University of Southern Queensland

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Template:Infobox University The University of Southern Queensland (USQ) is based in Toowoomba, Queensland, Australia. The institution was established in 1967, and became a full university in 1992. It has international study support centres in Bretten (Germany), Fairland (South Africa), Botswana and Brisbane.

USQ has a substantial campus at Wide Bay to the north of Brisbane, and is working to establish a campus at Springfield in Brisbane's outer suburbs (2006). Another major campus of University of Southern Queensland has been set up in Auckland, New Zealand. It is named UUNZ Campus. It is located at the centre of Auckland City.

It has approximately 27,000 enrolments, including over 7,400 international students. More than 100 nationalities are represented and about 5,000 international students study USQ programs while remaining in their home countries.

USQ offers programs at undergraduate and postgraduate level by on-campus, off-campus or online study. Some students choose different modes of delivery for different periods of their study.

History

In 1961 the Toowoomba City Council declared that 200 acres of land to the southwest of the main town centre would be reserved for educational purposes. This suburb was named College Heights on 25 September 1966 but was later renamed Darling Heights.

The Queensland Institute of Technology (Darling Downs) opened in Toowoomba in 1967 as a technical college offering 29 full-time technological diploma courses to 140 foundation students who studied full-time or part-time. The foundation principal was Mr J Wolfe who served until May 1967 when Mr Lindsay Barker became principal.

After the passage of the amended Education Act in 1971 the Institute became an autonomous multi-purpose college under the control of its own college council which subsequently determined that the new college would become the Darling Downs Institute of Advanced Education. Image:USQlibrary.jpg

By 1973, accredited professional degree courses were offered in:

• Engineering
• Education
• Science
• Business Studies.

The School of Arts was formed in 1974. The Institute established the External Studies Department in 1978 and this soon became a recognised benchmark in its field with UNESCO selecting it as a demonstration unit. By this time external enrolments had begun to rival the number of internal enrolments.

The period spanning 1980 to 1990 saw a period of unprecedented growth of the Institute leading to the establishment of the University College of Southern Queensland (UCSQ) under the sponsorship of the University of Queensland. On 1 January 1992, UCSQ became the University of Southern Queensland (USQ) with Professor Barry Leal becoming the University’s inaugural Vice-Chancellor.

With the appointment of Professor Peter Swannell as Vice-Chancellor in 1996 the University underwent a further period of exceptional growth which included the establishment of a Wide Bay Campus and a Brisbane Centre in 1997, the USQ European Study Centre in Bretten, Germany in 1998 and the building of a number of landmark structures on campus. In 1998 USQ was voted the 'World’s Best Dual Mode University' by the International Council for Open and Distance Education (ICDE) while Professor Jim Taylor, the then Director of the Distance Education Centre won the inaugural ICDE prize for individual excellence for his contribution to global distance learning.

In 1999, USQ launched USQOnline, and was named winner of the Best Exporter Award in the Government Category of the National Multicultural Marketing Awards held by the New South Wales Ethnic Affairs Commission. In 2000, USQ won the organisational category of the Queensland Government Multicultural Services Awards and was named joint winner of the Good Universities Guides 'Australian University of the Year (2000 – 2001)' for demonstrated leadership in establishing the e-University.

In 2003, USQ opened Stage II of its Wide Bay Campus, constructed a research and manufacturing facility for Fibre Composites and established USQ International College, Fiji. Following the retirement of Professor Peter Swannell in 2003, Professor Bill Lovegrove was appointed as Vice-Chancellor. By the end of 2003 USQ had in excess of 25,000 enrolled students from 133 countries and a full-time equivalent of 1400 staff. Since 1992, USQ’s capital works expenditure has exceeded $107 million. The University has an estimated annual economic injection into the economy of the region in excess of $150 million per annum.

In July 2004, USQ won the Commonwealth of Learning Award of Excellence for Institutional Achievement which recognises and honours excellence in distance education and open learning. The Commonwealth of Learning is an intergovernmental organisation created by Commonwealth Heads of Government to encourage the development and sharing of open learning/distance education knowledge, resources and technologies.

