Last week I popped in on a workshop for the 21 CQUniversity
projects being funded by the Commonwealth Government’s Higher Education
Participation Program (HEPP). This funding is targeted at initiatives we use
to better support students from disadvantaged backgrounds to be what they want
to be. It was a great opportunity for me to reflect on what an inclusive university
CQU is.
Being an inclusive university is something that everyone at
CQUniversity is proud of. Ours is a university that defines itself by those we
include rather than those we exclude. We are a university that is reflective of
the society around us and that’s exactly why it’s important for us provide
opportunities to those who might have otherwise thought a university education
was unattainable.
It’s great that some universities pride themselves on
prestige and exclusivity – and that’s great for them, but we will never be one
of those universities. I don’t think that your geographical location, family
background, study mode, ATAR or whether or not you have a disability should
determine your ability to achieve.
The HEPP projects being rolled out at CQUniversity are
evidence of this and each and every one of them has a specific aim of raising
university aspirations among students from disadvantaged backgrounds. The
projects will help to ensure these students are supported throughout their
studies and that they have the same opportunities for employment as anyone else
upon graduation. I think that the project coordinators of these programs have
some of the most exciting jobs at the University because they get to see that
what they are doing is genuinely making a difference to the lives of our
students.
I’m really looking forward to seeing the results of these 21
HEPP projects over the next few years and bearing witness to CQUniversity
reinforcing its status as Australia’s (if not the World’s) most inclusive and
engaged university!
Me having a chat to staff at the HEPP workshop
Me and with the group of HEPP project coordinators
