The University of Canberra (UC) is a

public In public relations and communication science, publics are groups of individual people, and the public (a.k.a. the general public) is the totality of such groupings. This is a different concept to the sociological concept of the ''Öffentlichkei ...

research university A research university or a research-intensive university is a university that is committed to research as a central part of its mission. They are the most important sites at which knowledge production occurs, along with "intergenerational kno ...

with its main campus located in Bruce, Canberra, Australian Capital Territory. The campus is within walking distance of

Westfield Belconnen Westfield Belconnen, also known colloquially as Belconnen Mall, is managed by Scentre Group and located in the Canberra suburb of Belconnen, Australian Capital Territory, Belconnen, Australia. The shopping centre is the largest in Canberra, fe ...

, and from Canberra's

Civic Centre A civic center or civic centre is a prominent land area within a community that is constructed to be its focal point or center. It usually contains one or more dominant public buildings, which may also include a government building. Recently, the ...

. UC offers

undergraduate Undergraduate education is education conducted after secondary education and before postgraduate education. It typically includes all postsecondary programs up to the level of a bachelor's degree. For example, in the United States, an entry-lev ...

and

postgraduate Postgraduate or graduate education refers to academic or professional degrees, certificates, diplomas, or other qualifications pursued by post-secondary students who have earned an undergraduate ( bachelor's) degree. The organization and ...

courses covering five faculties: Health, Art and Design, Business, Government and Law, Education, and Science and Technology. UC partners with two local ACT schools:

UC Senior Secondary College Lake Ginninderra University of Canberra Senior Secondary College Lake Ginninderra, formerly known as Lake Ginninderra College until 2011, is a public secondary college for students in Years 11 and 12. It is located in the Australian Capital Territory, Australia, ...

and University of Canberra High School Kaleen. The University of Canberra College provides pathways into university for domestic and international students.

History

The University of Canberra was first established in 1967 as the

Canberra College of Advanced Education The University of Canberra (UC) is a public research university with its main campus located in Bruce, Canberra, Australian Capital Territory. The campus is within walking distance of Westfield Belconnen, and from Canberra's Civic Centre. UC ...

. The Canberra CAE became the University of Canberra under sponsorship of

Monash University Monash University () is a public research university based in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Named for prominent World War I general Sir John Monash, it was founded in 1958 and is the second oldest university in the state. The university h ...

in 1990. Over 70,000 students have graduated from the university since 1970. The University of Canberra has grown by 78% since 2007, going from 7,300 students to over 13,000 in 2014.UC intake hits record high
, ''The Canberra Times'', 15 March 2011 The median

Australian Tertiary Admission Rank The Australian Tertiary Admission Rank (ATAR) is the primary criterion for domestic student entry into undergraduate courses in Australian public universities. It was gradually introduced to most states and territories in 2009–10 and has sinc ...

of UC students is approximately 71.Item 4.2
, ''Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency'', March 2012

Foundation stone and Stone Day

At the end of the year after classes finish but before exams, Stone Day was once held, a music festival with local bands, which lasted several days. The day before it was known as Stone Eve. It started as a celebration held annually to mark the placing of the foundation stone by

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...

John Gorton Sir John Grey Gorton (9 September 1911 – 19 May 2002) was an Australian politician who served as the nineteenth Prime Minister of Australia, in office from 1968 to 1971. He led the Liberal Party during that time, having previously been a l ...

on 28 October 1968. The stone is displayed near Building 1 at the university, and an inscription on it reads: Over the years the Stone Day program gradually became larger and larger, eventually encompassing an entire week and transforming into one of Australia's most popular music festivals. The first foundation celebrations were held in 1971. In 1973 Stone Day celebrations were held over two days, which was expanded to take up a whole week in 1976. In the 1980s and 1990s, Stoneweek became a popular Canberra entertainment event, which in 2000 became Stonefest. Beginning in 2012, the Stonefest event was not held for a number of years at the University of Canberra. In 2014, the university decided to create a 'Stonefest' mini music festival where there was a DJ and numerous activities. It was not received well, and has not been held since. In June 2019 the University of Canberra announced that Stonefest would return in October in an expanded format, with both local and international acts performing.

Campus

The university has one campus, located in the suburb of

Bruce The English language name Bruce arrived in Scotland with the Normans, from the place name Brix, Manche in Normandy, France, meaning "the willowlands". Initially promulgated via the descendants of king Robert the Bruce (1274−1329), it has been ...

