Charles Darwin University
Encyclopedia
Charles Darwin University (CDU) is an Australian public university
with about 20,000 students in 2007.
The University offers a wide range of Higher Education
degrees and Vocational Education
and Training courses with flexible study options, including part-time, external and online.
CDU has campuses in the Darwin
suburb of Casuarina
, the city of Palmerston
, and the towns of Alice Springs, Katherine
and Nhulunbuy
, with smaller training centres in Jabiru
, Tennant Creek and Yulara.
Charles Darwin University was created on 1 January 2004 from the amalgamation of Northern Territory University (NTU) of Darwin
and Centralian College of Alice Springs. The University is named after Charles Darwin
, the celebrated English naturalist.
and a TAFE College. It was situated on what is now the Casuarina Campus, although it used other buildings at various times in Darwin. By the time of the formation of the Northern Territory University, it gave degrees in Arts, Education, Business and Applied Science.
requested the Australian Commonwealth Government to finance a university in the Territory. The response was always that the population was too small. In 1985, it took the unusual step of financing the University College of the Northern Territory itself for a five year period from 1987 to 1991. The college was governed by a Council, chaired by Austin Asche
and led by a Warden, Professor Jim Thomson, from the University of Queensland
. An arrangement was made with the University of Queensland that the College would awards degrees from that institution. Staff were recruited in 1986 and housed in the old Darwin Primary School buildings. Just prior to taking the first students in February 1987, the College moved to converted building of the former Darwin Hospital at Myilly Point in Darwin. The former Nurses' Hostel became a student residence, named International House. The College had two Faculties, of Arts and Science. It awarded, through the University of Queensland link, the first Doctor of Philosophy
degrees in the Northern Territory.
During its life, the college delivered senior secondary, TAFE and Higher Education
through its main campus in Alice Springs, and to a lesser extent the whole Northern Territory
.
Centralian College is a co-educational senior secondary school, for students from Year 10 to Year 12.
Centralian College shares its campus with the Charles Darwin University campus of Alice Springs. Centralian College uses the university's facilities and students attending Centralian College can participate in VET courses (as early as Year 10) offered by CDU.
under Federal Minister of Education John Dawkins
. The new university started life on 1 January 1989. Degrees of the University of Queensland continued to be awarded for a few years.
The first Vice-Chancellor was Professor Malcolm Nairn from Murdoch University
in Western Australia. Under his leadership the university prospered and morale was high among both staff and students. However funding declined as student numbers rose. During his term of office the various study centres around the Territory, that previously had been run directly by the NT Government, became part of the University. The Palmerston campus, for a few years previously a TAFE College, also became part of the university. The Palmerston campus is situated on University Avenue as this was the proposed site for a new university in a submission to the Federal Government in 1981.
The second Vice-Chancellor was Professor Roger Holmes
from Griffith University
. After an initial excellent start to his period of office, he disappointed the university and local community by resigning after serving for only one semester to take up the post of Vice-Chancellor at University of Newcastle.
He was replaced as third Vice-Chancellor by the then Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Professor Ron McKay
. Under his leadership, the financial constraints on the university increased. The environment of having to provide as wide as possible a tertiary education to a small population living in a very large area far from alternative institutions became even more hostile and the university did not prosper. In January 2001, the Katherine Rural College, including Mataranka Station, became part of the university.
After Ron McKay's resignation due to ill health in 2002, an interim Vice-Chancellor, Professor Ken McKinnon
, former Vice-Chancellor of the University of Wollongong
was appointed. He took various actions to improve the health of the university, some controversial, such as the proposal to merge with Centralian College with a new name for the university.
On 21 August 2003, the Northern Territory Legislative Assembly
passed the Charles Darwin University Bill, merging Alice Springs' Centralian College with the Northern Territory University to form Charles Darwin University from 1 January 2004. The inaugural university council meeting was held on 26 November 2003.
and Training (VET) courses and Higher Education
undergraduate and postgraduate degrees, covering a wide range of subjects and disciplines.
Enrolments in 2007 totalled 20,098 students, with 14,151 students enrolled in Vocational and Educational Training courses and 5947 enrolled in Higher Education degrees.
There are three areas of study offered by the university
's three faculties:
The formerly independent Menzies School of Health Research has been incorporated as a school within the University's new Institute of Advanced Studies. The Menzies School of Health Research is a joint venture between CDU, the Menzies Foundation and the University of Sydney
and is located at the Royal Darwin Hospital
, in Casuarina.
The University has close links with Flinders University
in South Australia, which itself has many students from the Northern Territory, including joint management of the Centre for Remote Health in Alice Springs and several education initiatives.
Schools:
The Vice Chancellor of the University is Professor Barney Glover.
