Edith Cowan University (ECU) is a
public university
A public university or public college is a university or college that is in owned by the state or receives significant public funds through a national or subnational government, as opposed to a private university. Whether a national universit ...
in
Western Australia
Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...
. It is named in honour of the first woman to be elected to an
Australian parliament
The Parliament of Australia (officially the Federal Parliament, also called the Commonwealth Parliament) is the legislature, legislative branch of the government of Australia. It consists of three elements: the monarch (represented by the ...
,
Edith Cowan
Edith Dircksey Cowan (' Brown; 2 August 18619 June 1932) was an Australian social reformer who worked for the rights and welfare of women and children. She is best known as the first Australian woman to serve as a member of parliament. Cowan h ...
, and is the only Australian university named after a woman. Gaining university status in 1991, it was formed from an amalgamation of tertiary colleges with a history dating back to 1902 when the
Claremont Teachers College
Claremont Teachers College was Western Australia’s first post-secondary teaching institution. It opened in 1902 and closed in 1981, when it became a College of Advanced Education and later a campus of Edith Cowan University. The building is on ...
was established,
making it the modern descendant of the first tertiary institution in
Western Australia
Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...
.
The university offers more than 300 courses across two
Perth
Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth is ...
metropolitan campuses, in
Joondalup
Joondalup () is a suburb of Perth, Western Australia, approximately north of Perth's central business district. It contains the central business district of the regional City of Joondalup and acts as the primary urban centre of Perth's outer ...
and
Mount Lawley
Mount is often used as part of the name of specific mountains, e.g. Mount Everest.
Mount or Mounts may also refer to:
Places
* Mount, Cornwall, a village in Warleggan parish, England
* Mount, Perranzabuloe, a hamlet in Perranzabuloe parish, C ...
, and a regional campus in
Bunbury, south of Perth;
many courses are also offered for study online. Additionally, the university has partnerships with several education institutions to conduct courses and programs offshore.
In 2020, the university enrolled over 31,000 students at undergraduate and postgraduate level, approximately 7,000 of whom were international students.
Its divisions include the
Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts
The Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts (WAAPA) at Edith Cowan University (ECU) was established in 1980 to provide performing arts tuition. WAAPA (commonly pronounced "whopp-a") operates as a part of ECU, located at the ECU campus in ...
(WAAPA), a performing arts training academy; the School of Nursing and Midwifery, which offers a large undergraduate nursing program; the School of Education which offers a wide range of secondary teaching specialisations; and the
Western Australian Screen Academy. The university also has a notable cybersecurity research and education program, being one of two federal Academic Centres of Cyber Security Excellence and the only Australian member university in the International Cyber Security Center of Excellence.
In the 2022 Good Universities Guide, ECU rated among the top three Australian universities for teaching quality, skills development, student support, student-to-teacher ratio, learning resources and overall experience. It was also one of two national universities to have maintained a 5-star rating in teaching quality for 15 years. The university is also a member of the
Association of Commonwealth Universities
The Association of Commonwealth Universities (ACU) was established in 1913, and has over 500 member institutions in over 50 countries across the Commonwealth. The ACU is the world's oldest international network of universities. Its mission is ...
,
Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business
The Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business, also known as AACSB International, is an American professional organization. It was founded as the American Assembly of Collegiate Schools of Business in 1916 to provide accreditation to ...
,
International Association of Law Schools The International Association of Law Schools (IALS) is an independent association of law schools that was established after a series of meetings of legal educators from around the world beginning in 2000. Incorporated under the laws of the District ...
and the International Cyber Security Center of Excellence.
History
![Edith Cowan, 1921](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b2/Edith_Cowan%2C_1921.jpg)
![Edith Cowan](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/21/Edith_Cowan.jpg)
In 1847, the General Board of Education was established to oversee school development in the
Swan River Colony
The Swan River Colony, also known as the Swan River Settlement, or just Swan River, was a British colony established in 1829 on the Swan River, in Western Australia. This initial settlement place on the Swan River was soon named Perth, and it ...
. After becoming the Central Board of Education, it was superseded by the then-called
Education Department in 1893, which classified schools, graded teachers, defined teachers' positions, implemented a
salary
A salary is a form of periodic payment from an employer to an employee, which may be specified in an employment contract. It is contrasted with piece wages, where each job, hour or other unit is paid separately, rather than on a periodic basis.
...
scale for teachers, abolished school fees, provided for co-educational schools and made attendance compulsory for children between the ages of six and 14. At this time, the
Education Department had "external study" for student teachers, where they taught in the
classroom
A classroom or schoolroom is a learning space in which both children and adults learn. Classrooms are found in educational institutions of all kinds, ranging from preschools to universities, and may also be found in other places where education ...
while studying for examinations set by the
Department
Department may refer to:
* Departmentalization, division of a larger organization into parts with specific responsibility
Government and military
*Department (administrative division), a geographical and administrative division within a country, ...
.
The origins of Edith Cowan University date back to 1902 with the establishment of the
Claremont Teachers College
Claremont Teachers College was Western Australia’s first post-secondary teaching institution. It opened in 1902 and closed in 1981, when it became a College of Advanced Education and later a campus of Edith Cowan University. The building is on ...
, the first tertiary institution in
Western Australia
Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...
.
