chaired by John Jacob Cohen, recommended that consideration be given to a rural university and the Armidale Teachers' College was established in 1928. An organised push to establish a university in New England began in the early 1930s, at the height of the New England statehood movement which sought separation of the region from New South Wales and its admission as a new Australian state. Prominent early advocates in addition to Drummond included Colin Sinclair, Earle Page, and Victor Thompson.
A provisional council to raise funds for a university in New England was established in 1934. The New England University College was established in Armidale in 1938 as a child of the University of Sydney, with Page the chairman of the inaugural advisory council. The college became fully independent as the University of New England in 1954, after the entry into force of the University of New England Act 1953 (NSW). The university established a faculty of education in 1967.
=== Transition to a network university ===
The …