, which covers 290 acres of buildings, roads and access routes. There are just over 28 buildings, each dedicated to a particular discipline of learning or faculty. Most of these buildings are arranged around the main concourse. Each building is numbered and many do not hold any title or namesake. New students are advised during orientation that the buildings are not numbered in a particular order, however the buildings around the concourse are progressively numbered in a counter-clockwise direction from building 1. It is a common myth that the numbers relate to when each building was constructed, however, a master plan was designed to have these building around the concourse numbered this way.

Library

The University of Canberra Library is located in Building 8. The building has four floors.

Facilities

The Refectory is the main food hall located in Building 1, operated by the UC Union. It provides cafes, post office, general shop, pool tables, and lounges, and is also concert venue. Upstairs there are study rooms which can be booked by students and staff. The Hub is located under the main concourse, providing cafes, a hairdressing salon, and a branch of the

Commonwealth Bank of Australia The Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA), or CommBank, is an Australian multinational bank with businesses across New Zealand, Asia, the United States and the United Kingdom. It provides a variety of financial services including retail, busine ...

. The University of Canberra's

student radio station Campus radio (also known as college radio, university radio or student radio) is a type of radio station that is run by the students of a college, university or other educational institution. Programming may be exclusively created or produced ...

87.8 UCFM 87.8 UCFM (ACMA callsign: 1A12) is an independent student radio station transmitting from the campus of the University of Canberra. It broadcasts a professionally consulted College Radio niche music format - 24 hours a day, seven days a week, w ...

studios are also located in The Hub. The UC HUB also hosts DJs. A sport and fitness centre is located in Building 29 with gym facilities and is home to Brumbies Rugby administration. There are basketball and squash courts nearby in Building 4, and various sporting ovals available.

Student accommodation

There are three accommodation options for students - UniLodge (consisting of Cooper Lodge, Weeden Lodge and more recently UC Lodge, all run by UniLodge Australia Pty Ltd), Campus West (run by UniLodge) and University Gardens (located in neighbor suburb of

Belconnen The District of Belconnen () is one of the original eighteen districts of the Australian Capital Territory (ACT), used in land administration. The district is subdivided into 27 divisions (suburbs), sections and blocks. The district of Belconn ...

, run by UniGardens PtyUniGardens Canberra University student accommodation
, official website). All options are provided to all students, including international students.

Organisation and administration

Administration

The current

Chancellor Chancellor ( la, cancellarius) is a title of various official positions in the governments of many nations. The original chancellors were the of Roman courts of justice—ushers, who sat at the or lattice work screens of a basilica or law cou ...

of the university since 1 January 2014 is

Tom Calma Thomas Edwin Calma, (born 1953), is an Aboriginal Australian human rights and social justice campaigner. He is the sixth chancellor of the University of Canberra, a post held since January 2014, after two years as deputy chancellor. Calma is th ...

, , an

Australian Aboriginal Aboriginal Australians are the various Indigenous peoples of the Australian mainland and many of its islands, such as Tasmania, Fraser Island, Hinchinbrook Island, the Tiwi Islands, and Groote Eylandt, but excluding the Torres Strait I ...

elder of the

Kungarakan people The Kungarakany people, also spelt Koongurrukuñ, Kungarrakany, Kungarakan and other variants, are an Aboriginal Australian people of the Northern Territory. They were called the "Paperbark People" by European settlers. Country Norman Tindale e ...

, and a human rights and social justice campaigner. The current

Vice-Chancellor A chancellor is a leader of a college or university, usually either the executive or ceremonial head of the university or of a university campus within a university system. In most Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth and former Commonwealth n ...

of the university since 6 April 2020 is Professor Paddy Nixon, a technologist and computer scientist. The former Vice-Chancellor from 1 September 2016 to 21 December 2019 was Professor

Deep Saini Hargurdeep Saini ( Punjabi: ਹਰਗੁਰਦੀਪ ਸੈਣੀ), also known as Deep Saini, is a scientist, current President and Vice-Chancellor of Dalhousie University and incoming Principal and Vice-Chancellor of McGill University. Caree ...

, a plant physiologist. Like most Australian universities, University of Canberra derives the majority of its revenue from Australian Government funding and student fees. The ACT Government provides around one percent of the university's operating budget.

Faculties

Th
five faculties
are: ;Arts and Design Arts and design specialises in

Architecture Architecture is the art and technique of designing and building, as distinguished from the skills associated with construction. It is both the process and the product of sketching, conceiving, planning, designing, and constructing building ...

