The , located in
Melbourne ,
Victoria , is the second oldest university in
Australia , after the
University Of Sydney . The oldest and main campus is in
Parkville , an inner suburb of Melbourne just north of the city centre. Other campuses in Melbourne and rural Victoria have been acquired through amalgamation with smaller colleges of advanced education. It is a member of Australia's "
Group Of Eight " lobby group.
The University of Melbourne is one of the most prestigious universities in Australia according to several international indices.
In 2005 , the University of Melbourne ranked nineteenth in
''The Times Higher Education Supplement's'' list of the world's best universities, the highest rank of any Australian university. It also ranked eighth in the world for arts and
Humanities , and tenth for
Biomedicine .
The University has almost 40,000 students, who are supported by nearly 6,000 staff members (full or part-time). On
November 15 ,
2005 , Vice-Chancellor Glyn Davis announced plans for the university to adopt a system of education similar to the
United States Tertiary System where students earn a generalised
Bachelor's Degree in three years and then specialise by attaining
Graduate Qualifications in area such as law or medicine. The plan would be introduced over ten years, and is likely to see the total number of students attending the university drop to 30,000 students.
The University was established by
Hugh Childers in
1853 by an Act of the Victorian Parliament, and classes commenced in
1855 with three professors and sixteen students. The original University buildings were officially opened by the then Lieutenant Governor of the Colony of Victoria, Sir
Charles Hotham , on 3 October 1855. The first Chancellor,
Redmond Barry , held the position until his death in 1880. The inauguration of the University was made possible by the wealth resulting from Victoria's
Gold Rush , and the University was designed to be a "civilising influence" at a time of rapid settlement and commercial growth (Selleck, 2003). The University was secular, and forbidden from offering degrees in divinity - the churches could only establish Colleges along the northern perimeter. The local population largely rejected the supposed elitism of its professoriate, favouring teaching of 'useful' subjects like law, over those they deemed 'useless' in the city's context, like classics. The townspeople won this debate, and law was introduced in 1857, and medicine and engineering in the 1860s. The admission of women in 1881 was a further victory for Victorians over the more conservative ruling council (Selleck 2003, p164–165). Subsequent years saw many tensions over the direction of the emerging University. For example, in 1902 it was effectively bankrupt, following the discovery of massive fraud by the Bursar, Frederick Dickson. This resulted in a Royal Commission recommending new funding structures, and an extension of disciplinary areas into agriculture and education.
By the time of
World War I , governance was again a pressing concern. The Council, consisting of more businesspeople than professors, obtained real powers in 1923 at the expense of the Senate. Undergraduates could elect two members of the Council. In this period, the University tended to attract students drawn from affluent backgrounds, with a few opportunities for gifted scholarship students. The first Vice-Chancellor to be paid a salary was Raymond Priestley (1936) followed by John Medley in 1939.
After
World War II , demand for Commonwealth-funded student places grew in Australia, and the University followed demand by becoming much larger and more inclusive.
The University celebrated its
150th anniversary in 2003.
The University has eleven faculties:
These faculties offer courses from
Bachelor Degree to
Doctorate level. Land and Food Resources offers
TAFE , diplomas, but in June 2005 it was announced that these will be transferred to other providers. Arts is the largest (6,400 students in 2004), followed by Medicine, Dentistry and Health (5,800) and Economics & Commerce (4,700).
Pure and applied research had already grown in importance from the late 19th century, but increased its reach and depth in the second half of the 20th century. Academic staff are expected to maintain a programe of research and to apply for funding opportunities. Science and Arts are the best-endowed Faculties in financial terms. The medical sciences benefit from proximity to a number of hospitals, and were enhanced by the opening of
Bio21 , a research centre focusing on pure and applied
Biotechnology .
The university has an endowment of approximately $908 million AUD as of June 2005, which has grown rapidly over the past few years
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Harvard or
Princeton .
Notable alumni of the university include writer and
Bert Sakmann are currently based in the Department of Microbiology and Immunology, while Sir
James Mirrlees (Economic Science, 1996 - emeritus, Cambridge) and Sir
Clive Granger (Economic Science, 2003 - emeritus, San Diego), will teach a couple of months each year at the University from 2005.
In recent years the University has expanded the numbers of international students from 2000 in 1996 to 8000 in 2004, achieved under the direction of controversial former Vice Chancellor,
Alan Gilbert . A separate venture,
Melbourne University Private was created in 1997 to tap this market via distance learning, but after financial difficulties and eventual bankruptcy, re-merged with the University at the end of 2005.
