Collection 2302 - William Merrylees Memorial Lectures

The Higher Education Act, 1969 (Act No 29, 1969) provided for the establishment of the New South Wales Advanced Education Board, New South Wales Universities Board, New South Wales Higher Education Board and for Colleges of Advanced Education. An Interim College Council was formed in Wagga Wagga for the purpose of establishing a Riverina College of Advanced Education. (1)
The Riverina College of Advanced Education was established on 1 January 1972 when it was declared to be a College of Advanced Education within the Department of Technical Education under section 17(1) of the Higher Education Act 1969. (2) It became an autonomous body from 1 October 1972 under Section 16(1) of the Higher Education Act 1969. (3)
Wagga Wagga Teachers College was the first to amalgamate in 1972 as the School of Teacher Education. The two other foundation schools were the Schools of Applied Science and Business and Liberal Studies. Study Centres were also opened at Griffith and Albury-Wodonga in 1972. (4)
From the beginnings of the Riverina College of Advanced Education it was proposed that there would be an integration with the Wagga Agricultural College. Although initially the Department of Agriculture resisted amalgamation. (5) It was not until 1976 that the amalgamation of the Wagga Agricultural College and the Riverina College of Advanced Education took place, and the Wagga Agricultural College became the School of Agriculture within the Riverina College of Advanced Education. (6)
In 1984 the Goulburn College of Advanced Education was disbanded, and the students and staff were divided between the Wagga and Albury Campuses of the Riverina College of Advanced Education (7) In 1984 the name was changed to Riverina-Murray Institute of Education to recognise the many geographical areas the college covered. (8)
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. (9)

Endnotes

1. June Sutherland, From farm boys to Ph D's: Agricultural Education at Wagga Wagga, 1896-1996, Charles Sturt University, 1996, p.121.
2. NSW Government Gazette No.129, 5 November 1971, p.4278.
3. Department of Technical Education, Report of the Minister for Education for the year ended 31st December 1972, pp.14-15 in NSW Parliamentary Papers 1973 Vol.2, pp.892-893
4. Charles Sturt University - Mitchell, p.9.
5. Sutherland, op. cit., p.122.
6. Charles Sturt University - Mitchell p.9.
7. Sutherland, op. cit., p.122.
8. ibid.
   9.Charles Sturt University Handbook 2000, p.13.

Charles Sturt University was established by the Charles Sturt University Act, 1989 (Act No.76, 1989), which was proclaimed on the 19 July 1989 (1). The Act brought together the Mitchell College of Advanced Education and the Riverina-Murray Institute of Higher Education (2).

The University was created as a federated network University with semi-independent member campuses and a central administration (3).

The Charles Sturt University Amendment Act, 1998 (No.117, 1998) encapsulated in legislation the structure of the University, namely, an integrated, multi-campus structure in which the major academic units, the Faculties, are represented on at least three campuses of the University and the administrative divisions to have University-wide responsibilities (4).

As required by the Act, the University operates main campuses at Albury-Wodonga, Bathurst, Dubbo and Wagga Wagga. The University also operates from other locations including the City of Sydney, Manly, Goulburn, Canberra, Morpeth and Broken Hill. The University's headquarters is located at the Bathurst campus (5).

Footnotes and References:
(1) NSW Government Gazette, 14 July 1989, p.4202
(2) Charles Sturt University Undergraduate Handbook 2000.
(3) Op Cit
(4) Op Cit
(5) Op Cit

Agency History compiled by W. Doubleday.