University of Newcastle, Australia

Infobox University
name= The University of Newcastle
latin_name = Universitas Novuscastrum


motto= I look ahead
established= 1965
(as part of the University of New South Wales)
type= Public
chancellor= Professor Trevor Waring AM
vice_chancellor= Professor Nicholas Saunders
staff= 2,187
undergrad= 17,073
postgrad= 5,754
postgrad_label= post-graduate
city= Newcastle
state= New South Wales
country= Australia
campus= Urban
free_label= Organisations
free= Member of IRU Australia
website= http://www.newcastle.edu.au

coor= coord|32|53|35|S|151|42|7|E|type:edu|

The University of Newcastle is an Australian public university that was established in 1965 and is located in Callaghan, a suburb of Newcastle, New South Wales.It was founded as part of a newer generation of universities which intended to depart from the traditional methods of the older universities of Australia. As such, the university prides itself in its unique and challenging core educational programmes that are delivered through five faculties: Business and Law; Education and Arts; Engineering and Built Environment; Health; and Science and Information Technology.

The university has enrolled approximately 17,000 full-time students (including more than 14,600 undergraduates) and about 9,000 part-time students.

Historically, the university is known for its educational innovation such as pioneering the Problem-based learning system for its undergraduate Bachelor of Medicine programme - a system later mandatorily implemented by the Australian Medical Council throughout Australia.

The University of Newcastle is a member of Innovative Research Universities Australia (IRU Australia).

Campuses

There are four main campuses, located at Callaghan, Ourimbah, Port Macquarie and Singapore.

The largest campus at Callaghan sits on a 140 hectare, natural bushland site. It lies about 12 km from the centre of Newcastle. Some of its buildings have won national awards for architecture and sympathetic environmental management. Fact|date=July 2008

The University of Newcastle also has a presence on three sites within the Newcastle C.B.D. The School of Music and Conservatorium is located in the Civic Theatre precinct, the School of Law, Legal Centre, and Graduate School of Business are located in University House, and the Newcastle Institute of Public Health is located in the David Maddison Building on the site of the Royal Newcastle Hospital (though this is likely to change when development plans for the site are realised). University House is a landmark art-deco sandstone building directly opposite Civic Park.

History

The University has its origins in the Newcastle University College of the University of New South Wales, first established in 1951 at the site of Newcastle Technical College. After considerable agitation at the local level, the fully autonomous University of Newcastle was established in 1965.

According to folk legend, our understanding is that autonomy for the University officially began on the 1st January 1965 with a symbolic ceremonial bonfire held at the site of the Great Hall and officiated by the legendary Professor Godfrey Tanner who poured wine libations on the ground to sanctify the land upon which the University rests. The bonfire signified the “the joy of attaining long sought destiny”.

The student body annually celebrates the anniversary of the institution's independence in July on "Autonomy Day". So why isn’t Autonomy Day at the University celebrated on the 1st January of each year?

Again according to Don Wright, Autonomy day is normally held in early July, and students interpreted it as celebrating the autonomy of the University of Newcastle, from the University of New South Wales. The date actually coincided with the winning of autonomy by the University of Technology from the Public Service Board control on the 1st July 1954. The students were entitled to give the celebration whatever meaning they chose. The fact that they called it ‘autonomy day’ heightened the students’ sense of the importance of autonomy and their need to defend it against outside interference. (Wright, 1992):113

In 1998, the University established a partnership with the Institut Wira, a Malaysian private business school. In 2002, Ian Firms, a lecturer at Newcastle, failed a large number of student papers from Wira for academic dishonesty, but his actions were reversed by the Newcastle administration and he was discharged. He then appealed to the New South Wales Independent Commission Against Corruption, which supported his actions; the University eventually accepted the conclusions of their report. ["A Tarnished Reputation: Australia's universities wrestle with criticism that they're cutting corners to attract foreign students" by David Cohen. Chronicle of Higher Education October 14, 2005. 52(8) A39 [http://chronicle.com/weekly/v52/i08/08a03901.htm online version] subscription required.]

