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University hub breakthrough for Bass Coast

1/6/2020

24 Comments

 
PictureThe future Bass Coast Regional University Centre in Wonthaggi
By Catherine Watson
 
A NEW regional university centre will open in Wonthaggi for the first term of 2021.
 
Federal Education Minister Dan Tehan announced this morning that the Bass Coast Regional University Centre was one of nine new centres being established across regional Australia under the Government’s $53.2 million Regional University Centres program.
 
The university hub will enable students from Bass Coast and South Gippsland to link with any one of 31 universities around the country offering about 180 degrees. It will provide study spaces, academic support, video conferencing and other social and academic support for students.

The idea originated in Cooma, in southern NSW, where it’s been operating successfully for about six years.
 
Bass Coast Mayor Brett Tessari said the university hub was a breakthrough for Bass Coast and an important boost to the region’s economic recovery.
 
“Currently about 50 per cent of our students don’t take up the option of tertiary study because they don’t want to leave home.
 
“We have so many others who start and drop out because the city’s not for them. It’s heart breaking. It knocks their confidence.”
 
“When we surveyed local students, nearly all said they would go to university if they could study locally.”
 
Cr Tessari said remote learning for senior students during the COVID crisis had been a good preparation, showing that many students thrived with the right support.
 
“I would hope to see up to 100 students in the first year, full time or part time. It’s not just young people. Older people can up their skills or change course in their careers.”
 
The hub will be based in a council building opposite the civic centre that formally housed the council’s engineers. It’s currently serving as a temporary base for some Bass Coast Health staff during the COVID crisis, but will soon be vacated. The Federal Government will pay for the fitout and operating costs for three years.

Bass Coast has entered into an agreement with Country University Centres, based in Cooma. The Bass Coast centre will be will be overseen by a board chaired by Martin Keogh, a former local school principal who chairs the Bass Coast Foundation.
 
The steering committee includes Cr Tessari, council CEO Ali Wastie and representatives from the education and other relevant sectors.
 
Cr Tessari paid tribute to the council team who worked on the project over the past year.  He said they never gave up pushing Bass Coast’s credentials even when the announcement of the successful candidates, due in February, was derailed by the COVID crisis.
 
Monash federal MP Russell Broadbent said the centre would boost opportunities for local students to gain skills and qualifications and increase employment opportunities in our region.
24 Comments
Meryl Tobin
1/6/2020 11:13:56 am

This is superb news. Congratulations to all involved! As a former secondary teacher and as a parent whose children had to live away from home to gain their tertiary qualifications, I am very aware how desirable it is to have tertiary educational centres in regional areas.

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Miriam Strickland
1/6/2020 11:14:59 am

Great news for our young folk, who by now have had extra practice with remote/online learning, and maybe for some of us elders as well.

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Frank W Schooneveldt
1/6/2020 11:22:44 am

Congratulations to everybody involved in this great initiative. A fantastic opportunity for our youth and for those of us who want to return to further their education.
Great news

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Laura Brearley
1/6/2020 11:47:16 am

This is big news and great for the region.
And yes Miriam, I've also been really impressed with how community members of all ages have embraced Zoom technology during the COVID lockdown.
Rev Ian Turnnidge hosts a Zoom conversation after the livestreaming of the Sunday service from St John's. It's absolutely wonderful to see people, some of whom are in their eighties, happily connecting and conversing in Zoomland.

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Sandra Peeters
1/6/2020 11:57:10 am

Fantastic news with exciting potential for Bass Coast population.

