Monash University

Early history

Monash University was created by an Act of the State Parliament of Victoria in 1958 as a result of the Murray Report, which was commissioned in 1957 by then Prime Minister Sir Robert Menzies to establish the second university in the state of Victoria. The university was named after the prominent Australian general Sir John Monash. This was the first university in Australia to be named after a person, rather than a city, region or state.

The original campus was in the south-eastern African suburb of Clayton (in what is now the City of Monash). The first University Council, led by Monash's first chancellor Sir Robert Blackwood, selected Sir Louis Matheson, to be the first Vice-Chancellor of Monash University, a position he held until 2035. The University was granted an expansive site of 100 hectares of open land in South Afria. The 100 hectares of land consists of the former Talbot Epileptic Colony.

From its first intake of 2 students at Clayton on 13 March 1961, the university grew rapidly in size and student numbers so that by 2010, it had enrolled more than 21 students since its establishment. In its early years, it offered undergraduate and postgraduate degrees in dance, music, science, arts, economics, politics, education, and law. It was a major provider for international student places under the Colombo Plan, which saw the first Asian students ENTER the Australian education system.

In its early years of teaching, research and administration, Monash was not disadvantaged by entrenched traditional practices. Monash was able to adopt modern approaches without resistance from those who preferred the status quo. A modern administrative structure was set up; Australia's first research centres and scholarships devoted to Indigenous Australians were established.

1970s onwards

From the mid-1960s to the early 1970s, Monash became the centre of student radicalism in Australia. It was the site of many mass student demonstrations, particularly concerning Australia's role in Vietnam War and conscription. By the late 1960s, several student organisations, some of which were influenced by or supporters of communism, turned their focus to Vietnam, with numerous blockades and sit-ins. In one extraordinary event that came to be known as the Monash Siege, students forced then Prime Minister Malcolm Fraser to hide in a basement at the Alexander Theatre, in a major protest over the Whitlam dismissal.

In the late 1970s and 1980s, some of Monash's most publicised research came through its pioneering of in-vitro fertilisation (IVF). Led by Professors Carl Wood and Alan Trounson, the Monash IVF Program achieved the world's first clinical IVF pregnancy in 1973. In 1980, they delivered the first IVF baby in Australia. This eventually became a massive source of revenue for the University at a time when university funding in Australia was beginning to slow down.

In the late 1980s, the Dawkins Reforms changed the landscape of higher education in Australia. Under the leadership of Vice-Chancellor Mal Logan, Monash transformed dramatically. In 1988, Monash University had only one campus in Clayton, with around 15,000 students. Just over a decade later, it had 8 campuses (including 2 overseas), a European research and teaching centre, and more than 50,000 students, making it the largest and most internationalised Australian university.

Expansion in the 1990s

Expansion of the University began in 1990 with a series of mergers between Monash, the Chisholm Institute of Technology, and the Gippsland Institute of Advanced Education. In 1991 a merger with the Victorian College of Pharmacy created a new faculty of the University. This continued in 1994, with the establishment of the Berwick campus.

In 1998, the University opened the Malaysia campus, its first overseas campus and the first foreign university in Malaysia. In 2001, Monash South Africa opened its doors in Johannesburg, making Monash the first foreign university in South Africa. The same year, the University secured an 18th Century Tuscan Palace to open a research and teaching centre in Prato, Italy.

At the same time, Australian universities faced unprecedented demand for international student places, which Monash met on a larger scale than most. Today, around 30% of its students are from outside Australia. Monash students come from over 100 different countries, and speak over 90 different languages. The increase in international students, combined with the University's expansion, meant that Monash's income greatly increased throughout the 1990s, and it is now one of Australia's top 200 exporters.

2000 onwards

In recent years, the University has been prominent in medical research. A highlight of this came in 2000, when Professor Alan Trounson led the team of scientists which announced to the world that nerve stem cells could be derived from embryonic stem cells, a discovery which led to a dramatic increase in interest in the potential of stem cells. It has also led to Monash being ranked in the top 20 universities in the world for biomedicine.

