Bond University


Bond University is Australia's first private not-for-profit university and is located in Robina, Gold Coast, Queensland. Since its opening on 15 May 1989, Bond University has primarily been a teaching-focused higher education institution featuring a three-semester-per-year timetable. It is also famous for its legal education which ranks top 3 in Australia in terms of graduate employment rate.
The university is ranked #20 in the Times Higher Education rankings of the Best Small Universities in the World.
Admission is through Queensland Tertiary Admissions Centre based on Australian Tertiary Admission Rank.
In the 2019 Student Experience Survey, Bond University recorded the third highest student satisfaction rating out of all Australian universities, and the highest student satisfaction rating out of all Queensland based universities, with an overall satisfaction rating of 87.2.

History

The university was established at the initiative of Alan Bond, the founder and Chairman of the Australian-based Bond Corporation, Harunori Takahashi, President of the Japanese-based Electronics and Industrial Enterprises International and a third silent partner, Dr Taro Tanioka. The university's development was funded via a 50:50 joint venture with Bond providing the land and Takahashi funding the construction of the buildings.
The university's buildings and surrounding land initially covered approximately 212 hectares and encompassed what was previously a pine plantation known as the Burleigh Forest. In the 1970s, Bond had obtained control of a number of pine plantations in the region, previously owned by the Savoy Corporation Limited and Gold Coast Cooperative Plantations Society Limited, and established a new company known as the Development Equity Corporation to develop them.
DEC was managed by Brian Orr and, in 1976, Orr put forward a proposal to the Albert Shire Council for a university at Gaven Forest. While this project did not proceed, a subsequent proposal made in 1986 to build a university at Burleigh Forest did gain traction. Orr discussed the matter with Bond and Peter Beckwith and recruited Jo Anne Cracknell to research the feasibility of venture.
On 3 July 1986, Bond decided to proceed with the project and his intention to build the university, then known as the Bond University of Applied Technology, was formally announced at the National Party of Australia conference on the Gold Coast by the Premier of Queensland, Joh Bjelke-Petersen on 17 July 1986.
On 9 April 1987, the Parliament of Queensland granted Bond University university status via the passage of the Bond University Act. In 1989 the university commenced teaching with an initial intake of 322 students.
In 1991, EIE acquired Bond Corporation's share of the company that controlled the land on which the university buildings were constructed and the surrounding development lands following the collapse of Bond Corporation. By 1993, EIE was in receivership and the Bond University Council commenced negotiations to acquire the campus from the mortgagee, the Long-Term Credit Bank of Japan.
The Bond University Council was not the only entity interested in the site which was advertised for sale in major newspapers. In 1995, the Employment, Education and Training References Committee of the Australian Senate undertook a report into the proposed sale of the campus to the University of Queensland which had outbid the Bond University Council in their earlier negotiations to acquire the site.
In August 1999, the Bond University Council was successful in securing the 50 acre campus site which was acquired by a newly formed public company known as Bond University Limited.
In 2019, the university celebrated its 30-year mark since it opened.

Campus and facilities

The Bond University campus features a series of Faculty sandstone buildings centred around man-made Lake Orr. The campus was conceived and developed by master planner Daryl Jackson of Jackson Architecture with significant input from Queensland architect Robin Gibson. The signature arch building was designed by Japanese architect Arata Isozaki.
Students at Bond University have access to a number of academic, technological and recreational facilities.
Recent alterations to the campus facilities include:
Other campus facilities at Bond University include:
In 2001, the university established an online MBA course, the Bond-BBT Global Leadership MBA, collaborated with Kenichi Ohmae and Business Breakthrough Inc. in Japan.
Bond University offers private or shared accommodation on-campus and provides assistance for students seeking off-campus accommodation. The John and Alison Kearney Library services the University in two locations on campus, the Main Library and the Law Library. The Library is recognised as a highly customer-focused support service for the University community and external organisations.

Academic faculties

The university has four faculties to support both research and teaching activities.
For the 12th consecutive year, Bond University was awarded more 5-star ratings in the student experience category than any other university in Australia, according to the 2018 Good Universities Guide. Additionally, more than 90 per cent of students rated their educational experience at Bond University as positive, well above the national average of 80 per cent, in the latest undergraduate Student Experience Survey, released by the Department of Education on its Quality Indicators for Learning and Teaching website.
On the global stage, Bond University has been listed in the prestigious global top 20 universities in the Times Higher Education Rankings of the Best Small Universities in the World.

Sport

Sports teams in national and state-level competitions based at Bond include the Queensland Country team that plays in the National Rugby Championship, the Bond University Breakers rugby club that plays in the Queensland Premier Rugby competition, and the Bond University Bullsharks club that plays in the Queensland Football Association Division 1 competition.
The Bond University Student Association assists with the University's participation in intervarsity sport on a regional and national level.
Bond University was named the overall champions at the 2011 Northern University Games in July 2011, and went on to be named Australian University Sport Per Capita Champions at the Australian University Games in 2011, 2013, 2014, 2015 and most recently 2017.

Notable people

The current and eighth Chancellor of the University since 2016 is Annabelle Bennett,, a retired Judge of the Federal Court and an academic. The current Vice-Chancellor and President of the University since January 2012 is Tim Brailsford.

Student life

Student Association (BUSA)

The Bond University Student Association is a student organisation that aims to make student life at Bond more rewarding, ranging from enhancing academic pursuits, facilitating sporting involvement and satisfying social necessities.

Accommodation

Bond University Student Housing caters for both domestic and international students, with a range of housing on campus. Bond University is centrally located on the Gold Coast, in the suburb of Robina.

Australian Human Rights Commission Data and Report

In 2017, Bond University, in conjunction with all Australian universities, participated in a national report undertaken by the Australian Human Rights Commission to tackle the issue of sexual harassment and assault. The Vice Chancellor of Bond University acknowledged the survey results saying, “Today is a wake-up call, and we understand that the issue of sexual harassment and assault is real and attitudes need to change, both in society and within the university sector. One case is one case too many. We are supportive of the recommendations of the Australian Human Rights Commission, and have already implemented the majority of the measures they have proposed.”