Uni Hub Spencer Gulf recently hosted representatives of one of its founding partner universities, CQUniversity Australia, to mark the start of the 2020 academic year.

CQUniversity’s National Director – Regional Study Hubs, Professor Rob Brown and Associate Vice-Chancellor for South Australia, Professor Drew Dawson met with Uni Hub staff, students and civic leaders as part of the visit.

CQUniversity is one of Uni Hub Spencer Gulf’s founding partners and is delivering Bachelor degrees in Nursing, Psychological Science, Education and Social Work through the Port Pirie and Port Augusta campuses.

Uni Hub Spencer Gulf CEO Anita Crisp said the visit provided the chance to update the university on the Uni Hub’s progress, particularly the Port Pirie campus’s first year of operations and the opening of the Port Augusta campus.

“They were really pleased to see the strong growth in our student numbers and received positive feedback about the Uni Hub from local employers and local leaders,” she said.

“It is important we keep working closely with our university and local industry partners to ensure we meet the needs of our students and offer the right courses for the Spencer Gulf region to help address areas of skilled workforce shortage.

“CQUniversity has demonstrated a really strong commitment to the Upper Spencer Gulf and has a really strong history as a leader in the delivery of on-line, but locally supported, study into regional areas.”

CQUniversity’s Professor Rob Brown explained that in addition to the partnership in the Upper Spencer Gulf, CQUniversity also works in similar study hub partnerships with nine regional communities in New South Wales, as well as Geraldton and Karratha in WA, and SA’s Murraylands and Riverland region. This is on top of their own campuses in places like Rockhampton, Cairns, Brisbane, Adelaide, Melbourne, Noosa, Sydney, Perth and Townsville.

“With more than 20 years of experience in delivering high-quality and industry recognised university qualifications to regional communities right around Australia, CQUniversity really understands Uni Hub’s model of providing a locally supported learning environment for its students. It means students can still get a world-class education without the need to leave their home and community,” he said.