The University
A Brief History of La Trobe University
Victoria’s third university, La Trobe University was established and incorporated through an Act of the Victorian Parliament in December 1964. It was officially opened by the Premier in March 1967. Classes began shortly afterwards, with 552 students enrolled at the Melbourne campus in La Trobe’s first year.
The University now has six campuses across Victoria, accommodating more than 2500 staff and close to 31,000 students – including over 5600 international students from more than 100 countries. To date, more than 140,000 people around the globe have graduated from La Trobe courses.
La Trobe University campuses
La Trobe’s Melbourne campus is located approximately 14 kilometres from Melbourne’s city centre, and set in 232 hectares of beautiful native bushland. It caters to more than 21,300 students.
The campus is home to the La Trobe University Research and Development Park – Australia’s largest wholly university-owned and managed technology park; the Olga Tennison Autism Research Centre – Australia’s first dedicated research centre for Autism Spectrum Disorders; and the Melbourne Wildlife Sanctuary.
Major new centres under construction include the $288 million Centre for AgriBioscience (AgriBio), which will open 2012; and the $94 million La Trobe Institute for Molecular Science (LIMs), scheduled to open in 2013. Both centres will facilitate research aimed at making crucial contributions to agricultural and molecular science (including biochemistry and biotechnology) respectively – in Australia and overseas. They’ll also give La Trobe students access to brilliant resources and some of the most outstanding scientific researchers in the world.
The Bendigo campus, in northern Victoria, is located three kilometres from Bendigo’s city centre, and set in 33 hectares of native bushland adjacent to the Bendigo National Park.
It hosts more than 4100 students, and is home to key regional research centres – including the Biotechnology Research Centre and the Centre for Sustainable Regional Communities.
La Trobe University’s Albury-Wodonga campus is located in the northeast Victorian city of Wodonga, on 26 hectares of bush and parkland. In tandem with the neighbouring New South Wales city of Albury, just across the Murray River, Wodonga is one of the fastest-growing regional centres in Australia.
The campus hosts nearly 1000 students, and is home to the renowned Murray-Darling Freshwater Research Centre and the John Richards Initiative, which leads research into rural aged care.
More than 400 students currently study at the Mildura campus in Victoria’s northwest. Mildura services a vast agricultural and horticultural region covering parts of New South Wales, Victoria and South Australia. The campus enjoys strong relationships with the local community and businesses.
The Shepparton campus in central Victoria is a testament to La Trobe’s ongoing commitment to regional education and sustainability, and host to nearly 400 students. The new $10 million Shepparton campus building, opened to students in 2011 and is designed to high sustainability standards, featuring highly flexible teaching and learning spaces and other outstanding facilities, as well as passive solar technology for heating and cooling, and underground water tanks. The building shared the regional prize in the 2011 Victorian Architecture Awards.
The University’s Franklin Street campus is located on the fringe of Melbourne’s central business district. Currently catering to more than 400 students, it offers postgraduate courses in health sciences, business and law, and is home to two prominent health sciences research centres.
La Trobe's title and its origins
La Trobe University is named after Charles Joseph La Trobe, the first Superintendent of the Port Philip District from 1839 to 1850, and first Lieutenant-Governor of the new colony of Victoria from 1851 to 1854. La Trobe supervised the establishment of self-government in Victoria, and is famed for ensuring at least 20 per cent of all land in Melbourne remains parkland. This has helped Melbourne gain a profile as one of the world’s most liveable cities, and on a smaller scale, contributed significantly to the University’s wetland conservation program.
Armorial bearings
La Trobe University’s armorial bearings combine significant symbols embodying its history, goals and pride in its Victorian genesis. Australia is represented by the Australian Wedge-tailed Eagle, one of the world’s largest eagles. Victoria is represented by the sprigs of heath, Victoria’s floral emblem. The open book refers to the University’s commitment to learning, and the scallop shells are a reference to the armorial bearings of the La Trobe family.
University motto
The French motto ‘Qui cherche trouve’ (Whoever seeks shall find) is a modern version of the La Trobe family motto.
Realising the La Trobe vision
La Trobe’s current vision and strategic plan are based on four key aims:
• to transform students’ lives through learning
• to create new and useful knowledge
• to support and reward staff excellence
• to operate sustainably and ethically.
