GRIFFITH UNIVERSITY

'Griffith University' is an Australian public university with five campuses in Queensland between Brisbane and the Gold Coast.
In 2007 there were more than 33,000 enrolled students and 3,000 staff.
The Griffith University campuses are:

★ Gold Coast campus, the largest campus of 'Griffith University', with more than 12,500 students.

★ Nathan campus in the southern suburbs of Brisbane with more than 10,500 students and the first Griffith University campus to be established.

★ Mount Gravatt campus is close to Nathan and has more than 4,000 students.

★ Logan campus with more than 2,500 students is located between Nathan and the Gold Coast.

★ Southbank campus with more than 2,000 students is at South Brisbane close to the Brisbane city centre and incorporates the Queensland Conservatorium, the Queensland College of Art and Griffith Film School.

Contents

History

Academic Structure

Arts, Education and Law

Griffith University Law School

Business

Science and Technology

Health

Sporting, social and cultural

Student Union and representation

Student Representative Council

Notable alumni

External links

References

History

The university was formally founded in 1971 and opened its doors in 1975 to 451 students in four schools: Australian Environmental Studies, Humanities, Modern Asian Studies and Science. The University started with its Nathan campus, and became known for its peaceful and nature based setting. The expansive cluster of buildings, sports facilities, bushland reserves and recreational areas are all connected by an integrated network of walking paths. The university soon became noted for its modern environmental science, Asian studies and international business courses. The university now boasts a full suite of award winning programs including arts, education, medicine, dentistry, engineering, business, science, and law.
The University is named after the former Premier of Queensland, and High Court of Australia judge, Sir Samuel Griffith. who was also the principal author of the Australian constitution.
In 2004, Griffith University made the controversial decision to abandon its traditional shielded coat of arms for a red and white book motif, symbolising Griffith’s strong connections with corporate enterprise. Many were quick to criticise the change but, given its continued rise in popularity, the university's reputation has not diminished.
Recent marketing projects have been given the stamp of approval by some famous names such as: Kim Phuc, Rubin "Hurricane" Carter, Ray Charles, and Bob Geldof. They were promoting centres for photojournalism arts, assisting the wrongly accused, educating children with a visual impairment and promoting responsible ecological practices, respectively.

Academic Structure

Arts, Education and Law

★ School of Arts

★ School of Arts, Media and Culture

★ School of Criminology and Criminal Justice

★ School of Languages and Linguistics

★ School of Theology

★ Griffith Film School

★ Queensland College of Art

★ Queensland Conservatorium

★ School of Cognition, Language and Special Education

★ School of Curriculum, Teaching and Learning

★ School of Education and Professional Studies

★ School of Vocational, Technology and Arts Education

★ Griffith Law School

Griffith University Law School

Main articles: Griffith University Law School

The Griffith University Law School was opened in 1992, and is spread across three of the five Griffith University campuses, with undergraduate combined degree programs taught from the Nathan and Gold Coast campuses, and postgraduate and professional programs taught from the Legal Practice Centre located at the South Bank campus.
The law school at Griffith University is noted for its culture of social justice and provides an interdisciplinary legal education.

