A message from the Associate Vice-Chancellor (Victoria) Dr John Ballard: The talented academic and professional teams on the St. Patrick’s and Aquinas campuses in Victoria continue to prepare for our new and returning student’s arrival, pending the rush of Orientation Week.

Both campuses have had recent capital work upgrades that continues to improve our operations, offerings, amenity and performance.

The St. Patrick’s Campus works include: a refurbishment of the Mary Glowery basement music rooms, gym, the offices and class rooms for international, a biomedical laboratory, and assorted minor works.

In response to a number of years of student petitions, the St. Patrick’s Campus has also introduced a licensed café and continues to plan for a new building on the corner of Victoria Parade and Napier Streets. This building will be a major teaching hub and we anticipate the commencement of construction late in 2017. There will be more to say on this development in later bulletins.

Associate Professor Joe Fleming, Campus Dean of the Aquinas Campus has provided the latest news from Ballarat.

Over the past few years the Ballarat Campus has had significant capital expenditure resulting in the upgrading and refurbishment of many buildings as well as additional buildings.

In 2015 the Pell Health Sciences Building was extended to cater for the large increase of students who were undertaking the BN/BP course. This included dedicated paramedicine laboratories as well as upgrades to other learning spaces and offices.

In 2016, four heritage buildings on campus were joined together to form the Catherine of Siena Education Building. This has space for about 15 offices, meeting rooms, video conferencing and open spaces that have been used for Art Displays, music events and public gatherings. In addition, the St Thomas Aquinas Chapel was fully refurbished and blessed and opened in April. A major feature of the new chapel is the stunning stained glass that highlights the inspiration of St Thomas Aquinas.

The St Thomas Aquinas Chapel.

In March 2016 the St Brigid’s Health Sciences commenced construction. Primarily this building will cater for the Physiotherapy program which commences on Campus in 2017 However, there are also general learning spaces and the capacity for public events. The Blessing and Opening of the St Brigid building will take place on 7 April this year.

The St Brigid's building at the Ballarat Campus.

ACU’s Camillus Residential Village, some 10 minutes drive from the main campus, has been welcoming students for over 25 years. This is a critical component of our mission and our enrolment process. With the vast majority of our students coming from regional and rural communities, the opportunity to stay in residence in vitally important.

Commencing mid 2016 the 16 houses (catering for 84 students) will be completely renovated.  Extensive work has also been undertaken in the grounds, with added security, light and an upgrade to parking.

All in all, the Ballarat Campus has undergone vast changes in the past few years.

Both Joe and I extend every best wish to our campus teams for what is shaping to be another record year.