Section A: Goals
Master Plan goals
The Master Plan seeks to both state and share originating values of the 1994 planning committee and the University's leaders, as well as the mission, goals and objectives outlined in successive strategic plans. The current Strategic Plan (2005-2010) has strong emphases on environmental responsibility, expressed in its statement of mission, core values, and strategic goals and objectives. Specifically, a commitment to developing the University and its surrounds as an environmentally sensitive exemplar is one of the values underpinning University activity in pursuit of its mission.
In this context, it is clear that interpretation and review of the Master Plan is not intended to be carried out by designers alone, but in consultation with users and stakeholders. Such interpretation and review may be initiated on the basis of the needs of emerging areas of study and technologies, and by an ever growing responsibility to and interaction with the local community.
Detailed goals
At a finer level of detail, the Strategic Plan outlines four Priority Objectives:
- distinctiveness
- growth and development
- flexibility and innovation, and
- quality
Although concerns about quality permeate all University activities, the three remaining priority objectives are specifically articulated through the goals of the Master Plan:
- distinctiveness through environmental leadership, by adopting a commitment to developing the University and its surrounds as an environmentally sensitive exemplar
- growth and development by maximising community access to the site for intellectual, cultural and economic purposes, and
- flexibility and innovation in design, evolution and utilisation of physical resources
Goals
Goal 1: Growth and development
Goal 2: Learning and teaching
Goal 3: Research
Goal 4: Regional engagement
Goal 5: Internationalisation
Goal 6: Student support
Goal 7: Staff
Goal 8: Environmental sustainability
Goal 1: Growth and development of the University
Goal
To promote growth to enhance quality and efficiency, whilst retaining important benefits of human scale.
Growth and the region
The growth target set in the 1994 Campus Master Plan of 15,000 students in 25 years remains the University‘s target, with internationalisation an increasingly important component of that growth trajectory. In adopting a priority objective of fostering growth and development, USC seeks not only ‘to be the major catalyst' for the academic advancement of the region, but also for its cultural and economic advancement. It thus seeks to become a focus of the community through the provision of programs, activities, facilities, and places of interest beyond the immediate academic community.
Access to campus facilities should support this goal.
Complementary uses
Although the University‘s academic programs concentrate most heavily on the arts and social sciences, business and science, the University is attracting interest from an increasing range of individuals and community organisations. This supports the contention that the University is rapidly becoming a major regional centre, not just for education, but also for cultural, economic, and supporting activities of regional scope.
The development of University facilities for complementary uses by its community should thus be encouraged. Such complementary uses could include:
- theatres and boutique cinema
- galleries and small local museums
- stationery and art material shops
- indoor Sport Facility
- cafes
- bookshops and music shops
- club facilities and
- conferencing facilities
- parks and wetlands
Such a range will ensure that the ambience or atmosphere of a University 'village‘ does not become a rarefied environment, devoid of the usual diverse activities associated with small academic communities and should promote long term access by students, staff and the community. This also means that the University should not attempt to develop on campus those commercial activities that can be developed in a town centre, and which encourage interactions between University and town centre environments eg, wine bars, banking facilities and taverns.
Back to top
Goal 2: Learning and teaching
Goal
To provide an increasingly comprehensive range of programs that position students for success in the global economy and which are aligned to the University's priorities.
Infrastructure
In adopting growth and development as a Priority Objective in its Strategic Plan, the University identified five key infrastructure components:
- emphasising the need for further growth and innovation to increase economies of scale
- seeking ways to enhance the technologies available to the campus
- seeking support for a Stage VII building within the 2006-2009 triennium to increase the academic pursuit of new high-tech, health and science opportunities
- monitoring the viability of study centres of the University in strategic locations at a distance from the main campus with alternative modes of access and delivery, and
- improving and diversifying support structures for international students
The University is still relatively new but is expanding steadily, fostered both by increasing demand from within the region, and growth in student numbers from outside the region, including international students.
Goal 3: Research
Goal
To concentrate the University's research effort and achieve national and international distinction in ways that advance University priorities.
