Charles Darwin University

Charles Darwin University

Emblemof Charles Darwin University
Latin:Universitas Caroli Darwinii
Former name	List Darwin Community College[1] (1974–1984) Darwin Institute of Technology[1] (1985–1988) Northern Territory University[1] (1989–2003)
Type	Publicresearch university
Established	1974 (earliest college)[1] 1989 (university status)[1] 2003 (university merger)[1]
Accreditation	TEQSA
Academic affiliation	IRU TNEU ASAIHL AACSB IATUL EA ACS CPA UA
Budget	A$341.17million(2022)[2]
Chancellor	Paul Henderson[3]
Vice-Chancellor	Scott Bowman[4]
Academic staff	599 (FTE, 2022)[5]
Administrative staff	884 (FTE, 2022)[5]
Total staff	1,282 regular (2022)[2] 393 casual (2022)[2]
Students	21,132 (2022)[5]
Undergraduates	9,319 (2022)[5]
Postgraduates	2,593 coursework (2022) 349 research (2022)[5]
Other students	7,743 (VET) (2022)[5] 1,128 other (2022)[5]
Address	Ellengowan Drive , Darwin , Northern Territory , 0810 , Australia [6]
Campus	Urbanandregionalwith multiple sites[6]
Named after	Charles Darwin
Colours	CDU Blue, CDU Red, orange and purple[7]
Nickname	Dangudbila (Larrakiafor kangaroos)[8]
Sporting affiliations	UniSport EAEN
Website	cdu.edu.au

Charles Darwin University(CDU) is an Australianpublic universitywith a main campus inDarwinand eight satellite campuses in some metropolitan and regional areas. It was established in 2003 after the merger ofNorthern Territory University, theMenzies School of Health Research, andCentralian College.

CDU is a member of the group of sevenInnovative Research Universitiesin Australia, and offersacademic degreesas well asvocational education.

Charles Darwin University has evolved over the years through the merging of several higher education institutions.

Darwin Community College, founded in 1974 and renamed Darwin Institute of Technology in 1984, was a combinedCollege of Advanced Educationand aTAFECollege. It was situated on what is now the Casuarina Campus, although it used other buildings at various times in Darwin. By the time of the formation of the Northern Territory University, it gave degrees in arts, education, business and applied science.^[9]

The Menzies School of Health Research was established in 1985 as a body corporate of the Northern Territory Government under theMenzies School of Health Research Act 1985.^[10]This act was amended in 2004 to formalise the relationship with Charles Darwin University.^[11]Menzies is now a major partner of CDU and constitutes a school within the university on campus at CDU Casuarina offering post-graduate degrees and higher degrees by research.^[12]

On several occasions theGovernment of the Northern Territoryrequested the Australian Commonwealth Government to finance a university in the territory. The response was always that the population was too small. In 1985, it took the unusual step of financing the University College of the Northern Territory itself for a five-year period from 1987 to 1991. The college was governed by a council, chaired byAustin Ascheand led by a warden, Professor Jim Thomson, from theUniversity of Queensland. An arrangement was made with the University of Queensland that the college would award degrees from that institution. Staff were recruited in 1986 and housed in the old Darwin Primary School buildings. Just prior to taking the first students in February 1987, the college moved to converted building of the formerDarwin Hospitalat Myilly Point in Darwin. The former nurses' hostel became a student residence, named International House. The college had two faculties, of arts and science. It awarded, through the University of Queensland link, the firstDoctor of Philosophydegrees in the Northern Territory.^{[citation needed][13]}

Centralian College was founded in 1993 from the merger of Sadadeen Senior Secondary College and the Alice Springs College of TAFE. During its life, the college delivered senior secondary,TAFEandhigher educationthrough its main campus inAlice Springs, and to a lesser extent the wholeNorthern Territory.^[14]

After this body merged with NTU in 2003, a newly divested Centralian College became a senior secondary school, for students from Year 10 to Year 12. It shares its campus with the Charles Darwin University campus of Alice Springs. Centralian College uses the university's facilities and students attending Centralian College can participate in VET courses (as early as Year 10) offered by CDU.^[15]

The Northern Territory University was founded in January 1989 by a merger of the Darwin Institute of Technology and the University College of the Northern Territory. The merger was controversial, but forced by the so-calledDawkins Revolutionunder federal Minister of EducationJohn Dawkins. The new university started life on 1 January 1989. Degrees of the University of Queensland continued to be awarded to students who initially enrolled in them.

The firstvice-chancellorwas Professor Malcolm Nairn fromMurdoch Universityin Western Australia. Under his leadership the university prospered and morale was high among both staff and students. However funding declined as student numbers rose. During his term of office the various study centres on the territory, that previously had been run directly by the NT Government, became part of the university. The Palmerston campus, for a few years previously a TAFE College, also became part of the university. The Palmerston campus is situated on University Avenue, as this was the proposed site for a new university in a submission to the federal government in 1981.^{[citation needed]}

The second vice-chancellor was Professor Roger Holmes fromGriffith University. After an initial excellent start to his period of office, he disappointed the university and local community by resigning after serving for only one semester to take up the post of vice-chancellor atUniversity of Newcastle.^{[citation needed]}

