Trinity College University Calendar Information

2007

SECTION A - HISTORY

Trinity College occupies that portion of the University Reserve which was granted by the Government of Victoria to the Church of England under the authority of Parliament. The first formal steps towards its establishment were taken in 1853, the College was founded in 1870, the first students were enrolled in 1872, and the College was affiliated – in the words drafted for the University Council by the Dean of Law, W E Hearn – as an ‘Educational Establishment of and within the University of Melbourne’ in 1876.

The College was founded by graduates of Cambridge and Oxford Universities and of Trinity College, Dublin, who were determined to make it possible for students to have in a College of the University of Melbourne an education at least as good as they had in the great collegiate universities of Britain and Ireland. The principal founder of the College was the Right Reverend Charles Perry, first Bishop of Melbourne, who named the College for Trinity College, Cambridge, of which he had been a Fellow. The first Warden of the College, Dr Alexander Leeper, who served from 1876 to 1918, had studied at Trinity College, Dublin, and St John’s College, Oxford. The second Warden, Sir John Behan, had been an undergraduate at Trinity, was the first Rhodes Scholar for Victoria, and returned to Trinity as Warden from a Fellowship at University College, Oxford. Three of the College’s seven Wardens have been Rhodes Scholars, and some 36 Trinity students have been awarded Rhodes Scholarships since 1904.

Although an Anglican foundation, the College has always freely admitted non-Anglicans to membership and applies no religious test. Parliament expressly confirmed this policy in the Trinity College Act 1927. The College was incorporated by Parliament through the Trinity College Act 1979.

The remarkable tutorial system of the Melbourne Colleges was pioneered in Trinity College with the appointment of the first resident tutor (J Winthrop Hackett) in 1876. Trinity College now has 270 resident students, about 100 non-resident students, about 25 resident College officers and tutors, and many non-resident tutors. The life of the College is greatly enriched by outstanding visiting scholars, including Nobel Laureates Peter Doherty, Bert Sakmann, Sir Clive Granger, and Sir James Mirrlees, who are Eminent Scholars of the University and Visiting Research Fellows of the College.

In 1883 the College became the first in Australia to offer membership to women students. A Women's Hostel was opened in 1886 and the first Janet Clarke Building for women in 1890. The Hostel, known after 1921 as Janet Clarke Hall, was extended in 1927, 1930 and 1956. In 1961 arrangements were completed for the affiliation of Janet Clarke Hall as an independent College of the University and it thereafter ceased to be part of Trinity College. Trinity College has been fully co-residential since 1974, admitting both women and men as resident and non-resident students and tutors.

The residential university College is part of a larger College, which also includes:

• Trinity College Theological School, which trains Anglican clergy and offers courses in theology for lay people, delivered on campus, online and in parishes around Australia
• Trinity College Foundation Studies (TCFS), which prepares able overseas students for undergraduate entry to the University of Melbourne and other leading Australian universities
• International Young Leaders Summer and Mid-Year Schools for secondary school students from Australia and overseas
• Other short courses, including various undergraduate and postgraduate bridging courses
• The Trinity College Foundation, the philanthropic arm of the College administered by the College’s Development Office.
  

All are integral parts of Trinity College.

The Trinity College Theological School was founded in 1877. Although concerned largely with the training of candidates for Anglican priesthood, its classes are open to any suitably qualified student. Since 1969, it has been a partner with the Jesuit Theological College and the Uniting Church Theological Hall in the United Faculty of Theology, which is itself one of the associated teaching institutions of the Melbourne College of Divinity, affiliated to the University of Melbourne. Since 2000, the Trinity College Theological School has been teaching distance courses ‘online’, making it a leader in this field in Australia.

Trinity College Foundation Studies (TCFS) was established in 1989 to support the University, and further to expand the College’s educational and cultural horizons, by providing a high-quality pathway for international students wishing to study at the University of Melbourne. TCFS is primarily a one-year full-time course (with shorter ‘fast track’ programs and also extended and ‘early entry’ programs) catering mainly to students from Asia, with some coming also from Africa, the Middle East, and other regions. Currently some 650 international students are being prepared for University study by TCFS, and more than 5,000 students have already proceeded from Trinity to undergraduate courses in the University. The TCFS program is accredited and overseen by the Academic Board of the University, and works closely with the University in promoting internationalisation and high academic standards.

Described as ‘one of the finest collegiate chapel choirs in the world’ the Choir of Trinity College comprises twenty-four choral scholars and up to three organ scholars, and is conducted by the Director of Music at Trinity College. Auditions are held annually. In addition to its primary role of providing music of the highest standard for services in the College Chapel, the Choir fulfils a busy schedule of external engagements. It has performed in leading arts festivals in Australia and the UK, is broadcast on Australia’s classical music radio stations, records for ABC Classics, frequently tours internationally, and, when in England, is regularly engaged by the BBC’s Religious Broadcasting unit.

The Choir sings Choral Evensong on Sundays during semester at 6pm in the College Chapel (consecrated in 1917) and all are welcome.

The Library, begun in the earliest days of the College, is known as the Leeper Library and is handsomely housed in a modern building opened in 1996. It is well equipped with online information resources and more than 66,500 volumes encompassing the principal fields of undergraduate study, primary research collections in Theology and Australiana, and a wealth of historical research material. The Mollison Library of the Diocese of Melbourne is also housed in the Library. This collection is mainly theological with an Anglican emphasis.