Students could gain qualifications through studying at the College, which remained the only place one could do this until the 1950s when the Churchlands and
Graylands colleges opened. The function of teacher education did not pass into the university sector until the 1980s. The
Claremont campus is on land between Goldsworthy, Princess and Bay Roads in the western
Perth
Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth is ...
suburb of
Claremont.
It is a large two storey
limestone
Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms whe ...
building set in extensive grounds, with a distinctive square
crenellated
A battlement in defensive architecture, such as that of city walls or castles, comprises a parapet (i.e., a defensive low wall between chest-height and head-height), in which gaps or indentations, which are often rectangular, occur at interva ...
tower, and was entered in the
Register of the National Estate
The Register of the National Estate was a heritage register that listed natural and cultural heritage places in Australia that was closed in 2007. Phasing out began in 2003, when the Australian National Heritage List and the Commonwealth Heritag ...
in 1987.
Over time, other teacher training colleges were formed, including
Graylands Teachers College
Graylands Teachers College was a primary teacher education institution, established in 1955 in Mount Claremont (which was called Graylands at the time) in Western Australia. It became the second teachers' college to be established in the sta ...
(GTC) in 1955, the Western Australian Secondary Teachers College (WASTC) in 1967 that was renamed Nedlands College of Advanced Education (NCAE) on 1 January 1979, Mount Lawley Teachers College (MLTC) in 1970 and Churchlands Teachers College in 1972.
The
Graylands Teachers College
Graylands Teachers College was a primary teacher education institution, established in 1955 in Mount Claremont (which was called Graylands at the time) in Western Australia. It became the second teachers' college to be established in the sta ...
in 1977 was recommended by the
Commonwealth Government
The Australian Government, also known as the Commonwealth Government, is the national government of Australia, a federal parliamentary constitutional monarchy. Like other Westminster-style systems of government, the Australian Government ...
for closure at the end of 1979, to be merged into Churchlands, Mount Lawley and
Claremont.
On 11 December 1981, the
Claremont Teachers College
Claremont Teachers College was Western Australia’s first post-secondary teaching institution. It opened in 1902 and closed in 1981, when it became a College of Advanced Education and later a campus of Edith Cowan University. The building is on ...
, Nedlands College of Advanced Education, Mount Lawley College of Advanced Education and Churchlands College of Advanced Education amalgamated to form the Western Australian College of Advanced Education (WACAE, or colloquially ''wacky''),
with campuses in
Churchlands,
Claremont,
Mount Lawley
Mount is often used as part of the name of specific mountains, e.g. Mount Everest.
Mount or Mounts may also refer to:
Places
* Mount, Cornwall, a village in Warleggan parish, England
* Mount, Perranzabuloe, a hamlet in Perranzabuloe parish, C ...
and
Nedlands.
A new
Bunbury campus started taking in students in 1986,
and a new
Joondalup
Joondalup () is a suburb of Perth, Western Australia, approximately north of Perth's central business district. It contains the central business district of the regional City of Joondalup and acts as the primary urban centre of Perth's outer ...
campus in 1987. During the 1980s,
Western Australia
Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...
's first nursing education program was also established.
The
Claremont Teachers College
Claremont Teachers College was Western Australia’s first post-secondary teaching institution. It opened in 1902 and closed in 1981, when it became a College of Advanced Education and later a campus of Edith Cowan University. The building is on ...
's last Director was Thomas Ryan (1924-2002), who completed his teacher training at the College and graduated in 1947. He was appointed Vice-Principal of the College in 1972, a position he held until his appointment as Director of the College in 1980.
In 1989, WACAE underwent an independent review led by the former
University of Melbourne
The University of Melbourne is a public research university located in Melbourne, Australia. Founded in 1853, it is Australia's second oldest university and the oldest in Victoria. Its main campus is located in Parkville, an inner suburb nor ...
vice chancellor David Caro in the form of the Caro Committee, which included Roy Lourens who later became vice chancellor of Edith Cowan University.
WACAE was granted university status on 1 January 1991 and changed its name to Edith Cowan University after
Edith Dircksey Cowan, the first woman to be elected to an
Australian Parliament
The Parliament of Australia (officially the Federal Parliament, also called the Commonwealth Parliament) is the legislature, legislative branch of the government of Australia. It consists of three elements: the monarch (represented by the ...
. , Edith Cowan University is the only Australian university named after a woman.
Cowan worked to raise funds for students to attend universities in other states, prior to a university being built in
Western Australia
Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...
, obtaining government support for her scheme.
Her work in this area was acknowledged by naming
Western Australia
Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...
's oldest education institution and newest university after her, as well as her image being added to the 1995 and 2018 designs (the
polymer
A polymer (; Greek '' poly-'', "many" + ''-mer'', "part")
is a substance or material consisting of very large molecules called macromolecules, composed of many repeating subunits. Due to their broad spectrum of properties, both synthetic a ...
designs) of the
Australian $50 note.
Cowan believed that
education
Education is a purposeful activity directed at achieving certain aims, such as transmitting knowledge or fostering skills and character traits. These aims may include the development of understanding, rationality, kindness, and honesty. Va ...
was the key to growth, change and improvement and her contribution to the development of
Western Australian
Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...
education was significant. She strove to achieve
social justice
Social justice is justice in terms of the distribution of wealth, opportunities, and privileges within a society. In Western and Asian cultures, the concept of social justice has often referred to the process of ensuring that individuals fu ...
and
campaigned for the
rights
Rights are legal, social, or ethical principles of freedom or entitlement; that is, rights are the fundamental normative rules about what is allowed of people or owed to people according to some legal system, social convention, or ethical the ...
of women, children and families, for the poor, the poorly educated and the elderly.
