Academic Governance

The late Gordon Cahill is a legend in the Tunbridge area of Tasmania.  Gordon was a shearer who commenced work in the notoriously tough industry just after the Great War and in nearly 50 years is reputed to have sheared 750,000 sheep.

Although he worked seasonally machine shearing in sheds around Australia, it was in properties in regional Tasmania that he and his brother, Ray, created a reputation that is unlikely to be matched.

Gordon’s family has determined that the legacy of his endeavours will be to support study in the sustainable development of regional Australia. They have endowed a scholarship to assist students from Tasmania’s Cradle Coast area to afford university study.

The Academic Senate of the University has agreed to the foundation of an endowed scholarship.

These are the rules:

Rules

1. The scholarship will be known at the “Gordon Cahill Memorial Scholarship".
2. The annual value of the scholarship will be $6000 or any amount agreed by the Cahill family from time to time.
3. The scholarship will be awarded to a suitably qualified student enrolling in the Bachelor of Regional Resource Management at the University’s Cradle Coast campus whose home address is in the Cradle Coast region of Tasmania, generally identified as a postcode of greater than 7304 but including the King Island municipality.
4. The scholarship will be awarded by a selection committee comprising:
   • The Chair of Academic Senate or nominee;
   • The Academic Registrar or nominee; and
   • Two members of the NW Advisory Board nominated by the Board. 
5. The selection committee in its absolute discretion will set the detailed selection and performance criteria for the scholarship having regard to the intention of the donors.  However, in its selection, the committee shall:
   • give priority to students who can demonstrate they need financial support to study; and
   • take into account the personal qualities and achievements of prospective recipients including how they have contributed to the Cradle Coast region, or how they may contribute to that region in the future.
6. The scholarship is tenable for three years, the minimum time necessary to complete the Bachelor of Regional Resource Management by full-time study.
7. A student may study part-time with the approval of the selection committee.
8. The selection committee may terminate a student’s scholarship or suspend it for one year if it considers the student’s progress is unsatisfactory.  If the award is suspended, the selection committee may re-award the scholarship to the same student for a following year if it considers that the student’s academic record the previous year justifies that action.
9. The Scholarships Management Committee will determine all other matters concerning the scholarship, including advertising, application procedures and the method and time of payment.

Made by Academic Senate on 4 August 2006