He was replaced as third vice-chancellor by the then deputy vice-chancellor, Professor Ron McKay. Under his leadership, the financial constraints on the university increased. The environment of having to provide as wide as possible a tertiary education to a small population living in a very large area far from alternative institutions became even more hostile and the university did not prosper. In January 2001, the Katherine Rural College, including Mataranka Station, became part of the university.^{[citation needed]}

After McKay's resignation due to ill health in 2002, an interim vice-chancellor, ProfessorKen McKinnon, former vice-chancellor of theUniversity of Wollongongwas appointed. He took various actions to improve the health of the university, some controversial, such as the proposal to merge with Centralian College with a new name for the university.^{[citation needed]}

On 21 August 2003, theNorthern Territory Legislative Assemblypassed theCharles Darwin University Act 2003 (NT), mergingAlice Springs'Centralian Collegeand the Menzies School of Health Research with the Northern Territory University to form Charles Darwin University from 1 January 2004. The inaugural university council meeting was held on 26 November 2003.^[16][17]

Charles Darwin University is a dual-sector university, which means the university offersvocational educationand training (aka VET) courses andhigher educationundergraduate and postgraduate degrees, covering a wide range of subjects and disciplines.^{[citation needed][18][19]}

CDU is a member of the group of sevenInnovative Research Universitiesin Australia,^[20]It has close links withFlinders Universityin South Australia, which itself has many students from the Northern Territory, including joint management of the Centre for Remote Health in Alice Springs and the Northern Territory Medical Program which is located on campus at Casuarina CDU.^[21]

According to the 2019 annual report, enrolments in 2019 totalled 20,649 students, with 14,847 students enrolled in vocational and educational training courses and 12,343 enrolled in higher education degrees.^[22]

CDU is made up of six Colleges:^[23]

• Asia Pacific College of Business and Law^[24]
• College of Education^[25]
• College of Engineering, IT and Environment^[26]
• College of Health & Human Sciences^[27]
• College of Indigenous Futures, Arts & Society^[28]
• College of Nursing & Midwifery^[29]

Vocational Education and Training is embedded within the Colleges.^{[citation needed]}

The university has its main campus in Darwin, with eight satellite campuses in some metropolitan and regional areas.^{[30][31][19][32]}

The university'sresearch institutesand centres include:^{[citation needed]}

• North Australian Centre for Oil and Gas^[33]
• Menzies School of Health Research^[34](see also above)
• The Northern Institute
• Research Institute for Environment & Livelihoods
• Australian Centre for Indigenous Knowledge and Education (ACIKE)
• Research Centre for Health and Wellbeing
• Centre for Renewable Energy
• Centre for School Leadership, Learning & Development
• International Centre for Education (IGCE)

University rankings
Global rankings
QS[35]	621-630
THE[36]	401-500
ARWU[37]	–
U.S. News & World Report[38]	936=
Australian rankings
QS[39]	32
THE[40]	29–32
ARWU[41]	–
U.S. News & World Report[42]	33=
ERA[44]	37[43]

According toTimes Higher Education (THE)World University Rankings of 2021, Charles Darwin University is ranked 501–600th in the world and 29th in Australia.^[45]It is also ranked 101–150th in the world in the 2020 Times Higher Education 100 Under 50,^[46]making it the youngest university in Australia to make this list.

In the 2019 Student Experience Survey, Charles Darwin University recorded an overall satisfaction rating of 75.2.^[47][48]

Students are represented by the CDU Student Council (CDUSC), and postgraduate students by the CDU Postgraduate Student Association, a member of theCouncil of Australian Postgraduate Associations. Multiple student associations also exist for the individual schools, including the CDU Law Students' Society,^[49]associated with the Australian Law Students' Association,^[50]and the CDU Business Students' Association. These student groups offer academic, career and professional support to their members, as well as organizing social events throughout the year.

The Vincent Lingiari Memorial Lectures were established in 1996 to commemorate theWave Hill walk-off, which was led byGurindjimanVincent Lingiariin August 1966. Held annually at theCasuarinacampus amphitheatre, and open to the public, the lecture now forms part of the GurindjiFreedom Day Festivalevents. Past lectures have been given byWilliam Deane,Gough Whitlam,Galarrwuy Yunupingu,Patrick Dodson,Malcolm Fraser, andMarcia Langton.^[51]

Owing to theCOVID-19 pandemic in Australia, the 2020 lecture was jointly presented in an online format by Pat Dodson, Marcia Langton andBruce Pascoe.^[51]

In 2022,Torres Strait IslandermanThomas Mayo,^[a]advocate for theUluru Statement from the Heartand the proposedIndigenous Voice to Parliament, delivered the oration. He drew parallels between Lingiari's struggle to be heard by governments to what Indigenous peoples of Australia are experiencing today.^[53]

104.1 Territory FMis a community radio station owned by CDU and based at the Casuarina campus. The station is broadcast on 104.1 Darwin and Palmerston and 98.7 Alice Springs and can also be heard inBatchelor,Katherine/Tindal,Tennant Creek,NhulunbuyandAdelaide River.^{[citation needed]}

The current and fourthchancellorof the university is the Honourable Paul Henderson, inducted March 2019.^[54]Thevice-chancellorand president of the university since May 2021 is ProfessorScott Bowman.^[4]

• List of universities in Australia

• Media related toCharles Darwin University(category) at Wikimedia Commons
• Official website