The , established in
Sydney in
1850 , is the
Oldest University in
Australia . It is a member of Australia's "
Group Of Eight " lobby group and remains one of the country's largest and most prestigious educational institutions. In
2005 , the University of Sydney had 45,966 students and 2,300 (full-time equivalent) academic staff making it the second largest in Australia
Facts and Figures - About the University .
In November , the University of Sydney was ranked thirty eighth in the world and fourth in Australia in
''The Times Higher Education Supplement's'' list of the world's best universities behind the University of Melbourne, Australian National University and Monash University.
Centred on the
Oxbridge -inspired grounds of the University's Main Campus on the south-western outskirts of the Sydney
CBD , the University of Sydney now possesses a number of campuses as a result of mergers in recent years.
During
1848 ,
William Wentworth proposed a plan to expand the existing Sydney College into a university in the
Legislative Council . Wentworth argued that a state university was imperative for the growth of a society aspiring towards self-government, and that it would provide the opportunity for 'the child of every class, to become great and useful in the destinies of his country'. It would take two attempts on Wentworth's behalf however, before the plan was finally adopted.
The University was established via the passage of the ''
University of Sydney Act '', which was signed on , the university had moved to its current site in the Sydney suburb of
Camperdown .
In as soon as there were 100 graduates with higher degrees. This seat in Parliament was first filled in
1876 , but was abolished in
1880 one year after its second Member,
Edmund Barton , was elected to the Legislative Assembly.
The University has a number of campuses and has continued to expand over the years. Until recently, the University also operated the
Museum Of Contemporary Art .
As Of 2005 , the campuses are:
Originally housed in what is now
Sydney Grammar School , in
1855 , the government granted the university land in
Grose Farm , three kilometres from the city, which is now the main
Camperdown campus. The architect
Edmund Blacket designed the original
Neogothic sandstone Quadrangle and Great Tower buildings, which were completed in
1862 . The rapid expansion of the university in the mid-
20th Century resulted in the acquisition of land in Darlington across
City Road . The Camperdown/Darlington campus houses the headquarters of the University, and the Faculties of Arts, Science, Education and Social Work, Pharmacy, Veterinary Science, Economics and Business, Architecture, and Engineering. It is also the home base of the large Faculty of Medicine, which has numerous affiliated teaching hospitals across the State.
The main campus is also the focus of student life at campus, with the student-run
University Of Sydney Union (often known simply as the Union) in possession of three buildings on-site - Wentworth, Manning and Holme Buildings. These buildings house a large proportion of the university's catering outlets, and provide space for gaming rooms, bars and function centres. One of the largest activities organised by the Union is the Orientation Week (or 'O-week'), centering on stalls set up by clubs and societies on the Front Lawns.
The University is currently undertaking a large capital works program (entitled "
Campus 2010 "), which will see the amalgamation of the smaller science and technical libraries into a larger library, and the construction of a central administration and student services building along City Road. A new building for the School of Information Technologies is under construction, as is the new home for the Sydney Law School alongside Fisher Library (on the site of the old Edgeworth David and Stephen Roberts buildings). The busy Eastern Avenue thoroughfare will be transformed into a pedestrian plaza, while a new footbridge will be built over City Road.
The Mallett Street campus is home of the Faculty of Nursing. As of 2005, the Faculty no longer offers undergraduate Bachelor of Nursing programs. A new Master of Nursing program (M.n) has been introduced, with its first intake of students in 2006. Other hybrid programs such as the Bachelor of Arts/Master of Nursing, Bachelor of Science/Master of Nursing, Bachelor of Applied Science/Master of Nursing, Bachelor of Sports and Exercise Science/Master of Nursing have also been introduced.
Formerly an independent institution (the Cumberland College of Health Sciences), the Cumberland campus in the Sydney suburb of
Lidcombe was incorporated into the University as part of the higher education reforms of the late 1980s. It is home to the Faculty of Health Sciences, which covers various allied health disciplines, including physiotherapy, speech therapy, radiation therapy, occupational therapy, etc.
The Sydney Dental Hospital at Surry Hills houses the University's Dental School and Dentistry library. Situated between Chalmers Street and Elizabeth Street, it is adjacent to the eastern entrance to
Central Station .
Near
St. James Railway Station in the centre of Sydney's business and legal district, the Sydney Law School is located across the road from the
Supreme Court Of New South Wales building. In
2009 , the Faculty of Law will move to the main campus following the completion of the new law building on Eastern Avenue.
See Also: Sydney College of the Arts
The Sydney of the College of the Arts (SCA) is based in a former sanitorium in the Sydney suburb of
Rozelle , overlooking
Sydney Harbour . The college specialises in the creative arts.
See Also: Sydney Conservatorium of Music
The Conservatorium of Music is located near Sydney's
Royal Botanic Gardens a short distance from the
Sydney Opera House ; it was acquired by the University in the
1990s . It is not to be confused with the University of Sydney's main campus Department of Music, which was the subject of a notable documentary called ''
Facing The Music ''.
Located at Orange in rural NSW, the Orange Agricultural College joined in
1994 . Orange campus was principally the domain of the former Faculty of Rural Management; however other undergraduate courses from the Faculties of Arts, Science, Nursing and Pharmacy were also taught at Orange.
