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Southern Cross University (SCU) is an Australian public university, with campuses at Lismore and
Coffs Harbour Coffs Harbour is a city on the Mid North Coast of New South Wales, Australia, north of Sydney, and south of Brisbane. It is one of the largest urban centres on the North Coast, with a population of 78,759 as per 2021 census. The Gumbaynggirr ...
in northern New South Wales, and at
Coolangatta Coolangatta is a coastal suburb in the City of Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia. It is the Gold Coast's southernmost suburb and it borders New South Wales. In the , Coolangatta had a population of 5,948 people. Geography Coolangatta and its ...
, the most southern suburb of the Gold Coast in Queensland. It is ranked in the top 100 young universities in the world by the Times Higher Education World University Rankings.


History

The initial predecessor institution to Southern Cross University was the Lismore Teachers' College, which commenced operation on 23 February 1970, at what is now the Northern Rivers Conservatorium site.Jordan, M. A Spirit of Learning: The Jubilee of the University of New England. University of NSW Press, Sydney. p.244. On 1 September 1971, the Lismore Teachers College became a
College of Advanced Education The College of Advanced Education (CAE) was a class of Australian tertiary education institution that existed from 1967 until the early 1990s. They ranked below universities, but above Colleges of Technical and Further Education (TAFE) which offer ...
, under the Higher Education Act 1969, with the institution soon renamed Northern Rivers College of Advanced Education in 1973. Dr (later Professor) Rod Treyvaud was appointed principal in 1984, and oversaw an extensive building programme and the introduction of six new degree courses. Following the publication of the Commonwealth Government's White Paper on Higher Education in 1988 and its emphasis on the development of larger tertiary education institutions in Australia, Northern Rivers College of Advanced Education agreed to an association with the
University of New England University of New England may refer to: * University of New England (Australia), in New South Wales, with about 18,000 students * University of New England (United States), in Biddeford, Maine, with about 3,000 students See also *New England Colle ...
(UNE). On 17 July 1989 the Northern Rivers CAE thus became part of network University of New England, with some 1800 staff and some 9500 EFTSU (effective full-time student units). There was however dissatisfaction with the new network university,Jordan, M. A Spirit of Learning: The Jubilee of the University of New England. University of NSW Press, Sydney. pp.236-254. and on 29 June 1993 the federal and state ministers for education jointly announced that a new university would be established in the North Coast of NSW, which would consist of campuses at Lismore (formerly UNE - Northern Rivers) and Coffs Harbour (formerly UNE - Coffs Harbour Centre). It was subsequently announced that the new institution would be called Southern Cross University. Appropriate legislation was passed by both houses of the New South Wales Parliament in October 1993, and received the Royal Assent on 9 November 1993. Southern Cross University was formally established on 1 January 1994. In 2010, Southern Cross University opened a new campus in the southern Gold Coast area of Queensland, at Coolangatta just 400 metres from North Kirra Beach and adjacent to the Gold Coast International Airport. Views of the Pacific Ocean can be seen from many vantage points in the campus' buildings. The Foundation Building was opened in 2010 and a second 10-story building opened in February 2013. In 2019 a new health sciences building was opened at the Coffs Harbour campus funded from the Australian Government’s Community Development Grants program. Degrees in nursing, midwifery, occupational therapy and sport exercise science are offered in the new space.


Governance

The University is governed by a Council, to which the Chief Executive Officer (the Vice-Chancellor) reports. The Council is responsible for the management of the University's affairs. The major academic body providing advice to Council on academic matter is the Academic Board. The Council has 15 members, including the Chancellor, the Vice Chancellor, the Chair of the Academic Board, two members appointed by the Minister, six members appointed by Council, three elected staff members and one elected student member.


Campuses


Lismore

Lismore is a regional city located in the Northern Rivers region of NSW. The Lismore campus is set on more than 75 hectares, and houses specialist training teaching facilities including a science and engineering precinct, environmental laboratories, contemporary music and visual arts studios and the SCU Health Clinic. The Learning Centre, at the centre of the campus, features individual and collaborative learning spaces.


Gold Coast

The Gold Coast campus is the only Australian university campus located at an airport. The campus is at
Coolangatta Coolangatta is a coastal suburb in the City of Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia. It is the Gold Coast's southernmost suburb and it borders New South Wales. In the , Coolangatta had a population of 5,948 people. Geography Coolangatta and its ...
, in Queensland, close to North Kirra Beach and adjacent to the Gold Coast Airport. The campus includes general teaching facilities, as well as specialist teaching facilities for nursing and midwifery, and allied heath disciplines such as occupational therapy, podiatry, pedorthics and speech pathology. Tourism, business, information technology, law, education, arts and social welfare are also taught at the Gold Coast.


Coffs Harbour

The
Coffs Harbour Coffs Harbour is a city on the Mid North Coast of New South Wales, Australia, north of Sydney, and south of Brisbane. It is one of the largest urban centres on the North Coast, with a population of 78,759 as per 2021 census. The Gumbaynggirr ...
campus is located on the mid-north coast of New South Wales, and consists of general teaching facilities, and specialist nursing laboratories, teaching spaces for education students, a biosciences laboratory, and psychology research facilities. The campus is shared with a senior high school and a technical college.


