New uni ranking names CQUniversity as top higher ed innovator
Published:11 June 2020
CQUniversity is among 15 Australian higher educators named in the Innovative Universities 2020 rankings.
CQUniversity has been named one of Australia’s top Innovative Universities 2020, in a new ranking released by The Educator Higher Education.
One of just 15 universities recognised by the inaugural report, CQUniversity was selected for its comprehensive program of social innovation education and initiatives.
Asia-Pacific’s leading multi-media resource for the most senior educational professionals and decision makers, The Educator Higher Education created the rankings to demonstrate how Australia’s universities “continue to break new ground in educational excellence and innovation”.
The Educator’s report highlighted CQUniversity’s role as Australia’s first and only Changemaker Campus, as designated by Ashoka U, an exclusive global social innovation network.
It also commended CQUni’s efforts to “work collaboratively towards systems-level change through creating and spreading ideas, models, and practices that further the spread of social innovation and changemaking education globally.”
CQUni Director of Social Innovation Lara Carton welcomed the Innovative Universities 2020 inclusion, and said it reflected years of work to equip and empower every student to be a changemaker.
“Since 2016 we’ve developed a whole suite of programs that support students, staff and our communities to find innovative and sustainable solutions to really complex social problems,” Ms Carton said.
“It’s exciting to see that work being acknowledged across higher education, and we see its impact with every student who graduates inspired to drive positive change in their world.”
In January this year CQUniversity was re-accredited as an Ashoka U Changemaker Campus, after becoming Australia’s first-ever educator to achieve the title in 2016.
The re-accreditation recognised initiatives including:
- Australia’s first whole-of-institution social innovation orientation program, iChange is freely available to all CQUniversity students and staff, and has helped kickstart hundreds of changemaker journeys,
- Social Innovation Workshops, held across regional Queensland, have supported diverse student cohorts to design solutions for community partners, across homelessness, community development and social enterprise sectors,
- Partnering with Woorabinda Aboriginal Shire Council partnership, to establish an education, enterprise and research hub in the Indigenous community,
- Catalysing Regional Ecosystems, which sees CQUni partner with Queensland Social Enterprise Council to support regional enterprises through education and network initiatives.
The Innovative Universities 2020 rankings were open to all Australian tertiary educators, and “showcase the institutions that are shaping the educational landscape of the future”.