Grace College is an all-female residential college

Residential college

A residential college is an organisational pattern for a division of a university that places academic activity in a community setting of students and faculty, usually at a residence and with shared meals, the college having a degree of autonomy and a federated relationship with the overall...

 at the St Lucia

St Lucia, Queensland

St Lucia is an inner suburb of Brisbane, Australia located 4 km south-west of the Brisbane CBD. The suburb is bordered on three sides by the Brisbane River and is dominated by the main campus of the University of Queensland.-History:...

 Campus of 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...

 in Brisbane, Australia.

Facilities

Grace is the home of more than 180 female students of the University of Queensland. It accommodates 16 students to each floor with each floor containing its own bathroom

Bathroom

A bathroom is a room for bathing in containing a bathtub and/or a shower and optionally a toilet, a sink/hand basin/wash basin and possibly also a bidet....

, kitchenette

Kitchenette

A kitchenette is a small cooking area.In motel and hotel rooms, small apartments, college dormitories, or office buildings a kitchenette usually consists of a small refrigerator, a microwave oven or hotplate, and, less frequently, a sink...

 and common room complete with television

Television

Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...

, fridge, sink

Sink

A sink is a bowl-shaped plumbing fixture used for washing hands, for dishwashing or other purposes. Sinks generally have taps that supply hot and cold water and may include a spray feature to be used for faster rinsing...

 and microwave

Microwave

Microwaves, a subset of radio waves, have wavelengths ranging from as long as one meter to as short as one millimeter, or equivalently, with frequencies between 300 MHz and 300 GHz. This broad definition includes both UHF and EHF , and various sources use different boundaries...

. All rooms also have internet

Internet

The Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standard Internet protocol suite to serve billions of users worldwide...

 and phone

Phone

Within phonetics, a phone is:* a speech sound or gesture considered a physical event without regard to its place in the phonology of a language* a speech segment that possesses distinct physical or perceptual properties...

 supplied and newspaper

Newspaper

A newspaper is a scheduled publication containing news of current events, informative articles, diverse features and advertising. It usually is printed on relatively inexpensive, low-grade paper such as newsprint. By 2007, there were 6580 daily newspapers in the world selling 395 million copies a...

s are delivered to the college

College

A college is an educational institution or a constituent part of an educational institution. Usage varies in English-speaking nations...

 daily for free student

Student

A student is a learner, or someone who attends an educational institution. In some nations, the English term is reserved for those who attend university, while a schoolchild under the age of eighteen is called a pupil in English...

 access.

Fully catered meals are provided in the air-conditioned dining room and students are able to work out in the well-equipped gym

Gym

The word γυμνάσιον was used in Ancient Greece, that mean a locality for both physical and intellectual education of young men...

 facility. Grace also boasts a television room and billiard table and students are able to access washing machine

Washing machine

A washing machine is a machine designed to wash laundry, such as clothing, towels and sheets...

s, dryer

Clothes dryer

A clothes dryer or tumble dryer is a household appliance that is used to remove moisture from a load of clothing and other textiles, generally shortly after they are cleaned in a washing machine....

s and photocopier

Photocopier

A photocopier is a machine that makes paper copies of documents and other visual images quickly and cheaply. Most current photocopiers use a technology called xerography, a dry process using heat...

s for small fees. Students also have access to several music

Music

Music is an art form whose medium is sound and silence. Its common elements are pitch , rhythm , dynamics, and the sonic qualities of timbre and texture...

 rooms complete with piano

Piano

The piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...

s and air-conditioning.

The college also contains several large common rooms which are available for functions. The Junior Common Room (JCR) is the largest and is used during Orientation Week for first-years (over 60 people). The Conference Room comes fully equipped with air-conditioning, projector

Image projector

An image projector is an optical device that projects an image onto a surface, commonly a projection screen.Most projectors creates an image by shining a light through a small transparent image, but some newer types of projectors can project the image directly, by using lasers...

, television, DVD

DVD

A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....

, whiteboard

Whiteboard

A whiteboard is a name for any glossy, usually white surface for nonpermanent markings. Whiteboards are analogous to chalkboards, allowing rapid marking and erasing of markings on their surface...

 and desk

Desk

A desk is a furniture form and a class of table often used in a work or office setting for reading or writing on or using a computer. Desks often have one or more drawers to store office supplies and papers. Unlike a regular table, usually only one side of a desk is suitable to sit on . Not all...

s for an estimated 40 people. Finally, the Senior Common Room is used as an air-conditioned meeting room with several lounges around a central coffee table

Coffee table

A coffee table, also called a cocktail table, is a style of long, low table which is designed to be placed in front of a sofa, to support beverages , magazines, books , and other small items to be used while sitting, such as beverage coasters. Coffee tables are usually found in the living room or...

 and can hold an estimated 15 people.