In 2003, The University of Newcastle, together with five other Australian universities (Macquarie, La Trobe, Flinders, Griffith and Murdoch) established Innovative Research Universities Australia (IRUA).

Forty years after obtaining autonomy, The University of Newcastle has developed a reputed history in their national and international university standings; ranked top 10 among the 38 universities in Australia by the Shanghai Jiao Tong University consecutively in 2005 and 2006, and 127th in the world by the "Times Higher Education Supplement" in 2005. Fact|date=May 2008 In the following year, The University of Newcastle was ranked as one of the top 100 global universities (at rank 97th) in August 2006 by "Newsweek International". Given there are more than 10,000 academic degree issuing institutes in the world, The University's rank represents the top 1% globally. Fact|date=September 2008

In May 2007, the University started its Singapore operations at PSB Academy's new campus near Tiong Bahru MRT station. The new campus covers an area of 19,000 square metres.

tudent body and organisations

The University has a student population of just over 26,000 (including part time students) as of 2006, including 4422 international students from more than 80 countries. Enrolment increased to almost 9% in 2005/2006 despite a national trend showing decreases in acceptance for university offers. Fact|date=August 2008

The university is widely recognised for its commitment to equity in education and consistently enrols more Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders than any other Australian university. The university has also graduated more than 60% of the nation's indigenous doctors. Fact|date=August 2008

Students at the Callaghan Campus of the university are represented by the Newcastle University Students' Association (NUSA), UoN Services Limited (UoN Services), Newcastle University Postgraduate Student Association (NUPSA); while students at Ourimbah Campus are represented by Campus Central.

UoN Services is responsible for the social life of the university, as well as most of the commercial facilities on campus. It organises all the main entertainment events, usually performed at the University's two licensed venues, the Bar on the Hill and the Tanner Bar. Apart from (formerly compulsory) student contribitions, the UoN Services generates income from the stores, restaurants and bars on the Callaghan and city campuses.

NUSA and NUPSA are primarily advocacy organisations, representing students on a variety of issues from political activism to the internal organisation of the University. NUSA also produces "Opus", the University's magazine written by and for students.

Campus Central (Central Coast Campus Union Limited T/A Campus Central) is a single organisation looking after all the interests (commercial, sporting and advocacy) of students at the Ourimbah campus.

ports

The Forum Sports and Aquatic Centre lies within Callaghan campus grounds, with sporting facilities that include an Olympic-sized swimming pool and one of the highest climbing walls in the country. It is also the site of training for sport teams including the Sydney Swans from Australian Football League (AFL) and the Newcastle Knights from National Rugby League (NRL).

In 2005, more than 370 students competed at the Eastern University Games in Tamworth and, the Australian University Games in Brisbane winning a string of gold and silver medals cementing its place as one of the top weasel-inline universities in Australia for athletics.

Administration

tudent Hubs

In mid 2006, the University introduced the concept of Student Hubs [ [http://www.newcastle.edu.au/students/hubs Student Hubs] ] , restructuring the previously existing Faculty Student Services offices into 4 major points of contact for students to gain information and advice about their programs and general student administration.

Faculties and Schools

The University has five faculties covering a wide range of available programs. The faculties are Business and Law, Education and Arts, Engineering and the Built Environment, Science and Information Technology, and Health.

Faculty of Business and Law

The [http://www.newcastle.edu.au/faculty/business-law/ Faculty of Business and Law] contains the following schools:
* [http://www.newcastle.edu.au/school/law/ School of Law]
* [http://www.newcastle.edu.au/school/sbm/ School of Business and Management]
* [http://www.newcastle.edu.au/school/ngsb/ Newcastle Graduate School of Business] One of the first universities to provide Master of Business Administration (MBA) course in Australia.
* [http://www.newcastle.edu.au/school/ept/ School of Economics, Politics & Tourism]

