Southern Cross University Vision: Southern Cross University will be recognised for enriching our communities through the excellence of our scholarship and the achievements of our graduates. Southern Cross University Mission: We equip our students to live a life they value and to be effective global citizens. We do this by creating inspirational and engaged learning experiences by staff who actively practise scholarship. We extend internationally recognised educational opportunities for our diverse student body, including those from rural and regional communities. We create and apply knowledge in partnership with our communities in fields that are regionally relevant and globally significant. Southern Cross University is a vibrant, contemporary Australian university with beautiful campuses at the Gold Coast Tweed Heads, Lismore and Coffs Harbour. The University also operates The Hotel School Sydney in partnership with Mulpha Australia. We welcome students from more than 80 countries throughout the world and offer undergraduate and postgraduate courses in an inspiring and supportive learning environment. The University has a strong student focus and takes pride in the quality of its lecturers, many of whom are recognised as leaders in their fields. Our degrees are offered across a broad range of disciplines, and are designed in consultation with industry. Many involve work placements and internships and other forms of hands-on learning to produce work-ready graduates. Research is undertaken in areas that are regionally relevant and globally significant, in disciplines as diverse as geoscience, plant genetics, cetacean research, health and wellbeing and tourism. The University grew out of the Lismore Teachers College (1970), later the Northern Rivers College of Advanced Education (1973) and was formally established as a University on 1 January, 1994. We have more than 16,000 students studying on campus, by distance education or with one of our educational collaborators in Australia or overseas. Its regional footprint encompasses the mid to northern regions of New South Wales, and the rapidly growing region of the southern Gold Coast in Queensland. SCU offers courses from bachelor degrees to masters by coursework and research, and doctoral awards, as well as a pre-admission program (Preparing for Success) and shorter professional development courses. The University has classified its research activities into a hierarchy of entities according to themes and success in achieving high quality, world class research outcomes. As a result SCU has two Special Research Centres (SRCs) and five Research Centres. The two SRCs are Southern Cross Geoscience and Southern Cross Plant Science. The research centres have been identified as groups which have the potential to perform at a world class level and the emerging areas of research are known as clusters. The five Research Centres are: Centre for Tourism, Leisure and Work; Research Centre for Children and Young People; Centre for Gambling Education and Research; Marine Ecology Research Centre; and Centre for Coastal Biogeochemistry Research.