Monash University is in talks to hand its Churchill campus in Gippsland, Victoria to the University of Ballarat to create an “expanded, regionally focused university”.
The universities are working on a plan to transfer the campus with effect from next January.
In a statement, Monash vice-chancellor Ed Byrne said it is well known that his institution has been trying to come up with ways to improve the way the Gippsland campus serves its region, particularly by boosting local participation in higher education. The deal would pave the way for a “thriving broad-based regional university that facilitates learning through education and research, and which provides the foundation for regional growth and competitiveness,” the statement read.
It has been suggested that the new institution could offer courses in areas such as engineering, graphic design and multimedia, human movement and sports science, early childhood, metallurgy and health science.
Byrne said that Monash would keep the Gippsland medical school and would maintain a research presence at the new university.