Study into feasibility of Kalgoorlie-Boulder university college

25/7/93

A feasibility study will be undertaken to determine the viability of creating Kalgoorlie-Boulder's first university.

The study, due to report by the end of the year, was announced today by Education Minister Norman Moore and Commonwealth Education Minister Kim Beazley.

The aim was to examine whether a Kalgoorlie university college could be created by combining the facilities of the School of Mines - which was a campus of the Curtin University of Technology - and the existing independent Kalgoorlie College.

"The college and the School of Mines are located in a common precinct and could have great possibilities for shared infrastructure, but there needs to be thorough consultation and investigation," Mr Moore said.

"The college already provides a wide range of technical and further education plus a number of university-level courses under contract with Perth-based universities."

The School of Mines provided a number of undergraduate and postgraduate programs.

Mr Beazley said the ultimate objective was to determine the best organisational arrangement for post-secondary education in the Kalgoorlie-Esperance region.

"It could be that a concentration of resources might enable a wider range of courses and educational opportunities," he said.

"The study will consider options for inter-sector co-operation and management which have been developed successfully in other States."

The study was funded by the Commonwealth Department of Employment, Education and Training (DEET) with support from the Kalgoorlie College, the Western Australian School of Mines and the WA Office of Higher Education (WAOHE).

The feasibility study will be carried out by the Kalgoorlie university college steering committee, under the chairmanship of Mr Ian Burston, executive director, Gold Mines of Kalgoorlie.

Mr Laurie Money, from WAOHE, had been appointed project director and would live in Kalgoorlie until the report was completed.

Media contact: Ross Storey 321 1444 / 222 9595