CQUNI has plenty to celebrate

CENTRAL Queensland University celebrated double-digit student growth, an expanded senior leadership team and a new emergency response centre on the Townsville campus yesterday.

The news came after the university made some hard decisions during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Back then, Cquniversity’s vice-chancellor and president Professor Nick Klomp announced a $100m shortfall on the budgeted figures for 2020 and revealed the university would implement measures to save money, including voluntary redundancies and the possible closure of the Sunshine Coast campus.

Yesterday, Prof Klomp announced the Townsville campus was going strong.

He cited a 22 per cent increase in student enrolments for Term 2 alone, compared to the same time last year.

“It’s terrific to see so many Townsville-based students choosing to study with us, and it’s also pleasing to see CQUNIversity increase its market share in Townsville,” Prof Klomp said.

“We’re in the business of changing lives through education and training. I’m excited for all of our new Townsville students and the life-changing decision they’ve made to embark on tertiary study in a supportive, flexible and innovative learning environment – particularly at this time.”

Like most businesses and organisations in North Queensland, Cquniversity has recalibrated its costs and operations in response to COVID-19, but Prof Klomp said he was very proud of the university and its students for making adjustments throughout the pandemic.

“We made those decisions three months ago and we have put it behind us, we have moved on,” he said.