Charles Darwin University has markedly improved its standing in the Good Universities Guide, an annual rating system that compares Australia’s universities.
For the first time, CDU has gained three stars in the key categories of teaching quality and graduate satisfaction. This positions CDU in the middle of Australia’s 41 universities; an impressive achievement for one of the country’s youngest universities.
CDU Pro Vice-Chancellor Academic Associate Professor Martin Carroll attributed the upgraded rating to significant efforts made by academic staff towards improving course design, student engagement and the quality of learning resources.
“Students are recognising CDU as a university of national and international standing,” Mr Carroll said.
Stabilising the technology behind the Learnline system, which serves as the online learning environment for CDU students, is also thought to have improved the student-led rating.
“Improvements to Learnline design and stability have made an enormous difference in the quality of the student experience, which is reflected in the ratings,” he said.
A four star rating in the area of positive graduate outcomes indicated that CDU graduates were highly likely to secure well-paid, secure employment.
Five star ratings in the areas of Indigenous participation, access by equity groups, gender balance and cultural diversity are reflective of the CDU’s commitment to diversity in its student base.
“As encouraging as these results are, there is clearly always room to improve,” Mr Carroll said.
New programs and courses to be launched next year include a Bachelor of Engineering Science, Bachelor of Information Systems, Bachelor of Software Engineering and a Master of Psychology (Clinical).
Six new Bachelor of Education (Secondary) courses have been added to the 2013 program, which together with the new Bachelor of Education (Primary) program will further improve content delivered in and beyond 2013.
Construction of the North Australian Centre for Oil and Gas will also be completed for the start of classes in early 2013.