New England Online > Culture & Society > Education > Teritary Education > New England National University
The New England National University
| University of England | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Motto: | Ex sapientia modus |
| Established: | 1954 |
| Chancellor: | HRH The Princess Consort |
| Vice-Chancellor: | Malcolm Rowe |
| Students: | Undergrad: 16,000 Postgrad: 9,000 |
| Staff: | Academic: 1,000 Ancilliary: 2,200 |
The New England National University is the sole university and one of four tertiary education institutions in New England. Known as NENU or the university in most publications, the New England National University is the only institution that can award degrees and doctorates, and is also the only public research institution in New England.
Established in 1954, the university is New England's premier academic insitution
Campus
For most of it's existance the university has had only one campus, the primary focus of the university remains in Armidale, with all face to face teaching and colleges located in the capital. However, the university has established a presence in all major towns and cities in New England with eleven access centres across the country. These centres provide access to computing facilities and a potral to the electronic library, assignment submissions repositry and online enrollment details. Nearly a third of students at the university live more than ten kilometres from the university, making these online access centres a vital link.
In addition to the access centres, there are three research centres located away from the main campus. These are the Chiswick Agricultural Science and Technology Institute (CASTI) in Uralla, the Junction Hill Agricultural Research Farm (JHARF) near Grafton, and the New England Marine Science Centre (NEMSC) on the campus of Fitzroyshire Polytech in Coffs Harbour.
Faculties and Departments
The university is divided into seven faculties, each headed by a Dean. These faculties are further subdivided into departments, which manage individual or like disciplines. These faculties are:
| Faculties and Departments of the University | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Name | Dean | Undergrads | Postgrads | |
| Faculty of Architecture & Engineering | ||||
| Faculty of Arts | ||||
| Faculty of Economics & Business | ||||
| Faculty of Law | ||||
| Faculty of Medicine & Health Science | ||||
| Faculty of Science & Technology | ||||
| Royal Military College, Thalgarrah | ||||
Colleges
The university has fifteen halls of residence, known as colleges. In the mold of Oxford and Cambridge, it is the colleges that admit students to the University and through tutorials, contributes to the work of educating them. The colleges are varied in their environment and the services they provide students, with all having dining facilities provided, although some also have self-catered accomodation as well. In some cases students are required to share rooms, and some colleges may be single-sex, or have single sex floors or wings. There are also three parocial colleges, St. Alberts (Roman Catholic), St. Marks (Anglican) and Kings (Unitarian), which admit students on the basis of thier religious affliliation.
In addition to accommodation, meals, common rooms, libraries, sporting and social facilities for its students, colleges also play a part in the employement of staff. Academic staff are commonly employed both by both the university (typically as lecturer or professor) and by a college (as fellow or tutor), though some may have only a college or university post. All colleges have academic staff in residence, who lead the tutorials and assist in the pastrol care of the students.
All colleges offer the full range of subjects available at the university, and there is no restriction on admittance to a college on the basis of subjects untertaken.
In addition to the colleges, students may elect to live in the University Flats, which are self catered blocks with common facilities shared by a number of student (usually in blocks of six). Alternatively, a student can elect to live in the community.
Notable Alumni
The university boasts a large number of notable alumni, some quite famous and influential, who have gone on to make significant contributions in their fields of endeavour. These include:
- Monarchs: James I, James II
- Consorts: Princess Amber
- Dukes of Duval: Crown Prince Alexander
- First Ministers: Antonia Davidson, Yvonne Gates, John Tudor, Bill Howlett, Jim Gordon and Matthew Jones
- Chief Justices of the Supreme Court: Dame Elizabeth Hall and Rodney Innes
- Puisne Justices of the Supreme Court: Peter McGill, Terri Owen, Gavin Souter, Alexandra Howlett, Rachael Onslow, Kenneth Owen and Matthew O'Hara
- Political Leaders: Matthew Jones, Kristine Dawkins and Scott Rogers
- Earls of the Counties: Gabby Harrison, Olivia Turner, Daniel Macmillan, Geoff Jamison and Helen Moss
- Medical Pioneers: Dr. David Orton
- Military Leaders: Lt. Gen. Brody Neal
- Religious Leaders: Patrick O'Connor
Governance
The university is a crown statutory agency, and is governed as such. The organisation of the university is laid out in the Tertiary Education Acts of 2014 and 2043. There is a board, known as the University Senate oversees the administration of the university. The Senate is chaired by the Chancellor of the University. Day to day management is co-ordinate by the Vice-Chancellor, who in turn appoints the Deans of the Faculties, Chairs of the Research Centres and the Director of Administrative Services.
History
The New England National University was originally formed in 1938 as the New England University College, which was part of the University of Sydney. The college separated to become a university in 1954, and enjoyed steady growth for the next thirty years.
In 1989, the federal government amalgamated a number of tertiary institutions and created a multi-campus university with campuses in Armidale, Lismore, Coffs Harbour and Orange. In 1993, the university was dismantled, and the university went back to a single campus in Armidale. Debts from amalgamation and disamalgamation as well as a large capital works program and natural disasters led to the university carrying a massive debt. This burden was removed in 2006 on the eve of the Civil War.
The university was forced to close for two years between 2009 and 2011, although the government continued to pay the bills and kept NENU up and running on a skeleton crew until the war ended in late 2011. The university reopened in 2012, and began a rapid period of change as new disciplines were introduced to cater for the needs of the new nation.
The Tertiary Act of 2014 set NENU as the sole body in New England that could confer degrees and conduct government funded research. The same Act also constituted two polytechnics, and a number of disciplines were transferred to the new bodies. This included teaching and nursing. Further reforms in 2043 confirmed this positions and entrenched NENU as the most important educational body in New England.