To meet these aims, La Trobe has put several strategies in place. To begin with, the University’s undergraduate curriculum is being renewed to improve the employability of its graduates. Key skills that are highly sought after by employers are being embedded in undergraduate courses, in addition to discipline-specific skills and knowledge. La Trobe’s Bachelor-degree graduates will soon be able to identify and demonstrate to potential employers, the skills they’ve acquired and the level of their ability against published quality standards.
The University is also upgrading its teaching infrastructure. In 2010, La Trobe completed a $10 million redevelopment of its Borchardt Library at the Melbourne campus. The library now features 850 additional seats, state-of-the-art collaborative learning spaces and new consultation and training rooms. The University also recently opened a new $10 million campus building in Shepparton, featuring highly flexible teaching, learning and study spaces and a new nursing laboratory.
To enrich students’ experience outside the classroom, La Trobe offers an extensive engagement program, giving students opportunities to get involved in leadership activities and community volunteering, to study overseas, and to have the support of a mentor in their chosen field.
And via teaching, research and exchange links with more than 250 institutions in over 40 countries, La Trobe remains committed to internationalisation and to producing graduates who can contribute to a global community. It also continues to pursue and develop collaborative partnerships with industry leaders worldwide.
To create new and useful knowledge, La Trobe is building on current research expertise and establishing new research centres. Building on research expertise involves supporting academic staff with their research activities, offering more research scholarships, and developing knowledge exchange programs with industry and professional partners throughout Victoria.
This strategy has affected highly positive results to date. La Trobe was recently recognised as Australia’s leading university for research in Biochemistry and Cell Biology by the Federal Government’s Excellence in Research for Australia (ERA); and awarded an ERA rating 5 – ‘well above world standard’ – for research in Human Movement and Sports Science, Biological Sciences, and Condensed Matter Physics.
La Trobe is significantly improving its research capacity with more than $630 million of new research and teaching facilities under construction. These include the $288 million Centre for AgriBioscience (AgriBio), which will open in 2012; the $94 million La Trobe Institute for Molecular Science (LIMS), scheduled to open in 2013; and the $88.9 million La Trobe Rural Health School (LRHS) in Bendigo.
AgriBio and LIMS will facilitate research aimed at making crucial contributions to agricultural and molecular science (including biochemistry and biotechnology) respectively – in Australia and overseas, while the LRHS will substantially enhance applied research in health and aged care and play a crucial part in improving health services practice and delivery in northern Victoria. These new centres will give La Trobe students access to brilliant resources and some of the most outstanding scientific researchers in the world.
Supporting La Trobe staff in their professional development is another significant means of ensuring students have the best possible learning experience. This is not only about attracting high-quality professionals to La Trobe, but also enabling them to stay at the top of their fields through support for research and ongoing development of their knowledge and skills.
La Trobe’s commitment to sustainability is evident across several fronts. In 2010, the University appointed Australia’s first Pro Vice-Chancellor (Sustainability) to coordinate and drive its efforts at making sustainability and social responsibility central to everything it does. La Trobe is embedding sustainability principles in its curriculum; conducting research that contributes to the sustainability of its communities; and acting to reduce its own carbon emissions.
To find out more about the University’s sustainability-related courses, sustainability research and emissions reduction strategies and targets, please visit http://www.latrobe.edu.au/sustainability
Read more about La Trobe’s vision in the current strategic plan – Vision 2015.
Policies and legislation
Act, statutes and regulations
The La Trobe University Act 2009 gives the governing body of the University (the Council of the University) the authority to make statutes and regulations for the management and regulation of the affairs of the University.
Much of this subsidiary legislation directly affects students – their conduct on campus, examinations, payment of fees, and so on. All Statutes and regulations can be viewed online at www.latrobe.edu.au/legalservices/legislation/index.html.
University Policies
The policies of the University may be accessed at www.latrobe.edu.au/policy/ or by Quicklink from the staff or student homepage.
Universities Australia guidelines
The University endorses the guidelines published by Universities Australia, Universities and their Students: Principles for the Provision of Education by Australian Universities. See www.universitiesaustralia.edu.au – Publications – University guidelines.