History
The first discussions about a university for the Sunshine Coast region began in 1973. In 1989, the Australian federal government approved the establishment of the university. On 1 July 1994 the Queensland Parliament passed the Sunshine Coast University College Act 1994.
The university was established in 1994 and first opened in 1996, as the Sunshine Coast University College. The University of the Sunshine Coast Act 1998 was passed in Queensland Parliament on 19 November of that year, formally legislating the independent status of the university. The university changed to its current name of the University of the Sunshine Coast in 1999. It was created by the Australian government to serve the growing population of the Sunshine Coast region, north of Brisbane, in Queensland. The University of the Sunshine Coast is the first greenfields university established in Australia since 1971.
Planning President Professor Paul Thomas AM became the inaugural Vice-Chancellor on 1 January 1996 with John Dobson OAM, who had been a University Council member since 1998, appointed Chancellor in March 2007, filling the role vacated by pastoralist Ian Kennedy AO. Mr Kennedy AO had served as Chancellor for the previous nine years. Mr Dobson was formally installed as Chancellor by the then Governor of Queensland, Ms Quentin Bryce AC, on 8 May 2007.
Professor Thomas retired as Vice-Chancellor and President in July 2010, effective from December 2010. Former Deputy Vice-Chancellor Professor Greg Hill was announced as his successor, taking on the role of Vice-Chancellor and President from 2011.
The student body has grown consistently since the university opened in 1996 with an intake of 524 students. At the 2012 semester 1 census, the university had 8,139 students (an increase of 4.8% on 2011).
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