National Marine Science Centre

Southern Cross University operates the National Marine Science Centre (NMSC) in Coffs Harbour on the northern side of the city. The NMSC is an international leader in a range of marine research fields, conducting research projects around the world. Research at the National Marine Science Centre (NMSC) addresses critical challenges to the future of the marine environment across four broad areas: Biodiversity, Ecological Interactions, Aquaculture and Sustainable Fisheries. Facilities at the NMSC include a flow-through seawater system that supplies labs, tank farm, aquarium room and hatchery. The Centre also operates the Solitary Islands Aquarium which is open to the public.


Sydney and Melbourne

Southern Cross University operates The Hotel School Sydney and The Hotel School Melbourne in partnership with Mulpha Australia. Both The Hotel School Sydney and The Hotel School Melbourne are located in the central business districts of their respective cities and have executive offices and teaching facilities. Southern Cross University also operates branch campuses in Sydney and Melbourne, delivering business and accounting degrees to undergraduate and postgraduate international students.


Academic and Research Programs

The University offers a range of undergraduate and postgraduate academic programs and is organised into four academic Faculties and two colleges. * Faculty of Business, Law and Arts * Faculty of Education * Faculty of Health * Faculty of Science and Engineering * Gnibi College of Indigenous Australian Peoples * SCU College


Research Centres

The research centres provide the research and solutions that allow students to gain the knowledge and learn alongside people making history in a wide range of research fields.
Centre for Children and Young People

Centre for Coastal Biogeochemistry

Centre for Organics Research

Centre for Peace and Social Justice

Forest Research Centre

National Centre for Flood Research

Marine Ecology Research Centre

National Marine Science Centre

Southern Cross GeoScience

National Centre for Naturopathic Medicine


University rankings

Southern Cross University is ranked 33rd in Australia according to the QS World University Rankings, falling the bottom 15% among the included Australian public universities. The university has been ranked at the 101-110th best universities in the Asia-Pacific region for 2019 by the
Times Higher Education World University Rankings The ''Times Higher Education World University Rankings'' (often referred to as the THE Rankings) is an annual publication of university rankings by the ''Times Higher Education'' (THE) magazine. The publisher had collaborated with Quacquarelli ...
. Southern Cross University is rated 'at world standard' or above in 24 research areas by
Excellence in Research for Australia Excellence in Research for Australia (ERA) is Australia’s national research evaluation framework, developed and administered by the Australian Research Council (ARC). The first full round of ERA occurred in 2010, and subsequent rounds followed ...
2015, and ranked number one in Australia for International student support for the third consecutive year. SCU was ranked number two in Australia for overall learning experience by the International Student Barometer 2015. The Master of Business Administration (MBA) program is rated 4 out of 5 stars by the
Graduate Management Association of Australia The Graduate Management Association of Australia (GMAA) is the nationally recognised umbrella Professional Association for graduates having MBA, DBA and other postgraduate business management qualifications in Australia.Ombudsman reported breaches of the NSW FOI Act and the NSW State Records Act by the University.


Substandard record-keeping

On 2 May 2012, The Australian newspaper reported that Southern Cross University "could be at risk of de-registration" following revelations in a leaked email dated 15 April 2012 from the University's Director of Quality, Planning and Review which indicated concerns with an offshore third party provider, relating to"substandard and inadequate record-keeping", "deliberate provision of falsified academic transcripts and advanced standing applications" and "lack of adherence to SCU course procedures". Southern Cross University addressed these matters and has ceased its agreement with this provider.


Reported on-campus sexual assaults

In 2017 SCU was reported as the sixth worst university in Australia for sexual assaults according to the
Australian Human Rights Commission The Australian Human Rights Commission is the national human rights institution of Australia, established in 1986 as the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission (HREOC) and renamed in 2008. It is a statutory body funded by, but opera ...
's national survey on campus abuse. Previously under a 2016 FOI request, SCU had said that between 2011 and 2016 there were only 7 officially reported cases of sexual assault, harassment or misconduct on campus, resulting in no expulsions and 2 suspensions.


Community engagement

A priority for SCU is community engagement. For example, SCU has played a leading role in the development of a regional strategy to improve freight and supply chain services across the Northern Rivers, under the title ''From Roots to Routes A ground up approach to freight and supply chain planning for the Northern Rivers NSW''.


Notable people

The current and fifth
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 July 2021 is Sandra McPhee AM. Ms McPhee is the NSW Public Service Commission Advisory Board chair and has broad experience as a director of companies and other organisations including Tourism Australia, AGL Energy, Westfield, Perpetual, the Coles Group, Fairfax Media, Australia Post, South Australia Water and Kathmandu. The current Vice-Chancellor and President of the University since September 2020 is Professor Tyrone Carlin.


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 ...
* Kenvale College of Tourism & Hospitality Management, an institution with an articulation agreement with the Hotel School in partnership with Southern Cross University


References


External links

* {{Coord, -28.81730, 153.29902, display=title Art schools in Australia Australian vocational education and training providers Distance education institutions based in Australia Nursing schools in Australia Universities in New South Wales Universities in Queensland Educational institutions established in 1994 1994 establishments in Australia Education in Coffs Harbour Lismore, New South Wales