Faculty of Education and Arts

The [http://www.newcastle.edu.au/faculty/education-arts/ Faculty of Education and Arts] contains the following schools:
* [http://www.newcastle.edu.au/school/aboriginal-studies/ Wollotuka School of Aboriginal Studies]
* [http://www.newcastle.edu.au/school/drama-fine-art-music-conservatorium/ School of Drama, Fine Art & Music] (incorporating the Conservatorium)
* [http://www.newcastle.edu.au/school/education/ School of Education]
* [http://www.newcastle.edu.au/school/hss/ School of Humanities and Social Science]

Faculty of Engineering and the Built Environment

The [http://www.newcastle.edu.au/faculty/engineering/ Faculty of Engineering and the Built Environment] contains the following schools:
* [http://www.newcastle.edu.au/school/architecture-built-environ/ School of Architecture and the Built Environment]
* [http://www.newcastle.edu.au/school/engineering/ School of Engineering]
* [http://www.newcastle.edu.au/school/elec-eng-comp-sci/ School of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science]

Faculty of Science and Information Technology

The [http://www.newcastle.edu.au/faculty/science-it/ Faculty of Science and Information Technology] contains the following schools:
* [http://www.newcastle.edu.au/school/applied-science/ School of Applied Sciences]
* [http://www.newcastle.edu.au/school/psychology/ School of Psychology]
* [http://www.newcastle.edu.au/school/design-communication-it/ School of Design, Communication and IT]
* [http://www.newcastle.edu.au/school/environ-life-science/ School of Environmental and Life Sciences]

The school of Environmental and Life Science offers teaching to undergraduate, honours and post-graduate students. The school is focused on five disciplines; Applied Science, Biological Science, Chemistry, Earth Sciences and Geography.
* [http://www.newcastle.edu.au/school/math-physical-science/ School of Mathematical and Physical Sciences]

Faculty of Health

The [http://www.newcastle.edu.au/faculty/health/ Faculty of Health] contains the following schools:
* [http://www.newcastle.edu.au/school/biomedical-science/ School of Biomedical Sciences]
* [http://www.newcastle.edu.au/school/health-science/ School of Health Sciences]
* [http://www.newcastle.edu.au/school/medprac-pop/ School of Medicine and Public Health]
* [http://www.newcastle.edu.au/school/nursing-midwifery/ School of Nursing and Midwifery]

The Ourimbah Campus is one where services and infrastructure are shared between education providers. The partnership titled The Central Coast Campuses is a partnership of:
*The University of Newcastle
*TAFE-NSW - Hunter Institute
*Central Coast Community College
*affiliated with the Central Coast Conservatorium of Music

Notable alumni

* David Berthold, Australian theatre director.
* Jonathan Biggins, Australian actor, singer, writer and comedian.
* John Doyle, Australian actor, broadcaster and comedian, better known as Rampaging Roy Slaven, one half of broadcasting duo Roy and HG with Greig Pickhaver.
* Professor Sandra Eades, Australia's first Aboriginal medical practitioner and researcher to be awarded a Doctorate of Philosophy, and NSW Woman of the Year for 2006. Fact|date=September 2008
* Cheryl Kernot, former Australian Democrats leader and Australian Labor Party MP.
* Mikey Robins, Australian comedian and television personality.
* Tony Vinson, Australian academic.
* Janeen Webb, author and critic.
* David Banney, Australian conductor.

Gallery

References

External links

* [http://www.newcastle.edu.au University of Newcastle]
* [http://wakeup-newcastle.blogspot.com Wake Up!] - The University of Newcastle Developing World Health Group
* [http://www.irua.edu.au IRU Australia website]
* [http://www.nusa.org.au/ NUSA] - The Newcastle University Students' Association
* [http://www.nupsa.org.au/ NUPSA] - The Newcastle University Postgraduate Student Association
* [http://www.uonservices.org.au/ UoN Services] - The UoN Services Limited
* [http://www.campuscentral.com.au/ Campus Central] - Campus Central
* [http://www.newcastle.edu.au/services/library/collections/archives/int/50th.html 50th Anniversary of University Education in Newcastle 1951-2001]
* [http://www.ccc.newcastle.edu.au/ Central Coast Campuses]
* http://www.newcastle.edu.au/location/singapore/ - Singapore Campus of The University of Newcastle, Australia