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Exciting News from the Australia Studies Centre!
May 30, 2013
Much has changed since February 2004, when the Council for Christian Colleges & Universities (CCCU) sent its first group of 19 students to study at the Australia Studies Centre (ASC) at the Wesley Institute. Including this semester's students (who have just one week left) over 500 students from the United States, Canada and a few other countries have journeyed to and around Australia, studied at the ASC and Wesley Institute, and created memories with homestay families, dorm-mates, service placement supervisors and patrons, Wesley students and staff, ASC students and staff, and even random, serendipitous friends.
At the end of 2013, the Australia Studies Centre will celebrate 10 years in Sydney and at the Wesley Institute! It has been such a blessing to be able to partner with Wesley in the difficult but rewarding task of providing Christ-centered higher education to students studying outside of their home countries.
So it is with mixed sadness and joy that our CCCU President Edward Blews, on recommendation of the BestSemester staff, announces that beginning semester 1 (spring) 2014 we will move from Sydney to Brisbane, Australia and partner with Christian Heritage College (CHC) to offer the Australia Studies Centre. While this means a change in location, we believe that CHC has unique advantages for students studying in Australia especially in the range of classes it offers for ASC students. CHC offers majors in:
BUSINESS: Accounting, Marketing, Management, HR Management.
EDUCATION: Early, Primary, Middle and Secondary. CHC also offers content-area units in the areas of English, History, Drama, Business, Accounting and Biblical Studies.
SOCIAL SCIENCES: Counselling, Youth Work, Human Services, Chaplaincy, Community Development, Human Behaviour.
MINISTRIES: Ministry Foundation, Ministry Formation, Ministry Practice, Ministry Leadership, Social Justice.
New CCCU President Edward Blews was in Australia this week to personally visit the Christian Heritage College campus, faculty, and staff in Brisbane, and to meet with CHC Principal Brian Millis to review and finalize the agreement to host the CCCU's Australia Studies Centre. He also met with Wesley Institute Managing Director Greg Rough to discuss a smooth and successful transition for the ASC and to thank him for Wesley Institute's service to CCCU students. Dr. Blews also met with the staff and students of the ASC. After this thorough review and presidential approval of the BestSemester and ASC staff recommendations, he is very excited about the future success of the ASC as it undergoes this transition. He is confident the ASC will continue to transform lives by faithfully relating scholarship and service to biblical truth while offering expanded academic options for our students in Australia. President Blews joins ASC Director Spragg and the BestSemester staff in believing that this is the right move for the ASC.
President Blews expresses profound gratitude to Wesley Institute and its Managing Director Greg Rough and to Christian Heritage College and its Principal Brian Millis for their commitments to serving CCCU ASC students in the past and into the future.
While we believe that CHC will be an excellent partner with the ASC, the city of Brisbane provides a lovely location for students to be able to experience Australia in new and exciting ways. Brisbane is not only a beautiful river city filled with ferries and bridges and sky-scrapers and quirky art installations, but it's foot-friendly and built for adventure and outdoor experiences. Brisbane is also closer than Sydney to destinations such as the Great Barrier Reef, Fraser Island, the Sunshine Coast, the Gold Coast and Surfer's Paradise, the Scenic Rim and Steve Irwin's Australia Zoo.
To get a feel for the city of Brisbane and Christian Heritage College, feel free to check out our newest video:
The ASC will continue at Wesley Institute in semester 2 (fall) 2013, during which we will explore ways to celebrate the 10 years of professional and spiritual growth facilitated by our partnership with Wesley Institute.
We wish Wesley Institute God's rich blessings in this next stage of their endeavours.