International research and the region
The University's mission , and the research mission derived from it, make it plain that the University is primarily interested in international research and the application of that research to the sustainable advancement of the region.
Research that is consistent with the University's mission has the following characteristics:
- it involves the creation of new knowledge, or the novel application of existing knowledge
- the research issues may emerge from the international research literature, practice in the region, or both of these
- the research undertaken has multiple pay-offs. It addresses a regional question and, because it has been understood in the context of relevant international literature, the research findings can be published in the international literature
In summary, the research that the University wishes to promote is research that has significant impact. Such research would enable the University to 'pursue international standards in research' (University mission) by impacting on the international literature, and 'be the major catalyst for the sustainable advancement of the region' (University mission) by addressing issues in the region.
Advancing the teaching-research nexus
It is crucial to the ongoing success of the University that it remains a full-service university, providing both educational programs and research services to its region, and raising its international research profile. The traditional university connection between teaching and research is therefore very important to the future of the University.
The time that academic staff spend on research and scholarship, apart from that which is covered by research grants, is funded from the total allocations the University receives to fund teaching. Research and scholarship are supported in this way because, through the teaching-research nexus, they make a major contribution to the quality of teaching. It is therefore incumbent on the University to demonstrate that research and scholarship actually do enhance teaching and learning.
Development of the teaching-research nexus is the first goal of the University's Strategic Plan. Consequently, it is one of the goals of this plan. Purpose-built and adaptable facilities appropriately positioned throughout the University will be the key to continuing the teaching research nexus.
Back to top
Goal 4: Regional engagement
Goal
To engage in productive partnerships to further the region's interests and the University's strategic priorities.
Partnerships with purpose
The University's regional engagement planning emphasises the importance of partnerships and ongoing consultation and cooperation with regional organisations to:
- generate sustainable jobs
- develop specific industry priorities (eg. food and nutrition, sport and experience)
- develop pathways to education, including upskilling
- investigate productive ageing issues
- develop environmental sustainability
- develop adaptive growth strategies for the region
USC philosophy in action
The concept of the master plan responding to a goal such as regional engagement could be considered a challenge however the University has taken strategic steps to create a University that attracts not only scholarly pursuits but also the creative, recreational and sport pursuits of the community. The many facilities that the University has already created combined with future infrastructure plans and the creation of the University town at Sippy Downs will reinforce all aspects of regional engagement.
The University campus is a landscaped place, conducive to academic pursuits, personal interaction and reflective thought. The identity of the University is not only the mature form and design of the central squares and the relationship to the buildings, but also the more expansive landscape linked to the township of Sippy Downs.
Goal 5: Internationalisation
Goal
To engage in international activities, including internationalisation of the curriculum, to heighten academic, economic, and cultural benefits for the region.
The USC experience
The University is committed to providing a responsive and positive environment that fosters the growth and learning of each and every person. By employing only the best staff, and providing world class buildings with world class technologies and fittings, we guarantee our students a high-quality tertiary education suited to today's ever-changing world.
First class facilities: USC has achieved recognition for providing high quality learning resources, such as sophisticated undergraduate science labs, advanced computer labs, and new nursing labs with state-of-the-art equipment. Combined with the international standard athletics track, national standard indoor sports stadium and technologically advanced sports labs, USC will be positioned internationally as a leading sport and health intensive university.
In 2006, the University has almost 5,000 students. The growth target set in the 1994 Campus Master Plan of 15,000 students in 25 years remains the University‘s target, with internationalisation an increasingly important component of that growth trajectory. With high quality learning resources and facilities, USC will be a strong international contender as a University of preference for students and academic staff worldwide.
Responsive and modern architecture: USC buildings are reflective of modern Australian architecture and with a high degree of flexibility, provide the mechanism for changeable structures that are responsive to the changing needs of the rapidly growing University. Design principles are environmentally sustainable, which relate sympathetically to the surrounding environment.
