Ballarat University

University of Ballarat

Established	1994
Type	Public
Vice-Chancellor	Prof David Battersby
Admin. staff	260
Students	25,810 (2008) 13,820 HE; 11,990 TAFE
Location	Ballarat, Victoria, Australia
Affiliations	New Generation Universities (NGU)
Website	http://www.ballarat.edu.au/

The University of Ballarat is a dual-sector university in Ballarat, Victoria, Australia. It was formed by the passage of an Act of the Victorian Parliament in 1994, from the Ballarat College of Advanced Education. It subsequently merged with the Ballarat School of Mines and Industries (1870) and the Horsham based Wimmera Institute of TAFE in 1998 to create a larger University.

According to the university's records as of 2008, there were 25,810 students consisting of 13,820 higher education students and 11,990 Technical and Further Education students. The report states that 11,460 students are at the Ballarat campus, but does not differentiate between higher education students and Technical and Further Education students. In terms of higher degrees, there were 6,145 masters students, which is more numerous than the 6,048 bachelor students. In terms of students who are not located on a campus of the university, there were 12,481 students with partnership institutions such as the Melbourne Institute of Technology.

History

Heritage buildings and former Ballarat Gaol at the School of Mines and Industry. Lydiard Street, Ballarat CBD

The University of Ballarat has a long history that goes back to the gold rush era of the 1850s. Tertiary education at Ballarat began with the establishment of the School of Mines and Industries in 1870, making it Australia's third oldest tertiary institution. It is for this reason that the 1870 Founders Hall at the University of Ballarat was built.

People such as Redmond Barry who also founded the State Library of Victoria were involved in the original establishment to create an institution of equivalent standing to a university to offer degree level courses at Ballarat.

The School of Milnes had two divisions - a tertiary division and a technical division. The tertiary division provided higher education courses such as mining engineering, geology, education and business studies, while the technical division provided such programs as wool classing, plumbing and bricklaying.

The organisation remained in that form until the 1960s when it was split into two institutions. The School of Mines remained intact offering technical and secondary level programs, while the tertiary division became Ballarat Institute of Advanced Education. In the 1970s it was renamed Ballarat College of Advanced Education.

In the late 1980s the Dawkins Revolution had arrived and Ballarat CAE was in danger of losing its long historical identity. In an era where larger metropolitan colleges were opting for mergers with existing universities, such as Chisholm Institute of Technology with Monash University, Melbourne College of Advanced Education with Melbourne University, Philip Institute of Technology with RMIT University, Lincoln Institute of Health Science and Bendigo College of Advanced Education with La Trobe University, and Victoria College and Warrnambool Institute of Advanced Education with Geelong's Deakin University, Ballarat was faced with the prospect of merging with Deakin University, an option the board of Ballarat CAE did not want to accept, arguing in the words of the then director Professor John Sharpham, that "Deakin is not strong" and who attempted to arrange a merger of "equal sides" where Ballarat CAE, Warrnambool IAE, and Deakin would merge to become the University of Western Victoria. Under this arrangement, Ballarat would get 50% of voting power, with Geelong and Warrnambool the other 50%.

The proposal was rejected by Deakin, which left Ballarat as the only college in Victoria not to become a university. The University of Melbourne then allowed Ballarat CAE to become an affiliated college of the University. The name of Ballarat CAE was changed to "Ballarat University College, an affiliated College of the University of Melbourne", which are the actual words put on graduates' testamurs. At this point it seemed that BUC would become the Ballarat campus of Melbourne University, which would have given it a sizable rural campus in Western Victoria. This, however, did not eventuate, with some critics suggesting that it was too prestigious.

Ballarat University College then sought to become a fully-fledged university in its own right. This began when Professor John Sharpham asked the board of BUC why, if Southern Cross University was allowed to separate from the University of New England by becoming a university in its own right, Ballarat should not be allowed to do the same. The Federal Government was lobbied and responded by sending three Vice-Chancellors (one of them, incidentally, being from the University of New England) to Ballarat to consider the matter. The result was favorable and the university college became a university in 1994. Its sole link to the University of Melbourne was that Melbourne would observe the academic standards at the new university for a five-year period.

Upon creation of the university, the announcement by the Foundation Chancellor Professor Geoffrey Blainey of the inaugural Vice-Chancellor of University of Ballarat proved controversial, with Professor Sharpham being overlooked in favour of Professor David James (Deakin University's Deputy Vice-Chancellor).

