The power of an idea
We’re 30. Although, if you dig a little, you’ll realise our story begins much earlier than when we first opened our doors in 1996.
Like all good stories, ours has a myriad of challenges to overcome, plot twists and compelling characters. Like a determined Welsh miner’s son turned academic, a mob of resident kangaroos, a corruption-fighting Australian judge and a middle-aged mum from South America.
Our first chapter really began back in the 1970s, when the local community championed the opportunity for people to study where they lived. They envisaged a tertiary institution that would not only transform lives but the entire region.
"I always had a passion for education and community infrastructure. I was pushing for the university since 1979, when I was told it’s the last thing on earth we needed here because we didn’t even have TAFE colleges."
Alison Barry-Jones, campaigner and former Maroochy Shire Mayor
Their lobbying took 10 years to gain momentum and coincided with a Federal Government decision to lift an embargo on the development of new universities in 1988.
A young university with bold ambitions
With the Queensland Government also on board, a 100-hectare site of former cane land at Sippy Downs was chosen as the location for a prospective university.
Local businessman Sir Clem Renouf AM headed a steering committee and armed initially with a tiny budget of just $649,000, planning began.
QUT Professor Paul Thomas, the son of a Welsh miner, known for his charm and tenacity, was given the daunting task of developing the university from scratch – including staff, buildings and academic programs – for an opening in 1996.
"At first, I was driving up from Brisbane, working out of my car and staying in motels. I was using a phone and a Camry borrowed from QUT and kept all my files in the boot of the car."
Professor Paul Thomas, Planning President
Professor Thomas said a community meeting in 1994 spurred him on when the going got tough.
"I was there alone, talking about the obstacles before us to get the university started, and people came up to me saying that if I didn't get this going, their children's future would be bleak.
“At the time, there was over 20 percent youth unemployment on the Sunshine Coast, and overall, the unemployment rate was 14 percent, both higher than the national averages.
"There was a sense…there had to be opportunities created to stop this cycle and the brain drain. They wanted – needed – a university and the prospect had been unfulfilled for too long.
"But there was a sense that the community did not want an elite place, a place where they felt uncomfortable or didn't belong. They wanted an engaged university that helped address the Coast's issues and enhanced its visibility as a region nationally."
And that’s exactly what they got.
The Sunshine Coast University College officially opened in February 1996.
It was the first greenfield university established in Australia since 1971 and Queensland’s seventh public university.
In a coup for a university yet to carve a reputation, high-profile Supreme Court judge Tony Fitzgerald AC KC, who’d presided over a major public inquiry into corruption in Queensland, became our inaugural Chancellor.
Sustainability – and kangaroos – the cornerstones of new campus
Adjoining the Mooloolah River National Park and based on a flora and fauna reserve, the ‘Sippy Downs’ site was called “Skippy Downs” by locals because of the mob of Eastern Grey kangaroos who lived there.
Those kangaroos set the tone for what would follow.
Not only would students spend the next decades vying with the kangaroos for the best grassy spots on campus, stepping around woodland ducks and lizards on paths and dodging diving plovers in carparks – it meant environmental sustainability was always going to be at the heart of all we do.
This commitment was reflected in the design of our campus.
The master plan was developed by Mitchell/Giurgola and Thorp Architects, a Canberra-based company that had designed Australia’s new Parliament House in the 1980s.
They planned sub-tropical buildings – in a nod to our coastal climate – set either side of open green space with a library as a focal point and a roof designed to look like the pages of a book.
The master plan’s guidance over the next two decades put the USC campus on the international map as a multiple award-winner in environmentally sustainable and innovative design.
The first stage of development in 1995 included two buildings for administration and academic studies, lecture theatres, a café (affectionately known as Café La Tin given its location in a tin shed) and a workshop.
Key facilities added to the growing campus included an Innovation Centre to support high-growth business start-ups and the Buranga Centre, a culturally safe space for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students.
"I really love the natural environment. What we’ve got is very special. We’re in a magical part of the world. You can see kangaroos. I live close by, and I walk into work every day."
Librarian Sue Svenson, who first joined university in 1997, reflecting on the campus’ Sippy Downs location
Growing pains – the good kind
It’s a unique challenge when you are Australia’s newest university but also the fastest growing.
At one stage we were introducing several new programs each year. The number of new students was growing rapidly.
In our first decade, guided by Professor Paul Thomas as founding Vice-Chancellor and Ian Kennedy as Chancellor (from 1998 to 2007), we balanced fast-paced growth with milestones in excellence, including national ratings and awards for teaching quality.