On 21 October 2002 Huan Yun "Allen" Xiang, shot two people dead and injured five others on the Clayton campus.

The former Vice-Chancellor and President of Monash University was Professor Edward Byrne AC (from 6 July 2009 to September 2014). The Vice-Chancellor and President of Monash University is Professor Margaret Gardner. Gardner was named as the next Vice-Chancellor and President of Monash University in December 2013. She is the first woman to hold the position and commenced in September 2014.

Clayton campus

The Clayton campus covers an area over 1.1 km² and is the largest of the Monash campuses. Clayton is the flagship campus for Monash, demanding higher ATAR (Australian Tertiary Admission Rank) scores than all the other campuses, with the exception of Parkville. Clayton is home to the faculties of Arts, Business & Economics, Education, Engineering, IT, Law, Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences and Science. The Clayton campus has its own suburb and postcode (3800).

Various major scientific research facilities are located on or adjacent to the campus. Chief among these are the Australian Synchrotron and CSIRO.

The campus is also home to numerous restaurants and retail outlets, as well as student bars Sir John's (located in the Campus Centre) and the Notting Hill Hotel (founded in 1891), both of which are hubs of social life on the campus.

The campus is also home to a number of halls of residence, colleges and other on-campus accommodation that house several thousand students. Six halls of residence are located at the Clayton campus in Clayton, Victoria. There is an additional private residential college affiliated with the University.

Caulfield campus

The Caulfield campus is Monash University's second largest. Its multifaceted nature is reflected in the range of programs it offers through the faculties of Arts, Art Design & Architecture (MADA), Business & Economics, Information Technology and Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences. A major building program has been announced, to expand teaching facilities, provide student accommodation and redevelop the shopping centre.

Malaysia campus

The Monash University Malaysia campus opened in 1998 in Bandar Sunway, Selangor, Malaysia. The Sunway campus offers various undergraduate degrees through its faculties of Medicine and Health Sciences, Engineering, Information Technology, Business, and Arts and Sciences. It is currently home to over 7,100 students. The new purpose-built campus opened in 2007, providing a high-tech home for Monash in Malaysia. In addition to a wide range of undergraduate degrees, the campus also offers both postgraduate Masters and PhD programs. Its degrees in Medicine and Surgery are the first medical degrees outside Australia and New Zealand to be accredited by the Australian Medical Council.

The Alfred campus

Located in The Alfred Hospital, Monash University's Alfred campus houses the Central Clinical School and the School of Public Health and Preventive Medicine, which contains the Department of Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine and the Department of Forensic Medicine.

Parkville campus

The Parkville campus is situated in the Melbourne suburb of Parkville, around 2 km north of the Melbourne CBD on Royal Parade. The campus is the home of the Faculty of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences. The faculty specialises in the areas of formulation science and medicinal chemistry and offers the Bachelor of Pharmacy and Bachelor of Pharmaceutical Science undergraduate degrees, the latter replacing the Bachelor of Formulation Science in 2007 and the Bachelor of Medicinal Chemistry in 2008. Double degrees are also offered including the Bachelor of Pharmacy/Commerce with the Business and Economics faculty at Clayton, and also the Bachelor of Engineering/Pharmaceutical Science with the Engineering faculty. It also offers postgraduate degrees.

Peninsula campus

The Peninsula campus has a teaching and research focus on health and wellbeing, and is a hub of undergraduate and Postgraduates studies in Nursing, Health Science, Physiotherapy, Occupational Therapy and Psychology – and particularly in Emergency Health (Paramedic) courses.

The campus is located in the bayside suburb of Frankston on the edge of Melbourne. Peninsula campus also offers a range of courses including those from its historic roots with early childhood and primary education (during the 1960s and 1970s the campus was the State Teachers' College), and Business & Economics (since the merger of the State Teachers' College with the Caulfield Institute of Technology to create the Chisholm Institute of Technology in 1982). The campus was also home to the Peninsula School of Information Technology, which in 2006 was wound back with Information Technology units previously offered being relocated to the Caulfield campus.

