Actors tread the boards at home
THE aptly-named Veranda Theatre Co is opening its first performance on a spacious balcony at Freshwater. Playwright Angela Murphy (right) with actors Daryl Heath, Peter James and Rachel Terry rehearse for the invitation-only 10-minute play Survival Instincts for a COVID-19 social distancing restricted audience.
ENROLMENTS at CQUniversity’s Cairns campus are on the rise as individuals prepare to upskill for future roles or change their career paths postCOVID-19.
The university yesterday revealed that more than 1500 Tertiary Admission Centre (TAC) places had already been offered to potential new students across its campuses — a 14.4 per cent increase compared to the same time last year.
CQU vice-chancellor and president Professor Nick Klomp said offers at the Cairns CBD campus for term 2, which is due to resume on July 13, were ahead of last year’s figures.
Health, social sciences, digital and communications courses are proving to be the most popular for new enrolments in the region.
“Our digital media and professional communications courses are proving popular for term 2 entry, while nursing continues to be one of our most popular courses in Cairns with over 40 places already offered,” Prof Klomp said.
“Offers for psychological science and exercise and sport sciences have also increased year-on-year.”
Enrolments for online learning at CQUniversity have also increased by more 30 per cent compared to last year, with health courses topping the list.
Mr Klomp said students in Cairns were taking advantage of the online study options in a big way.
“It’s important to note that we’re seeing a big jump in offers for online study across the board in all of our regions, including in Cairns with 128 online offers to students within the Cairns region to date,” he said.
“These figures are as at June 26 (domestic undergraduate TAC offers) with more offer rounds continuing through to July 10.
“So we can expect offer numbers to keep rising as we lead into term 2.”
CQUniversity vice-president academic, Professor Helen Huntly, said demand for tertiary education historically increased during periods economic downturn.
“This trend for our term 2 enrolments is reflective of that trend,” she said.
“CQU is proud to continue to provide quality teaching to both school leaver and mature age students who are either entering tertiary education for the first time, upskilling, or reskilling, and look forward to welcoming our students.”
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