The story
Founded by Charles Joseph La Trobe in 1967.1
The university was established by the assent of the La Trobe University Act 1964 (No. 7189 (Vic)) on 9 December 1964. The passing of the act by the Parliament of Victoria to establish La Trobe University followed earlier university acts to establish the University of Melbourne (1853) and Monash University (1958). The Minister of Education at the time and the appointed planning council were "unanimous in their enthusiasm that the new institution should be innovative in its approach", and the university adopted an academic structure based on schools of studies (rather than on faculties) and a collegiate format, where a large number of students lived on campus. At this time, Flinders University and Macquarie University were also establishing a schools-based system.
Many prominent Victorians were involved in La Trobe's establishment process, and there was a strong belief that it was important to increase research and learning in Victoria. One of the major individuals involved was Davis McCaughey, who later became Governor of Victoria. The university was named after Charles Joseph La Trobe, the first Governor of Victoria, and the university motto, 'whoever seeks shall find', is adapted from Charles La Trobe's family motto. The La Trobe University Coat of Arms incorporates the scallop shells from the La Trobe family bearings, the Australian wedge-tailed eagle to represent Australia, and sprigs of heath to represent Victoria.
Origins
The origins of La Trobe can be traced back to the post-World War II era when there emerged a global recognition of the need to increase facilities for higher education. In 1957 the prime minister, Sir Robert Menzies, established a special committee to report on the future of Australian universities, inviting Sir Keith Murray, chairman of the University Grants Committee of Great Britain, to chair it. The Murray Committee, in a far-reaching report submitted in September 1957, recommend a major expansion of university facilities in Australia and changes in administration and financing.
As a direct consequence of the key recommendations of the Murray report, the federal government established the Australian Universities Commission (AUC) in 1959, appointing Sir Leslie Martin as its chair. Menzies appointed Martin to chair a special committee in 1961 to report to the AUC on the rapidly increasing demands for higher education in Australia. In August 1963 it released its second report, which recognised the urgency of Victoria's situation, stating that "the resources of Melbourne and Monash Universities are not likely to meet the long-term demands for university education beyond 1966. The Commission therefore is willing to support in the 1964–1966 triennium the extension of university facilities in the Melbourne metropolitan area." Following the recommendations the federal government passed the Universities Assistance Bill in October 1963, providing a grant for a "third" university for recurrent expenditure in 1965 of $106,000 and $210,000 in 1966. The first capital grant was for 1966 and amounted to $1,000,000. These grants were to be matched by equivalent state grants.
Third University Committee
In April 1964, Sir Archibald Glenn was invited by the Victorian premier, Sir Henry Bolte, to chair a "Third University Committee". In addition to Glenn, 13 other members were announced on 21 May 1964. The committee, therefore, consisted of:
Sir Archibald Glenn, chairman and managing director, ICI Australia Ltd, Chairman
F. H. Brookes, assistant director of education in Victoria
Sir John Buchan, architect and chairman of Buchan, Laird & Buchan
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Sir Michael Chamberlin, deputy chancellor of Monash University
Sir Thomas Cherry, president of the Australian Academy of Science 1961-65
Kathleen Fitzpatrick, formerly associate professor of history at University of Melbourne
J. A. Hepburn, chief planner at the Melbourne and Metropolitan Board of Works
Ethleen King, president of the Free Kindergarten Union and former president of the National Council of Women
Phillip Law, director of the Antarctic Division, Department of External Affairs
C. E. Newman, solicitor, Numurkah, Victoria
J. D. Norgard, general manager (operations), BHP
W. C. Radford, director of the Australian Council for Educational Research
R. Selby Smith, professor of education at Monash University and principal of Scotch College, Melbourne, 1953–64
Russel G. French, secretary of the committee
The terms of reference of the committee were to advise the government on all matters concerning the establishment of a third Victorian university. This consisted of "the selection of the site, the preparation of a detailed development program, planning and calling tenders for buildings, the formulating of an administrative structure, the appointment of an Academic Planning Board and the recruitment of key staff." It was planned that La Trobe would enrol students, if possible, in March 1967.
Selecting the site
The first meeting of the committee occurred on 2 June 1964 in the rooms of the Historical Society of Victoria on Victoria Street. From there, they acted promptly in seeking out a suitable metropolitan location, inspecting 27 sites from a list of 57 possibilities.