Business

★ Griffith Business School

★ Graduate School of Management

Science and Technology

★ School of Biomedical and Physical Sciences

★ Griffith School of Engineering

★ School of Information and Communication Technology

★ Australian School of Environmental Studies

★ School of Environmental and Applied Science

★ School of Environmental Planning

Health

★ School of Medicine

★ School of Pharmacy

★ School of Dentistry and Oral Health

★ School of Anatomy

★ School of Human Services

★ School of Medical Science

★ School of Nursing and Midwifery

★ School of Physiotherapy and Exercise Science

★ School of Psychology

★ School of Public Health

Sporting, social and cultural

Griffith University boasts a wide array of cultural, intellectual, sporting and social groups. Its Student Guild is an organisation within the university which takes care of these clubs, as well as student issues, accommodation, employment,publication, events, sport and recreation.
Established in 1981, the Griffith University Aikido Club was one of the first aikido dojos established in Brisbane . Today it is active at Nathan, Logan and South Brisbane and has more than 100 members.
The Griffith University Rugby Union Club, established by Phil Verheijen in 2002, were runners up in the Northern University Games in 2005 and are consistently ranked in the top 6 at Australian University Games. Past captains include Nick Hurrell (2006), who is now an international rugby representative of Hong Kong.^[1]
Griffith University is the only university in Australia to have a cheerleading club , established on the Gold Coast campus.
The Griffith University Australian Football Club (GUAFC) is an Australian rules football club formed in 2001, competing in the AFLQ State Association. The Griffith University Gladiators finished runners up in two of their first five seasons in the AFLSQ. The club plays out of Griffith's Nathan Campus, which features one of Queensland's leading amateur Australian football grounds with state-of-the-art playing lights and club rooms.

Student Union and representation

Griffith University students are uniquely represented by two statutory embedded student organisations. The Griffith University Student Representative Council (GUSRC) represents undergraduate students and the Griffith University Postgraduate Students Association (GUPSA) represents post-graduate students in all campuses apart from the Gold Coast. GUPSA is a constituent member of the Council of Australian Postgraduate Associations. Unique to the Gold Coast is the Student Guild (GUSG) which represents all students from this campus and holds an administrative structure that is apparently independent to the university.

Student Representative Council

Sean Fitzgerald currently holds the position of GUSRC President. Past Presidents and Chairpersons include Leon Bertrand (2006), Glen Chatterton (2005/6, resigned), David Allen (2005, resigned) and Monique Bielanowski (2004). Most recent past Presidents of the SRC are members of the Labor Club, with that club having won five out of the previous six elections (four in landslides), including the last three. The main rivals to the Labor Club, the Trotskyist National Broad Left, had a history of being successful throughout the 1990s but, by the early 2000s, their grip on power had begun to wane. The only victory they have achieved in the last six years was the close-run 2002 election but they were subsequently defeated the next year in a then-record victory to the Labor Club.
In 2005, there were many forced resignations in the SRC, most of which Glen Chatterton was responsible for. Chatterton made David Allen resign, and replaced him as President before getting re-elected later that year. In early 2006 he also resigned, and Leon Bertrand was appointed as President and reversed Chatterton's plan to wind up the GUSRC.
The GUSRC has recently been allocated rent-free premises and continues to function despite the introduction of Voluntary Student Unionism (VSU) and has broadened its revenue base.

Notable alumni

★ Steven Bradbury, Olympic Gold medal winning speed skater ^[2]

★ Sara Carrigan OAM, Olympic Gold medal winning cyclist ^[3]

★ Lee Cox, playwright ^[4]

★ Peta-Kaye Croft, Member of Queensland Legislative Assembly

★ Shannon Eckstein, 2002 world champion Ironman

★ Justine Elliot, Federal Member for Richmond

★ Gary Hardgrave, Federal Member for Moreton

★ Libby Lenton, Olympic gold medal winning swimmer ^[3]

★ Joss McCallum, softballer

★ Brett Mason, Senator for Queensland

★ Grant Musgrove, politician

★ Julie Owens, Federal Member for Parramatta (actually educated at former Queensland Conservatorium of Music)

★ Rajnesh Singh, engineer and entrepreneur

★ Karen Tso, television journalist

★ Ross Vasta, Federal Member for Division of Bonner

★ Barbara Vernon, birth activist

★ David Vernon, writer

★ Robert Warren, musician

★ Jung Ryu Won, Korean singer/actress

External links

★ Griffith University Website

★ Nathan Campus of Griffith University on Google Maps

References

1. http://www.hksevens.com/Press-Centre-News-070123.htm
2. http://www.griffith.edu.au/er/archive/2002_1/jan1g02.html
3. http://griffith.e-newsletter.com.au/pub/pubType/EN/pubID/92986ab6f93d3a1226bc/nc/fdbb9178727d746f9504/interface.html
4. http://www.abc.net.au/rn/perspective/stories/2004/1175314.htm
5. http://griffith.e-newsletter.com.au/pub/pubType/EN/pubID/92986ab6f93d3a1226bc/nc/fdbb9178727d746f9504/interface.html