The distinctive campus architecture has received national awards and surrounding wildlife and fauna are carefully protected, adding a further attraction for international students and providing cultural benefits for the region. Current design and building practices will continue, underpinning the University's mission and values and propelling USC as a leader in innovative and sustainable campus architecture.
Accessible learning resources: Providing easy access to a diverse range of information resources to achieve the best learning opportunities for all students will continue to be a priority.
USC has the highest proportion of academic staff with Doctoral or Masters qualifications of any university in Queensland - and the fifth highest in Australia. # Our academic staff bring first-class international research and teaching experience to the University. Lecturers are available for personal consultation, creating a quality, interactive learning environment. USC students benefit from a high level of personal attention in a friendly campus environment.
USC received five-star ratings for both electronic support and academic services in the 2006 Good Universities Guide. The University Library houses more than 23,500 digital resources and over 100,000 print volumes.
Online coursework programs have been adopted and are increasing, depicting the University's commitment to providing accessible learning environments for all students. Virtual access to campus resources will continue to be a key infrastructure priority, enhancing the educational experience of Australian and international students, on and off campus.
The experience: graduates consistently give the University top marks, with a five-star satisfaction rating for overall educational experience. * USC is the highest ranked university in Australia in relation to graduates' satisfaction with teaching. ** The location of USC makes it an ideal place to meet Australian students and to experience the Australian lifestyle in a safe and affordable environment. The Sunshine Coast is one of Australia 's most popular holiday destinations, with beautiful beaches, rivers and mountain ranges. It has a pleasant, subtropical climate, which is comfortable all year round.
Back to top
Goal 6: Student support
Goal
To set standards in student support which will help attract, support and retain students.
Access, equity and social justice principles were and continue to be influential in the development of the University. Planning and developing campus infrastructure while cognisant of the needs of a diversified population wishing to access the campus, sometimes from remote locations, therefore continues to be a key focus.
Access and movement
In terms of access to existing and developing facilities, master planning issues can be focussed around both physical access (including the development of additional sites from which academic programs can be accessed) and virtual access (encompassing mechanisms of flexible delivery of academic programs, specifically those which are Internet based). The Master Plan should support the goal of increased physical access to the primary site by ensuring:
- ease of limited vehicular movements
- appropriate car parking
- the development of public transportation
- integration with the regional bicycle network, and
- walking and exercise pathways connecting into and through immediate residential areas
Flexibility
In adopting, through its Strategic Plan, the Priority Objective of flexibility and innovation, the University is committed to cultivating and enhancing its capacity to respond flexibly, swiftly and innovatively to opportunities that advance its mission. Recognising that institutions are in a state of continuing growth and change, the Master Plan should have a goal of short and long term flexibility, which should in no way serve to invalidate the existence of a recognisable and ordered environment.
Flexibility should be a natural condition of a pliable plan, which has strong characteristics, yet allows for considerable evolution and interpretation. The flexibility required is that of:
- limited selection and interpretation as a consequence to each new development undertaking
- evolution in recognition of changing patterns, and
- identifiable requirements and modifications determined on the basis of specific evaluation and resolution
The most obvious example of flexibility within the Master Plan lies in the design and construction of campus buildings.
Goal 7: Staff
Goal
To attract, retain, develop and reward excellent staff.
Growth and the workplace
The most significant feature of the internal environment of the University is growth. New programs are being developed and many new staff will need to be appointed, either as Teaching and Research (T and R) Staff making direct contributions to academic life and performance, or as Administrative, Professional and Technical (APT) Staff supporting the academic work of the University in various ways.
With this growth, the University continues to change and become more complex. Human Resources and University managers need to work together to ensure the transformation of the organisation is managed successfully, particularly the people aspects of the changes.
The University is one of the region's largest employers. By being, and being seen to be, a good employer, we are better able to attract high-calibre staff and our current staff will be strong ambassadors who actively promote the University within their communities and beyond. This is important, especially in a regional university.
Thus, within a strategic framework that concentrates on leadership, organisational and staff development, and productive workplace relations, the University aspires to be an employer of choice and to provide a safe, healthy and fair workplace in which our staff matter. Our staff need to be energetic, enthusiastic and committed to the University's Mission, Goals and Values and the University needs to ensure a culture that fosters these attributes and encourages academic excellence.
