25 reasons to celebrate CQUniversity’s Silver Jubilee!
Posted on December 6th, 2017
As CQUniversity celebrates 25 years as a University this year, highlighted at its spectacular Silver Jubilee Ball last weekend in Rockhampton, here are 25 reasons we should be incredibly proud of our local University! Originally founded in Rockhampton in 1967 as the Queensland Institute of Technology (QIT) Capricornia, it was awarded full university status in 1992.
- CQUniversity is now Australia’s largest regional university with 30,000 students and 16 campuses around the country including Rockhampton (Head campus north Rockhampton and second campus south Rocky), Emerald, Gladstone (2 sites), Mackay (2 sites), Townsville, Cairns, Bundaberg, Noosa, Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne, Perth, Adelaide; as well as 7 study centres in Biloela, Yeppoon, Busselton, Broome, Cooma, Geraldton and Karratha.
- Whilst the Rockhampton campus celebrated 50 years in education this year (25 years as a University), the Mackay campus celebrated its 30 year milestone and Melbourne campus, 20 years.
- Graduates from CQUniversity enjoy an overall full-time graduate employment rate of 81.1 percent. This figure is almost 10 percent higher than the national average of 71.3 percent for Australian resident bachelor degree graduates.
- The Australian Financial Review’s BOSS Magazine this year, ranked the CQUniversity MBA program in the Top 10 of all MBA’s across Australia, as well as the number one regional university in Australia to undertake an MBA (Master of Business Administration) program.
- CQUniversity has established itself as a research focused university and in 2015, achieved Excellence in Research Australia (ERA) results of ‘at’, ‘above’ or ‘well above’ world standard in 14 different categories of research including mathematical sciences, applied mathematics, psychological and cognitive services, nursing, medical and health services, agriculture, environmental science, medical and health science, and mechanical engineering.
- CQUniversity is recognised within the top 500 universities in the World, and among the top 150 universities under 50 years old by the prestigious Times Higher Education World University Rankings.
- CQUniversity’s Engineering courses have been placed in the top 300 universities of the Subject Rankings in the Times Higher Education World University Rankings.
- CQUniversity has been ranked as a Top 100 Asia-Pacific University in the Times Higher Education World University Rankings.
- CQUniversity is also ranked among the world’s top universities by the international QS World Universities ranking system.
- In 2016, CQUniversity was also officially recognised as Australia’s only Changemaker Campus by global social innovation group Ashoka U.
- In 2014 the University merged with CQ TAFE, bringing together more than 175 years combined experience in the delivery of education and training, and establishing Queensland’s first dual sector, comprehensive university. Capricorn Enterprise played a major role in this achievement, providing a strong industry voice to government in support of this merger, identifying it as a Regional Priority Project.
- Dozens of prestigious awards and accolades were achieved during 2017, by university, staff, students and alumni. Among those was Professor John Rolfe who was elected as a Fellow of the Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia, acknowledging his exemplary achievements in the field of economics.
- CQUni-trained automotive mechanic Steven Perfect won the Regional WorldSkills Automotive competition, whilst Professor Brijesh Verma (Centre for Intelligent Systems) was appointed to the 2018 Australian Research Council College of Experts.
- PHD student Adam Rose’s research into the health of the regions’ drinking water saw him win the Student Prize at the 2017 Queensland Water Awards, whilst Dr Dana Stanley was the gut microbiota expert on an international team that published in the prestigious Nature Immunology journal discussing how dietary fibre can modify the gut’s microbiota to protect against diabetes.
- Researcher Jordan Fox was awarded the 2017 Women’s Scholarship by the National Strength and Conditioning Association Foundation based in Colorado Springs USA, whilst Associate Professor Henrietta Marrie was appointed to the National Cultural Heritage Committee, after three decades of involvement in protecting Indigenous cultural items.
- Provost, Professor Helen Huntly was awarded an OAM (Order of Australia) Medal for “Services to Tertiary Education in Central Queensland”.
- 21 year old owner/operator of Everwonder Hair Creatives and CQUni Certificate III in Hairdressing graduate Teal Keating joined a group of 25 expert stylists from around the globe to work at Fashion Week in New York.
- In June 2017, Reconciliation Australia fully endorsed CQUniversity’s Reconciliation Action Plan (RAP) which was launched on the 10th Anniversary of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.
- Over the coming five years, CQUniversity has a plan for continued expansion of student success, research excellence, social innovation and community engagement firmly in its sights. In 2017, CQUniversity began collaboration with China National GeneBank(CNGB) to help save Australia’s koala populations – the first overseas research collaborative project of CBGB in Australia!
- The University delivers more than 300 education and training offerings, from short courses and certificates, through to undergraduate, postgraduate and research degrees. Study areas include Apprenticeships, Trades and Training, Business, Accounting and Law, Creative, Performing and Visual Arts, Education and Humanities, Engineering and Built Environment, Health, Information
Technology and Digital Media, Psychology, Social Work and Community Services, Science and Environment, and Work and Study Preparation. - As a pioneer in the delivery of distance education, CQUniversity continues to be a leader in this area, with almost half of the current student cohort being made up of students studying offcampus, many of whom are based in rural and remote areas.
- The 2017 Northern University Games was a huge success for CQ, with hundreds of students competing at events throughout Rockhampton and Yeppoon.
- CQUniversity is also proud to have the highest ratio of students from low socio-economic, mature age, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander, and first-in-family backgrounds. The University defines itself by who it embraces rather than who it excludes, and because of this is widely recognised as Australia’s most inclusive university.
- In 2017, an unprecedented number of staff and community partners raised over $100,000 for CQUni Cares, which assists students in need.
- In a Queensland first, CQUni’s Certificate III in Visual Arts is now being offered via distance education and in 2017 CQUniversity launched the new Centre for Indigenous Health Equity Research in Cairns, a first of its kind for North Queensland.
Happy Silver Jubilee CQUniversity! I have been proud to be a CQUniversity Governor in Council since March 2013 at this most inclusive and proudly regional University in the country!
Until next time!
Mary Carroll CEO Capricorn Enterprise