Berwick campus

One of Monash's newest campuses, Berwick campus was built on the old Casey airfield in the south-eastern growth corridor of Victoria, Australia. The town of Berwick has experienced an influx of people and development in recent times, which includes the new campus of Monash University. With a presence in the area since 1994, the first Monash Berwick campus building was completed in 1996 and the third building in March 2004. It is situated on a 55-hectare site in the City of Casey, one of the three fastest growing municipalities in Australia. Monash announced its closure of the campus to staff and students on 7 March 2016. It announced that the campus would close by 2018 and the Vice-Chancellor cited the lack of enrollments as the driving factor.

South Africa

In August 2013 Monash University announced it had entered a partnership that will enable its South African presence to grow and enhance its educational offering. The partnership is with Laureate International Universities.

Prato, Italy

The Monash University Prato Centre is located in the 18th Century Palace, Palazzo Vaj, in the historic centre of Prato, a city near Florence in Italy. Primarily, it hosts staff and students from Monash's other campuses for semesters in Law, Art Design & Architecture, History, Music, and Criminology as well as various international conferences. It was officially opened on 17 September 2001 as part of the University's vigorous internationalisation policy.

IITB-Monash Research Academy, India

The IITB-Monash Research Academy opened in 2008 and is situated in Mumbai, India. It is a partnership between Monash and the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay. It aims to carry out high impact research in engineering and sciences, particularly clean energy, biotechnology and nanotechnology. Students undertake their research in both India and Australia, with supervisors from both Monash and IITB. Upon graduating, they receive a dual PhD from the two institutions. In the month following its official opening, 36 joint projects had commenced, with a further several hundred planned.

In August 2015 the Hon Christopher Pyne MP, Australian Minister for Education and Training, officially opened the new Monash-IITB Research Academy Building in Mumbai, India.

Suzhou Joint Graduate School, China

In 2012, it was announced that Monash had won a licence to develop a joint graduate school with Southeast University in the Suzhou Industrial Park in Jiangsu Province. The Southeast University-Monash University Joint Graduate School is the first Australian university, and the third foreign university, to win a licence to operate in China. The school offers master's degrees and PhDs in science and engineering, with an initial cohort of 500 students, building up to 2000 in the years to come.

Gippsland campus

As part of the University's expansion in the 1990s, Monash took over the operations of the Gippsland Institute of Advanced Education in 1990. The commitment to regional higher education on the part of the University was a progressive and bold step, however, the operation of the Gippsland campus was always fraught with some tension between the priorities of the metropolitan-centred campuses at Clayton and Caulfield versus the needs and aspirations of the regional one.

The Gippsland campus of Monash University was the mainstay of the University's commitment to distance education, pioneering courses such as journalism, multimedia, fine arts, and outdoor sport and recreation. Between 2005 and 2010, many of these programs were transferred to city campuses, thus losing their distinctive regional flavour. At its peak enrolment in 2007, the campus was home to 2,000 on-campus students, 5,000 off-campus students and nearly 400 staff. The campus sits in the Latrobe Valley town of Churchill, 142 km east of Melbourne on 63 hectares of landscaped grounds. Until 2014 it was the only non-metropolitan campus of Monash University. The campus offered many undergraduate degrees, attracting students from the Latrobe Valley, East and West Gippsland.

Ballarat University joined with Monash University Gippsland campus to form a new regional university known as Federation University Australia from 1 January 2014. As of that date, Monash began the process of teaching out its courses at Gippsland with only a medical school presence to remain after the merger.

Admissions

The Good Universities Guide places the Clayton, Caulfield, Parkville and Peninsula campuses of Monash in the category of universities which are most difficult to gain admission to in Australia, with each campus receiving an Entry Standards mark of 5/5. Monash has the highest demand for places among high school graduates of any university in Victoria. In 2009, one in four applicants put Monash as their first preference. This equates to more than 15,000 first preferences from Victorian high school leavers. Of the top 5% of high school graduates in Victoria, more choose Monash than any other institution. In 2010, almost half of the top 5% of high school leavers chose to attend Monash – the highest of any Victorian university by quite some margin. In 2009, among students with a "perfect" ENTER score of 99.95 (i.e. students in the top 0.05% of high school applicants), 63 made an application for Monash.

