Catholic college 'delighted' to receive top ratings in Australia

Sep 5, 2013 / 11:20 am

Officials at the University of Notre Dame Australia are pleased to have received the highest ratings in excellence in several different areas from the Good Universities Guide 2014.

"We are delighted by this year's results," Professor Celia Hammond, vice chancellor of the Australian university, told CNA on Aug. 30

"As a university, we strive to provide each student with an excellent education that enriches the whole person," she said. "We believe these results reflect our commitment to value each student as an individual."

This is the seventh consecutive year Notre Dame Australia has received 5 Stars in "Teaching Quality," "Overall Graduate Satisfaction," and "Generic Skill," media officer Annie Sandrussi told CNA.

For 2014, the influential publication also awarded Notre Dame five stars in the category of "Staff-to-Student Ratio."

The Good Universities Guide is an independent survey that rates the performance of Australian universities on a broad range of criteria, indicating educational experiences and outcomes of a university's graduates.

"Notre Dame...is among the highest rated universities in the country for graduate experience," the guide's publishers said.

"Every aspect of the learning environment provided by Notre Dame is built upon and guided by our core values – a key one of which is that each and every student is a unique individual, with gifts and talents, aspirations, hopes, dreams, weaknesses and challenges," Hammond explained.

"Throughout their studies we provide comprehensive pastoral, academic and social support, as well as opportunities for growth," she said.

Ratings for the majority of categories where Notre Dame received five stars are based on what the school's graduates say about the university through the Annual Graduate Survey.

To receive five stars in any area, Notre Dame graduates needed to have rated their courses higher than 80 percent of graduates in similar fields from other higher education institutions.

The University of Notre Dame Australia was founded through an Act of the Parliament of Western Australia in December 1989.

The Archdiocese of Perth gave the Canonical Decree of Establishment as a Catholic university through its proclamation on July 2, 1991.

"Notre Dame's 'Experience the World' program offers students the opportunity to make a difference in their lives and the lives of others through study tours and working with Caritas Australia in developing nations or participating in the life of a remote Kimberley community," said Hammond.

In addition, the study abroad program "allows our students to broaden their horizons by undertaking semester long programs with universities in Asia, Europe and the United States," she said.

Notre Dame Australia – which is separate from the well-known university of the same name in Indiana – is a Catholic institution with a focus on philosophy, theology and ethics. It offers active campus ministry opportunities, mission recruitment, and social justice education.

The university currently has more than 11,000 students enrolled across its three campuses in Fremantle, Sydney and Broome.

"We look forward to continuing our mission to help every student reach their full and unique potential," Hammond said.