Back to top
Goal 8: Environmental sustainability
Goal
To continue to lead, by example, in the areas of campus planning and development, sub-tropical architecture and all operations that have environmental impact.
Environmental sanctuary
One of the key values articulated in the University‘s Strategic Plan 2005-2010 is:
'A commitment to developing the University and its surrounds as an environmentally sensitive exemplar.'
From the outset in 1994 there has been a commitment to develop an institution of unique character as an 'environmental sanctuary', where there is not just a maintenance, but an enhancement of native flora and fauna, along with a direct responsiveness to the locale and the landscape. This has led to the development of an identity and character or 'sense of place' for the campus as an environmentally sensitive exemplar for the wider community, which remains in concert with the needs of the students and staff.
Environmentally sustainable design
The following definitions of 'Environmentally Sustainable Design' are useful in guiding the implementation of this Master Plan:
- 'ESD is all about creating a space and a place where we would like the next generation and the generations after that to live, work, rest and play.' (Ecologically Sustainable Development Information Guide for Local Councils, 2002)
- 'Using, conserving and enhancing the community’s resources so that ecological processes, on which life depends, are maintained, and the total quality of life, now and in the future, can be increased.' (National Strategy for Ecologically Sustainable Development, DEH 1992)
As a centre for learning the campus must continue to provide facilities and access for both formal instruction and informal exchange. The campus buildings should relate sympathetically to the environment as well as the accommodation briefs. Of particular importance is the utilisation of Environmentally Sustainable Design principles.
The widespread adoption of Environmentally Sustainable Design principles is not only of significance to the success of the University‘s aspirations and goals. It is also a very simple means through which the sense of place is made apparent in the development of the campus, and through which a natural order may be imposed on necessarily diverse building programs on or near the campus.
Campus heart
The establishment of a campus heart of activity and identity through a central open space, a place of formal occasion and daily informal encounter, is especially natural to the wonderful climate and flora of south-east Queensland. Through the provision of open space, respect for the environment, and order rather than clutter, a lifestyle or ambience of serene reflection should emerge.
The establishment of a singular place of identity nonetheless requires the establishment of alternative spaces in scale and character to ensure broad choice of type and location of meeting places within the context of the overall structure. In addition, and within the context of the complex character of a university, it must be acknowledged that individual identities of individual faculties or institutes can be encouraged, and still contribute to the richness of this sense of place.
Design
Since its establishment, and as articulated in the 1994 Master Plan, the University has been committed to naturally ventilated buildings constructed so as to reflect climate and locale, and influenced by a Sunshine Coast style of architecture.
At a campus wide level, construction has been undertaken along a major building axis, in response both to climatic variables, and planning principles also applied elsewhere but modified for the Sunshine Coast. Local as well as interstate architects have worked together in successive phases of building and have produced designs that have complemented one another whilst adhering to broad Master Plan guidelines and goals.
Environmental management
Three (3) additional elements of environmental distinctiveness are articulated in the University's Priority Objectives, two of which have direct relevance for the Master Plan:
- implementing a University Environmental Management Plan
- ensuring the campus is developed in ways that minimise an adverse impact on the natural environment and nearby Mooloolah River National Park
The Master Plan establishes broad goals of environmental responsibility for the use and development of the site, in relationship to the design and operation of its facilities and the neighbouring National Park. These responsibilities include:
- large scale landscape and water management programs
- the extension of the natural local habitat of native fauna, and
- ensuring that buildings are designed to be sensitive to the climate, with the intention of minimising long term energy usage, as well as providing for common weather protection at campus areas
Mooloolah River National Park is a closed system, protected due to its rarity and vulnerability to disturbance. It is unavailable for most recreation uses, allowing only lightweight activities (walking, cycling, etc.) on the made trails. Guidelines for development of the University site aim to maintain the status of the National Park as a safe habitat for the native fauna and its natural landscape. A green finger corridor, which facilitates ease of movement of native fauna, currently extends from the University Park in the Town Centre, through the University‘s grounds and into the National Park. The retention of this corridor is a significant issue both for the University through the Master Plan, and for the local community, including the two schools whose students benefit from the opportunity to observe native fauna in the corridor.
