The vision that built UniSQ Springfield

For Doug Fraser, the story of the University of Southern Queensland Springfield campus has never just been about buildings or growth; it has always been about creating opportunity.

Twenty years after helping establish the campus in one of Australia’s fastest-growing regions, the former campus director is reflecting on the vision, people, and community spirit that helped shape UniSQ Springfield into the campus it is today.

Doug spent the first 18 months as project director establishing the campus before serving as campus director for the next eight years, guiding a bold higher education vision for Greater Springfield.

Reflecting on the milestone, he explained that the campus was built around empowering staff, supporting students, and responding directly to the needs of the local community.

From the beginning, UniSQ Springfield was designed to serve a different student cohort – many from backgrounds where university pathways had not always been accessible or expected.

"A lot of our students were low socio-economic status students, so many didn’t have the same academic opportunities as students at other campuses,” Doug said.

“So we had to be very focused on our students, what they needed, and how to make their academic life a success.”

That strong student and community focus quickly became part of the campus identity.

“There are many great memories, because we used to try and make this place as enjoyable as possible,” he said.

“We would have billy cart races down the hill, paintball, and we would engage as much as we could with the community and with the other campuses.”

Doug said there were moments during the establishment phase when the project’s future was uncertain, but belief in the region’s long-term potential helped keep the vision alive.

“At one stage there, we almost had the project fold,” he said.

“I spoke to the then Vice-Chancellor Professor Bill Lovegrove, who himself had grown up in the region, and who was determined to provide higher educational opportunities for the Ipswich corridor.

“I said, ‘If half of what Maha Sinnathamby and Springfield Land Corporation comes to fruition, this will be a fantastic place to have a campus’.

“He agreed with me and we pushed on.”

The campus ultimately opened on time and on budget and has since grown alongside the expanding Greater Springfield community.

Doug said one of the defining features of the campus in its early years was the high level of autonomy, which could then be passed on to its staff and academics to enable them to respond directly to the needs of students and the community.

“We could experiment,” he said. “The academics could come up with new ideas and we could try them out.”

Two decades on, UniSQ Springfield has become a key part of the University’s regional education footprint, supporting thousands of students through flexible, industry-connected learning opportunities and strong community partnerships.

As the campus celebrates its 20th anniversary, Doug said its early success ultimately came from maintaining a strong focus on community and student needs, and that he hopes that this can be continued.

“With the support I had and the high-autonomy management model, the campus was able to focus on building empowered and committed academic and administrative staff teams, genuine engagement with the community, and providing high levels of support to our students,” he said.

“This led the campus to overcome the normal teething problems and for it to become a roaring success and a great place to work.”

Learn more about the UniSQ Springfield 20th anniversary.