Returning to the Campus in 2002
For most alumni of the Yallourn Technical School/College, there is no familiar
campus to revisit. The building and the town they knew were demolished to make
way for the expanding open cut. But the heritage of their Yallourn institution
lives on in the university campus today.
Happily, for those alumni of GIAE and Monash Gippsland, it is possible to return
and experience both familiar sights and monitor changes, to remember student
days and to see the progress of the university. Returning to the campus, alumni
are now confronted by buildings with domes, hexagons, curves and pyramids snaking
off in all directions. Housed in them are eight faculties: Art and Design,
Arts, Business and Economics, Education, Engineering, Information Technology,
Science and Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences. Alumni can find such resources
as computer laboratories, a mechatronics laboratory, a clinical nursing laboratory,
the Switchback Gallery and many research facilities. The binishell no longer
stands in splendid isolation and there are new landmark buildings. A handsome
library forms an important addition to the campus. Dignified and functional,
it is inviting to the scholar.
Within the grounds, a golf course sweeps down to the road, views to the lake
and beyond have been enhanced and courtyards provide sheltered places for coffee
and meetings.
In 1934, the Yallourn Technical School awarded its first diploma in electrical
engineering, pioneering tertiary education in the area. Nearly 70 years later
in 2002, Monash University Gippsland has 7500 students enrolled, studying through
a variety of modes as on-campus and off-campus students. As part of Monash University,
yet retaining its regional identity, the campus is constantly evolving to provide
tertiary education to its region, Victoria, Australia and to many parts of the
world. |
