What to Expect from New USC Moreton Bay Campus at Petrie

The University of the Sunshine Coast Moreton Bay Campus is on track to open for semester one next year, but what will campus life be like for its first intake of students?

Moreton Life asked chief operating officer Scott Snyder to offer a glimpse of what they can expect. “USC Moreton Bay’s 16,000sq m foundation facility is the first stage of development within our university precinct — the anchor of Moreton Bay Regional Council’s much larger Mill at Moreton Bay development,” Dr Snyder explains.

“Our foundation building will have everything you’d expect from a world-class university — all within three levels under one roof. The top level has the majority of our nursing and engineering labs, the second level is predominantly for staff offices and meeting spaces, and the ground level is all about easy access to student services including the library, the auditorium, student services and cafe and retail shops.”

There will be $15 million of tech built into it including specialist areas such as nursing simulation labs, engineering facilities with specialist areas for robotics and thermodynamics, and a large ‘superlab’ for chemical experiments.

At the centre of it all is The Rise — a large communal area where students and staff can meet, relax, socialise and collaborate.

Moreton Bay Regional Council Mayor Allan Sutherland say the greenfield site is a blank page for the first cohort to write their own destiny. “My kids spent half their day driving from Redcliffe to classes across greater South East Queensland when they should have either been in class or on campus enjoying student life,” he says.

“Being able to study closer to home means you’ll have the time to make uni feel like home, make lifelong friends, learn incredible things and forge your own future. It might be a little overwhelming to be the first, but it’s a unique privilege and a chance to make your mark.”

Dr Snyder says students can expect “an authentic, exciting and supportive experience”.

“There will be a regular schedule of events and the campus has been designed with plenty of spaces for studying and hanging out. A cafe will be open from day one and spaces will be filled by other retailers in time,” he says.

In its first year, the university will offer students just under 50 undergraduate degrees in the areas of health, business, education, communications and design, environmental science, psychology and social sciences.

There will also be three exclusive programs — degrees in Engineering (Mechatronics) (Honours), Engineering (Electrical and Electronic) (Honours) and Computer Science.

A further 16 programs will be added during the following two years. Plans are already afoot for a second building and an environmental interpretative centre on the water’s edge.