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Who said what about our new status?
“First” and “only” are strong, definitive words, which might explain why they appear so often in media coverage. As the first higher education provider in Australia to become a university under new national standards and the only addition to the “Australian University” category following a transition to those standards, news of our new status received wide coverage.
National newspapers Australian Financial Review and The Australian each published a story, with the latter quoting from a statement by Alan Tudge, the federal Minister for Education and Youth. “I look forward to seeing the valuable contribution Avondale will make to student outcomes, research quality and greater community,” he said.
The Herald in Newcastle noted how the Hunter now had a second university and the city of Lake Macquarie a first. “Great news for our electorate,” tweeted Tudge’s colleague Joel Fitzgibbon, the federal Member for Hunter.
State Member for Lake Macquarie Greg Piper and Mayor Kay Fraser expressed similar sentiments. “It’s so exciting for our community and means #lakemacquarie also becomes a university City,” wrote Fraser in a share of our first Facebook post. She followed up with a letter, writing that our registration as a university “provides another opportunity for people to access higher education locally and achieve their potential.” This, she added, will help “attract young people and innovation to our region.” Piper has a long association with Avondale. “I know the amount of effort that has gone into achieving university status, so I congratulate Vice-Chancellor and President Professor Kevin Petrie and all who have come before him. . . . Well done, well deserved!”
Kevin later told ABC Newcastle “Drive” presenter Paul Turton that Avondale had “matured as an institution.” Kevin’s contemporary at The University of Newcastle, Professor Alex Zelinsky, agreed. The announcement “is a testament to [your] longstanding commitment to providing an exceptional educational experience for students, and [your] record of delivering strong social outcomes through teaching, research and service to the community,” he wrote in a letter welcoming Avondale to the cohort of Australian universities.
Sector publications Campus Morning Mail, Campus Review and Times Higher Education reported the news. “Avondale steps up,” wrote Stephen Matchett in the Mail. The Review spoke with Independent Higher Education Australia CEO Simon Finn, who told the print and digital content provider that university status “is significant recognition of [Avondale’s] value in the Australian tertiary sector.” The Times noted how Avondale would have to “maintain its focus on research to retain its newly won status.”
Avondale is a member of the worldwide Seventh-day Adventist system of universities and colleges, so prominent denominational publications such as Adventist Record, Adventist Review and Spectrum, the magazine of Adventist Forums, wanted their readers to know about the announcement, too. “Avondale as a university will continue to provide graduates and research that blesses the church and the world around us,” said Pr Glenn Townend, President of the Seventh-day Adventist Church in the South Pacific—as such, he’s also our Chancellor. “We thank God.”
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