Chancellor to open Bega Education Centre extensions

Jul 10, 2006

The Chancellor of the University of Wollongong, Mr Michael Codd, AC, will officially open extensions to the University of Wollongong’s (UOW) Bega Education Centre tomorrow (Tuesday 11 July).

Other dignitaries attending the opening are the Federal Special Minister of State, Mr Gary Nairn; the State Member for Bega, Mr Andrew Constance; and the Mayor of Bega Valley Shire Council, Cr Tony Allen.

The centre at 176 Auckland Street was opened on 21 July 2000 with 30 students as a joint venture with Bega High School and TAFE NSW. Both these original partners remain part of the centre, with the high school continuing to occupy their dedicated computer laboratory.

The centre now operates two sites in Bega at 176 Auckland Street and at the Bega District Hospital which is a joint facility with the Australian National University, Graduate School of Medicine. There are 140 students enrolled in programs in Arts, Commerce and Nursing.

The new facilities have been constructed with a $500,000 capital works grant from the Federal Government and $900,000 from UOW capital funds.

The Chancellor will highlight how the new facilities support the collaborative learning environment that has developed so successfully in Bega. He will refer to the national recognition bestowed on UOW for its teaching and learning in recent years and how many of the techniques used in blended learning, such as videoconference and EduStream, were first developed on the South Coast.

Tomorrow’s opening will also focus on the ongoing success of students from Bega. They regularly top subjects and appear on the Dean’s Merit List for each faculty. To acknowledge this, one of the centre’s outstanding students, third-year Arts student, Patrick Hodder, who has earned a place on the Dean’s Merit list for 2005 and 2006, will speak on behalf of the students. And Arts student, Caroline Dickinson, will provide a musical interlude. The Arts Program established a successful honours program and the centre’s first honours graduate received the University Medal. Two groups of nursing graduates have also completed their degrees with the centre.

The Bega community has been very active in supporting the presence of the University and lobbied successfully to establish the nursing program.

The Manager of UOW’s Education Centres, Ms Anne Mitchell, said the University wanted the second stage at Bega to seamlessly blend with the original building, and this has been achieved by the architects, Michael Marshman and Associates Pty Ltd. Following competitive tenders, the construction contract was awarded to Manteena Pty Limited.

“The new facilities include two classrooms, two large tutorial rooms, a tutors’ room (incorporating the two existing small tutorial rooms), administration offices and extra facilities. A large entry lounge and a rear courtyard have also been included to provide students with pleasant spaces in which to meet and mingle outside of class time.

Opening time and place: 11am, Tuesday 11 July at 176 Auckland Street, Bega

For further information contact the Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Academic), Professor Rob Castle, on 4221 3960 or 0407 311267.

For more information, contact:

media@uow.edu.au
University of Wollongong
Ph: (02) 4221 5942; fax (02) 4221 3128