But the new chief of the university confirmed the budget of the facility on Thursday: $36.6 million. UNE announced it had kicked off a search for an architect for the facility earlier this week.

Acting VC and CEO Simon Evans told the Leader on Thursday that the UNE was still investigating which courses should be offered in the building.

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He said one of the benefits of the new facility was that it would permit greater face-to-face learning.

"We expect that there will be degree programs that we offer face-to-face here and make Tamworth an educational destination, so bringing people from outside Tamworth and offering programs here," he said.

"What those programs [are] - we need to do the research."

Professor Evans said the courses would be developed with assistance from local industry, community representatives and the Tamworth Regional Council, among others.

The new UNE chief spent Thursday in Tamworth holding meetings with a variety of local groups including the university's community reference group, which he said would also get input on the facility and courses.

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Initially appointed as UNE Deputy Vice Chancellor in early 2022, Professor Evans moved to Armidale for the role in January. The trained lawyer with a PhD from Cambridge took up the acting role as the head of the university after the resignation of Professor Brigid Heywood in August.

Professor Evans said the intention is not to replicate courses on offer in Armidale.

He said the university wanted to do "deep engagement, consultation and market research" before finalising a course plan.

Tamworth-based students can already study at UNE online, but the idea behind the campus is to "raise access to education and aspiration for education" in the city of Tamworth.

"At the moment, there are kids who aren't thinking about university as being part of the future," he said.

"So we're already out there engaging with the schools, with careers teachers, with science teachers, to expose kids early in high school to the idea that university study might be part of the future."

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Ground was broken at the facility's location at the old velodrome site on Peel Street in March.

UNE announced early this week that it had gone to tender for a company to design the building, with plans to be completed before the end of the year.

Professor Evans explained the delay as necessary to develop the design specifications for the university project.

The university campus is due to open in 2025.

He couldn't give any details as to what the specifications were on Thursday, except to say it will include public space, open-plan classrooms and room for the Gomeroi community and Indigenous education.

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