Further information is available on the College website (www.trinity.unimelb.edu.au). The history of the College’s first century is recorded in Perspective of a Century: 1872–1972 (by J A Grant). Copies may be purchased from the College’s Development Office.

The names of successive Principals and Wardens of Trinity College can also be found in the ‘Lists of Former Principal Members’ section of the University Calendar. A biography of the first Warden, Dr Alexander Leeper, entitled Doubts and Certainties, by Professor John Poynter, was published by Melbourne University Press in 1997.

SECTION B – TRINITY COLLEGE ACADEMIC STAFF

Staff of Trinity College (PDF 73Kb)
Staff of Trinity College Theological School (PDF 90Kb)
Staff of Trinity College Foundation Studies (PDF 108Kb)
Fellows of Trinity College (PDF 74Kb)

President of the Council
The Anglican Archbishop of Melbourne, the Most Revd Philip Freier,

Chairman of the Board
William D T Cowan, BE(Elec Eng), BCom Melb, MBA Harv

Warden
Associate Professor Andrew McGowan, BA(Hons) WAust, BD(Hons) MelbCollDiv, MA PhD NotreDame

Dean
Mr Campbell Bairstow, BA WAust, BEd Murdoch

SECTION C - COLLEGE TUITION

There is regular tuition throughout the year by resident and non-resident tutors in a wide range of University subjects. College Tutors are also available to give informal assistance and advice. The tutorial system is arranged in consultation with the University and other Colleges. All first-year students have a mentor with whom they meet 4–6 times a year to ensure that their time at Trinity is truly effective and enjoyable. Later-year students are also offered professional mentoring in the field in which they seek to make their career.

Trinity College theological students (resident and non-resident) study within the United Faculty of Theology, located in Parkville, for the degrees offered by the Melbourne College of Divinity. There is no Faculty or Department of Theology within the University itself.

The College Library (the Leeper Library) provides a useful working collection in the principal fields of undergraduate study, together with specialist research collections. The College also has extensive information technology resources, including a computer room for students and an internet connection in every student room.

RESIDENT STUDENTS
Applications are welcomed from students in their second and later University years (including graduate students) as well as from those entering the University for the first time. Early enquiry is advisable.

NON-RESIDENT STUDENTS
Applications are welcomed from students in all Faculties who wish to benefit from the academic and extra-curricular programs of the College. Non-resident students are expected to attend the weekly tutorial classes for which they enrol.

The non-resident program includes participation in the College tutorial program, individual mentoring, use of the College library, and access to the College's pastoral care network. Additional support, which complies with government requirements, is available for overseas students under 18 years of age. Assistance with accommodation requirements is provided only for overseas students under 18 years.

Non-resident students may dine in Hall, for a small charge, on nights on which they are attending a College tutorial. Non-residents may be invited to dinner by staff on a limited number of other occasions.

Non-resident students may join the Trinity College Associated Clubs by paying the annual subscription. This entitles them to use the Junior Common Room and related facilities, to take part in the activities of various College cultural and service societies, and to use College sporting facilities such as the tennis and squash courts. Unfortunately, non-residents are not permitted to participate in Intercollegiate competitive sport.

COLLEGE FEES
a) Residents:
Application Fee (payable at time of lodgement of initial application): $35
Enrolment Fee (payable on being admitted to College): $605
Annual Fees for resident students (various options apply): $17,228 (32-week  standard option)
Plus standard charges of: $746.36 (first year students); $436.11 (later year students)
The annual fee does not include lunch on week-days.

(b) Non-Residents:
The fee schedule for the non-resident program is packaged according to individual students’ particular needs and ranges from $530 per year (mentoring only, for students previously enrolled at Trinity College) to $1,590 per year for the full program (including tutorials, mentoring and social activities). An additional charge of $370 per year for the Determination of Appropriate Arrangements applies for overseas students under the age of 18, who must also enrol in the full program.

COLLEGE SCHOLARSHIPS AND MUSIC AWARDS
The College offers scholarships to students in all years of University courses, for a year at a time.

Generous scholarships are awarded to outstanding students entering the College who are in financial need.

A number of scholarships are offered for Indigenous students.

For students in later years in College, several scholarships are awarded on the basis of outstanding academic performance, and some on the basis of this and of financial need.

There are generous Senior Scholarships for outstanding students in their fourth or later years at University, and Bruce Munro Scholarships for outstanding students in their third or later years at University.

Scholarships are available for the children of Anglican clergy.

Choral scholarships are offered for strong students who will be committed members of Trinity’s internationally acclaimed Choir.

The College also offers ‘bursaries’ or financial assistance for students in their second or later year in the College whose families are in demonstrated financial need.
The College’s ‘student employment scheme’ enables many students to help offset their fees by undertaking work (in the office, gardens, or elsewhere) for the College.

APPLICATIONS AND FURTHER INFORMATION
Applicants for resident places are urged to lodge their applications by early November in the year prior to their proposed admission, even if at that date their applications must be provisional only.

For application forms, scholarship details and any further information apply to the Assistant to the Dean, Trinity College, Royal Parade, Parkville, Victoria 3052, Email: enquiries@trinity.unimelb.edu.au, Tel: +61 3 9348 7109, Fax: + 61 3 9348 7468.

Visit the College website at www.trinity.unimelb.edu.au, where details of opportunities for Foundation Studies, Summer Schools, and Theological study at Trinity, as well as for resident and non-resident undergraduates and tutors, may be found.


The above information is correct at the time of publication but interested persons should consult the College office or website for the latest information.