Status and rankings

The University achieved a maximum five-star rating for teaching quality in the 2011 Good Universities Guide. This was accompanied by four stars for graduate satisfaction, staff-student ratios, getting a job, access by equity groups and cultural diversity. This places the University in the top tier of regional universities.

The University's teaching performance also was ranked in the top ten of Australian universities according to data released by the Federal Department of Education, Science and Training in 2005. Melbourne Institute Rankings.

Technology Park

The university has a technology park with the mission to facilitate the development of technology based companies or companies that benefit from the technological resources of the university.

The following organisations are current organisations that are operating from the park.

CFA Country Fire Authority
IBM South East Asia
IBM Regional Software Solutions Centre
Greenhill Enterprise Centre
Ambulance Victoria
State Revenue Office
Conservation Volunteers
Global Innovation Centre
ID Research
Emergency Services Telecommunication

More than 1350 people are employed by tenants at the technology park with approximately half of those holding University of Ballarat qualifications. Recently IBM decided to expand its workforce with the construction of a new $10 million building on the park. It is Australia's leading regional technology park.

Research

The University has an active research program in place. For example the Graduate School of Information Technology and Mathematical Sciences is engaged in research that looks at optimising space in buildings. This is being done through The Centre for Informatics and Applied Optimization (CIAO).

Beyond the formal research program, the University of Ballarat has a strong history of scholarly activity and research that pre-dates its accreditation as a University in 1994.

Research Institutes and Centres

Institute for Regional and Rural Research and Innovation. The Institute is a research organisation that focuses on rural and regional issues.

Campuses

The University has six campuses: three in Ballarat, and one each in Ararat, Horsham and Stawell.

Ballarat

Camp Street Campus
SMB Campus

Located in central Ballarat and incorporates the original School of Mines Ballarat and old Ballaraat Gaol. The SMB Campus offers courses from Certificate level through to Applied Bachelor Degrees. Most courses offered by SMB Campus schools are designed to provide a pathway into a higher level qualification via articulation, offering Recognition of Prior Learning and Credit Transfer assessment that may give prospective students subject credit based on work skills and prior qualifications.

- SMB Campus Schools
  - Arts Academy
  - School of Applied Sciences Food and Allied Sciences, Health Sciences and Primary Industries
  - School of Business Services Hospitality and Tourism, Information Technology, Leadership and Management including Fast>>Track Management
  - School of Human Services Children's Services, Community Services, Humanities and Further Education including Student Learning Support Centres
  - School of Manufacturing Services Automotive, Building and Construction, Engineering, Steel Haven Skills Centre
- UB Technical Education Centre
  - UBTec

Western Victorian Campuses

Ararat Campus (offers TAFE courses)
Horsham Campus (offers TAFE courses and a Higher Education course in Nursing)
Stawell Campus (offers TAFE courses)

Mount Helen campus

Located in Mount Helen, 15 km south of Ballarat, an area of beautiful natural bushland. The university's largest campus, it contains two residences, Peter Lalor Hall and Bella Guerin Hall, and contains the following schools:

School of Education and Arts; School of Health Sciences; School of Science, Information Technology and Engineering; and The Business School.

Camp Street Arts Academy

The Camp Street Campus is the newest of the University of Ballarat's six campuses. Bordered by Camp Street, Sturt Street and Lydiard Street, this campus houses the University of Ballarat's Arts Academy. The campus consists the Old Post Office Building, the Old Courthouse building, and several new buildings which were completed in 2002. Notable staff at the Arts Academy, Peter Pilven (Ceramicist) Anne Saunders (Painter and Print maker) and Doug Wright (Painter).

Student Association

Students are represented by the University of Ballarat Student Association (UBSA) and the University of Ballarat Postgraduate Association.

Notable alumni

Jack Adam, Mining Engineer:Graduated 1905 Ballarat School of Mines
Steve Bracks, Former Premier of Victoria, Australia: Dip Bus.
Dr Cyril P. Callister, Inventor of Vegemite, SMB Student 1910
Ash Lieb Artist: BA Visual Arts
Brad McEwan, Ten Network Sports reporter: Physical Education
Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, Businesswoman and associate of Biocon
Steve Moneghetti, Olympic Marathon Runner: BEng
Richard W. 'Dick' Richards, Physicist and Antarctic Explorer with Ernest Shackleton on the Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition
Libby Tanner, Actress
Ian Toope, Geographer & Swordsmith
DJ Gav Howard, House music producer and DJ