.
is a community radio station based on the campus of Charles Darwin University. The station is broadcast on 104.1 Darwin and Palmerston and 98.7 Alice Springs and can also be heard across the Northern Territory
in Batchelor
, Katherine / Tindal, Tennant Creek, Nhulunbuy and Adelaide River
. Territory FM is also streamed online with Quicktime at TerritoryFM.com.
University
A university is an institution of higher education and research, which grants academic degrees in a variety of subjects. A university is an organisation that provides both undergraduate education and postgraduate education...
with about 20,000 students in 2007.
The University offers a wide range of Higher Education
Higher education
Higher, post-secondary, tertiary, or third level education refers to the stage of learning that occurs at universities, academies, colleges, seminaries, and institutes of technology...
degrees and Vocational Education
Vocational education
Vocational education or vocational education and training is an education that prepares trainees for jobs that are based on manual or practical activities, traditionally non-academic, and totally related to a specific trade, occupation, or vocation...
and Training courses with flexible study options, including part-time, external and online.
CDU has campuses in the Darwin
Darwin, Northern Territory
Darwin is the capital city of the Northern Territory, Australia. Situated on the Timor Sea, Darwin has a population of 127,500, making it by far the largest and most populated city in the sparsely populated Northern Territory, but the least populous of all Australia's capital cities...
suburb of Casuarina
Casuarina, Northern Territory
Casuarina is one of the northern suburbs of Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia.It is home to the largest shopping centre in the Northern Territory, called Casuarina Square...
, the city of Palmerston
Palmerston, Northern Territory
Palmerston is a planned satellite city of Darwin, the capital and largest city in Australia's Northern Territory. Palmerston is situated near Darwin Harbour and has an urban population of 23,614 on the 2006 Census night and making it the second largest city in the territory...
, and the towns of Alice Springs, Katherine
Katherine, Northern Territory
Katherine is a town situated southeast of Darwin in the "Top End" of Australia in the Northern Territory. It is the fourth largest settlement in the Territory after the capital Darwin, Palmerston and Alice Springs...
and Nhulunbuy
Nhulunbuy, Northern Territory
Nhulunbuy is the name of the township created on the Gove Peninsula in the Northern Territory of Australia when a bauxite mine and deep water port were established nearby in the late 1960s...
, with smaller training centres in Jabiru
Jabiru, Northern Territory
Jabiru is a town in the Northern Territory of Australia. It was originally built in 1982 as a closed town to house the community living at Jabiru East near the Ranger Uranium Mine eight kilometres away. Both the mine and the town are completely surrounded by Kakadu National Park.- Overview :Jabiru...
, Tennant Creek and Yulara.
Charles Darwin University was created on 1 January 2004 from the amalgamation of Northern Territory University (NTU) of Darwin
Darwin, Northern Territory
Darwin is the capital city of the Northern Territory, Australia. Situated on the Timor Sea, Darwin has a population of 127,500, making it by far the largest and most populated city in the sparsely populated Northern Territory, but the least populous of all Australia's capital cities...
and Centralian College of Alice Springs. The University is named after Charles Darwin
Charles Darwin
Charles Robert Darwin FRS was an English naturalist. He established that all species of life have descended over time from common ancestry, and proposed the scientific theory that this branching pattern of evolution resulted from a process that he called natural selection.He published his theory...
, the celebrated English naturalist.
History
Charles Darwin University has evolved over the years through the merging of several higher education institutions.Darwin Community College
Darwin Community College, founded in 1974 and renamed Darwin Institute of Technology in 1984, was a combined College of Advanced EducationCollege of Advanced Education
The College of Advanced Education 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 which offer trade qualification...
and a TAFE College. It was situated on what is now the Casuarina Campus, although it used other buildings at various times in Darwin. By the time of the formation of the Northern Territory University, it gave degrees in Arts, Education, Business and Applied Science.
University College of the Northern Territory
On several occasions the Government of the Northern TerritoryGovernment of the Northern Territory
The Northern Territory is governed according to the principles of the Westminster system, a form of parliamentary government based on the model of the United Kingdom...
requested the Australian Commonwealth Government to finance a university in the Territory. The response was always that the population was too small. In 1985, it took the unusual step of financing the University College of the Northern Territory itself for a five year period from 1987 to 1991. The college was governed by a Council, chaired by Austin Asche
Austin Asche
Keith John Austin Asche, AC, QC is a former Administrator of the Northern Territory and was the third Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the Northern Territory.-Early years, education and family:...
and led by a Warden, Professor Jim Thomson, from the University of Queensland
University of Queensland
The University of Queensland, also known as UQ, is a public university located in state of Queensland, Australia. Founded in 1909, it is the oldest and largest university in Queensland and the fifth oldest in the nation...