She promoted
sex education
Sex education, also known as sexual education, sexuality education or sex ed, is the instruction of issues relating to human sexuality, including emotional relations and responsibilities, human sexual anatomy, Human sexual activity, sexual acti ...
in schools, migrant welfare, and the formation of infant health centres, and was instrumental in obtaining votes for women in
Western Australia
Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...
.
In 1991, the university purchased the house that Cowan, her husband and family had resided in for approximately 20 years.
The house was reconstructed on the university's Joondalup campus with the assistance of the
West Coast College of TAFE, and re-opened in 1997.
Edith Cowan House, Building 20 on the university's Joondalup campus,
currently plays host to the Peter Cowan Writers Centre.
The original
Claremont building continued serving for 16 years as a campus of Edith Cowan University following that institution's formation in 1989. The campus was then acquired by the
University of Western Australia
The University of Western Australia (UWA) is a public research university in the Australian state of Western Australia. The university's main campus is in Perth, the state capital, with a secondary campus in Albany, Western Australia, Albany an ...
and became home to the Confucius Institute,
University of Western Australia Press
UWA Publishing, formerly known as the Text Books Board and then University of Western Australia Press, is a Western Australian publisher established in 1935 by the University of Western Australia. It produces a range of non-fiction and fiction t ...
and, until 2021,
Taylors College
Taylors College is a provider of university preparation programs in Australia and New Zealand. Established in Melbourne, Australia in 1920, Taylors College is a private school that provides secondary school education (Year 10 - Year 12) and sp ...
.
Organisation
Teaching schools
![ECU Joondalup library front](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/1f/ECU_Joondalup_library_front.jpg)
The university has eight teaching schools
School of Business and Law
Broad disciplines: Business and Law
School of Arts and Humanities
Broad disciplines: Communication, Arts, Humanities, Psychology, Social Sciences, Social Work, Criminology and Justice
School of Education
Broad disciplines: Teacher education for Early Childhood, Primary and Secondary schools
School of Engineering
Broad disciplines: Full range of Engineering specialisations
School of Medical and Health Sciences
Broad disciplines: Exercise and Health Sciences, Medical Science, Biomedical Science, Speech Pathology and Paramedicine
School of Nursing and Midwifery
Broad disciplines: Nursing and Midwifery
School of Science
Broad disciplines: Biology and Environmental Sciences, Mathematics, Physics, Biochemistry, Computing and Security Sciences
Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts
Broad disciplines: Full range of performing arts and related specialities
Research centres
The university has a number of research centres within its areas of research strength: Health and Wellness; Education; Environment and Sustainability; Electronic Engineering and ICT; Social and Community; Business and Society; Communications and Creative Arts; and Security, Law and Justice. Several of these research centres are categorised as Major National Research Facilities and WA Centres of Excellence in Science and Innovation.
Business and society
*Centre for Innovative Practice
*Marketing and Services Research Centre
Communications and creative arts
*Centre for Research in Entertainment, Arts, Technology, Education and Communications
*Dance Research Centre - Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts
Education
*Centre for Schooling and Learning Technologies
*Edith Cowan Institute for Education Research
*Fogarty Learning Centre
Engineering and ICT
* Australian Institute of Nuclear Science and Engineering (AINSE)
* Centre for Communications Engineering Research
* Electron Science Research Institute
* National Networked Tele-Test Facility for Integrated Systems
* The Western Australian Centres for Microscopy/Nanoscale Characterisation
Environment and sustainability
*Centre for Ecosystem Management
*Centre for Marine Ecosystems Research
*Natural Resources Modelling and Simulation Research Group
*The Western Australian Marine Science Institution
Health and wellness
*Australian Indigenous HealthInfoNet
*Centre of Excellence for Alzheimer's Disease Research and Care
*Exercise and Sports Science Research Group
*Melanoma Research
*The Systems and Intervention Research Centre for Health
*Exercise Medicine Research Institute (EMRI)
*Western Australian Centre of Excellence for Comparative Genomics
Security, law and justice
*ECU Security Research Institute
*Sellenger Centre for Research in Law, Justice and Social Change
Vice-chancellors and chancellors
Steve Chapman commenced as vice-chancellor in April 2015. Previous vice-chancellors include Kerry Cox (from 2006 to 2014), Millicent Poole (from 1997 to 2005) and Roy Lourens (from 1991 to 1997).
Robert French
Robert Shenton French (born 19 March 1947) is an Australian lawyer and judge who served as the twelfth Chief Justice of Australia, in office from 2008 to 2017. He has been the chancellor of the University of Western Australia since 2017.
Fren ...
was the inaugural chancellor (1991–1997). In January 2022,
Denise Goldsworthy
Denise Carol Goldsworthy (born 1964/1965) is an Australian business executive. After a 30-year career in the mining industry she opened Alternate Futures, a consultancy business, in 2013. She has also held a number of non-executive board and c ...
became the fifth chancellor. Previous chancellors include
Robert Nicholson (1997–2004),
Hendy Cowan
Hendy John Cowan (born 25 April 1943) is a former deputy premier of Western Australia.
He had served in the Western Australian Legislative Assembly as the Member for Merredin-Yilgarn from 30 March 1974 and the Member for Merredin from 19 Feb ...