, Landscape Architecture,

Graphic Design Graphic design is a profession, academic discipline and applied art whose activity consists in projecting visual communications intended to transmit specific messages to social groups, with specific objectives. Graphic design is an interdiscipli ...

Communication Studies Communication studies or communication science is an academic discipline that deals with processes of human communication and behavior, patterns of communication in interpersonal relationships, social interactions and communication in differen ...

, Culture and Heritage,

Journalism Journalism is the production and distribution of reports on the interaction of events, facts, ideas, and people that are the "news of the day" and that informs society to at least some degree. The word, a noun, applies to the occupation (profes ...

Creative Writing Creative writing is any writing that goes outside the bounds of normal professional, journalistic, academic, or technical forms of literature, typically identified by an emphasis on narrative craft, character development, and the use of literary ...

and

Poetry Poetry (derived from the Greek ''poiesis'', "making"), also called verse, is a form of literature that uses aesthetic and often rhythmic qualities of language − such as phonaesthetics, sound symbolism, and metre − to evoke meanings i ...

International Studies International relations (IR), sometimes referred to as international studies and international affairs, is the scientific study of interactions between sovereign states. In a broader sense, it concerns all activities between states—such a ...

, and

Media Arts New media art includes artworks designed and produced by means of electronic media technologies, comprising virtual art, computer graphics, computer animation, digital art, interactive art, sound art, Internet art, video games, robotics, 3D pri ...

. The faculty has two schools: School of Design and the Built Environment and School of Arts and Communication. ;Business, Government and Law The Business Government and Law Faculty provides courses in

Accounting Accounting, also known as accountancy, is the measurement, processing, and communication of financial and non financial information about economic entities such as businesses and corporations. Accounting, which has been called the "languag ...

Applied Economics Applied economics is the study as regards the application of economic theory and econometrics in specific settings. As one of the two sets of fields of economics (the other set being the ''core''), it is typically characterized by the application ...

Business Administration Business administration, also known as business management, is the administration of a commercial enterprise. It includes all aspects of overseeing and supervising the business operations of an organization. From the point of view of management ...

, Business Informatics,

Construction Construction is a general term meaning the art and science to form objects, systems, or organizations,"Construction" def. 1.a. 1.b. and 1.c. ''Oxford English Dictionary'' Second Edition on CD-ROM (v. 4.0) Oxford University Press 2009 and com ...

, Economics,

Finance Finance is the study and discipline of money, currency and capital assets. It is related to, but not synonymous with economics, the study of production, distribution, and consumption of money, assets, goods and services (the discipline of fina ...

Law Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior,Robertson, ''Crimes against humanity'', 90. with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. It has been vario ...

Management Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business. Management includes the activities o ...

Marketing Marketing is the process of exploring, creating, and delivering value to meet the needs of a target market in terms of goods and services; potentially including selection of a target audience; selection of certain attributes or themes to emph ...

Politics Politics (from , ) is the set of activities that are associated with making decisions in groups, or other forms of power relations among individuals, such as the distribution of resources or status. The branch of social science that studies ...

Sociology Sociology is a social science that focuses on society, human social behavior, patterns of Interpersonal ties, social relationships, social interaction, and aspects of culture associated with everyday life. It uses various methods of Empirical ...

Public Policy Public policy is an institutionalized proposal or a decided set of elements like laws, regulations, guidelines, and actions to solve or address relevant and real-world problems, guided by a conception and often implemented by programs. Public p ...

Tourism Tourism is travel for pleasure or business; also the theory and practice of touring (disambiguation), touring, the business of attracting, accommodating, and entertaining tourists, and the business of operating tour (disambiguation), tours. Th ...

, and

Urban and Regional Planning Urban planning, also known as town planning, city planning, regional planning, or rural planning, is a technical and political process that is focused on the development and design of land use and the built environment, including air, water, ...

. ; Education The Education faculty offers courses designed to cover all stages of teacher development with courses in

early childhood Early childhood is a stage in human development following infancy and preceding middle childhood. It generally includes toddlerhood and some time afterward. Play age is an unspecific designation approximately within the scope of early childhood. ...

