History of The Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology - Expansion For The 21st Century

Expansion For The 21st Century

Following its reconstitution as a public university, RMIT then underwent a large and rapid expansion where a number of other institutes and colleges became amalgamated with it, between 1993 and 1999, which included: Phillip Institute of Technology, Melbourne College of Decoration and Design, Melbourne College of Printing and Graphic Art and Melbourne Institute of Textiles.

In 1995, RMIT acquired the neighbouring, and recently vacated, former Melbourne Magistrates' Court and City Watch House buildings on the corner of La Trobe Street and Russell Street, and renamed its expanding campus in Melbourne the "City campus". It also established a new enivronmentally sustainable "country campus" around 20 km from the City campus, in Bundoora, which opened in 1995.

In 1999, it acquired the derelict state heritage-listed Capitol Theatre in the Melbourne CBD, and refurbished it to its original design. It also established a specialised fashion and printing campus in Brunswick, on the site of the former Melbourne Institute of Textiles in 1999, and became a founding member of the Australian Technology Network, a coalition of leading Australian universities working with industry.

At the turn of the century, RMIT was invited by the Government of Vietnam to establish Vietnam's first foreign-owned university. In 2001, it established "RMIT International University, Vietnam" near the centre of Ho Chi Minh City, and a second campus in the Vietnamese capital city of Hanoi in 2004. In its years of operation, the Government of Vietnam has awarded RMIT International University five Golden Dragon Awards for Education.

During the mid-2000s, RMIT experienced financial problems, partly due to problems associated with its student administration system upgrade (A$47 million was spent in this effort). The financial problems eventually claimed the then Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Ruth Dunkin. In 2005, RMIT appointed a new Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Margaret Gardner AO and, between 2006 and 2007, posted operating profits of A$50.1 million and then A$109.5 million each year respectively. In 2006, it also became a founding member of the Global U8 Consortium.