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Students at the Focus for University Progress
24 April 2004
Last week's Graduation Ceremony again evoked a lot of memories,
and provoked some reflection on how far we had come in the last
decade.
The Chancellor reminded the audience that planning the
University had begun almost exactly ten years ago, when a Planning
Committee was established, including four local members, Jill
Morris, Fiona Campbell, Lindsay Clare and the now Chancellor, Ian
Kennedy.
I was appointed as a Planning President in March 1994, and
through the Planning Committee had to deal with site planning,
building, progress the Act to establish the institution through the
Parliament, acquire offices in central Maroochydore, appoint staff
and determine courses - quite apart from the huge task of engaging
and communicating with community groups. It was a fascinating,
enjoyable and exacting period.
There were then significant milestones, not only those I've
mentioned already, but changing the name and status after less than
two years of operation, the relief when our first Graduation
Ceremony was being concluded in a large marquee.
In the eight years since we admitted our first students, so much
has been accomplished, and so much has changed - and all of it has
been improvement and development, despite the nostalgia of small
scale, close friendships, and tough times that the earliest staff
and students will remember.
The students who walked the stage for their testamurs last week
also exuded, I thought, a sense of pride. So many came back, so
many friendships had been forged, so much respect and gratitude was
extended to lecturers, and so much care had been taken to dress for
the occasion, because they all felt that sense of occasion and
celebration.
Despite the fact that we didn't have enough space for everyone
who wanted to attend the Ceremony, the University has been
consistently generous in the way it supports the various events
associated with Graduation. For example, the University supplies
more tickets, at no cost to attendees. The University provides food
and drinks for all attendees, and there is support for almost all
the allied events organised through the students' official
representative body, the Guild. We have not sought to make money or
even cover costs, but rather, make it a memorable time for students
and their guests.
Now is a period, with a major growth phase ahead of us, not only
to reflect on the strengths and deficiencies of the past, but more
importantly to address the improvements that we can make into the
future, so that even more students can access the consistently
improving facilities at the University.
It's a time not only to work on an increased range of
disciplines reflective of student demand, and to continue building
to accommodate growth, but also to work on what improvements can be
made to infrastructure for, say, sporting and cultural activities
which staff, students and the local community would like to access.
Also, what can we do to ease the up-front costs students are
encountering whilst studying. We may have the capacity to subsidise
some of these, and in that way help students to commit more of
their time to study and reduce some of the financial worries that
drive some into casual work for long and unsociable hours.
All of the developments across the last ten years have been for
students and the region, and I am quite sure that that philosophy
will continue to permeate the directions we take in the growth
period ahead.
Professor Paul Thomas is Vice Chancellor of the University
of the Sunshine Coast