James Cook University
James Cook University (JCU) is a public university in North Queensland, Australia. The second oldest university in Queensland, JCU is a teaching and research institution. The university's main campuses are located in the tropical cities of Cairns and Townsville, and one in the city state of Singapore. JCU also has study centres in Mount Isa, Mackay, Thursday Island[15] and Rockhampton.[16] A Brisbane campus, operated by Russo Higher Education, delivers undergraduate and postgraduate courses to international students. The university's main fields of research include environmental sciences, biological sciences, mathematical sciences, earth sciences, agricultural and veterinary sciences, technology and medical and health sciences.[17]
In 1957, Professor John Douglas Story, vice chancellor of the University of Queensland, proposed a regional university college be established to cater to the people of North Queensland. At that time, the only higher education providers were located in the state capital, Brisbane. On 27 February 1961, the University College of Townsville was opened.
After being proclaimed as an Act of Queensland Parliament, the University College of Townsville became James Cook University of North Queensland. The official opening of the university was conducted by Queen Elizabeth II on 20 April 1970.[18]
In 1970 Queen Elizabeth II, The Duke of Edinburgh and Her Royal Highness Princess Anne toured Australia including Queensland. The Queensland tour began on Sunday 12 April when the royal yacht Britannia entered Moreton Bay at Caloundra, sailing into Newstead Wharf. After visiting Brisbane, Longreach and Mount Isa the Royal Family travelled to Mackay. The royal party had a leisurely cruise to Townsville, taking four days to arrive after their departure from Mackay. On the morning of April 20, they were met by The Deputy Mayor of Townsville Mr. T. Aikens, M.L.A. and Mrs Aikens and Mr W.W. Shepherd, Chairman of the Townsville Harbour Board and Mrs Shepherd. The day's program began with a Cavalcade of Progress at the Townsville Sports Reserve. The grounds were filled with crowds and children waving Australian flags. It was a spectacle for the royal visitors and the local community who came out on the day.
Following lunch on board Britannia, the royal family were driven to the site of Queensland's newest university, the James Cook University, Townsville campus. In the presence of many dignitaries, HM Queen Elizabeth II formally granted autonomy to North Queensland's new educational institution. In 2020, James Cook University celebrated its 50th anniversary with a Treasures exhibition, showcasing 50 collection items from Special Collections, Eddie Koiki Mabo Library, James Cook University, Townsville.
The rare collection item – 'James Cook University Development: Pimlico to the First Chancellor archival footage, 1960 – 1970' was one of the Treasures selected for the anniversary year. The 12min film preserved on NQHeritage, the University Library's Special Collections online repository, shows footage of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II arriving at the official ceremony and being introduced to the official party.[19] Their Royal Highnesses first appear in the film at 6:06 minutes.[20]
The namesake is British sea captain James Cook, who is best known for being the first European to explore the eastern coast of Australia. A year after JCU's proclamation, Cyclone Althea struck the Townsville region. This, together with the destruction caused by Cyclone Tracy in Darwin 1974, prompted the establishment of a cyclone research facility.[18][21] The Cyclone Testing Station started out as a small project of Professor Hugh Trollope and began its operations on 1 November 1977 as James Cook Cyclone Structural Testing Station.[21] Its name was later changed to The Cyclone Testing Station in 2002.[22] The Cyclone Testing Station operates as a self funded unit of the College of Science, Technology and Engineering.
On 1 January 1982, JCU amalgamated with The Townsville College of Advanced Education located adjacent to the main campus in Douglas.[23] The university established a campus in Cairns in 1987 which moved to its current location in the suburb of Smithfield in 1995. On 1 January 1991, the School of Art and Design of the Townsville College of TAFE was transferred to JCU.[24] The current name of James Cook University became official on 1 January 1998.[25] In 2003 the university opened an international campus in Singapore. The university further expanded its presence by establishing another campus in Brisbane, Queensland in 2006.
JCU Singapore moved campuses in February 2015.[26] The Hon. Tony Abbott MP, Prime Minister of Australia officially opened the new JCU Singapore campus at 149 Sims Drive on 28 June 2015.[27] In 2015, JCU opened the JCU Townsville City campus.[28] In 2017, JCU opened the JCU Cairns, Bada-jali campus in Cairns CBD.[29]
JCU celebrated its 50th anniversary on 20 April 2020. To honour Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples' continuing contribution to the university, JCU gave Indigenous names to a number of its locations:
An Indigenous language name is still to be announced for the JCU Thursday Island campus.
In the early hours of 4 April 2019, a large fire broke out in the A Wing of University Hall requiring the evacuation of over 200 students.[34] There were no serious injuries, although several students were treated for smoke inhalation.[35] Immediately following the fire, the university rushed to find emergency housing for the residents affected. The renovation of the closed Clark Wing at St. Mark's College and construction of the new 'The Village' housing precinct began, and provided replacement housing for all residents from the A and B Wings of University Hall.[36]
Coat of Arms[edit]
As a corporate body, James Cook University bears arms comprising four main elements – shield, crest (Captain James Cook's ship, HMS Endeavour, in full sail), supporters (a pair of brolgas with open wings), and motto.