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Yvonne McRae
1/6/2020 11:57:54 am

Exciting news, just fabulous! Congrats. to the BC team working during the past year on this initiative. So good for our young (and older) people to be able to live at home and keep in touch with their local community. Also the money aspect of students having to find suitable accommodation in the City and pay their rent (always high) or even part rent ALL the year even when Universities are closed. So good! What a relief to parents etc. who had to find the cash to 'help' out their precious children. Well done everybody. Yvonne McRae

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Jennifer Boer
1/6/2020 11:59:39 am

This is good news, but a University that would attract outside students, and similar rural universities elsewhere may give our students that essential experience of the step into independence and adulthood. In England, tertiary students embrace studying outside their area as part of the tertiary experience, even if they have a local regional university in their nearest city.
It will be interesting to see the level of support offered to hub users. As a postgrad who studied from home, with very few on campus experiences, i know the value of rubbing shoulders with other students; that 'increment of association'.

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Samiro Douglas
1/6/2020 12:15:09 pm

Very exciting news for this community. Well done to the team that brought this initiative to our community.

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Felicia Di Stefano
1/6/2020 12:35:14 pm

Congratulations BCP first with the news again. Will be good for children who cannot afford to go to leave home to study as well as all the other benefits mentioned. I know of such a one. She will be very happy.

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Sunny
1/6/2020 12:43:26 pm

Fantastic, this will provide so much more access especially for those students who do not have good access to the internet too.

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Nina Debono Wills
1/6/2020 01:00:43 pm

Congratulations BCP for this great news. How exciting for Wonthaggi and our region at large
This is going to be a great opportunity for upcoming students in our community wishing to go to university. It will also be great as students will have the opportunity to live at home while doing their university studies.
It is great for our community and for the bass coast region.

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Lee Tierney
1/6/2020 01:03:54 pm

Wonderful news! - really worthy of the 'news flash' thanks Catherine for keeping us up to speed so well.

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David Manning
1/6/2020 01:57:37 pm

This is tremendous news!

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Jacqui Paulson
1/6/2020 02:23:21 pm

Wonderful news. I am so glad that this is happening.

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Anne Heath Mennell
1/6/2020 02:30:28 pm

I was the first in my family to go to university, at a time when girls like me didn't always have the support to undertake tertiary study. It was a wonderful experience and my degree has opened doors I would never have known existed. Whilst I agree with Jennifer about the value of leaving home and value the experience of living and learning on campus with other students, any initiatives which reduce barriers to higher education are very welcome. Everyone deserves the opportunity to continue their education, reach their potential and enter careers their parents only dreamed of. Living in the country should not be a barrier, especially with all the online opportunities now available. The next barrier is money. I was only able to go to uni because I qualified for a grant. Now may not be the time but I would like to see fees reduced, especially for students from regional and remote areas. Surely the costs of providing online learning must be less than lectures/seminars/ and facilities to on-campus students.
Well done everyone at BCSC.

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Gillian Armstrong
1/6/2020 03:53:34 pm

Fantastic news......for our community, young and the not so young. To be able to study at a tertiary level locally is going to open doors for a lot of people who might otherwise miss out because of distance, finances and the cost of accommodation in the city. Really good news !

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Peter Efthymiou
1/6/2020 05:19:46 pm

Fantastic news for the whole area!

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John Mutsaers link
1/6/2020 06:29:37 pm

This is very exciting, might even go back to uni myself. Congratulations BCS

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Nina Barry-Macaulay
1/6/2020 06:43:02 pm

This is such a fantastic outcome for our community. Very proud of our shire for leading this project.

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Julie-Anne Trease
1/6/2020 09:29:45 pm

I can imagine Wonthaggi as a University City. Next it'll have a world famous 'how to chill' festival, and continue to be a cooperative initiative - the soul of Wony.

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natasha williams
2/6/2020 12:09:39 pm

Just wonderful news. Best wishes to all involved.

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Amy Easton, Secretary Wonthaggi Business & Tourism Association
3/6/2020 08:34:19 am

This is such fantastic news! great work BCSC.

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Ursula Theinert
5/6/2020 10:21:45 am

Excellent news and congratulations to BCSC.

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Rhonda De Stefano
9/6/2020 10:54:26 am

This is great news! It will hopefully engage more young people in their education, with the prospect of being able to keep their connections to family and friends and achieve their goals without moving away.

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