From The Chairman
Geoff Perry
Chair of the Robb College Foundation
At our inaugural Rural Focus Symposium in 2016, I was taken by the address given by Andy McConville, one of our very successful Robb Alumnists who, at that time was a senior executive, based in Switzerland with Syngenta, the largest, multi-national agricultural chemical company in the World.
His statistics on what is required to double food-production by 2050 to feed the World and the impact and opportunities this creates for Australia was staggering.
His passion was compelling and his belief in the ability of science combined with human ability and communication skills obvious as he appealed strongly to the students to look to a career in agriculture and not be swayed as the challenge and the rewards would be exciting.
We need more passionate professionals.
This is why I believe, if you are going to donate to a cause or charity, then donating to help fund the education of Robb College students, for their future to a qualified career, is an investment in professional care and “problem solving”.
The World belongs to the intelligent who are daring.
Many Robb College students, like Andy, go on to become intelligent, passionate but caring problem solvers and that is what we need more of in the world. People whose vocations lead them to apply their knowledge and skills to serve humanity and their communities. Robb College helps develop a culture of “doers-who-care”.
There is a need for Residential Scholarships
Many students doing their degrees on-line wish they could change to doing them full-time on campus. They are struggling to complete them externally and find it stressful with competing time commitments to their employers and family. The withdrawal and failure rate is double that of doing your degree on campus. Residential degrees can be completed more quickly, at half the cost and a “Robber” benefits from the College system of personal academic support. They also join a network of Alumni who can provide career and work-experience. They can make friends for life which all helps them to realise their potential. However residential fees cannot be put on HECS.
We are building our residential scholarships into a structured “pathway” to cover each year of a student’s academic career and lift the academic culture.
Since 2016 we have worked to preserve our older awards and combined them with new ones to establish a unique scholarship and prize platform. From 2016 to 2022 we have raised our funds to nearly $1.0m which has helped us lift the value of our awards and make them sustainable. However the task is not complete and we need to seriously continue to lift our funds in Trust with UNEF to build and sustain perpetual scholarships and research grants that keep pace with inflation and attract students to Robb. We wish to add-value to our students studying on campus and assist them with the costs of tertiary education, further lift the academic-culture of the College and fund other benefits for all its students.
We need “career-ready” leaders and are building a support system around our scholars.
We are working with the Head of Robb, the SCR, JCR and Alumni along with Employers to help build a program of work experience, career networks, extra-curricular development and academic mentoring along with our scholarships to help prepare our students for their careers.
Robb College is thriving and is a strong “brand” in the marketplace.
While the development of the Robb Building was held up, the student-body kept Robb alive. The demand by students to be a part of Robb is strong. They are active with community fund-raising, organising industry events, lifting their sporting and academic achievements and the College continues to remain strong.
Employers and industry see Robb as a “go-to” source for quality employees and there is a growing demand for recruits, particularly in agriculture.
Robb students go on to serve their communities whether as a grazier, farmer, agronomist, scientist, economist, accountant, lawyer, educator, doctor, nurse, financier or business manager and go on to head-up local firms, farms or multi-national corporations.
The last 10 years - a turbulent time for Robb College.
In 2017, after six years, the Heritage Listing application was dropped and we anticipated the UNE would move to re-build the residential courts and refurbishment of the Hall for Robb. 2 years later Covid closed the Colleges and due to financial difficulties the UNE announced to move to retrench 200 staff and appear to have ceased any forseeable development plans for the Colleges.
Over six years from 2014 to 2020 the Robb students were moved between 3 buildings on campus. Keeping Robb student numbers high is the best way we can prepare for a ”new horizon”and ensure the College continues to succeed and thrive as one of the leading rural-based agricultural colleges in SE Asia.
We wish to keep building Robb as a valuable, residential-education and “research cell” within UNE.
The future Robb College can continue to build its value as a “meeting place” for resident and remote students, research Fellows, employers and industry who are here on short or long term stays at UNE or working remotely.
Launching new Robb Leader-Scholarship Appeal.
To commence the pathway towards these goals the Robb Foundation Board have launched a Scholarship appeal to lift our funds to $1.5m. I commend this program to you and invite you to make a donation and investment in the future for Robb College students to become “Career-Ready Leaders”.
The return on investment is one of improving our local, national and international economies and communities.
Please go to the Appeal page for further details.
Thank you.
Geoff Perry.