Since
1872 , the affiliated residential colleges have been an important part of the university. The earliest sought to emulate the finest European colleges, particularly those of Oxford. Most of the colleges are situated in an arc around the
Cricket oval at the northern edge of the campus, known as the College Crescent, with a few further afield.
The colleges are informally divided by size. The four larger colleges: Trinity (Anglican), Ormond (Uniting - formerly Presbyterian), Queens (Uniting - formerly Methodist) and Newman (Jesuit), occupy a majority of the land around the College Crescent, have the largest studentries and dominate inter-collegiate sporting and academic competitions. This has led to the practice of their students labelling the other colleges "the minors".
Most of the colleges only provide residence for students within the academic semester and encourage their students to find alternatives or return home during the summer and winter vacation periods. During this time they are often occupied by conference, sporting and retreat groups. As a result of this a large part of the students who live on campus at Melbourne University come from areas outside Melbourne particularly rural regions, interstate and overseas. The college community is viewed by many students as a helpful stepping stone to living independently particularly by those who have never lived in a big city before or who lack support networks within Melbourne due to the distance from their home town. The colleges also accommodate a large number of students from inner-city private schools. These students despite having families who live within a commutable distance of the University of Melbourne will choose to attend college as a means of expanding their social circle within the occasionally daunting university, to access the additional academic assistance offered by the colleges, as well as the standard stepping stone to independence. Colleges are generally considered a positive opportunity however the cost proves a limiting factor for many.
The colleges provide accommodation to about 3000 students, which is a small fraction of the university's total student population. As well as accommodation, the colleges provide tutorials for their students (although unlike the
Oxbridge colleges, the tutorials are purely extra assistance and do not form a fundamental part of any university course).
A larger proportion of students live in surrounding suburbs, and private city centre apartment complexes.
Several of the original on-campus buildings, such as the Old Law and Old Arts buildings, feature beautiful period architecture.
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The expansion during the post-World War Two period saw the construction a number of functional high-rise office buildings and laboratories, in response to space shortages. These include the Raymond Priestley building (used for administration), the Redmond Barry building,
Wilson Hall (1956, replacing the
old Wilson Hall which was
destroyed by fire ), and some of the additions to the colleges. The Architecture building is a monolithic modernist design - a "strong statement of architectural modernism influenced by Le Corbusier". An addition to it added new roof offices in 1997. Economics and Commerce, extended in 1997, is described as "two lacklustre if not downright unpleasant buildings" by the author of the University walking tour [http://www.hr.unimelb.edu.au/walking-tours/1.html].
A recent spate of expansions have included the Ian Potter Gallery and the Sydney Myer Asia Centre (both designed by Nonda Katsalidis). The Potter Gallery in particular is highly regarded for its architecture, and won several awards when completed in
1999 . The massive University Square development which has extended the campus far to the south, has been more contentiously received, with initial planning battles forcing the retention of 19th century residential townhouses as a facade.
A searchable archive of photos, can be used to view individual features of the campus.
UMAIC
See Also: Melbourne University student organisations
The university has a rich student life due to the variety of clubs and services funded by the . Many student clubs are affiliated with UMSU, as well as student theatre and the official student newspaper, ''Farrago''.
The university has participated in various sports in its history.
It is currently the defending overall champion in the Australian University Games (AUG).
The
Melbourne University Football Club founded in 1859, was a notable
Australian Rules Football club that played 5 seasons in the
Victorian Football League . The club has since rejoined the ranks of amateur teams. The University women's club participates in the
Victorian Women's Football League and is the most successful
Women's Footy team in the country.
The university has several other campuses located across
Victoria .They are situated in
Burnley ,
Creswick ,
Dookie ,
Terang ,
Werribee ,
Horsham ,
Warragul and
Leongatha , and
Southbank ,
Victorian College Of The Arts .
The university also has its interests in
Goulburn Valley , particularly in the areas of rural
Health ,
Agriculture and
Education .
The university is a part-owner of the
Melbourne Business School , a graduate
Business School .
- Macintyre, S. & Selleck, R.J.W. (2003). ''A short history of the University of Melbourne''. Melbourne: Melbourne University Press. ISBN 0-522-85058-8.
- Selleck, R.J.W. (2003). ''The Shop: The University of Melbourne, 1850–1939''. Melbourne: University of Melbourne Press. 930pp
- Cain J II and J Hewitt. 2004. Off Course: From Public Place to Marketplace at Melbourne University . Melbourne: Scribe.
- McPhee, P. 2005. "From the Acting Vice-Chancellor." Uni News. The University of Melbourne. 03/10/05, p.3.
