is a
University with its main campus at
Murdoch , south of
Perth ,
Western Australia , along
South Street near the
Kwinana Freeway (). It commenced operations as WA's second university in
1973 , and accepted its first students in
1975 . Its name is taken from
Sir Walter Murdoch (1874-1970), a prominent Australian academic and essayist famous for his intelligence, wit and humanity, who has a walk dedicated to him on South Wing Level 2 of the main library.
Murdoch University is home to 14,271 students (as of
August 31 ,
2006 ),http://wwwplan.murdoch.edu.au/stats/student/table1-1/default.asp?YEAR=2006&SEM=2&CAMPUS=0&FEE=0&SEX=0&NEW=0&ATTEND=0&EQUITY=0&DIVISION=0&AOU=0 of whom over 2,000 are international students. There are three main divisions at Murdoch: Arts (which includes Humanities, Social Sciences, IT, Law and Business); Health Sciences and Science and Engineering.
Murdoch has Australia's geographically largest campus at , necessary in order to accommodate Western Australia's only
Veterinary school. Most of the southern part of the university consists of paddocks of livestock, farm and renewable energy facilities.
The original group of University buildings surround an open court, known as "Bush Court", in the northern part of the campus. Bush Court contains the highest point on campus. The buildings are linked on the court's sides by broad colonnaded verandahs in a compact design which aims at encouraging a sense of community. Features around campus include the Chinese garden and the Joglo Rahayu (Peace Pavilion).
The University has three major campuses. Aside from Murdoch, there is the
Rockingham Regional Campus, opened in
1996 alongside Rockingham's
TAFE campus, which features dedicated facilities for engineering, an arts and commerce building and a community library; and the
Peel Campus in
Mandurah , which opened in
2004 for nursing and life science students.
Murdoch University was initially intended to cater predominantly to mature-aged students. As a result, many courses are available externally and an increasing number are available online. It is home to several disciplinary schools: ,
Mass Communications and
Commerce . According to ''
The Australian '' newspaper ("What makes a good school of journalism"), the Graduate Careers Council of Australia found its Journalism School is one of Australia's top five.http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,20867,20447561-7582,00.html
Murdoch University is the founder of the ACICIS (Australian Consortium for 'In-Country' Indonesian Studies) Study Indonesia program, a non-profit consortium of Australian universities that was established in 1994 to coordinate semester-long study programs at partner universities in
Yogyakarta and
Malang in
Indonesia , for Australian university students.
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Murdoch University a highly research intensive institution and a member of
Innovative Research Universities Australia (IRU Australia). It's Asia Research Centre, founded in 1991 as a Special Research Centre of the Australia Research Council, is regarded as an international leader in the study of social, political and economic dynamics in East and Southeast Asia.
Curtin University Of Technology and Murdoch University agreed in
June 2005 to undertake a feasibility study on merging. On
November 7 ,
2005 , both institutions issued a press release stating that such a merger will not be undertaken.
On the north east corner of the South Street campus, Murdoch College was established by the university and the Alexander Education Group in
2000 to cater for
Secondary students in a university environment and to enrich their academic, social and personal potential. It is one of few secondary
School s on a university campus in Australia and students have the opportunity to experience university facilities often. It offers a full complement of Year 7-12 subjects across the 8 learning areas. Many students from
China ,
Hong Kong ,
Singapore ,
Japan and
Korea enrol at Murdoch College and enhance its strong multicultural ethos.
The Murdoch Institute of Technology (MIT) was established by the university and the Alexander Education Group. It is a feeder college catering for students wishing to complete diploma level courses. Future plans involve building dedicated facilities on the tennis courts north of the SSHE building, which currently houses the School of Education's teaching caravans and some satellite dishes.
Murdoch University Student Village is an on-campus residential community consisting of 98 self-contained flats. Rooms are divided between single bedrooms and twin-share rooms. It hosts over 500 resident students and student organisations which run events with free attendance for residents. The student village is located north-west of the main campus, and placement is only available to full-time Murdoch University students upon application.
Interesting places on the Murdoch campus include:
The main library on the Murdoch campus is located on the south end of Bush Court. It consists of a North Wing (levels 2-4), a Link (levels 2-3) and a South Wing (levels 1-4). The only entrance is on North Wing Level 3, which is level with Bush Court, although a new entrance on Link Level 2 is being constructed as part of the Learning Common. Membership is open to everyone, although access to some resources is restricted.
2
Some of the time the library is open is known as "Study Hall". During this time, patrons may access the collections, computers, photocopiers and self-borrowing machines, but there is no desk, phone or e-mail service.
3
In
2006 and
2007 , the Library is undergoing major building works to remove asbestos from the roof (in an ongoing project involving other university buildings) and construct the new Learning Common. The Learning Common is in North Wing and Link Section levels 2 and 3 and when complete in May 2007, will provide 24 hour computer access and security services. As part of these works, there has been some rearrangement of library items/services, including the re-shelving of most items to be in DDC sequence on the South Wing.
