About WU

The Australian Center for Advanced Studies (ACAS) is the forerunner institution, bringing nearly twenty years of history as an accredited institution conducting various programs, including graduate and international programs.

ACAS was originally incorporated in December 1994, as the Australian Center for Cross-cultural Studies Inc., a not-for-profit organization with income-tax-exempt charitable status. It gained Deductible Gift Recipient status in 2011. It was originally founded specifically to support students and related organizations in Indonesia. During the mid 1990s, it offered a graduate school program through a consortium agreement. In 1999, it became accredited in its own right in Australia with its own Graduate Diploma in Cross-cultural Studies.

In 2000, it changed its name, direction, and structure. It became the Australian Centre for Advanced Studies, adopted a "member college" structure like that of the University of London, broadened its scope of offerings, and spread its geographic scope more widely in Australia.

ACAS has since grown rapidly. Instead of being only a graduate school, it grew to offer many programs ranging down to the lower certificates, and now has about 3,000-4,000 enrolled students each year with activities spread over three countries. Its programs presently run at various locations across Australia, with many more high schools also offering ACAS qualifications.

Besides spreading geographically, ACAS offered a wider variety of study areas, and specific courses vary from year to year. It has offered the following:

  • Community services: Youth work, addiction recovery, and children's services
  • Hospitality
  • Intercultural studies and language teaching
  • Education and training
  • Business management
  • Outdoor education, recreation and sports
  • Music
  • Sound technology and engineering
  • Acting
  • Event management
  • Dance
  • Radio and television programming
  • Christian studies
  • Graduate studies (research, management, Christian studies).

 
Worldwide University was incorporated in the State of California on July 24, 2014, (Corporation number 3696467) with its address in Fresno, California.

Besides the Australian Center for Advanced Studies Inc. (represented on the Board by Ms. Tina Gunter), the other founders of Worldwide University are Dr. Don Fisher and Dr. Ross Woods.

Don L. Fisher holds a Doctor of Education degree from TEDS, Illinois; a Master of Arts from Multnomah in Portland, Oregan; and a B.A. from San Jose State University in San Jose, California. He also holds three California teaching credentials: Standard Secondary, Multiple Subject, and Cross Cultural Language & Academic Development. Besides having taught in both public and private schools and universities in Malaysia, Indonesia, Mexico, and the United States, he has traveled and given seminars in Indonesia, the Philippines, China, India, the USA, and Zambia. He has published books in Indonesia and the Philippines.

Ross Woods has served in Indonesia from 1978-98 in many roles including teaching in an international school, research supervisor, Assistant Dean, college lecturer, board member, language program coordinator, and advisor to various institutions. Since 1998, he has been Principal and then Academic Dean of the Australian Centre for Advanced Studies. He is a Doctor of Humanities, with a dissertation on the philosophy of educational accreditation. His Australian recognition and Ph.D. equivalence derives from Murdoch University in Western Australia. He is a graduate of Perth Bible College, the Summer Institute of Linguistics, the Western Australian Institute of Technology (now Curtin University of Technology), and the CSR, London.

Tina Gunter Tina was until recently a senior youth worker for WestCare and state case manager in Victoria for FreshStart, an agency that treats persons with addiction issues. Well known as a motivational speaker, Tina was inducted into the Inaugural WA Women’s Hall of Fame for her contribution to youth work and addiction recovery.

Peter Milnes Peter is chairperson of the WU steering committe. He graduated as a high school teacher, then did a Masters degree in Educational Administration and a Bachelor of Divinity. He earned a Ph.D. with a dissertation in intercultural studies. Besides being a counselor and running a clinic, he and his wife have also lived in Brazil where he designed a degree program for a Brazilian college.

Smiling Campbell (Xiaoting Chen) is head of English as a Second Language. Smiling studied English and language teaching, doing both her undergraduate and graduate studies at Chengdu University of Technology, China. She is also a qualified Senior Chinese Language Teacher.

In China, Smiling was a teacher and student coordinator at Sichuan University of Media and Communications. She then became a translator for Flame Collective, and later on was a customer service manager in High Connections.

When she moved to Perth, Western Australia, Smiling was a language teacher and administrator of language classes at Australia Cathay Enterprises.

Ng Yan Jing is head of the School of Science. Yan Jing gained both a Bachelor of Commerce degree and an honours degree in biotechnology and biomolecular chemistry at Murdoch University, where she was awarded the Epichem Prize in Chemistry for her work in organic chemistry. Besides her role at WU, she is currently doing research in pharmacology at Curtin University.

Michelle Rowe is head of the School of Business. Michelle holds a Bachelor of Economics from Sydney University, a Master of Commerce from UNSW, an MBA from Macquarie University, a Master of Adult Education from UTS, and a PhD in management from Edith Cowan University.

Michelle taught marketing at the University of Southern Queensland and management at the Australian College of Applied Education. After a period as researcher at Edith Cowan University, she taught in the MBA program, including teaching in China and Malaysia. More recently, she has been a consultant in local government research.