The main constraints facing all options were area – "adequate for a full and balanced university"; cost – preferably Crown owned land, as private land would require large compensation payments; and locality – somewhere reasonably close to the demographic centre of Melbourne (calculated to be in the Camberwell area) and to public transport.
A subcommittee, headed by Phillip Law, quickly recognised that "somewhere on the eastern side of Melbourne stands out as the right location", however, Monash was already growing in the southeastern suburbs so an alternative area was sought. An early list of possibilities read:
Outer – Bundoora, Lilydale.
Inner – Burnley Horticultural College, Wattle Park, Caulfield Racecourse, Kew Mental Asylum
Selection of an inner site was unlikely, as they were mostly "either inadequate or unattainable, especially the racecourse", however, the Kew site was a real possibility.
The "ultimate choice" was unanimously agreed upon by the end of July, resulting in the farm attached to the Mont Park Asylum. Cunningham Dax, head of the Mental Health Authority, was "most co-operative", although he raised concerns that the loss of the farm would be serious for the hospital. An alternative site for the farm was procured a little further out on Plenty Road, resolving the issue.
Naming the university
While it was an interesting interpretation of a "local name", La Trobe, proposed by Fitzpatrick, was agreed unanimously upon by the planning committee after some alternatives, such as Deakin, were "thoughtfully put aside". Victorian State Parliamentarians, however, were far from unanimous when they came to debate the La Trobe University Bill.
Sir Archibald Glenn, chairman of the committee, provided a concise summary as to why La Trobe was chosen:
"Lieutenant-Governor Charles Joseph La Trobe has great historic significance for Victoria and his name is recognised internationally. La Trobe was not a university man... but he appears to have had almost every quality, one would desire in one. He had a lively interest in every aspect of life of the community, the will to work for the good of other men, and a sense of responsibility towards prosperity."
The Victorian Minister for Education, Sir John Bloomfield, upon presenting the enabling bill to the Victorian parliament, reflected on the influence of Charles La Trobe in the foundation of the University of Melbourne over 100 years before, concluding "my most satisfying reflection at this moment is that my father's father sought for gold in our hills, and he knew this city in the days of the man whom, at the behest of others, I am now trying to acknowledge. If Providence and this Parliament will it, my son's son may be taught in his aura and tradition."
Although La Trobe, like his father, used "La Trobe" and "Latrobe" interchangeably, the committee selected the spelling that was predominantly used by his side of the family.
Interim council
Following the passing of the La Trobe University Act, the interim council was established in December 1964. Aside from Sir Michael Chamberlin and Kathleen Fitzpatrick, who indicated they were unavailable, all members of the Third University Committee were appointed to the interim council, with Sir Archibald Glenn remaining as chairman. Additional members of the interim council were:
Keith Aickin, barrister
Sir Frank Macfarlane Burnet, Nobel Prize for Medicine 1960, professor of experimental medicine and director of the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute, president of the Australian Academy of Science 1965-69
J. Andrews, professor of geography, University of Melbourne,
Bernard Callinan, consulting engineer and commissioner of the SEC.
Michael Clarke, representing Northern Province, Victorian Legislative Council
John Galbally, barrister, representing Melbourne North and Opposition Leader, Victorian Legislative Council
Davis McCaughey, Master of Ormond College, University of Melbourne
Joe Rafferty, representing Ormond, Victorian Legislative Assembly
Peter Thwaites, principal of Geelong College
David Myers, vice-chancellor (ex officio).
Sir Thomas Cherry died late in 1966, prior to the final meeting of the interim council. All other members automatically became members of council upon its establishment with the first meeting held on 19 December 1966. It was this meeting that Sir Archibald was elected as chancellor of the university.
La Trobe eras
The concept of the "La Trobe eras" was first coined by William Breen and John Salmond in the university's 25th anniversary history, Building La Trobe University: Reflections on the first 25 years 1964–1989. It is used to refer to La Trobe in periods of 25 years, following the year of establishment in 1964 rather than the year of opening in 1967. As of 2015, La Trobe is currently in its third era.
First era: 1964–1989
La Trobe University was officially opened by the Victorian premier, Sir Henry Bolte, on 8 March 1967 at a ceremony that was attended by a number of dignitaries including former Prime Minister of Australia, Robert Menzies. Teaching commenced at the Bundoora campus in the first semester of that year, with some 500 students. La Trobe was seen to be unique amongst Australian universities due to its school-based and collegiate structure. At the time, "this novel approach became commonly known in the university as 'The La Trobe Concept'". Within four years, however, this format had all but broken down, with the collegiate ideal reduced to halls of residence and the schools becoming departmentalised.