(2004–2018) and
Kerry Sanderson
Kerry Gaye Sanderson, (née Smith; born 21 December 1950) is a retired Australian public servant and business director, who served as the 32nd Governor of Western Australia, in office from 20 October 2014 to 1 May 2018. She is the first woman t ...
(2019–2021).
Governing council
The University Council is the governing body of the organisation which controls and manages the operation, affairs, concerns and property of the university, in accordance with its Corporate Governance Statement.
The membership of the council is composed of people across various disciplines and groups as mandated under Part III, Sect. 9 of the Edith Cowan University Act 1984. Its membership includes persons appointed by the Governor of Western Australia, co-opted members, members of the academic and general staff of the university as elected by the members of these groups, and alumni and student guild representatives. With the exception of the Chancellor and students, members of council are elected for three-year terms, or in the case of a by-election for the balance of the current term. An elected member of the council may serve for up to three consecutive terms, after which they are subject to a twelve-month break before they may be reconsidered for council. Students elected to the University Council hold office for a term of one year from the date their election takes effect, and are not eligible for re-election more than once.
Campuses
ECU has three campuses, consisting of two metropolitan campuses at
Joondalup
Joondalup () is a suburb of Perth, Western Australia, approximately north of Perth's central business district. It contains the central business district of the regional City of Joondalup and acts as the primary urban centre of Perth's outer ...
and
Mount Lawley
Mount is often used as part of the name of specific mountains, e.g. Mount Everest.
Mount or Mounts may also refer to:
Places
* Mount, Cornwall, a village in Warleggan parish, England
* Mount, Perranzabuloe, a hamlet in Perranzabuloe parish, C ...
, and one at
Bunbury, in Western Australia's
South West Region. Programs are also offered at regional centres throughout Western Australia.
The Joondalup Campus is the University's headquarters.
Facilities on the campus include a new Health and Wellness Building, a multimillion-dollar sport and fitness centre, a new award-winning library and student hub, an outdoor cinema screening
Perth International Arts Festival
Perth Festival, named Perth International Arts Festival (PIAF) between 2000 and 2017, and sometimes referred to as the Festival of Perth, is Australia's longest-running cultural festival, held annually in Western Australia. The program features ...
Lotterywest Festival Films during the summer months and on-campus accommodation.
The campus also forms part of the Joondalup Learning Precinct, which includes the
West Coast College of TAFE to the north and the
Western Australian Police Academy to the northeast. It is serviced by the Joondalup
CAT
The cat (''Felis catus'') is a domestic species of small carnivorous mammal. It is the only domesticated species in the family Felidae and is commonly referred to as the domestic cat or house cat to distinguish it from the wild members of ...
and is close to the
Mitchell Freeway
The Mitchell Freeway is a freeway in the northern suburbs of Perth, Western Australia, linking central Perth with the city of Joondalup. It is the northern section of State Route 2, which continues south as Kwinana Freeway and Forrest High ...
.
The Mount Lawley Campus is close to the
Perth central business district
Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth is p ...
(CBD). Facilities on the campus include extensive media training and performing arts facilities, a sport and fitness centre and on-campus accommodation.
The campus also forms part of the Mount Lawley education precinct with
Mount Lawley Senior High School
Mount Lawley Senior High School is a public co-educational high day school in the City of Stirling, located in Mount Lawley, a northern suburb of Perth, Western Australia. The school consists of three separate sub-schools: Middle School for Yea ...
, and is home to WAAPA, one of Australia's most successful and well-known arts training institutions.
The South West Campus is located in
Bunbury, two hours drive south of Perth.
The
South West
The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A compass rose is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west—each sepa ...
Campus (Bunbury) is the largest university campus outside the metropolitan area and is part of an educational precinct comprising
South West Institute of Technology and the Bunbury Health Campus
which includes St John of God Hospital and South West Area Health Services. The campus has modern facilities, small class sizes, two vending machines, a cafe, and a common room. In addition, a comprehensive range of courses and on-campus accommodation is available.
Many classes have recently been shifted to online to cater to overseas students.
The university formerly also had three campuses in Perth's western suburbs
Churchlands,
Claremont and
Nedlands. These campuses were closed down with the Churchlands Campus becoming a residential estate in 2006, and the Nedlands and Claremont campuses being acquired by the
University of Western Australia
The University of Western Australia (UWA) is a public research university in the Australian state of Western Australia. The university's main campus is in Perth, the state capital, with a secondary campus in Albany, Western Australia, Albany an ...
in 1990 and 2004
respectively.
Graylands was merged into Claremont, Churchlands and Mount Lawley in 1979 before the formation of WACAE, and Churchlands eventually became a residential estate.
In 2014 the university opened the ECU Health Centre on Dundebar Road in Wanneroo. The Centre includes the Wanneroo GP Super Clinic, ECU Psychological Services Centre, pharmacy, and allied health practitioners.
On 20 September 2020, as part of a $1.5-billion "Perth City Deal" between the federal and Western Australian state governments, it was announced that the Mount Lawley campus would relocate to immediately west of
Yagan Square
Yagan Square is a public space and a component of the Perth City Link in Perth, Western Australia. It is situated between the Horseshoe Bridge and the Perth Busport in the eastern part of the Perth City Link precinct, occupying . Construction o ...
in the Perth CBD. The 11-storey campus dubbed "ECU City" built on of land Mount Lawley Senior High School is planned to expand into the current WAAPA facilities at Mount Lawley. On 17 December 2021, the city campus project was approved by
DevelopmentWA
DevelopmentWA is a land development agency of the Government of Western Australia, Western Australian government. It was formed in September 2019 as a merger of the Metropolitan Redevelopment Authority and the Western Australian Land Authority, ...