Academic

In line with University of Queensland policy, students at Grace must maintain a Grade Point Average of 4 in order to continue their residency at the College. Despite this being the minimum requirement, Grace students consistently receive outstanding academic results. The College also has several bursar

Bursar

A bursar is a senior professional financial administrator in a school or university.Billing of student tuition accounts are the responsibility of the Office of the Bursar. This involves sending bills and making payment plans with the ultimate goal of getting the student accounts paid off...

ies which are awarded each year to Grace students who have achieved outstanding academic results.

Student Club

The Grace College Student Club is an organisation which includes all Grace residents. The Student Club is run by a group of nine third year or above students who form an annual Executive Committee. These students all hold individual roles within the Committee and are responsible for the delivery of social, sporting and cultural activities. The positions include: President, Vice President, Secretary, Treasurer, Internal Affairs Officer, Sports Convenor, Cultural Convenor, Social Convenor and Inter-College Council Representative (ICC). As members of the Student Club, residents are able to participate in any college activities and must attend both an Overall General Meeting (OGM) and an Annual General Meeting (AGM) each year, where student club positions are decided.

Social

Grace College has a long tradition of social involvement amongst the college community. As a member of the inter-college community, Grace both attends and holds social functions. Some Grace functions include: bush dance

Bush dance

Bush dance is a style of dance from Australia, particularly where the music is provided by a bush band. The dances are mainly based on the traditional folk dances of the UK, Ireland and central Europe.- Eras of bush dance in Australia :...

 (O-Week), CeleGRACEtion, At Home, Grace/Kings Regatta, Grace/Kings Boat Cruise, Grace Ball, Thaw Out and Valedictory Dinner.

Sporting

Sporting traditions at Grace are strong, with a long history of involvement in inter-college competitions. Sports are paid for by the Student Club, making involvement for residents free. Sports available include rowing

Rowing (sport)

Rowing is a sport in which athletes race against each other on rivers, on lakes or on the ocean, depending upon the type of race and the discipline. The boats are propelled by the reaction forces on the oar blades as they are pushed against the water...

, swimming

Swimming (sport)

Swimming is a sport governed by the Fédération Internationale de Natation .-History: Competitive swimming in Europe began around 1800 BCE, mostly in the form of the freestyle. In 1873 Steve Bowyer introduced the trudgen to Western swimming competitions, after copying the front crawl used by Native...

, volleyball

Volleyball

Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules.The complete rules are extensive...

, hockey

Hockey

Hockey is a family of sports in which two teams play against each other by trying to maneuver a ball or a puck into the opponent's goal using a hockey stick.-Etymology:...

, soccer, tennis

Tennis

Tennis is a sport usually played between two players or between two teams of two players each . Each player uses a racket that is strung to strike a hollow rubber ball covered with felt over a net into the opponent's court. Tennis is an Olympic sport and is played at all levels of society at all...

, athletics, basketball

Basketball

Basketball is a team sport in which two teams of five players try to score points by throwing or "shooting" a ball through the top of a basketball hoop while following a set of rules...

, squash

Squash (sport)

Squash is a high-speed racquet sport played by two players in a four-walled court with a small, hollow rubber ball...

, netball

Netball

Netball is a ball sport played between two teams of seven players. Its development, derived from early versions of basketball, began in England in the 1890s. By 1960 international playing rules had been standardised for the game, and the International Federation of Netball and Women's Basketball ...

, cricket

Cricket

Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of 11 players on an oval-shaped field, at the centre of which is a rectangular 22-yard long pitch. One team bats, trying to score as many runs as possible while the other team bowls and fields, trying to dismiss the batsmen and thus limit the...

, Australian rules football

Australian rules football

Australian rules football, officially known as Australian football, also called football, Aussie rules or footy is a sport played between two teams of 22 players on either...

, cross country

Cross country running

Cross country running is a sport in which people run a race on open-air courses over natural terrain. The course, typically long, may include surfaces of grass and earth, pass through woodlands and open country, and include hills, flat ground and sometimes gravel road...

 and touch football

Touch Aussie Rules

Touch Aussie Rules is a non-contact version of Australian rules football that is currently played in London, UK and organised by Aussie Rules UK.All skills are used in Touch Aussie Rules, including kicking, marking, handballing and bouncing....