The university motto is Cresente Luce, which means light ever increasing. This motto was first proposed by Professor Frederick Walter Robinson (Doc Robbie), professor of English at the University of Queensland, in 1962 for the then University College of Townsville. The university college was established as a college of the University of Queensland. Adopted in 1963, the motto remained unchanged after James Cook University of North Queensland was established and incorporated in April 1970, and later became James Cook University.
University rankings
445
201–250
201–300
287=
27
13=
16–22
19
22
Controversies[edit]
Peter Ridd sacking[edit]
In November 2017, marine physicist Peter Ridd commenced proceedings in the Federal Circuit Court against the university alleging that by censuring and eventually dismissing him from his employment, JCU had breached the intellectual freedom provision in its enterprise agreement, in violation of the Fair Work Act. Ridd was a long-term professor who had been the head of the physics department from 2009 to 2016, and head of the Marine Geophysical Laboratory at JCU for 15 years. He had been critical of the accuracy of studies by the JCU marine studies centre.[77][78] JCU maintained that "it had never sought to silence Ridd, and his sacking was due to 'serious misconduct' and breaches of the university's code".[79]
Following a hearing, the Federal Circuit Court found that the university's actions were unlawful,[80] and in September 2019 ordered JCU to pay $1.2 million in compensation to Ridd.[81] The Court found that JCU had failed to respect the rights to intellectual freedom under its enterprise agreement.[82]
In July 2020, a Full Court of the Federal Court of Australia overturned the Federal Circuit Court's decision, finding that JCU's actions did not breach the Fair Work Act and that the enterprise agreement did not give Ridd an “untrammelled right” to express professional opinions beyond the standards imposed by the university's code of conduct.[83] In February 2021, the High Court of Australia granted special leave to Ridd to appeal the decision. The High Court heard the matter in June 2021.[84][85]
On October 13, 2021, the High Court unanimously dismissed the appeal brought by Ridd.[86][87] Although the Court found that some of the university's censures of Ridd were in breach of its enterprise agreement, Ridd ran his case on an "all or nothing" basis, and the High Court found that the termination of his employment was ultimately justified in relying on 18 findings of serious misconduct which were not protected by the university's academic freedom clause.[86]
Sexual harassment and assault[edit]
Nine cases of sexual abuse or harassment were reported officially on campus between 2011 and 2016, resulting in one person being removed from a college. These included an allegation of a 2015 incident in which three unidentified males tried to gang-rape a female student.[88]
In 2015 the university promoted a research officer to academic adviser despite his having pleaded guilty to raping a student.[89][90] The then acting vice-chancellor said there was a failure of internal processes and that the staff member would have been dismissed immediately if senior management had been aware that he had pleaded guilty.[89] However, whistleblowers said there had been a cover-up and that senior management, including the vice-chancellor and the university secretary, had been told of the guilty plea prior to the perpetrator's promotion.[90]
The university began a review in 2017 which led to revised policies, mandatory online training for students and staff, first responder training for staff, and counselling for victims.[91][92][93]
Scientific fraud claims[edit]
In May 2021, the American publication Science Magazine made claims about scientific fraud involving 22 papers linked to James Cook University's Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies. The Australian Research Council, the US National Science Foundation, and JCU had been asked to investigate the allegations. The article supported by the international Science Fund for Investigative Reporting, is the culmination of years of research and contested claims over how fish behaviour is changed by rising levels of carbon dioxide in the oceans. Researchers claimed to have evidence of manipulation in publicly available raw data files for two papers, one published in Science Magazine, the other in Nature Climate Change, combined with large and “statistically impossible” effects from CO2 reported in many of the other papers.[94][95]
Scientific Misconduct[edit]
An investigation by the UK scientific journal Nature published on 8 January 2020, found that eight James Cook University (JCU) studies on the effect of climate change on coral reef fish, one of which was authored by a JCU educated discredited scientist, had a 100 percent replication failure and thus none of the findings of the original eight studies were found to be correct.[96] The Swedish scientists Josefin Sundin and Fredrik Jutfelt were the first to report their suspicions to Uppsala University. Their informal investigation, and the proofs they collected, lead to the formal investigation.[97] Concerns raised about a study the scientist published while at JCU between 2010 and 2014 included an improbable number of lionfish claimed to have been used in this study, and images of 50 fish provided which appeared to include multiple images of some biological specimens, and two images that had been flipped making two fish appear to be four.[98][99] The scientist had also been found guilty of fabricating data underpinning a study at Uppsala University in Sweden following her departure from JCU in Queensland, Australia.[100] The study was subsequently retracted.[101]