In December 2004, the University improved its distance education profile by being accredited with the Distance Education Training Council (DETC), an American public service organisation dedicated to identifying quality distance learning institutions. The accreditation is an expression of confidence in the educational programs, policies and procedures of the University by its peers, and brings the institution recognition through the extension of special status by several American states under their legislation and regulations.

Significant progress was also made in 2004, towards establishing a campus at Greater Springfield in Brisbane’s south-western metropolitan corridor which will take its first student intake in 2006.

Governance and committees

The University's governing body is the Council. Members of the Council, representing University and community interests, contribute to the overall governance of the University by helping to set strategic directions and develop policy. The University of Southern Queensland Act 1998 establishes the Council and defines the functions and powers of the Council and the University, and sets limits on what the University and its authorities may do. The Council is advised by a number of key committees.

The Vice-Chancellor is the University's chief executive officer and responsible to the Council for the overall direction of the academic, administrative, financial and other affairs of the University. The Vice-Chancellor is supported by an Executive to whom most of the University's organisational units report.

The Academic Board is the University's senior academic advisory body. Its members include the Vice-Chancellor, Deputy Vice-Chancellors, Deans, senior members of the University, elected members, the president of the USQ Student Guild, and two other student representatives. The Board is responsible for making recommendations to Council on academic policy, regulations pertaining to the academic operation of the University and the implementation of approved policy.

Faculties and academic departments

• Faculty of Arts
• Faculty of Business
• Faculty of Education
• Faculty of Engineering and Surveying
• Faculty of Sciences
• Learning and Teaching Support Unit (LTSU)
• Kumbari/Ngurpai Lag Higher Education Centre (Kumbari)
• Distance and e-Learning Centre (DeC)

Current issues

• Some students have experienced religious and gender/sexuality based harassment, and while USQ is supportive, the problem is ongoing. There is no Queer Space at USQ, nor is there a sacred space available for the use of members of non-Abrahamic faiths. (This may change with the 2005-2006 re-organisation of services around the new Multicultural Office.)
• Services to students through the USQ Student Guild are threatened by the VSU (Voluntary Student Unionism) policy implimented by the Howard Government (Australian Federal Government) affecting funding from 1 July, 2006. This threatens sports and recreation funding; services to students including ID cards & photocopying; independent representation in appeals.
• There are almost no social clubs on campus (Darling Heights). Exceptions being:
  • USQplus - Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender & Label Free Social Group for USQ staff, students and the local youth community
  • Addicted to Anime - USQ Anime and Japanese culture society.
• The change of Chancellor occurring in early 2006, Don Stevens AM retiring and Mrs Bobbie Brazil taking up the position.
• Public Transport access to Darling heights campus is poor. Classes run 8:00am to 6:00pm, but bus services to/from much of Toowoomba are (barely) 9:00am to 5:00pm. In the case of Glenvale students cannot reach USQ for a 9:00am class (first service arrives 9:40am) nor leave after 3:00pm (last service 2:15pm). This may improve if/when the rumoured new bus timetables are implimented after Easter 2006.
• Most parking at USQ Darling Heights is unsealed, wet weather turns the western and south-eatern carparks into mudpits.

Accommodation

• McGregor College has 60 bedrooms with own bathrooms (blocks A-D) and a further 134 bedrooms where every two bedrooms share one bathroom (blocks E-K).
• Concannon College has 102 bedrooms where every two bedrooms share one bathroom (blocks A-D).
• Steele Rudd College has 132 bedrooms where the private common bathroom facilities in blocks are shared between either 10 (blocks C-I) or 15 (blocks A-B) students.
• A variety of privately owned non-affliated accommodation facilities can be found in the Darligh Heights area.

External links

• USQ Student guild
  • ATA - Anime Club
  • USQ Plus - G/L/B/T
• 2006 Open Days (August)
• University of Southern Queensland
• University of Southern Queensland - UUNZ Campus

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