The delivery of agriculture education across the region has received a significant boost, with the University of New England (UNE) awarded $29 million of Federal Government funding to complete its $46 million “Integrated Agricultural Education Project”.
The funding announcement was made last Thursday by the Minister for Tertiary Education, Senator The Hon Chris Evans at the UNE Tamworth Centre, along with the Independent Member for New England, Tony Windsor.
Acting Vice-Chancellor Annabelle Duncan said UNE was delighted to have received the grant and thanked the Federal Government for supporting UNE’s goal to be a leader in agriculture.
“The Integrated Agricultural Education Project includes new and upgraded buildings with collaborative teaching and learning spaces on UNE’s Armidale Campus, an adjacent SMART Farm educational facility and a significant upgrade to UNE’s Tamworth Regional Study Centre,” Professor Duncan said.
“The majority of the grant will be spent on a new three storey Agricultural Education Building which will include specialised teaching laboratories, a large lecture theatre, tutorial rooms, temper-ature-controlled work rooms, a multi-discipline Zoology Teaching Museum and a Learning Resource Centre.
“Contrary to sector trends, UNE has been increasing its enrolments in agriculture and animal sciences and we expect that trend to continue.
“This project allows UNE to accommodate that growth in state-of-the-art facilities and continue to supply skilled graduates to agri-business nationally.”
The project also includes upgrading Tamworth’s Regional Study Centre to a UNE Future Campus, meaning improved interactive tutorial spaces and cutting edge technology for online students to access.
“This project aligns with UNE’s Strategic Plan, which is to grow volume and margin in Distance Education and to invest the surpluses in the on-campus experience,” concluded Acting Vice-Chancellor Annabelle Duncan.