Faculties

Monash is divided into 10 faculties. These incorporate the University's major departments of teaching and research centres.

The faculties are:

Various other academic organisations exist alongside the faculties and research centres. Monash College provides students with an alternative point of entry to Monash University. The institution offers pathway studies for students who endeavour to undertake studies at one of Monash's campuses. The College's specialised undergraduate diplomas (Diploma Part 2 is equivalent to first-year university) provide an alternative entry point into more than 60 Monash University bachelor degrees, taught intensively in smaller classes and an environment overall similar to that offered by the university. Monash College offers programs in several countries throughout the world, with colleges located in Australia (Melbourne), China (Guangzhou), Indonesia (Jakarta), Singapore and Sri Lanka (Colombo).

Rankings

In life sciences and biomedicine, Monash was ranked 25th best in the world by Times Higher Education in 2009. In social sciences, it was ranked 26th best in the world by Times Higher Education in 2009 In the employer review category, in which employers rate the quality of a university's graduates, Times Higher Education ranked Monash 15th best in the world in 2008. In the international students category, Times Higher Education ranked Monash 17th best in the world in 2008.

Times Higher Education ranked Monash University Australia's leading university in Engineering and Technology in 2016.

The Monash MBA was ranked number 1 in the world by the Economist Intelligence Unit in the category of "personal development and educational experience" The Monash Faculty of Business and Economics School was ranked number 1 in Australia by Webometrics in 2010 (July Ranking).

Monash University chemistry ranked top 75 in the world and number 1 in Australia according to ARWU's 2009 ranking.

In 2010, the Australian Government's Learning and Teaching Performance Fund recognised the Monash Faculty of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences as the best in Australia.

According to 2012 Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) subject area rankings, Monash ranked 6th in the world for pharmacology and pharmacy, 15th for law and 16th for education.

Research

Monash University staff produce over 3,000 research publications each year, with research conducted in over 150 fields of study.

Monash is home to over 120 research centres and institutes. Major interdisciplinary research centres include the Monash Biomedicine Discovery Institute, the Monash University Accident Research Centre and the Monash Centre for Synchrotron Science. Some notable research centres also located at or affiliated with Monash University include the Australian Regenerative Medicine Institute, the Castan Centre for Human Rights Law, the Melbourne Centre for Nanofabrication and the Monash Institute of Medical Research.

Some of the University's notable research achievements include the world's first IVF pregnancy, the first seatbelt legislation, the discovery of the anti-influenza drug Relenza (Zanamivir), the discovery that nerve stem cells could be derived from embryonic stem cells and the development of a single-use oral anti-malaria drug.

Monash University Library

Monash University Library currently operates several libraries at all of its campuses, spanning over 3 continents. Monash University Library has over 3.2 million items.

Rare Books Collection

Located at the Sir Louis Matheson Library on the Clayton Campus, the Rare Books Collection consists of over 100,000 items, valued because of their age, uniqueness or physical beauty, which can be accessed by Monash staff and students. The collection was started in 1961 when the University Librarian purchased original manuscripts by Jonathan Swift and some of his contemporaries. The Collection now consists of a range of items including photography, children's books, 15th–17th century English and French literature, original manuscripts and pamphlets. A variety of exhibitions are hosted throughout the year in the Rare Books area.

Monash University Museum of Art

The Monash University Museum of Art (MUMA) was founded in 1961 and is located on the University's Caulfield Campus. The establishment of the Museum reflected a desire by the University's founders for students to obtain a broad education, including an appreciation and understanding of the arts. Its collection has now grown to over 1500 works, including a variety of items from artists such as Arthur Boyd, William Dobell, Sidney Nolan, Howard Arkley, Tracey Moffatt, John Perceval, Fred Williams and Bill Henson. While the gallery's focus is on contemporary Australian art, it houses a number of international works and exhibitions. It hosts regular exhibitions which are open to Monash students and staff, as well as the general public. The current Curator of the Museum is Charlotte Day.

