University of Newcastle (Australia)

The University of Newcastle

Coat of Arms of the University of Newcastle
Latin: Universitas Novocastrium
Motto	"I look ahead"
Type	Public
Established	1951 as a college of the University of New South Wales 1965 as University of Newcastle
Chancellor	Paul Jeans
Vice-Chancellor	Caroline McMillen
Visitor	Governor of New South Wales
Academic staff	1,066
Administrative staff	1,477
Students	39,131
Undergraduates	24,445
Postgraduates	8,150
Other students	4,597
Location	Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia 32°53′34″S 151°42′16″E / 32.89278°S 151.70444°E / -32.89278; 151.70444Coordinates: 32°53′34″S 151°42′16″E / 32.89278°S 151.70444°E / -32.89278; 151.70444
Campus	Urban
Colours	Maroon and White
Affiliations	Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business, Association of Commonwealth Universities
Website	www.newcastle.edu.au

The University of Newcastle (UoN), informally known as Newcastle University, is an Australian public university established in 1965. It has a primary campus in Callaghan, a suburb of Newcastle, New South Wales. The university also operates campuses in Ourimbah, Port Macquarie, Singapore and the central business districts of Newcastle and Sydney.

Historically, the University of Newcastle Medical School has implemented the problem-based learning system for its undergraduate Bachelor of Medicine program – a system later mandated for use by the Australian Medical Council throughout Australia. It pioneered use of the Undergraduate Medicine and Health Sciences Admission Test (UMAT) in the early 1990s. UMAT has since been accepted widely by different medical schools across Australia as an additional selection criteria.

The University of Newcastle is a member of Universities Australia and the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business.

In 2015 Times Higher Education ranked the University of Newcastle number 2 in Australia and number 30 in the world for universities under 50 years of age.

The earliest origins of the present-day University of Newcastle can be traced to the Newcastle Teachers College (est. 1949) and Newcastle University College (NUC, est. 1951). NUC was created as an offshoot of the New South Wales University of Technology (now known as the University of New South Wales) and was co-located with the Newcastle Technical College at Tighes Hill. At the time of its establishment, NUC had just five full-time students and study was restricted to engineering, mathematics and science. Throughout the 1950s and 1960s, Newcastle residents campaigned for NUC to be re-constituted as a university in its own right. The campaign was ultimately successful, with the University of Newcastle being established as an autonomous institution on 1 January 1965 by gubernatorial proclamation under the University of Newcastle Act 1964 (NSW). The new university was granted a heraldic coat of arms by the College of Arms in London, an event seen by many in the community as signifying the new institution's independence. In 1966, the University relocated from Tighes Hill to a largely undeveloped bushland site in Shortland. As enrolments grew, the University embarked on a major building program and redeveloped the Shortland site into the Callaghan campus, named for Sir Bede Callaghan, foundation member of the University council and chancellor from 1977 to 1988.