August 2009 Cover Story

Professor Trevor Waring, Chancellor of the University of Newcastle, as Master of Ceremonies, spoke on the success of the Campus as a multi-sectoral centre of learning. The Campus was the first in Australia where three tertiary education institutions operated on the one site to provide an outcome for students wishing to advance through to higher levels of education.

Addressing more than one hundred guests, keynote speaker for the evening, NSW Minister for Health and the Central Coast, The Hon. John Della Bosca, spoke about the Campus being a centre of learning for the region and congratulated those who had the foresight and perseverance to work for the establishment of a university for the region.

Campus Director and University of Newcastle Pro-Vice Chancellor, Professor Steven Crump said, “The 20th anniversary of the Central Coast Campus provides an ideal opportunity to reflect on the importance of access to high quality educational services and what it means to our region.”

“Having grown from just sixty students in 1989, today more than seven thousand people are participating in University of Newcastle, Hunter TAFE and Central Coast Community College programs at the Campus.

“Over the past two decades, many thousands of people who might otherwise have left the region to further their education have stayed, studied and now work in the region. They are the teachers in our schools, the child care workers at the local centre, the carpenter building the home across the street, the business owner employing a dozen other locals and the scientist helping to conserve our local wetlands,” he said.

From commercial short courses and TVET for secondary school students, to graduate diplomas, undergraduate degrees to PhD research, the Campus provides education and training for people from all backgrounds and skill levels seeking to improve their qualifications and career options. With an initial offering of classes in the fields of business, police studies and teaching in 1989, today the campus offers access to sixteen university undergraduate degree programs, over seventy TAFE and Tertiary and Vocational Education programs and 815 Central Coast Community College courses.

Prof. Crump thanked those who have played a role in the development of the Campus, for their efforts and commitment. “Congratulations and thank you for helping to make the Central Coast Campus the success it has become and will continue to be into the future,” he said.

back