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Rockingham Regional Campus Community Library, located at the Rockingham Campus, is a joint venture between the university, the
City Of Rockingham and
Challenger TAFE . Members of all of these groups have free access to library membership.
Membership entitles all patrons to access to TAFE, university and public library resources at Rockingham.
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See the
Computing Facilities section.
The Joglo Rahayu (Peace Pavilion) is a semi-enclosed pavilion located near the Education and Humanities building. Built as a monument to ongoing association between Murdoch University and Indonesian academic institutions in Java, it acts as storage for the only Gamelan orchestra in Western Australia. Classes are also held in the pavillion to instruct students interested in playing the Javanese instruments.
The Kwinana Industries Education Partnership (KIEP), an ongoing project located in the main courtyard at the Rockingham Campus, is a formal agreement between members of the Kwinana Industries Council and local senior high schools. It was initiated in 1993 by major industry members of the Kwinana Industries Council and officially launched in 1995.
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KIEP is sponsored by:
Communities Linking Computer Knowledge (CLiCK), located at the Rockingham Campus, first started in 2005 as the Regional Students' Association Computer Recycling Program, and has since become an incorporated non-profit organisation. It "helps students, people unable to afford computers and non-profit organisations obtain computers free of charge."
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The total student population of Murdoch University as of 2005 is 13,492.http://wwwplan.murdoch.edu.au/stats/student/table1-1/default.asp?YEAR=2005&SEM=1&CAMPUS=0&FEE=0&SEX=0&NEW=0&ATTEND=0&EQUITY=0&DIVISION=0&AOU=0
Murdoch University also partners with other educational institutions, such as
KDU College in
Malaysia , to provide university degrees to off-shore students.
Murdoch has many students from
Singapore ,
Malaysia ,
China ,
United States ,
Canada ,
Japan ,
Hong Kong ,
India ,
Kenya and
Taiwan .http://wwwplan.murdoch.edu.au/stats/student/table1-5/default.asp?YEAR=2005&SEM=1&CAMPUS=0&FEE=0&SEX=0&NEW=0&ATTEND=0&EQUITY=0&DIVISION=0&AOU=0
The Murdoch University Guild of Students is the student representative association at Murdoch University. Under the previous universal student membership legislation, all students automatically became members of the guild, although they could subsequently opt-out or opt-in of membership. In
2005 ,
Voluntary Student Unionism legislation was introduced by the
Federal Government . Students can now choose not to be members of the guild, or choose to be basic or financial members (financial members pay fees and receive additional entitlements, including discounts).
As well as handling student representation and assistance with education and welfare issues, the Guild manages two food outlets on campus, runs the tavern, sports and recreation centre and the second hand bookshop. The guild partially finances many of the student associations on campus and run specific guild events of their own. The guild also publishes ''Metior'', the campus magazine.
The Guild is the recognised channel of communication between the Student body and the University Administration and has representatives on a vast array of the University's committess where the interests of students are involved.
The Guild is affiliated with the
National Union Of Students , and its postgraduate student assosciation (Murdoch University Postgraduate Student Association (MUPSA)) is a member of the
Council Of Australian Postgraduate Associations .
In 2007, the Guild President is Reece Harley and the Education Vice President is Eden Ridgeway.
Formed officially in 1998 as the Rockingham Student Council, the Regional Students' Association is the official Guild council representing students at the Rockingham and Peel Campuses. During 2000-2001, it officially changed its name to the Rockingham Students' Association. After the Peel Campus was opened, it changed to its current namehttp://guild.murdoch.edu.au/?/representation/rsa/.
The Murdoch University Postgraduate Student Association (MUPSA) is a subsidiary council of the Guild intdended to help postgraduates with all aspects of their candidature. "MUPSA is run by postgraduates for postgraduates."
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Transperth provides several bus services to and from Murdoch and Rockingham. There are services connecting the Murdoch campus to the nearby
Murdoch Park 'n' Ride , Perth, Bibra Lake and Booragoon. These include the
CircleRoute service, which runs to
Fremantle and the Park 'n' Ride, connecting to regular services to Perth.
Murdoch Train Station is currently under construction approximately 1000 metres from Murdoch campus, at the same location as the Park 'n' Ride. When complete in 2007, it will be the major public transport focus of the area. The campus will ultimately be linked to the station by the proposed
Murdoch Transit Link , a busway running roughly parallel to South Street.
Rockingham Train Station is currently under construction, approximately 1500 metres from the Rockingham campus. When the station is complete in 2007, a shuttle bus will operate between the campus and station.
The Murdoch and Rockingham campuses are linked by a shuttle bus operated by the university, which patrons must pay to use.
The wireless LAN can be accessed from many places on campus, including the Ref and the vet library.
The university's network provides free access to a few Internet sites (including all WA university sites and all
WAIX ). The Learning Common (an area in the South Street library) also provides free access to some other sites.
