Photography by Christopher Frederick-Jones JCU identified a need to upgrade its Townsville Campus to provide improved student services and to support contemporary methods of teaching and learning. In so doing, it had the opportunity to create an environment that better reflected JCU’s tropical identity, and to build a stronger sense of community among the staff and students. How can we begin to rethink a university campus based on community and its places particular climate of its place? Authentically talking with students and staff really helps. The first step was a comprehensive research program including staff and student interviews, and area and use studies of the whole university campus. The research covered all areas of the student experience including how they wanted to interact with each other, what kinds of learning support they preferred, what kinds of services they needed and how they wanted to access them, right down to how they wanted to feel when they are on campus. These insights became the basis of a plan to revitalise the campus with the JCU Education Central at its heart. The Student Hub is the new front door to the university. It follows a student-led / staff-assisted model of service that ...
Photography by Christopher Frederick-Jones JCU identified a need to upgrade its Townsville Campus to provide improved student services and to support contemporary methods of teaching and learning. In so doing, it had the opportunity to create an environment that better reflected JCU’s tropical identity, and to build a stronger sense of community among the staff and students. How can we begin to rethink a university campus based on community and its places particular climate of its place? Authentically talking with students and staff really helps. The first step was a comprehensive research program including staff and student interviews, and area and use studies of the whole university campus. The research covered all areas of the student experience including how they wanted to interact with each other, what kinds of learning support they preferred, what kinds of services they needed and how they wanted to access them, right down to how they wanted to feel when they are on campus. These insights became the basis of a plan to revitalise the campus with the JCU Education Central at its heart. The Student Hub is the new front door to the university. It follows a student-led / staff-assisted model of service that ...