. An arrangement was made with the University of Queensland that the College would awards degrees from that institution. Staff were recruited in 1986 and housed in the old Darwin Primary School buildings. Just prior to taking the first students in February 1987, the College moved to converted building of the former Darwin Hospital at Myilly Point in Darwin. The former Nurses' Hostel became a student residence, named International House. The College had two Faculties, of Arts and Science. It awarded, through the University of Queensland link, the first Doctor of Philosophy
Doctor of Philosophy
Doctor of Philosophy, abbreviated as Ph.D., PhD, D.Phil., or DPhil , in English-speaking countries, is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities...
degrees in the Northern Territory.
Centralian College
Centralian College was founded in 1993 from the merger of Sadadeen Senior Secondary College and the Alice Springs College of TAFE.During its life, the college delivered senior secondary, TAFE and Higher Education
Higher education
Higher, post-secondary, tertiary, or third level education refers to the stage of learning that occurs at universities, academies, colleges, seminaries, and institutes of technology...
through its main campus in Alice Springs, and to a lesser extent the whole Northern Territory
Northern Territory
The Northern Territory is a federal territory of Australia, occupying much of the centre of the mainland continent, as well as the central northern regions...
.
Centralian College is a co-educational senior secondary school, for students from Year 10 to Year 12.
Centralian College shares its campus with the Charles Darwin University campus of Alice Springs. Centralian College uses the university's facilities and students attending Centralian College can participate in VET courses (as early as Year 10) offered by CDU.
Northern Territory University
The Northern Territory University (NTU) was founded in January 1989 by merger of the Darwin Institute of Technology, and the University College of the Northern Territory. The merger was controversial, but forced by the so-called Dawkins RevolutionDawkins Revolution
The Dawkins Revolution was a series of Australian tertiary education reforms instituted by the then Labor Education Minister John Dawkins....
under Federal Minister of Education John Dawkins
John Dawkins
John Sydney "Joe" Dawkins, AO , Australian politician, was Treasurer in the Keating Labor government from December 1991 to December 1993...
. The new university started life on 1 January 1989. Degrees of the University of Queensland continued to be awarded for a few years.
The first Vice-Chancellor was Professor Malcolm Nairn from Murdoch University
Murdoch University
Murdoch University is a public university based in Perth, Australia. It began operations as the state's second university in 1973, and accepted its first students in 1975...
in Western Australia. Under his leadership the university prospered and morale was high among both staff and students. However funding declined as student numbers rose. During his term of office the various study centres around the Territory, that previously had been run directly by the NT Government, became part of the University. The Palmerston campus, for a few years previously a TAFE College, also became part of the university. The Palmerston campus is situated on University Avenue as this was the proposed site for a new university in a submission to the Federal Government in 1981.
The second Vice-Chancellor was Professor Roger Holmes
Roger Holmes
Roger William Holmes is an English former professional footballer who scored 36 goals from 278 games in the Football League playing as an inside forward or wing half for Lincoln City, his only professional club.-Career:...
from Griffith University
Griffith University
Griffith University is a public, coeducational, research university located in the southeastern region of the Australian state of Queensland. The university has five satellite campuses located in the Gold Coast, Logan City and in the Brisbane suburbs of Mount Gravatt, Nathan and South Bank. Current...
. After an initial excellent start to his period of office, he disappointed the university and local community by resigning after serving for only one semester to take up the post of Vice-Chancellor at University of Newcastle.
He was replaced as third Vice-Chancellor by the then Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Professor Ron McKay
Ron McKay
Ron McKay is a New Zealand rugby league player who represented his country in the 1954 World Cup.-Playing career:McKay played in the Taranaki Rugby League competition and represented Taranaki...
. Under his leadership, the financial constraints on the university increased. The environment of having to provide as wide as possible a tertiary education to a small population living in a very large area far from alternative institutions became even more hostile and the university did not prosper. In January 2001, the Katherine Rural College, including Mataranka Station, became part of the university.
After Ron McKay's resignation due to ill health in 2002, an interim Vice-Chancellor, Professor Ken McKinnon
Ken McKinnon
Ken McKinnon was the second vice-chancellor of the University of Wollongong between 1981 - 1994. He also served as interim vice-chancellor of James Cook University in 1997 and Charles Darwin University from 2002 to 2003, where he was responsible for the name change from Northern Territory University...
, former Vice-Chancellor of the University of Wollongong
University of Wollongong
The University of Wollongong is a public university located in the coastal city of Wollongong, New South Wales, Australia, approximately 80 kilometres south of Sydney...
was appointed. He took various actions to improve the health of the university, some controversial, such as the proposal to merge with Centralian College with a new name for the university.