. Initial construction on the site was expected to begin in the second quarter of 2022, but , early works while cost have increased to $853 million.
Academic profile
Study programs are offered at
Associate Degree
An associate degree is an undergraduate degree awarded after a course of post-secondary study lasting two to three years. It is a level of qualification above a high school diploma, GED, or matriculation, and below a bachelor's degree.
The fi ...
,
Bachelor
A bachelor is a man who is not and has never been married.Bachelors are, in Pitt & al.'s phrasing, "men who live independently, outside of their parents' home and other institutional settings, who are neither married nor cohabitating". ().
Etymo ...
,
Master
Master or masters may refer to:
Ranks or titles
* Ascended master, a term used in the Theosophical religious tradition to refer to spiritually enlightened beings who in past incarnations were ordinary humans
*Grandmaster (chess), National Master ...
and
Doctoral
A doctorate (from Latin ''docere'', "to teach"), doctor's degree (from Latin ''doctor'', "teacher"), or doctoral degree is an academic degree awarded by universities and some other educational institutions, derived from the ancient formalism ''li ...
levels in numerous subject areas. Additionally there are number of
Vocational education
Vocational education is education that prepares people to work as a technician or to take up employment in a skilled craft or trade as a tradesperson or artisan. Vocational Education can also be seen as that type of education given to an ind ...
courses offered by
Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts
The Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts (WAAPA) at Edith Cowan University (ECU) was established in 1980 to provide performing arts tuition. WAAPA (commonly pronounced "whopp-a") operates as a part of ECU, located at the ECU campus in ...
and several University Preparation Courses which prepare students for undergraduate study.
The university offers more than 300 courses across its three
Western Australia
Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...
n campuses, with some courses also offered for study off-campus (
Distance Education
Distance education, also known as distance learning, is the education of students who may not always be physically present at a school, or where the learner and the teacher are separated in both time and distance. Traditionally, this usually in ...
).
A significant number of ECU courses are unique to Western Australia and Australia - including Ocean Engineering, Arts Management, Aviation, the Home Economics specialisation in secondary teaching, Design and Technology secondary teaching, a double degree in Nursing and Midwifery, an accredited online Law degree.
The university has partnerships with several education institutions to conduct courses and programs offshore in countries such as China, India, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Vietnam and the United Arab Emirates.
Course Experience Questionnaire (CEQ)
The 2008 national Course Experience Questionnaire (CEQ) reports that 92.1% of ECU's domestic and international Bachelor level graduates were satisfied with the quality of their course,
with the national average at 88.5% and the
Western Australia
Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...
state average at 90.0%.
The 2008 CEQ also reports that 89.6% of ECU's domestic and international Bachelor level graduates were satisfied with the teaching experience during their course,
with the national average at 82.8% and the
Western Australia
Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...
state average at 85.0%.
Graduate Destination Survey
The 2008 national Graduate Destination Survey reports that 84.7% of ECU's domestic Bachelor level graduates are in full-time employment
with the national average at 86.01% and the state average at 87.9%.
Rankings
The 2018 ERA scale ranks ECU 32nd out of Australian universities. The 2022 Good Universities Guide rates ECU five stars, the highest star rating, for teaching quality and graduate starting salary. The 2023 QS World University Rankings listed ECU in the 601-650 band. The 2023 Times Higher Education (THE) Ranking listed ECU in the 351-400 band. ECU is also named in The Times Higher Education (THE) Young Universities Under 50, ranking listed 94 a list of the best universities in the world under the age of 50.
Student life
Enrollment
ECU has more than 31,000 students at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels. More than 6,000 international students originating from more than 100 countries study with ECU each year.
This includes the offshore delivery of a variety of courses in a number of countries, student and staff exchange programs with other universities, joint research activities, international consultancies and individual academic links.
Guilds and student associations
All students are represented by the
ECU Student Guild. This includes postgraduate students, under the Postgraduate Studies Department, and International students under the International Students' Council.
There are a range of academic groups and associations for undergraduate students of particular disciplines, including: Boomerang@ECU (Advertising); Dead Pilot's Society Superseded by Edith Cowan Aviators (ECA) as found on the social networking site Facebook; ECU Engineers (EEC); ECU Society of Psychology and Social Science (ECUSPSS); Sports Science @ ECU; Town Planning Student Association; ECU Nurses; Society Of Security Science (SOSS); NorthLaw Society (NLS); ECU Public Relations Chapter; Computer and Security Science Association (CASSA); ML Education (Primary Education); Early Childhood Collective and Arts Management Student Organisation (AMSO); Western Australian Student Paramedics (WASP) and more.
Along with the student associations, there are various social and sporting clubs that are affiliated with ECU Sport or the Guild. Some of these include: ECU Cars & Cruises, ECU Badminton Club, Tennis Club, ECU Liberal Club, Jack of Arts, Enactus, Buddhist Youth Club, ECU Parties and Events, Humans vs Zombies, Nerd Space, ECU Cheerleading Club, ECU Quidditch Club, The Sound, Touch Football, Mixed Netball, and more.