The Orange Campus and the Faculty of Rural Management were transferred to
Charles Sturt University in
2005 amid objections from the staff and students of at the University of Sydney.
Located on Sydney's south-west rural fringe, the
Camden campus houses research farms for agriculture and veterinary science.
The Narrabri Plant Research Centre is located at
Narrabri , near the
Queensland border.
Under the terms of the
Higher Education (Amalgamation) Act 1989 (NSW) , the following bodies were incorporated into the University of Sydney in
1990 :
- the Sydney Branch of the NSW State Conservatorium of Music
- the Cumberland College of Health Sciences
- the Sydney College of the Arts of the Institute of the Arts
- the Sydney Institute of Education of the Sydney College of Advanced Education
- the Institute of Nursing Studies of the Sydney College of Advanced Education
- the Guild Centre of the Sydney College of Advanced Education.
The .
The New England University College was founded as part of the University of Sydney in
1938 , and separated to become the
University Of New England in
1954 .
The University is comprised of seventeen faculties, which have been grouped into three colleges
Colleges - About the University :
- College of Health Sciences
- --- Faculty of Dentistry
- --- Faculty of Health Sciences
- --- Faculty of Medicine
- --- Faculty of Nursing and Midwifery
- --- Faculty of Pharmacy
- College of Humanities and Social Sciences
- --- Faculty of Arts
- --- Faculty of Economics and Business
- --- Faculty of Education and Social Work
- --- Graduate School of Government
- --- Faculty of Law
- --- Sydney College of the Arts
- --- Sydney Conservatorium of Music
- College of Sciences and Technology
- --- Faculty of Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources
- --- Faculty of Architecture
- --- Faculty of Engineering
- --- Faculty of Science
- --- Faculty of Veterinary Science
.]]
See Also: University of Sydney Library
The University of Sydney Library consists of numerous individual libraries with the main building, Fisher Library, named after an early benefactor. The University library is the largest in the southern hemisphere, with a collection of over 5.1 million items. It possesses many rare items such as one of the two extant copies of the ''
Gospel Of Barnabas '', and a first edition of ''
Philosophiae Naturalis Principia Mathematica '' by
Sir Isaac Newton .
Numerous museums and galleries are part of the university.
See Also: Nicholson Museum
Nicholson Museum of Antiquities contains the largest and most prestigious collection of antiquities in Australia. It is also the country's oldest university museum, and features ancient artefacts from Egypt, the Middle East, Greece, Rome, Cyprus and Mesopatamia, collected by the University over many years and added to by recent archaeological expeditions.
See Also: Macleay Museum
The Macleay Museum is named after Alexander Macleay, whose collection of insects begun in the late eighteenth century was the basis upon which the museum was founded. It has developed into an extraordinary collection of natural history specimens, ethnographic artifacts, scientific instruments and historic photographs.
The University Art Collection was founded in the 1860's and contains more than 2500 pieces, constantly growing through donation, bequests, and acquisition. It is housed in several different places, including the
Sir Hermann Black Gallery and the
War Memorial Art Gallery .
The Rare Books Library is a part of the
Fisher Library and holds 185,000 books and manuscripts which are rare, valuable or fragile, including eighty medieval manuscripts, works by Galileo, Halley and Copernicus and an extensive collection of Australiana. The copy of the
Gospel Of Barnabas , and the first edition of
Philosophiae Naturalis Principia Mathematica by
Sir Isaac Newton are held here. Regular exhibitions of rare books are held in the exhibition room.
In
2003 , the University completed the
Sydney University Village , consisting of studio and apartment accommodation operated by a private company on behalf of the university. There is also a university-affiliated
Housing Cooperative , the
Stucco Co-operative .
Politically and academically, undergraduate students are represented by the
Students Representative Council (SRC) and postgraduate students by the
Sydney University Postgraduate Representative Association (SUPRA)
{Link without Title} .
The
University Of Sydney Union provides student services and amenities and supports the university's strong debating, dramatic, and cultural traditions, through over a hundred clubs and societies.
Sydney University Sport {Link without Title} provides sport and recreation facilities and supports over 40 sporting clubs.
The future of these organisations is under a shadow with the passage of legislation implementing
Voluntary Student Unionism in late
2005 . Such legislation will prohibit the compulsory collection of fees from students who enrol for the first time in the second semester of
2006 and all students from the beginning of
2007 .
Sydney University Football Club , founded in 1863, is the oldest rugby union club in Australia. The club was a member of the inaugural Sydney club competition in 1874. The club currently competes in the
NSWRU competition and in 2005 claimed the
Tooheys New Cup , senior and colts club championships and were runners up in the
Shute Shield .
The University fielded a
Rugby League team in the
New South Wales Rugby League's Sydney premiership from
1920 to
1937 . It currently competes in the NSW Tertiary Student Rugby League competition.
The University fields teams for both elite and social players in men's and women's junior and senior competitions.
- Williams, Bruce. ''Liberal education and useful knowledge: a brief history of the University of Sydney, 1850-2000'', Chancellor's Committee, University of Sydney, 2002. ISBN 1864874392