Enrolment numbers jumped from 600 at the end of 1996 to 6,000 across a full year a decade later.
Developing a community on campus
Central to this growth was our aim to create a community shaped by connection between staff and students, with a focus on access, equity, support and teaching quality.
It was underpinned by a desire to provide opportunities for people under-represented in tertiary education – including those from low socio-economic backgrounds, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students, people who were the first in their family to attend university as well as mature age students.
A supportive environment was vital with scholarships, bursaries, academic innovation and special facilities helping students overcome health, financial, family or cultural challenges.
“Without USC, it is likely that many of the students would never have gone to University at all.”
Professor Thomas
Sole Paez was one of those students whose lives we helped transform.
The 40-year-old mum from Chile in South America was the first of 608 students to enrol for 1996, with 48 staff – including Professor Thomas who was named our founding Vice Chancellor – on board.
“I shall always remain grateful for building up the courage to walk up those steps on that sunny afternoon, the 14th of April 1995, to ask for an enrolment form …That moment reshaped the rest of my existence.”
Sole Paez
Early degree options reflect local job opportunities
Initially, students could study an Arts or Business degree with Applied Science introduced in 1997. Many other degrees, like Nursing and Education, were added gradually and aligned with the evolving employment opportunities on the coast.
There were no international students on campus in 1996 (but that number rose to 160 in 2005) with the university also focused on fostering international networks to provide increased opportunities for students to study overseas.
Our first graduation was held in 1999 in a marquee on campus with 132 students graduating and a new Chancellor, Ian Kennedy AO, installed.
What a difference a name makes
Ditching the word “College” in 1999 and gaining full university status was a defining moment in our story.
"We needed all the support we could get to rid ourselves of that awful ‘college’ name. It was meaningless, insulting and counter to any kind of future development. I argued that unless we were a ‘university’ we simply weren’t going to succeed. We wanted high calibre staff to be attracted to the teaching and research environment of a university."
Vice Chancellor Professor Paul Thomas
At the start, our hard-won Commonwealth Government support was conditional on being effectively parented by an established university, and QUT stepped in.
Initially we were told it would be at least 10 years before full university status would be granted. But incredible success in just four short years proved we could operate independently without governance – and backed by intense lobbying – we become a standalone university.
The University of the Sunshine Coast – USC – was officially launched.
Establishing research expertise
With limited funding and resources, we worked hard to establish our credibility in the research space.
We chose to focus on tackling regional issues with a global outlook, with the results delivering a valuable contribution to the local community.
We partnered with government and industry to conduct research affecting business, the aged, the environment, people’s health and Australian culture and society.
As our expertise grew, our researchers set up specialist centres including
- The National Seniors Productive Aging Centre
- A Sunshine Coast Research Institute for Business Enterprise
- The Centre for Multicultural and Community Development
- An Institute for Sustainability, Health and Regional Engagement
- and The Centre for Healthy Activities, Sport and Exercise
By the end of the decade our research income was nearly $4 million, and we’d taken the first steps to establishing our research reputation in Australia and around the world.
Connecting with the Sunshine Coast
And, as was first imagined, our presence helped to begin to transform the Coast, not only through teaching, learning and research, but also by cementing links with the community through business, culture and sport.
The local economy began to diversify outside of the traditional construction, tourism, retail and agriculture sectors – to become a fledgling knowledge economy supporting a new wave of entrepreneurial business ventures.
"UniSC turning 30 is a great reminder of the vision and the commitment of the community and those founding staff that wanted to build a local university."
The Insights and Analytics Unit’s Tanya Parker, who started in 1996, reflecting on the significance of the university’s 30th anniversary
Our Art Gallery made an important contribution to the Coast’s culture with our growing collection, including our first artwork Sower asking spirits to bless the seeds, which was symbolic of our ambitions as a young university.
Our track and field facility, including an IAAF-approved athletics track, hosted teams training for the Sydney 2000 Olympics and quickly became a much-loved community asset providing a home for local athletes and clubs.
We were ready to start our next chapter – a page turner marked by expansion and a growing ambition to strengthen our standing across the nation and around the world.
The power of 10
By the end of our first decade there were close to 6000 students enrolled across three faculties – Arts and Social Sciences; Business, and Science, Health and Education providing more than 100 degrees at undergraduate and postgraduate levels.
And perhaps we did. By the time we turned 10, we were ranked second in Australia and first in Queensland for overall educational experience.
Professor Thomas summed up the 10th year saying
"To have moved from a tiny, under-resourced organisation that many were convinced would fail, to become Australia's fastest growing university, with international recognition, and being one of the region's most significant organisations is worthy of year-long celebrations."