Monash University College Gippsland
In the late 1980s, a rationalisation of tertiary education was planned by federal
education minister, John Dawkins. To secure their funding and viability, the
colleges of advanced education were instructed to form partnerships and amalgamate
with larger universities. After much discussion and negotiation, GIAE amalgamated
with Monash University, as did the Chisholm Institute of Technology and the
Victorian Pharmacy College. Once affiliation discussions had developed between
Gippsland Institute and Monash University, the new consortium was designated
a national distance education provider. Monash University, which aimed to expand
as an education provider into the Asia Pacific region, welcomed Gippsland’s
expertise in off-campus delivery of tertiary education.
Located in Melbourne’s south-eastern suburbs, Monash University was founded
in 1958. Similar to GIAE, it had been established to provide the state’s expanding
postwar population with access to tertiary education. The university’s name
commemorated Sir John Monash, engineer and inspiring World War I general, who
had returned from the war to become the founding chairman of the State Electricity
Commission of Victoria. It was Monash who had overseen the pioneering electricity
industry at Yallourn and had nurtured the model town. It was Monash who had
encouraged education and the founding of the Yallourn Technical School. The
proposed merging of GIAE with Monash University strengthened links with GIAE’s
beginnings.
With amalgamation finalised in 1990, changes were afoot for the new university
college. From being a self-governing regional institution, the new college would
become part of a metropolitan-based university that played a leading role in
education in Australia. |
