expected to be completed in 2012.
[edit] Footscray Nicholson
The Footscray Nicholson campus, is in central Footscray, on the corner of Nicholson and Buckley Streets. It delivers TAFE, VCE and short courses.. It has a new learning commons offering a conglomeration of educational services, and a training restaurant, VenU, which is open to the public.
[edit] City Flinders
City Flinders, is situated in two buildings at 300 Flinders Street and 301 Flinders Lane in central Melbourne. The Flinders Lane building focuses on Osteopathic Medicine and English language training. The 19-storey Flinders St building overlooks Melbourne's historic Flinders Street Station, the Yarra River and the Southbank precinct. Many of VU's courses in graphic design, visual art, multimedia, and postgraduate business courses are taught at this campus. The Flinders Street building also contains convention facilities.
[edit] City King
City King, close to Southern Cross Station, this high-rise building provides training for a range of health and beauty courses. It contains a hair and beauty salon that is open to the public.
[edit] City Queen
The City Queen Campus occupies two heritage buildings in the heart of Melbourne's legal precinct.
295 Queen Street houses the University's School of Law, the Law Library, The Sir Zelman Cowen Centre for Continuing Legal Education, and Victoria University's Judicial Administration and Justice Studies Institute. The building also contains two moot courts, computer laboratories, lecture theatres and seminar rooms. 283 Queen Street houses some of the University's Business and Law activities, including postgraduate business programs, undergraduate law, and continuing legal education.
[edit] Werribee
The Werribee Campus is located in the Werribee agricultural research/tertiary education precinct in two diagonally adjacent sections spread over 16 hectares. It includes trades training, facilities for water, food and fire safety research, and an animal care and breeding facility.
[edit] Melton
The 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, including the university's new diploma-into-degree programs. .
[edit] Sunshine
The Sunshine campus is located on Ballarat Road, Sunshine and offers TAFE courses, focusing mainly on business and construction. The $44 million Sunshine Construction Futures building is now being built for building and construction training. The campus also contains a Convention Centre with a 200-seat auditorium.
[edit] Newport
The Newport campus is located next to the Newport rail yards and offers a range of TAFE courses including boatbuilding, bricklaying and carpentry.
[edit] Whitten Oval
In late 2010 the University opened an $8 million Sport and Recreation Learning Centre in partnership with the Western Bulldogs Football Club at Whitten Oval in West Footscray. It contains massage therapy clinics open to the public as well as a 140-seat lecture theatre, classrooms and offices.
[edit] Student Accommodation
VU owns and operates a range of accommodation for students, staff and guests of the University. VU Student Housing Service offers free assistance.
[edit] Student Village
The Student Village is a University-owned residential complex on Williamson Road Maribyrnong providing accommodation for 510 students on 12 hectares of parkland near Highpoint Shopping Centre. Priority is given to students from VU, but when vacancies exist, accommodation is available to students from other universities.
[edit] Victoria Place
Victoria Place is a three-storey apartment complex at 117–119 Ballarat Road, Footscray, a five-minute walk from Footscray Park Campus. It has 41 fully furnished and self-contained apartments, and two three-bedroom units with en suite and disability access.
[edit] Sunbury Hall
Sunbury Hall is a University-owned residence at 17 Circular Drive, Sunbury. It provides accommodation for 120 students at the now-closed Sunbury Campus. From 2012, a free shuttle bus service in the morning and the evening is available to assist students commute to their campus.
[edit] Victoria University Student Housing Service
Victoria University housing service provide free advice and assistant services to current students.
[edit] History
[edit] Predecessor Institutions
VU was founded in 1916 as Footscray Technical School. Since then, it has undergone several name changes through a series of amalgamations with institutions across the west of Melbourne.
The institutions that were combined to form VU, include:
- Footscray Technical School, renamed Footscray Technical College
- Footscray Technical College, renamed Footscray Institute of Technology
- Footscray College of TAFE
- Newport Technical School, renamed Newport College of TAFE
- Gellibrand College of TAFE, renamed Western Metropolitan College of TAFE.
- Western Melbourne Institute of TAFE
- Melbourne College of Decoration (Painting, Decorating and Signwriting Programs only)
- Flagstaff College of TAFE
- Western Melbourne Institute of TAFE
[edit] References
[edit] External links
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