Former name |
|
---|---|
Type | Collegiate theological university [2] |
Established | 1910[3] |
Accreditation | TEQSA |
Religious affiliation | Christian denominations |
Chancellor | Graeme Blackman |
Vice-Chancellor | James McLaren |
Location | , |
Campus | National collegiate with multiple sites [5] |
Colours | Red Gold |
Website | divinity.edu.au |
The University of Divinity is an Australian collegiate university with a specialised focus in divinity and associated disciplines. It is constituted by twelve theological colleges from seven denominations and three schools. The University of Divinity is the direct successor of the second oldest degree-granting authority in the State of Victoria, the Melbourne College of Divinity. The university's chancery and administration are located in Box Hill, a suburb of Melbourne in the state of Victoria.
The Melbourne College of Divinity was constituted in 1910 by an act of the Parliament of Victoria. The act was amended in 1956, 1972, 1979, 1990, 2005 and 2016 and is now known as the University of Divinity Act 1910 (previously the Melbourne College of Divinity Act 1910). [6] [7] From its beginnings the college was a self-accrediting issuer of degrees, while not becoming a university until 2011. Representatives appointed by several churches formed the college to provide tertiary level theological education. The first president was the Right Reverend Henry Lowther Clarke, Anglican Archbishop of Melbourne, and the first registrar was the Reverend John Mathew, Moderator of the Presbyterian Church of Victoria. [8]
In 2010, the Melbourne College of Divinity applied to the Victorian Regulation and Qualifications Authority for approval to operate as a self-accrediting "Australian University of Specialisation" [9] (a category of higher education provider [10] ). The Victorian government announced on 30 August 2011 that the application had been approved and on 1 January 2012 the college began operating as a university. Peter Sherlock was appointed the inaugural vice-chancellor in April 2012. [9] In May 2019 TEQSA extended the seven-year licence to operate as a university for an additional three years to the maximum possible of ten years before a review. On 1 July 2021, TEQSA changed the provider category of University of Divinity from Australian University of Specialisation to Australian University, with self-accrediting authority in the broad field of Society and Culture’. [11]
In the 2022 Student Experience Survey, the University of Divinity recorded the highest student satisfaction rating out of every Australian university, with an overall satisfaction rating of 91. [12]
The University of Divinity offers awards in theology, philosophy, counselling, ministry, leadership and professional supervision.
In 2001 the institution was listed as a Schedule 1 Higher Education Institution by the Australian Government Department of Education, Science and Training. It receives federal funding for research, Australian Postgraduate Research Awards and International Postgraduate Research Scholarships.
The Higher Education Support Act (2003) (HESA 2003) listed the institution as a Table B (Private, Self-regulating) Higher Education Provider, which allowed its students to access federally funded loans under the FEE-HELP scheme. [13]
The colleges of the University of Divinity are: [14]
The three schools associated with the University are: the School of Indigenous Studies, the School of Graduate Research, and the School of Professional Practice. [19] [20] [21]
Students at the university have access and borrowing rights to a number of library collections including the Mannix Library at Catholic Theological College, Geoffrey Blackburn Library at Whitley College, the Leeper and Mollison Libraries at Trinity College Theological School, as well as the Dalton McCaughey Library, the Patrick Murphy Memorial Library, the Redemptorist Seminary Library, the Dominican Studium Library, the St Pashcal Library and the Sugden Collection at Queen's College.
Adelaide College of Divinity (ACD) was an accredited higher education provider offering diploma, associate and bachelor's degrees, graduate diplomas, master and doctoral degrees in ministry, it also was a Registered Training Organisation offering certificates and a diploma.
The Australian College of Theology (ACT) is an Australian higher education provider based in Sydney, New South Wales. The college delivers awards in ministry and theology. It is now one of two major consortia of theological colleges in Australia, alongside the University of Divinity. Over 23,000 people have graduated since the foundation of the college. On 7 October 2022 it was granted university college status by the Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency.
