After our big move, we reflect on our history

CUC Goulburn has now relocated to larger, fit-for-purpose facilities at 91 Bourke St. This is a significant moment for our Centre and – as we bid a fond farewell to our old home – it’s also an opportunity to reflect on our origins and the wonderful community we’ve built in the last six years.

Many of our students know that our old site, on the leafy grounds of Goulburn Tafe, once served as a wool-classing shed. Staff liked to share this unusual detail with the many new students and visitors welcomed to our Centre throughout the year. It may not be as well known that the old building was also, at different stages, a ‘bungalow’ kindergarten and a library, yet our tenancy there brought together the two sides of that eclectic history with our own traditions. It’s never been uncommon to find a pair of muddy work boots sitting at our doorstep, while their owner  – farmer and uni student – studies in her socks inside!

When we opened in 2018, we were only the second to open in the Country Universities Centre network and very much a pilot project. The success of the first Centre, just a few hours away in Cooma, had already demonstrated the strong potential for a new community-led model of higher education that could work for Goulburn. But the CUC model, as it had evolved, was still relatively new. Students would have choice and flexibility in what and how they could study, a welcoming space and friendly, and face-to-face support to succeed in those studies. We did not know just how successful this pilot would be!

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Our network has now grown to 21 Centres operating in 33 communities throughout NSW, Victoria, and Queensland. Our Centre has supported 700 students studying (as we like to say) “everything from accounting to zoology” with over 30 different providers. As the number of registered students has grown and continues to grow, so too has the number of graduates now working in and giving back to our region. Many of these graduates are working in schools, hospitals and local businesses where their qualifications are desperately needed. We know that our Centre made it easier for them as students. We also know that, for many of these graduates, our Centre made something that once seemed impossible possible.

CUC Goulburn is in the privileged position to share more and more examples of just how possible a uni education is every year. Perhaps the most encouraging statistic from our Centre is that every semester 1 in 2 of our students are the first in their family to ever study at uni. When Minister Jason Clare and Senator Deb O’Neill visited us last year to announce funding for further Centres, like ours, they met with many of our current and past students and heard many such stories. They left with the strong impression that CUC Goulburn as a facility was much more than just the fibro walls, a tin roof and – in more recent times – very fast internet.

CUC Goulburn has built a remarkable educational space that works for our community. We say farewell to our old space, with its rich but unassuming history, and know that we’ve made our contribution.

Register your interest and join us for the next chapter! We’d be very proud to show you around and new students are welcome to register with us at any time.