A long term strategy is also being implemented to rehabilitate the native landscape, particularly the heartland vegetation in the lowland area, and this should be continued.
Quality
The physical context of the Sunshine Coast has often been characterised in terms of being a place great natural beauty, but a place lacking in regional social infrastructure, and in the quality of some of its services, developments and planning.
From an early stage of the University‘s development, a range of people expressed their desire for the University to become an exemplar. That is, to be an exemplar for planning its own 100 hectare site, but also to be an exemplar in reflecting the excellence of the widely respected exponents of the Sunshine Coast 'school' of architecture and more broadly, influencing urban planning and environmental sustainability, especially with the University‘s contiguous position next to the Mooloolah River National Park.
The University has consistently reflected its commitment to being an exemplar by:
- initiating a campus master planning exercise
- adopting climatically and environmentally responsive plans for the overall development of the campus along an axis or spine
- using passively ventilated building techniques wherever possible
- developing environmentally sensitive strategies through specialist environmental committees and Council approved strategic plans
- influencing directly the surrounding development of Sippy Downs through the Development Control Plan and Urban Design Master Plan processes, and
- regularly reviewing on a five-year cycle its own campus master plan
Thus 'quality', 'excellence' and 'exemplar' are terms that are now regularly used when describing the University‘s physical development and regional influence.
The University is committed through its Strategic Plan and Master Plan to continue its preoccupation with quality and will develop performance indicators to demonstrate its success in providing urban and environmental leadership.
Community safety and crime prevention
Inherent within the goals to create an environmentally sustainable design or 'a space and place where we would like the next generation and generation after to live, work, rest, and play' there is a commitment that users of that space are able to go about their daily activities in an environment of personal safety and security, and without the fear of crime. The incorporation of community safety and crime prevention design at all stages of planning will create such an environment.
Community safety and crime prevention designs can be considered as being built in layers with the core design element being Crime Prevention Through Environment Design (CPTED). The implementation of CPTED principles in the design and planning of all space is the foundation that supports and enhances the subsequent layers of the total community safety and crime prevention design. The application of CPTED principles will contribute to the effectiveness of the subsequent layers of security and access control systems, awareness programs, and human resources (security teams) and will reduce the ongoing operational costs.
Security and Access Control Systems (SACS) are designed in conjunction with CPTED to enhance the CPTED principles and to provide the tools for securing, monitoring, reporting, and controlling access to space. It is significantly cheaper to integrate SACS during the construction of projects than to fit retrospectively.
Community safety and crime prevention is a joint responsibly between the University and its community. Personal safety and security awareness programs contribute to the reduction of incidents of crime and the creation of the perception of a safe and secure environment, and a reduction in the fear of crime. These programs educate and empower the users of a space to contribute to their own personal safety and security, and the security of the University, by providing them with the information to prevent, deter, and report potential crime.
The final element of the community safety and crime prevention design is the 'face' of all the underpinning layers, the security team. Above all else the security team must develop and maintain the confidence of the University community, and which in turn will foster the perception of a safe and secure environment and reduces the fear of crime. The operational cost of human resources is high and the maximum benefit must be gained from the deployment of the minimum resources. The proper design of space, integrated application of security and access control systems, and cooperative awareness by the community, will contribute to the reduction of the levels of human resources required; for example, the elimination of the requirement to staff the security operations room. That resource is better deployed as a highly visible patrol to interact with staff and students, provide a visible deterrent, and reduce the fear of crime.
The consideration of community safety and crime prevention principles will contribute to the environmentally sustainable design of buildings and space. The University will continue to lead, by example, in the areas of campus planning and development through the consideration of community safety and crime prevention in space use, development, and redevelopment, and the integration of safety and security concerns throughout the development assessment process for all projects.
Back to top