Victoria University (VU or Vic Uni) is a public research university based in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. It is a dual-sector university, providing courses in both higher education and technical and further education (TAFE). The university has several campuses in Melbourne Central Business District, Melbourne Western Region, and in Sydney, comprising six academic colleges, six research institutes, seven research centres and VU's Victoria Polytechnic. History The idea for a technical school based in the western suburbs of Melbourne was first proposed in 1910. The Footscray Technical School opened its doors to 220 students and 9 teachers in 1916 after five years of fundraising. Charles Archibald Hoadley was the school's principal from its founding until his death in 1947. Under Hoadley's leadership, the school expanded and began offering trade certificate courses, diplomas in architecture, building, and contracting, as well as evening classes. War and the Depression saw a dip in student numbers. However, by 1943, there were 2500 students enrolled in courses taught at the Footscray Park and Footscray Nicholson campuses. The following decades saw gender and cultural shifts. In 1958, the school changed its name to the Footscray Technical College. Ten years later, it changed its name again, this time, to the Footscray Institute of Technology (FIT). Women first enrolled in day diploma courses in 1960, and changes to the federal government's immigration policy resulted in many more European and Asian students entering the school. The secondary school component, now known as Footscray City College, was separated from the rest of the institute in 1972. By the mid-1970s, the expanded curriculum included degree courses and was well beyond the technical focus of the original Footscray Technical School. Further changes occurred in the 1980s, with the technical and trade education section separating from FIT to form the Footscray and Newport Colleges of TAFE. In 1990, FIT merged with the Western Institute, which had been founded three years earlier to provide TAFE and higher education courses to the outlying suburbs in western Melbourne. In 1990, it was established as a university by the Victoria State Parliament as Victoria University of Technology. The university further amalgamation with the Western Melbourne Institute of TAFE in 1998. In 2005, the Victoria University of Technology Act of 1990 was amended to rename the university as Victoria University, reflecting the development of its teaching and research. The institutions that combined to form VU include: Footscray Technical School, renamed