Caulfield remembers its past

October 2005

Report: Diane Squires

Monash's Caulfield campus, which has undergone many changes since it began as the Caulfield Technical School, is celebrating its history.

In 1922, long before Monash University came into existence, the Caulfield campus began training young people for their careers.

Landmark: the iconic Caulfield campus corner.

Over the years, despite changes of name and educational direction, the institution has remained a local landmark that plays a significant role in the lives of thousands of students and hundreds of staff. On 15 November, the first reunion of Caulfield campus staff and students will celebrate 83 colourful years.

Mr Barrie Bernau was just 11 when he started at the then Caulfield Technical School in 1945. After completing his Merit Certificate, Junior Technical Certificate and Intermediate Technical Certificate, he decided to go on to further studies and found himself studying the Diploma of Electrical Engineering at Caulfield.

"I had intended to enter an architecture course the following year, but at the last moment, when students were being divided into career groups in the school quadrangle, I followed my mates and so began my electrical engineering career," he says.

Mr Bernau, who became president of the Student Representative Council in 1952, has many fond memories of his schooldays at what is now Monash's Caulfield campus.

"I had many good friends and very nice classmates," he says. "I rode my bike to and from school every day -- none of the students had cars until a few returned servicemen enrolled at the campus.

"One incident I always remember was in 1945 when the then headmaster addressed the school assembly and informed us that World War II had ended -- there was great excitement among the students that day."

By 1969, the campus had become the Caulfield Institute of Technology, and trades such as blacksmithing, carpentry and horse-shoeing and smithing had been replaced by diplomas and degrees in computing, business, applied science, engineering, mathematics and psychology.

Ms Joan McPhee, who lectured in economics at the campus from 1969 until 1988, says the institute's atmosphere was very different to that of a university campus. "The Caulfield campus had always catered for a high proportion of part-time students who simply attended for the timetabled lectures and tutorials," she says. "There were very few extracurricular activities available to students on campus then."

The institute amalgamated with the State College of Victoria at Frankston in 1982 and became the Chisholm Institute of Technology.

In 1990, Chisholm merged with Monash University and became the university's Caulfield campus. Today the campus provides a vibrant mix of studies in the faculties of Arts, Art and Design, Information Technology, Business and Economics, and Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences.

Academic director for Caulfield and Clayton campuses Professor Rob Willis says the reunion will help reconnect disparate and interested staff and students and encourage them to share their stories and celebrate the success of the campus.

"A major issue facing a university the size and complexity of Monash is how we maintain contact with our alumni," he says.

"One way is a reunion -- in this case for all staff and students going back to 1922 when the Caulfield Technical School opened.

"Many high-profile business people have been educated at the Caulfield campus since that time and have risen to high positions in the community," Professor Willis says.

"Even the Governor of Victoria, Mr John Landy, undertook woodworking and wood-turning here."

For information on the Caulfield reunion, go to the Caulfield Campus Reunion website or contact the Monash Alumni Relations Office on +61 3 9905 2636.