Notable alumni
Notable alumni of ECU include:
*
Ahmed Adeeb
Ahmed Adeeb Abdul Ghafoor ( dv, އަޙްމަދު އަދީބު ޢަބްދުލްޣަފޫރު; born 11 April 1982) is a Maldivian politician who briefly served as Vice President of Maldives in 2015. Prior to his appointment on 22 July 2015, he s ...
, former
Vice President of the Maldives
Vice President of the Maldives is the holder of a public office created by the Constitution of the Maldives. The current office-holder is Faisal Naseem, since 17 November 2018.
Ibrahim Muhammad Didi was the first vice president, and was an appo ...
*
Anne Aly
Anne Azza Aly (born Azza Mahmoud Fawzi Hosseini Ali el Serougi, 1967) is an Australian politician who has been a Labor member of the House of Representatives since the 2016 election, representing the electorate of Cowan in Western Australia. ...
, political scholar and counter-terrorism expert, federal MP for
Cowan
Cowan or Cowans may refer to:
Places Australia
* Cowan, New South Wales
* Cowan Creek, a waterway to the north of Sydney, Australia
* Division of Cowan, a federal division of the Australian House of Representatives, in Western Australia
* Hundr ...
representing the
Labor Party, current Minister for Early Childhood Education and Minister for Youth in the Albanese ministry.
*
Musa Aman
Musa Bin Haji Aman ( Jawi: موسى بن حاج أمان; born 30 March 1951) is a Malaysian politician who served as the 14th Chief Minister, State Minister of Finance from March 2003 to May 2018, Member of the Sabah State Legislative Ass ...
, the chief minister of the Malaysian state of
Sabah
Sabah () is a States and federal territories of Malaysia, state of Malaysia located in northern Borneo, in the region of East Malaysia. Sabah borders the Malaysian state of Sarawak to the southwest and the North Kalimantan province of Indone ...
*
Darren Beazley
Darren Beazley is an Australian businessman and sports administrator.
Early life
Darren Beazley was born in Nambour in Queensland, but spent his formative years in Geraldton, Western Australia, where he graduated from high school and later un ...
, sports administrator
*
Donna Burke
Donna Burke is an Australian voice actress, singer, narrator and businesswoman. She is also known for her vocal work on songs produced for video game series such as ''Metal Gear'' and ''Final Fantasy''.
Biography
Burke graduated from Edith Cow ...
, singer, voice actress and businesswoman
*
Tim Clifford, politician representing the
Greens WA
Greens Western Australia, commonly known as the Greens WA, is a List of member parties of the Australian Greens, member party of the Australian Greens in Western Australia. The Greens (WA) was formed following the merger of the Western Australia ...
for the
East Metropolitan Region
The East Metropolitan Region is a multi-member electoral region of the Western Australian Legislative Council, located in the eastern and south-eastern suburbs of Perth. It was created by the ''Acts Amendment (Electoral Reform) Act 1987'', and b ...
*
Alistair Edwards
Alistair Martin Edwards (born 21 June 1968) is a former soccer player and coach. A prominent forward, he made a name for himself with National Soccer League clubs Sydney Olympic and Perth Glory. He was also a favourite with Malaysian League tea ...
, former Australian international soccer player
*
Mark Gasser
Mark Gasser (born 6 July 1972) is a British concert pianist.
Career
Gasser was born in Sheffield, in the West Riding of Yorkshire, in 1972 to Austrian and Scottish parents. He studied with John Humphreys at the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire, ...
, concert pianist
*
Lady Edwina Louise Grosvenor
Lady Edwina Louise Grosvenor (born 4 November 1981) is an English criminologist, philanthropist and prison reformer. She is a founder and a trustee of the charity The Clink, and founder of the charity One Small Thing. She is the sister of Hugh Gr ...
, prison reformer
*
Terry Mills, former
Chief Minister of the Northern Territory
The chief minister of the Northern Territory is the head of government of the Northern Territory. The office is the equivalent of a state premier.
When the Northern Territory Legislative Assembly was created in 1974, the head of government wa ...
*
Joshua Oigara
Joshua Nyamweya Oigara (born 1975) is Kenyan businessman, accountant and corporate executive and the current Chief Executive Officer Stanbic Bank Kenya and South Sudan starting November 2022. He is the immediate former Group chief executive o ...
, Group CEO of the
Kenya Commercial Bank Group
KCB Group Limited, also known as the KCB Group, is a financial services holding company based in the African Great Lakes region. The Group's headquarters are in Nairobi, Kenya, with its subsidiaries being KCB Bank Kenya Limited, KCB Bank Burundi L ...
*
Christopher Phillips
Christopher Phillips (born July 15, 1959) is an American author, educator, consultant, lecturer, and pro-democracy advocate. He is best known for his 2001 book '' Socrates Café''. Public Radio International called Phillips the "Johnny Appl ...
, writer
*
Farzad Sharifian
Farzad Sharifian ( fa, فرزاد شریفیان) was a pioneer of cultural linguistics and held the Chair in Cultural Linguistics at Monash University. He developed a theoretical and an analytical framework of cultural cognition, cultural con ...
, linguist
*
David Scott
David Randolph Scott (born June 6, 1932) is an American retired test pilot and NASA astronaut who was the seventh person to walk on the Moon. Selected as part of the third group of astronauts in 1963, Scott flew to space three times and c ...
