Today is Foundation Day at Charles Sturt. It’s a great time to find out a bit more about each campus. So regardless of where you are studying, take a moment to find out about the histories of the uni that we love.
We’ve already checked out the Orange, Port Macquarie, Dubbo and Albury campuses, now it’s time to delve into the histories of Bathurst, Wagga Wagga and even though it isn’t a campus, the Online student community.
Bathurst
Like the Albury-Wodonga campus, the Bathurst campus is one of the three foundation campuses of Charles Sturt University. The history of the Bathurst campus goes back more than a century.
The campus was established in 1895 as the Bathurst Experiment Farm. Then in 1951, the Bathurst Experiment Farm morphed into the Bathurst Teachers’ College.
The Bathurst Teachers’ College closed on the 31 December 1967, and the Mitchell College of Advanced Education was established on the 1 January 1970.
The Mitchell College of Advanced Education was established to provide undergraduate training. Opportunities were offered in diverse fields, and in a variety of modes: full-time, part-time, external, and continuing education. Sounds familiar doesn’t it?
And then in 1989, the Charles Sturt University Act brought together the Riverina Murray Institute of Higher Education and the Mitchell College of Advanced Education to form Charles Sturt University.
Wagga Wagga
Like Bathurst, the history of Wagga Wagga goes back to the establishment of the Wagga Wagga Experiment Farm in 1892, which offered vocational agriculture education.
In 1948, the Minister for Agriculture at the time proposed the establishment of an Agricultural College at Wagga Wagga which would offer a three-year Diploma. A year later on 9 September 1949, the Wagga Wagga Experiment Farm was converted into the Wagga Wagga Agricultural College.
Additionally, 2 years prior in 1947, the Wagga Wagga Teachers College had been established on a different site in the township of Wagga Wagga (later to become known as ‘South Campus’) to provide teacher education.
During 1971, the Riverina College of Advanced Education was formally established and on 1 January 1972 the Wagga Wagga Teachers College was dissolved and the Riverina College of Advanced Education was established on the site of the Teachers College. Study centres were also opened in Albury and Griffith.
In March 1985, the name of the College was changed to the Riverina-Murray Institute of Higher Education to better reflect the geographical areas surrounding the campuses, which included both the Albury-Wodonga campus and the Wagga Wagga Campus.
And then in 1989, the Charles Sturt University Act brought together the Riverina Murray Institute of Higher Education and the Mitchell College of Advanced Education to form Charles Sturt University.
