The verdant universities are an informal group of Australian universities. They comprise universities founded in the 1960s and 1970s and are sometimes called "gumtree" universities.
These universities were established in their state capitals, often next to native bush land (now nature reserves), and have lush vegetative campuses – which the naming "
verdant" refers to.
They are predominantly the second or third established university in their state; the only exception is
Macquarie, which is the third university in
Sydney
Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...
, but the fourth university in
New South Wales
)
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, established_title = Before federation
, es ...
.
La Trobe University takes “verdant” a step further by the fact that it owns a 28-hectare wildlife sanctuary in addition to managing the Gresswell Hill Nature Conservation Reserve, situated north of the Melbourne campus.
The verdant universities were part of a broader effort to expand and reform tertiary education in Australia based on similar reforms that led to the creation of the
plate glass universities group in the
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...
.
All of these universities went on to form
Innovative Research Universities
Innovative Research Universities (IRU), formerly Innovative Research Universities Australia, is a network of eight comprehensive universities in Australia.
The main purpose of the group is to undertake advocacy on issues related to higher educ ...
in 2003.
Potential verdants
While these five are considered the "main verdants" as they have the most in common, there are other universities that have been labelled as a verdant or gumtree university.
These include:
*
University of Newcastle (1965)
*
James Cook University
James Cook University (JCU) is a public university in North Queensland, Australia. The second oldest university in Queensland, JCU is a teaching and research institution. The university's main campuses are located in the tropical cities of Cairn ...
(1970)
*
Deakin University
Deakin University is a public university in Victoria, Australia. Founded in 1974, the university was named after Alfred Deakin, the second Prime Minister of Australia.
Its main campuses are in Melbourne's Burwood suburb, Geelong Waurn Ponds, ...
(1974)
*
University of Wollongong
The University of Wollongong (abbreviated as UOW) is an Australian public research university located in the coastal city of Wollongong, New South Wales, approximately 80 kilometres south of Sydney. As of 2017, the university had an enrolment of ...
(1975)
See also
*
Plate glass university
The term plate glass university or plateglass university refers to a group of universities in the United Kingdom established or promoted to university status in the 1960s. The original plate glass universities were established following decisi ...
*
Robbins Report
The Robbins Report (the report of the Committee on Higher Education, chaired by Lord Robbins) was commissioned by the British government and published in 1963. The committee met from 1961 to 1963. After the report's publication, its conclusions wer ...
*
Ivy League
The Ivy League is an American collegiate athletic conference comprising eight private research universities in the Northeastern United States. The term ''Ivy League'' is typically used beyond the sports context to refer to the eight schools ...
*
Russell Group
The Russell Group is a self-selected association of twenty-four public university, public research university, research universities in the United Kingdom. The group is headquartered in Cambridge and was established in 1994 to represent its memb ...
*
Association of American Universities
The Association of American Universities (AAU) is an organization of American research universities devoted to maintaining a strong system of academic research and education. Founded in 1900, it consists of 63 universities in the United States ( ...
*
Red brick university
A red brick university (or redbrick university) was originally one of the nine civic universities founded in the major industrial cities of England in the 19th century.
However, with the 1960s proliferation of plate glass universities and t ...
References
{{Australian university groups
College and university associations and consortia in Australia
Colloquial terms for groups of universities and colleges