; educationist, former headmaster of
Kingswood College and
Newington College
, motto_translation = To Faith Add Knowledge
, location = Inner West and Lower North Shore of Sydney, New South Wales
, country = Australia
, coordinates =
, pushpin_map = A ...
*
Gregory Sica, sports writer
*
Kris Stewart
Kris Stewart (born February 9, 1967 in Portsmouth) is the founding chairman of English football club AFC Wimbledon and a left wing political activist. He was the club's chief executive and is also a CIMA past finalist management accountant. Unde ...
, theatre producer
*
David Templeman
David Alan Templeman (born 21 November 1965) is an Australian politician who has been a Labor Party member of the Legislative Assembly of Western Australia since 2001, representing the seat of Mandurah.
He is Leader of the House and Minist ...
, politician representing the Labor Party in the district of
Mandurah
Mandurah () is a coastal city in the Australian state of Western Australia, situated approximately south of the state capital, Perth. It is the state's second most populous city, with a population of 107,641 as of the 2021 Australian census, 2 ...
*
Wilson Tucker, politician
*
Adam Voges
Adam Charles Voges (, born 4 October 1979) is an Australian cricket coach and former cricketer who played for the Australian national team at Test, One Day International (ODI), and Twenty20 International (T20I) level, and also captained Weste ...
, cricketer
*
Graham Watt
Graham Travis Watt (born 18 August 1976) is an Australian politician. He was a member of the Victorian Legislative Assembly from 2010 to 2018, representing the seat of Burwood. He is a member of the Liberal Party.
Early life
As an Australian ...
, politician representing the
Liberal Party
The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left.
__TOC__ Active liberal parties
This is a li ...
for the district of
Burwood
*
Calan Williams
Calan Williams (born 30 June 2000) is an Australian racing driver who is competing in the GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup with BMW M Team WRT. He previously competed in the FIA Formula 2 Championship with Trident, having previously race ...
, racing driver
*
Danielle Wood Danielle Wood may refer to:
* Danielle Wood (writer) (born 1972), Australian writer, journalist and academic
* Danielle Wood (economist) (born 1979 or 1980), Australian economist and incoming chair of the Productivity Commission
* Danielle Wood ( ...
, writer
*
Rolf Harris
Rolf Harris (born 30 March 1930) is an Australian entertainer whose career has encompassed work as a musician, singer-songwriter, composer, comedian, actor, painter and television personality. He often used unusual instruments in his performan ...
, entertainer
Actors
*
Hugh Jackman
Hugh Michael Jackman (born 12 October 1968) is an Australian actor. Beginning in theatre and television, he landed his breakthrough role as James "Logan" Howlett / Wolverine in the 20th Century Fox ''X-Men'' film series (2000–2017), a role ...
*
Frances O'Connor
Frances Ann O'Connor (born 12 June 1967) is a British–born Australian actress and director. She is known for her roles in the films ''Mansfield Park'' (1999), '' Bedazzled'' (2000), ''A.I. Artificial Intelligence'' (2001), ''The Importance of ...
*
Jai Courtney
Jai Courtney (; born 15 March 1986) is an Australian actor. He started his career with small roles in films and television series before being cast as Charlie in the action film ''Jack Reacher'' (2012). He has gone on to star in ''A Good Day to ...
*
Dominic Purcell
Dominic Haakon Myrtved PurcellO'Connor, B,Break Out". ''Men's Fitness''. December/January 2007 Issue; retrieved 18 December 2006. (born 17 February 1970) is a British-Australian actor. He is best known for his portrayals of Lincoln Burrows in ...
*
Lisa McCune
Lisa McCune (born 19 February 1971) is an Australian actress, known for her role in TV series ''Blue Heelers'' as Senior Constable Maggie Doyle, and in ''Sea Patrol'' as Lieutenant Kate McGregor RAN. She has won four Gold Logie Awards.
McCune ...
*
Marcus Graham
Marcus Graham (born 11 October 1963) is an Australian film, television (including both serials and mini-series) and stage actor and director, with roles including ''Mulholland Drive'' and '' Josh Jarman''. He was known as a teenage heartthrob i ...
*
William McInnes
Daryl William Mathew Gabriel McInnes (born 10 September 1963) is an Australian film and television actor and writer. He portrayed the role of Matt Tivolli in '' The Time of Our Lives''. He is best known for his roles as Senior Constable Nick S ...
*
Lucy Durack
Lucy Durack (born 17 November 1982) is an Australian actress, singer and television personality who played Glinda in the Australian production of ''Wicked (musical), Wicked'', and Elle Woods in the Australian production of ''Legally Blonde (musi ...
*
Emma Matthews
Emma Matthews (née Lysons; born 1970) is an English-born Australian lyric coloratura soprano, noted for operatic roles, but also popular on the concert stage. A Principal Artist with Opera Australia, Matthews has received more Helpmann Awards ...
*
Eddie Perfect
Eddie Perfect (born 17 December 1977) is an Australian singer-songwriter, pianist, comedian, writer and actor.
Widely known for his role as Mick Holland in Channel Ten's TV series ''Offspring'' in which he performs his own music, he has record ...
*
Tim Minchin
*
Simon Lyndon
Simon Lyndon (born 18 February 1971 in London) is an English-born Australian actor and director who grew up in Fremantle, Western Australia. He is a WAAPA graduate.
Career Film roles
Lyndon played Jimmy Loughlin in '' Chopper'' with Eric Ba ...