. Annual sporting awards are presented at the Valedictory

Valedictorian

Valedictorian is an academic title conferred upon the student who delivers the closing or farewell statement at a graduation ceremony. Usually, the valedictorian is the highest ranked student among those graduating from an educational institution...

 and Sports Awards Night.

Cultural

As with sporting and social events, cultural opportunities are held in co-ordination with other colleges. Residents can be involved in dancefest, choir

Choir

A choir, chorale or chorus is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform.A body of singers who perform together as a group is called a choir or chorus...

, one act play

Acting

Acting is the work of an actor or actress, which is a person in theatre, television, film, or any other storytelling medium who tells the story by portraying a character and, usually, speaking or singing the written text or play....

, art show

Art exhibition

Art exhibitions are traditionally the space in which art objects meet an audience. The exhibit is universally understood to be for some temporary period unless, as is rarely true, it is stated to be a "permanent exhibition". In American English, they may be called "exhibit", "exposition" or...

, debaing

Debate

Debate or debating is a method of interactive and representational argument. Debate is a broader form of argument than logical argument, which only examines consistency from axiom, and factual argument, which only examines what is or isn't the case or rhetoric which is a technique of persuasion...

, public speaking

Public speaking

Public speaking is the process of speaking to a group of people in a structured, deliberate manner intended to inform, influence, or entertain the listeners...

, chess

Chess

Chess is a two-player board game played on a chessboard, a square-checkered board with 64 squares arranged in an eight-by-eight grid. It is one of the world's most popular games, played by millions of people worldwide at home, in clubs, online, by correspondence, and in tournaments.Each player...

, college idol and bandfest. Annual cultural awards are presented at the Valedictory Dinner.

Residential assistants

Grace is often commended for its extremely strong community. Both administration and students believe strongly in the combined influences of the Student Club and Residential Assistants in providing residents with a strong sense of college community. Residential Assistants (RAs) are third year or above students who are selected by administration. They are responsible for providing the 16 or more students on their floor with pastoral support and provide a vital link between administration and the student body. The RA body work collaboratively with the Assistant to the Principal.

Administration

The Grace College Administration is headed by the current Principal, Sue Fairley. Other members of staff include the Assistant to the Principal, Bursar, Administrative Assistants, Cleaners, Kitchen Staff and Groundsmen. The administrative team work in conjunction with the edicts of the Grace College Council.

College Council

The College Council consists of several key contributors to the College. With close ties to the Church, the Council is responsible for overseeing the development of the College in conjunction with the administration and student teams. They are the chief administrative body of the College.

Traditions

As with most residential colleges, Grace has a long history of strong traditions. The Grace coat of arms

Coat of arms

A coat of arms is a unique heraldic design on a shield or escutcheon or on a surcoat or tabard used to cover and protect armour and to identify the wearer. Thus the term is often stated as "coat-armour", because it was anciently displayed on the front of a coat of cloth...

 depicts a purple cross on a white diamond with a red background and the college motto “My Grace is Sufficient”. The College colour purple is derived from this logo and can often be seen at college events.

Over the years, residents have taken up Greek symbolism, to portray their affection for the college. With the creation of the College magazine

Magazine

Magazines, periodicals, glossies or serials are publications, generally published on a regular schedule, containing a variety of articles. They are generally financed by advertising, by a purchase price, by pre-paid magazine subscriptions, or all three...

 residents chose several Greek symbols to portray them. The title of the magazine, ‘Charis’ comes from the Greek word for ‘Graces’; the mythological beings from Greek history

History of Greece

The history of Greece encompasses the history of the territory of the modern state of Greece, as well as that of the Greek people and the areas they ruled historically. The scope of Greek habitation and rule has varied much through the ages, and, as a result, the history of Greece is similarly...

. The magazine also introduced the use of the phoenix

Phoenix (mythology)

The phoenix or phenix is a mythical sacred firebird that can be found in the mythologies of the Arabian, Persians, Greeks, Romans, Egyptians, Chinese, Indian and Phoenicians....

as a symbol for the Grace spirit. The myth of the phoenix has led to many common college phrases such as ‘out of the ashes’ and ‘fly like the phoenix’.

Grace College, like all other University of Queensland colleges, also participates in the Orientation Week activities organised for first-year students to help them assimilate into University and College life. The Week is organised by an Orientation Week Committee which consists of six second year students. The Student Club Executive Committee and Residential Assistants also participate in this week.

External links