, primary and secondary. ;Health The Faculty of Health prepares allied health professionals, including

nurses Nursing is a profession within the health care sector focused on the care of individuals, families, and communities so they may attain, maintain, or recover optimal health and quality of life. Nurses may be differentiated from other health c ...

midwives A midwife is a health professional who cares for mothers and newborns around childbirth, a specialization known as midwifery. The education and training for a midwife concentrates extensively on the care of women throughout their lifespan; co ...

occupational therapist Occupational therapists (OTs) are health care professionals specializing in occupational therapy and occupational science. OTs and occupational therapy assistants (OTAs) use scientific bases and a holistic perspective to promote a person's abi ...

optometrists Optometry is a specialized health care profession that involves examining the eyes and related structures for defects or abnormalities. Optometrists are health care professionals who typically provide comprehensive primary eye care. In the Un ...

& vision scientists,

psychologists A psychologist is a professional who practices psychology and studies mental states, perceptual, cognitive, emotional, and social processes and behavior. Their work often involves the experimentation, observation, and interpretation of how indi ...

physiotherapists Physical therapy (PT), also known as physiotherapy, is one of the allied health professions. It is provided by physical therapists who promote, maintain, or restore health through physical examination, diagnosis, management, prognosis, patient ...

pharmacists A pharmacist, also known as a chemist ( Commonwealth English) or a druggist (North American and, archaically, Commonwealth English), is a healthcare professional who prepares, controls and distributes medicines and provides advice and instru ...

dietitians A dietitian, medical dietitian, or dietician is an expert in identifying and treating disease-related malnutrition and in conducting medical nutrition therapy, for example designing an enteral tube feeding regimen or mitigating the effects of ca ...

, nutritionists, radiologists, speech pathologists, exercise scientists, and sports management professionals. ;Science and Technology The Faculty of Science and Technology trains students in

Environmental Sciences Environmental science is an interdisciplinary academic field that integrates physics, biology, and geography (including ecology, chemistry, plant science, zoology, mineralogy, oceanography, limnology, soil science, geology and physical geo ...

, Biomedical and

Forensic Forensic science, also known as criminalistics, is the application of science to criminal and civil laws, mainly—on the criminal side—during criminal investigation, as governed by the legal standards of admissible evidence and criminal p ...

as well as Information Technology, Information Systems, Engineering, and Mathematics. UC also offers a range of double degrees that combine two degrees from different faculties.

Academic profile

Rankings

The university is named among the world's top 20 young universities in the 2020 Times Higher Education (THE) Young University Rankings. The university has risen to number 18 from number 34 in the latest THE's list of the best universities under 50 years of age.

Research centres

The university has a number of research centres relating to its areas of research strength. These are: * Institute for Applied Ecology * Institute for Governance and Policy Analysis * Research Institute for Sport and Exercise * Health Research Institute * Centre for Creative and Cultural Research * News and Media Research Centre * Centre for Research and Action in Public Health * Centre for Research in Therapeutic Solutions * STEM Education Research Centre * SYNERGY Nursing and Midwifery Research Centre * Nexus Research Centre * Canberra Urban and Regional Futures * Collaborative Indigenous Research Initiative * Murray-Darling Basin Futures Collaborative Research Network * Invasive Animals Cooperative Research Centre

Notable people

Staff

Notable staff members include/have included: * Janine Deakin, geneticist * John Dryzek, political scientist * Patricia Easteal, Professor of Law *

Donald Horne Donald Richmond Horne (26 December 1921 – 8 September 2005) was an Australian journalist, writer, social critic, and academic who became one of Australia's best known public intellectuals, from the 1960s until his death. Horne was a prol ...

, journalist, writer, social critic, historian and public intellectual *

Peter Leahy Lieutenant General Peter Francis Leahy, (born 30 October 1952) is a retired senior officer of the Australian Army, whose military career culminated with his appointment as Chief of the Army from 2002 until 2008. He has been director of the N ...

, former Chief of Army (Australia) *

Ingrid Moses Ingrid Moses (born 15 July 1941 in Aurich, Germany), an Australian academic and former university administrator, is an Emeritus Professor, emeritus professor at the University of Canberra. After a long academic career in Australia, Moses served ...

Emeritus Professor ''Emeritus'' (; female: ''emerita'') is an adjective used to designate a retired chair, professor, pastor, bishop, pope, director, president, prime minister, rabbi, emperor, or other person who has been "permitted to retain as an honorary title ...

and a former Chancellor *

Susan Ryan Susan Maree Ryan (10 October 194227 September 2020) was an Australian politician and public servant. She was a member of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) and held ministerial office in the Hawke Government as Minister Assisting the Prime Mini ...

, one-time Labor government Minister

Alumni

References

Bibliography

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Canberra, University of Universities in the Australian Capital Territory Educational institutions established in 1967 Articles containing video clips 1967 establishments in Australia