*
Dacre Montgomery
Dacre Kayd Montgomery-Harvey (; born 22 November 1994) is an Australian actor. He is known for his roles as Billy Hargrove in the Netflix series ''Stranger Things'' (2017–2022), Jason Scott in the 2017 action film ''Power Rangers'', and Steve ...
Notable faculty and staff
*
Anne Aly
Anne Azza Aly (born Azza Mahmoud Fawzi Hosseini Ali el Serougi, 1967) is an Australian politician who has been a Labor member of the House of Representatives since the 2016 election, representing the electorate of Cowan in Western Australia. ...
*
Alexandre Da Costa
Alexandre Da Costa is a Canadian concert violinist and conductor from Montreal, Quebec.
He is the artistic director of the ''Orchestre Symphonique De Longueuil''.
Education
Da Costa has a bachelor's degree in performance (piano) from the Facul ...
, Associate Professor of Classical Music - Strings
*
Chris Edmund, former Head of Acting at
WAAPA
The Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts (WAAPA) at Edith Cowan University (ECU) was established in 1980 to provide performing arts tuition. WAAPA (commonly pronounced "whopp-a") operates as a part of ECU, located at the ECU campus in ...
*
Kamran Eshraghian
Kamran Eshraghian (born 13 June 1945) is an electronics engineer notable for working on VLSI in Australia. He has worked on CMOS VLSI design.
Personal life
Kamran Eshraghian was born in Tehran on 13 June 1945, in a Baha'i family. On his fathe ...
, electronics engineer and expert in the field of
VLSI
Very large-scale integration (VLSI) is the process of creating an integrated circuit (IC) by combining millions or billions of MOS transistors onto a single chip. VLSI began in the 1970s when MOS integrated circuit (Metal Oxide Semiconductor) c ...
*
Mark Gasser
Mark Gasser (born 6 July 1972) is a British concert pianist.
Career
Gasser was born in Sheffield, in the West Riding of Yorkshire, in 1972 to Austrian and Scottish parents. He studied with John Humphreys at the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire, ...
*
Geoff Gibbs (1940 - 2006), founding dean of dramatic arts and principal of
WAAPA
The Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts (WAAPA) at Edith Cowan University (ECU) was established in 1980 to provide performing arts tuition. WAAPA (commonly pronounced "whopp-a") operates as a part of ECU, located at the ECU campus in ...
*
David W. Goodall
David William Goodall (4 April 1914 – 10 May 2018) was an English-born Australian botanist and ecologist. He was influential in the early development of statistical methods in plant communities. He worked as researcher and professor in Englan ...
, believed to be Australia's oldest working scientist
*
Nanette Hassall, dancer, choreographer and dance teacher
*
Colleen Hayward, Former Pro-Vice-Chancellor and 2009 inductee into the Hall of Fame at the Aboriginal Awards of Achievement
*
Cat Hope, Associate Dean of Research at
WAAPA
The Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts (WAAPA) at Edith Cowan University (ECU) was established in 1980 to provide performing arts tuition. WAAPA (commonly pronounced "whopp-a") operates as a part of ECU, located at the ECU campus in ...
*
Geoffrey Lancaster
Geoffrey Lancaster (born 20 August 1954) is an Australian classical pianist and conductor. Born in Sydney, he was raised in Dubbo, New South Wales before moving to Canberra. He attended the Canberra School of Music where he studied piano with ...
, world-renowned
fortepianist
A fortepiano , sometimes referred to as a pianoforte, is an early piano. In principle, the word "fortepiano" can designate any piano dating from the invention of the instrument by Bartolomeo Cristofori in 1698 up to the early 19th century. Mo ...
*
Ralph Martins, Chair in Aging and Alzheimers and named WA Australian of the Year for 2010;
*
Emma Matthews
Emma Matthews (née Lysons; born 1970) is an English-born Australian lyric coloratura soprano, noted for operatic roles, but also popular on the concert stage. A Principal Artist with Opera Australia, Matthews has received more Helpmann Awards ...
, Head of Classical Voice at
WAAPA
The Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts (WAAPA) at Edith Cowan University (ECU) was established in 1980 to provide performing arts tuition. WAAPA (commonly pronounced "whopp-a") operates as a part of ECU, located at the ECU campus in ...
*
Craig Valli, 2010 Achiever of the Year Award, Western Australian Information Technology and Telecommunications Awards (WAITTA);
*
Julie Warn, director of
WAAPA
The Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts (WAAPA) at Edith Cowan University (ECU) was established in 1980 to provide performing arts tuition. WAAPA (commonly pronounced "whopp-a") operates as a part of ECU, located at the ECU campus in ...
*
Graham Wood, Dean of Teaching and Learning at the
Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts
The Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts (WAAPA) at Edith Cowan University (ECU) was established in 1980 to provide performing arts tuition. WAAPA (commonly pronounced "whopp-a") operates as a part of ECU, located at the ECU campus in ...
See also
*
List of universities in Australia
There are 43 universities in Australia: 40 Australian universities (36 public and 4 private) and 3 international private universities. The Commonwealth Higher Education Support Act 2003 sets out three groups of Australian higher education provi ...
*
Perth Institute of Business and Technology
References
External links
*
{{authority control
Universities in Western Australia
Educational institutions established in 1991
Mount Lawley, Western Australia
Joondalup
1991 establishments in Australia