What is the Dookie Semester?
Did you know that our Dookie campus has a farm, winery and bushland reserve right on campus? We do, and we recommend that our students make full use of it by spending a semester living there and gaining valuable personal and vocational experiences– live on campus, take part in intensive courses not offered anywhere else, and have an amazing time while you're doing it!
Find out more about our Dookie campus, or read on to find out more about our exciting Dookie Semester.
Why should you take the Dookie Semester?
Enhanced employability
Employers want graduates who understand the rural context because they have lived and worked immersed in a rural region.
Exposure to new and unique experiences
Apply your studies in a dynamic farming context on the largest agricultural educational farm in the southern hemisphere plus study two Dookie-specific subjects: AGRI20040 Enterprise Management and AGRI20035 Applied Crop Production and Horticulture.
Social and personal development
Live with a cohort of like-minded agriculture students.
Accommodation in the centre of campus
On-site dorm-style accommodation is available and includes dinners.
- $263 per week, including four dinners (Monday–Thursday)
- Twelve weeks (with the option to stay on for the examination period).
Vocational experience and networking opportunities
Undertake a Certificate III in Agriculture program alongside your BAg studies and visit a vast range of enterprises as part of the enterprise management subject including:
- Beef feedlot in Wangaratta
- Kagome Australia in Echuca
- Broadacre cereal/oil seed/pulse cropping
- National retailer distribution centre in Chiltern
- Murray Goulburn Milk Processing Unit
- ABS Breeders Tongala.
Mentoring
A mentoring program has also been developed as part of the Dookie semester and further enhances your studies and builds important skills and networks for future success.
How do I sign up?
Make our 2,440 hectare farm your classroom for a semester in either your second year or third year – or both!
Second year students
To secure your spot, please ensure that your second year study plan reflects your intention to study at Dookie. This means enrolling in the following Dookie semester subjects, with Dookie selected as the location.
Select the second year elective “Dookie Residency”, expand and enrol in;
- AGRI20035 Applied Crop Production and Horticulture
- AGRI20036 Ecology & Grazing Management
- AGRI20038 Principles of Soil Science
- AGRI20040 Enterprise Management (with weekly visits to surrounding enterprises)
Third year students
To secure your spot, please ensure that your third year study plan reflects your intention to study at Dookie. This means enrolling in the following Dookie semester subjects, with Dookie selected as the location.
- AGRI30038 Professional Practice for Agriculture
If you have failed a subject or your current study plan does not allow you to select the above subjects, please contact Ros Gall to discuss your options.
Funding your stay
Scholarships and bursaries are available to cover some of the costs that are associated with staying up at Dookie. Please visit Dookie Scholarship applications for more information.
More information
We hope that you now have enough information to decide if Dookie Semester is right for you, but our team are available to answer any other questions you may have.
- Ros Gall | Director (Dookie): rosgall@unimelb.edu.au
- Karen Edwards | Dookie Student Experience Coordinator: karen.edwards@unimelb.edu.au
- Ian Bland | Director, Teaching and Learning: ibland@unimelb.edu.au
We are very much looking forward to your arrival and the opportunity to showcase our Dookie campus and farm.