Charles Darwin University
Northern Territory Legislative Assembly
The Legislative Assembly of the Northern Territory is the unicameral parliament of the Northern Territory in Australia. It sits in Parliament House, located on State Square, close to the centre of the city of Darwin.-History:...
passed the Charles Darwin University Bill, merging Alice Springs' Centralian College with the Northern Territory University to form Charles Darwin University from 1 January 2004. The inaugural university council meeting was held on 26 November 2003.
Current situation
Charles Darwin University is a dual-sector university, which means the university offers Vocational EducationVocational education
Vocational education or vocational education and training is an education that prepares trainees for jobs that are based on manual or practical activities, traditionally non-academic, and totally related to a specific trade, occupation, or vocation...
and Training (VET) courses and Higher Education
Higher education
Higher, post-secondary, tertiary, or third level education refers to the stage of learning that occurs at universities, academies, colleges, seminaries, and institutes of technology...
undergraduate and postgraduate degrees, covering a wide range of subjects and disciplines.
Enrolments in 2007 totalled 20,098 students, with 14,151 students enrolled in Vocational and Educational Training courses and 5947 enrolled in Higher Education degrees.
There are three areas of study offered by the university
University
A university is an institution of higher education and research, which grants academic degrees in a variety of subjects. A university is an organisation that provides both undergraduate education and postgraduate education...
's three faculties:
- Faculty of Education, Health and Science
- Faculty of Law, Business and Arts
- Institute of Advanced Studies
The formerly independent Menzies School of Health Research has been incorporated as a school within the University's new Institute of Advanced Studies. The Menzies School of Health Research is a joint venture between CDU, the Menzies Foundation and the University of Sydney
University of Sydney
The University of Sydney is a public university located in Sydney, New South Wales. The main campus spreads across the suburbs of Camperdown and Darlington on the southwestern outskirts of the Sydney CBD. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in Australia and Oceania...
and is located at the Royal Darwin Hospital
Royal Darwin Hospital
Royal Darwin Hospital is a 345-bed teaching hospital located in the northern suburbs of Darwin, Northern Territory.-History:The first hospital of the settlement of Palmerston was built in 1874. The hospital was built on Packard Street overlooking Doctors Gully under the authority of Dr James...
, in Casuarina.
The University has close links with Flinders University
Flinders University
Flinders University, , is a public university in Adelaide, South Australia. Founded in 1966, it was named in honour of navigator Matthew Flinders, who explored and surveyed the South Australian coastline in the early 19th century.The university has established a reputation as a leading research...
in South Australia, which itself has many students from the Northern Territory, including joint management of the Centre for Remote Health in Alice Springs and several education initiatives.
Schools:
- School of Australian Indigenous Knowledge Systems
- Graduate School for Health Practice
- School of Creative Arts and Humanities
- School of Health Sciences
- School of Education
- School of Law and Business
- School of Engineering and Information Technology
- School of Environmental and Life Sciences
- Menzies School of Health Research
- School for Social and Policy Research
- School for Environmental Research
The Vice Chancellor of the University is Professor Barney Glover.
Student associations
Students are represented by the CDU Student Union, and postgraduate students by the CDU Postgraduate Student Association, a member of the Council of Australian Postgraduate AssociationsCouncil of Australian Postgraduate Associations
The Council of Australian Postgraduate Associations, or CAPA, is the peak representative body for postgraduate students in Australia. Founded in 1979, CAPA provides member associations with representation to the Federal government, and peak bodies such as the Australian Research Council and...
.
Territory FM
104.1 Territory FM104.1 Territory FM
104.1 Territory FM is a community radio station based in Darwin, Australia. Territory FM broadcasts a broad range of adult contemporary music from the Casuarina campus of Charles Darwin University...
is a community radio station based on the campus of Charles Darwin University. The station is broadcast on 104.1 Darwin and Palmerston and 98.7 Alice Springs and can also be heard across the Northern Territory
Northern Territory
The Northern Territory is a federal territory of Australia, occupying much of the centre of the mainland continent, as well as the central northern regions...
in Batchelor
Batchelor, Northern Territory
Batchelor is a town in the Northern Territory of Australia. The town is located in the Coomalie Shire Local Government Area, 98 kilometres south of the territory capital, Darwin...
, Katherine / Tindal, Tennant Creek, Nhulunbuy and Adelaide River
Adelaide River
Adelaide River is a river in the Northern Territory of Australia. It starts in Litchfield National Park and flows generally northwards to Clarence Strait, being crossed by both the Stuart Highway and the Arnhem Highway...
. Territory FM is also streamed online with Quicktime at TerritoryFM.com.