University of Canberra


The University of Canberra is a public university in Bruce, Canberra, Australian Capital Territory. The campus is within walking distance of Westfield Belconnen, and distance to Canberra's Civic Centre. UC offers undergraduate and postgraduate courses covering five faculties: Health, Art and Design, Business, Government and Law, Education and Science and Technology.
UC partners with two local ACT schools: UC Senior Secondary College Lake Ginninderra and University of Canberra High School Kaleen. The University of Canberra College provides pathways into university for domestic and international students.

History

The University of Canberra was first established in 1967 as the Canberra College of Advanced Education. The Canberra CAE became the University of Canberra under sponsorship of Monash University in 1990.
Over 70,000 students have graduated from the university since 1970.
The University of Canberra has grown by seventy-eight percent since 2007, going from 7,300 students to over 13,000 in 2014. The median Australian Tertiary Admission Rank of UC students is approximately 71.

Foundation stone and Stone Day

At the end of the year after classes finish but before exams, Stone Day was once held, a music festival with local bands, which lasted several days. The day before it was known as Stone Eve. It started as a celebration held annually to mark the placing of the foundation stone by Prime Minister John Gorton on 28 October 1968.
The stone is displayed near Building 1 at the University, and an inscription on it reads:
Over the years the Stone Day program gradually became larger and larger, eventually encompassing an entire week and transforming into one of Australia's most popular music festivals. The first foundation celebrations were held in 1971. In 1973 Stone Day celebrations were held over two days, which was expanded to take up a whole week in 1976. In the 1980s and 1990s, Stoneweek became a popular Canberra entertainment event, which in 2000 became Stonefest. Beginning in 2012, the Stonefest event was not held for a number of years at the University of Canberra. In 2014, the University decided to create a 'Stonefest' mini music festival where there was a DJ and numerous activities. It was not received well, and has not been held since. In June 2019 the University of Canberra announced that Stonefest would return in October in an expanded format, with both local and international acts performing.

Campus

Bruce

The University has one campus, located in the suburb of Bruce, which covers 290 acres of buildings, roads and access routes. Being a small University with a small campus, there are just over 28 buildings, each dedicated to a particular discipline of learning or faculty. Most of these buildings are arranged around the main concourse. Each building is numbered and many do not hold any title or namesake. New students are always advised during orientation week that the buildings are not numbered in a particular order however, the buildings around the concourse are progressively numbered in a counter-clockwise direction from building 1. It is a common myth that the numbers relate to when each building was constructed, however, a master plan was designed to have these building around the concourse numbered this way.

Library

The University of Canberra Library is located in Building 8. The Library aims to provide a range of high quality scholarly information resources and services to the University community. The building has four floors.

Facilities

The Refectory is the main food hall located in Building 1, operated by the UC Union. It provides a laid-back area to study or socialise, with cafes, post office, general shop, pool tables, and lounges, and is also concert venue. Upstairs there are study rooms which can be booked by students and staff.
The Hub is located under the main concourse, providing cafes, a hairdressing salon, and a branch of the Commonwealth Bank of Australia. The University of Canberra's student radio station 87.8 UCFM studios are also located in The Hub. The UC HUB also hosts DJs that have seen the likes such as D-Jindy, ARMADYLO, Whole Different as well as No Result. These DJs have brought major crowds to the University resulting in some of the best parties the University has seen.
A sport and fitness centre is located in Building 29 with gym facilities and is home to Brumbies Rugby administration. There are basketball and squash courts nearby in Building 4, and various sporting ovals available.

Student accommodation

There are three accommodation options for students - UniLodge, University of Canberra Village and University Gardens. All options are provided to all students, including international students.

Organisation and administration

Administration

The current Chancellor of the University since 1 January 2014 is Tom Calma,, an Australian Aboriginal elder of the Kungarakan people, and a human rights and social justice campaigner.
The current Vice-Chancellor of the University since 6 April 2020 is Professor Paddy Nixon, a technologist and computer scientist. The former Vice-Chancellor from 1 September 2016 to 21 December 2019 was Professor Deep Saini, a plant physiologist.
Like most Australian universities, University of Canberra derives the majority of its revenue from Australian Government funding and student fees. The ACT Government provides around one percent of the university's operating budget.

Faculties

The five faculties are:
;Arts & Design
Arts and design primarily provides students with the skills to be successful in a wide range of careers in the contemporary arts and communication. Arts and design specialises in Architecture, Landscape Architecture, Graphic Design, Communication Studies, Journalism, Creative Writing and Poetry, International Studies, and Media Arts. The faculty has two schools: School of Design and the Built Environment and School of Arts and Communication.
;Business, Government and Law
The Business Government and Law Faculty provides students with a choice and flexibility together with real world experience. Students have the option to major in over 70 areas from across the University. Students can venture into Accounting, Applied Economics, Business Administration, Business Informatics, Construction, Economics, Finance, Law, Management, Marketing, Politics, Sociology, Public Policy, Tourism, and Urban and Regional Planning.
; Education
The Education faculty offers courses designed to cover all stages of teacher development with courses in early childhood, primary and secondary.
;Health
The Faculty of Health prepares allied health professionals, including nurses, midwives, occupational therapists, optometrists & vision scientists, psychologists, physiotherapists, pharmacists, dietitians, nutritionists, radiologists, speech pathologists, exercise scientists, and sports management professionals.
;Science and Technology
The Faculty of Science and Technology trains students in Environmental Sciences, Biomedical and Forensic as well as Information Technology, Information Systems, Engineering, and Mathematics.
UC also offers a range of double degrees that combine two degrees from different faculties.

Academic profile

Rankings

The university is named among the world's top 40 young universities in the 2019 Times Higher Education Young University Rankings.
The university has risen to number 34 in THE's list of the best universities under 50 years of age worldwide.

Research centres

The university has a number of research centres relating to its areas of research strength. These are:

Staff

Notable staff members include/have included:
Shane Drumgold SC, Director of Public Prosecutions