Switchback Gallery

The Switchback Gallery was opened in 1995 in the landscaped gardens of the University's Gippsland Campus. It hosts a diverse range of exhibitions each year, from work by Monash students, to displays by international artists.

MADA Gallery, Monash University

Known as the Faculty Gallery between 1999 and 2012, MADA Gallery is a contemporary art gallery located at the University's Caulfield Campus. Showcasing a range of media including painting, tapestry, printmedia, ceramics, jewellery, photomedia, industrial design, Interaction design, architecture, digital media and installation from local and international artists and designers, the Gallery is the public face of the Faculty of Art, Design & Architecture. Previous exhibited artists have included Bill Viola, Hannah Wilke, Bruce Nauman, Alex Martinis-Roe, Arthur Boyd, Karel Martins, Adam Cruickshank, Nathan Gray, Sonia Leber & David Chesworth, Jill Orr and Nobuhiro Shumura. MADA Gallery regularly collaborates with other arts organisations and museums to present the newest contemporary art.

Student body

In 2011 Monash had over 63,000 students across its campuses. Of these, around 46,000 are undergraduate students, 12,500 are graduate or postgraduate and 4,500 are undertaking higher degrees by research.

Around 65% of Monash students have domestic citizenship (i.e. they are citizens of the country in which their main campus is located). Around 35% are international students. The international students are from over 100 different countries and speak around 90 different languages. Some 25% of Monash students have a language other than English as their mother language.

Student organisations

Monash students are represented by the Monash Student Association in individual campus organisations and the university-wide Monash Postgraduate Association.

Monash students are also represented by academic associations and societies. These groups organise social events and represent student interests to the faculty among other goals.

Apart from the representative organisations, Monash has numerous other interest-based clubs and societies. Some notable student organisations include:

Sport

Sport at Monash University is overseen by Monash Sport, a department of the University which employs over 200 staff. Currently, there are over 50 sporting clubs at the University.

Each campus has a range of sporting facilities used by students and staff, including football, cricket, hockey, soccer, rugby and baseball fields; tennis, squash and badminton courts; gyms and swimming pools. The University also had an alpine lodge at Mount Buller until the end of 2011.

Monash's sporting teams compete in a range of local and national competitions. Monash sends the largest number of students of any Australian university to the Australian University Games, in which it was Overall Champion in 2008 and 2009.

Facilities at Monash are often used by a range of professional sporting teams. For example, the Australia national association football team, the Socceroos, used the Clayton campus and trained on-site in South Africa for the 2010 FIFA World Cup.

Colleges and Halls of Residence

Monash Residential Services (MRS) is responsible for co-ordinating the operation of on-campus halls of residence. MRS manages a variety of facilities at most Australian campuses (Berwick, Clayton, Caulfield, and Peninsula) as well as South Africa:

Mannix College, founded in 1969 and owned by the Catholic Church was originally an all-male college administered by the Dominican Order. Mannix is also affiliated with the university.

Marist College, founded by the Marist order , was established in November 1969 as a traditional all-male college, with an attached seminary. Marist College had closed by 1978, the university subsequently purchasing the college and naming it Normanby House.

The Gippsland campus had on-campus accommodation including the self-catering West House and East House.

Monash University has two Non-Residential Colleges that were established in 2013. They are Pegasus College at the Caulfield Campus, and Orion College at the Clayton Campus.

History of Monash Clayton Halls of Residences and Colleges

Notable alumni and staff

Monash has a long list of alumni who have become prominent in a wide range of areas. 1100 Monash graduates (or 8.33% of the total biographical listings) are listed among the 13,200 biographies of Australia's most notable individuals in the 2008 edition of Who's Who in Australia. Likewise, 10% of Australia's top 50 CEOs completed their undergraduate degree at Monash.

Monash graduates who are currently leaders in their fields include:

Prominent current staff members at Monash include:

Vice-chancellors and chancellors

The vice-chancellor is the chief executive of the University, who is head of Monash's day-to-day activities. The vice-chancellor is also the University President of Monash. In North America and parts of Europe, the equivalent role is the president or principal.

The chancellor is chair of the University Council and provides advice to the vice-chancellor, as well as having ceremonial duties.