The Uniting College for Leadership and Theology located at Brooklyn Park South Australia is a Uniting Church in Australia (UCA) theological college for the education and training of both lay people and those for specified ministries including the diaconate and youth workers. It is a member college of the University of Divinity.
Brisbane College of Theology, located in Auchenflower, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia, was an ecumenical theological education consortium (1983–2009), comprising St Francis' Theological College (Anglican), St Paul's Theological College, , and Trinity Theological College (Uniting). The B.C.T was inaugurated on March 28, 1983.
Trinity College Theological School (TCTS) is an educational division of Australia's Trinity College, the oldest residential college of the University of Melbourne. It is also one of the constituent colleges of the University of Divinity. The School provides theological education and shapes men and women for ordained and lay ministry in the Anglican tradition, as well as providing other programs of study, including higher degrees by research.
The College of St John the Evangelist or St John's Theological College is the residential theological college of the Anglican Church in Aotearoa, New Zealand and Polynesia.
The Licentiate in Theology or Licence in Theology is a non-degree qualification in theology awarded by the Anglican institutions in Canada and previously awarded in other Commonwealth countries. The qualification was introduced in the first half of the 19th century for candidates to the Anglican priesthood in the United Kingdom and has primarily been offered by Anglican theological colleges and universities.
Ridley College, briefly also known as Ridley Melbourne, is a Christian theological college in the parklands of central Melbourne in the Australian state of Victoria. Established in 1910, it has an evangelical foundation and outlook and is affiliated with the Australian College of Theology and the Anglican Church of Australia. The college offers on-campus and online learning and provides training for various Christian ministries in a range of contexts.
The United Faculty of Theology (UFT) was a recognised teaching institution of the University of Divinity in Melbourne, Australia. It was founded in 1969 as an informal association of theological colleges and ceased operating in December 2014.
Whitley College is a Baptist theological institute in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. The college is associated with the Baptist Union of Victoria and is one of the theological schools of the University of Divinity.
Paul Stuart Fiddes is an English Baptist theologian and novelist.
Royal Parade is a major urban road in Victoria, Australia, linking Melbourne City to Brunswick and the northern suburbs. It is the site of major educational and sporting facilities as well as several buildings of heritage significance.
Dorothy Ann Lee is an Australian theologian and Anglican priest, formerly dean of the Trinity College Theological School, Melbourne, a college of the University of Divinity, and continuing as Frank Woods Distinguished Professor of New Testament. Her main research interests include the narrative and theology of the Gospels, particularly the Gospel of John, spirituality in the New Testament, the Transfiguration and Anglican worship.
St Mark's National Theological Centre is a theological college in Australia. It is owned and operated by the Anglican Diocese of Canberra and Goulburn.
Pilgrim Theological College is an Australian theological college and a member college of the University of Divinity. It is part of the Uniting Church in Australia Synod of Victoria and Tasmania's Centre for Theology & Ministry.
Colleen Anne O'Reilly is an Australian Anglican priest. She was made a Member of the Order of Australia in 2021 in recognition of her significant service to the Anglican Church of Australia, and to religious education. O'Reilly has been a strong advocate for women's leadership in the Anglican Church and women's ordination since the 1970s and described by Muriel Porter as "the ‘mother' of the movement that was a key factor in bringing about the ordination of women through many years of determined struggle".
Maryanne P. Confoy RSC is an Australian religious Sister of Charity who has also been a teacher and scholar, working primarily in the areas of ministry and spirituality.
Marita Munro is an Australian minister and academic who was the first Baptist woman to be ordained in Australia.
Catholic Theological College (CTC) is one of the constituent theological colleges of the University of Divinity, an Australian collegiate university of specialisation in divinity. The college is located in East Melbourne, Victoria.
Peter Sherlock is an Australian academic and was the inaugural Vice-Chancellor of the University of Divinity in Melbourne, a role he held between 2012 and March 2024. He specialises in the cultural history of Renaissance and Reformation Europe, and is a recognised authority on historic monuments.