Up until the late 1980s, La Trobe focused almost exclusively on the liberal arts and the sciences. In 1987 the Lincoln Institute of Health Sciences merged with the university. The Lincoln Institute had begun as Lincoln House, after the building was bought by the government in 1966, with its formal constitution being established in December 1972. Lincoln House comprised professional training schools for occupational therapy, physiotherapy and speech therapy, all of which were affiliated with the Victoria Institute of Colleges. Lincoln Institute thus became the university's Faculty of Health Sciences, offering several professional health science programs.
Second era: 1990–2014
The university established other professional schools, including its law school in 1992, which was previously a legal studies department established in 1972. In 2008, Victoria's second dentistry school was established at La Trobe. However, despite being a leading Australian university in professional health and biomedical sciences, La Trobe does not have a medical school. When planned and developed in the 1960s, there was strong expectation that La Trobe would eventually establish a medical school and a teaching hospital.
The Bendigo campus of La Trobe dates back to 1873: the Bendigo College of Advanced Education amalgamated with La Trobe University in 1991, completing a process that began in the late 1980s as part of the Dawkins reforms to higher education. During the merger process, a controversial issue erupted when the university's head office in Bundoora raised concerns about the academic standards at Bendigo CAE. This led to a public outcry in which Bendigo CAE students threatened the Bendigo Advertiser over publishing the matter in its newspapers. Several newspapers were burned in the protest.
The inclusion of the Wodonga Institute of Tertiary Education took place in the same year. The university continued to expand, with the opening of campuses in Shepperton (1994), Mildura (1996), the Research and Development Park at Bundoora and sites in the Melbourne CBD.
Funding and cutbacks
Higher education reforms by the Howard government allowed Australian universities to increase fees and take in a greater number of full-fee paying students. Despite a large student backlash, La Trobe took advantage of the reforms, increasing fees by 25% in 2005. Around the same time, the university suffered cutbacks in government funding, a problem experienced across most of the Australian higher education sector.
La Trobe lost funding disproportionately across its departments. For instance, the History Department at the university was once by far the largest of any institution in Australia; however, funding restrictions led to a significant reduction in its size. Similarly, in 1999, the Music Department was closed due to funding cuts; in 2004 the Geology Department was excised even though it had the highest graduate satisfaction rating in the country. The university's African Research Institute, the only major African studies centre in Australasia, was closed at the end of 2006. In 2008, the university cut the Philosophy and Religious Studies Program at the Bendigo campus, the change resulted in the stream only being taught as a minor.
In 2008, La Trobe was operating with a $1.46 million surplus but highlighted that by 2010 it would "review, and where appropriate, restructure all academic, administrative and committee structures" to deal with diminished student intakes, falling entrance marks, below-par scores on student satisfaction surveys and a decreasing proportion of national research funding. In an attempt to address these issues, the university made cut backs and restructured several courses under the direction of the Vice-Chancellor, John Dewar. As of 2013, the university was operating on a 28 million dollar surplus.
Third era: 2015–present
In 2015, La Trobe University committed to fully divest from fossil fuels, after a campaign by students and faculty. The university later committed in 2019 to become fully carbon neutral in its own operations by 2029.
COVID-19 pandemic
In 2020, La Trobe University had its operations substantially impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. In March, part of the Bundoora campus had to be closed for a deep clean after a student tested positive for the disease. The university remained open for a time, until the health advice from the Department of Health and Human Services indicated the university should close - although a limited number of courses eventually continued in a face-to-face teaching mode. Classes not run face-to-face were continued online.
This, combined with a reduction in international student enrolments, purportedly weakened the university's financial position - although the extent to which this occurred is debated. Reports circulated that La Trobe University risked exhausting its cash reserves unless a deal was with reached with financial institutions or the federal government but the university has stated that it was not at risk of insolvency. A range of measures were proposed or taken to improve the university's finances including voluntary redundancies, and staff pay cuts. La Trobe had applied for access to the Australian government wage subsidy program, JobKeeper, but it was deemed ineligible.
Other steps taken by the university in response to the pandemic include: opening up new pathways for student enrolment that did not require an ATAR, removing failing grades from student transcripts and offering new short courses.
From Wikipedia’s article on La Trobe University, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.3