Archive for March, 2009

The University of New England’s Kirby Observatory will be open to the public next weekend as part of a world-wide celebration of astronomy.

This year (2009), which marks the 400^th anniversary of the first recorded astronomical observations through a telescope – by Galileo Galilei – and the publication of Johannes Kepler’s Astronomia nova in 1609, was declared “International Year of Astronomy” by the General Assembly of the United Nations. The biggest single international event in the year’s program is the “100 Hours of Astronomy” from the 2^nd to the 5^th of April, when thousands of local events such as telescope observation sessions and exhibitions will take place around the world.

UNE’s Kirby Observatory on Weirs Road (off Booroolong Road, north of the University) will be open from midday into the evening on Saturday 4 April and Sunday 5 April. Everyone is welcome to visit the observatory, and to experience astronomical observation using the 14-inch Celestron telescope (the “Bill Webster Telescope”), listen to talks by members of the University of New England Northern Tablelands Astronomical Society (UNENTAS), and enjoy barbecues on both days.

The President of UNENTAS, UNE Physics postgraduate Martijn Boerkamp, said that there would be opportunities for observation through the telescope both during the day and after dark.

Last year, the Kirby Observatory was awarded the status of “designated observatory” by the Astronomical Society of Australia (ASA) – a status given to observatories considered by the ASA to be “valuable astronomical resources”. The Kirby Observatory is used in the teaching of astronomy to UNE Physics students, and, as the home of UNENTAS, for astronomical education and promotion in the wider community. UNENTAS members contribute to astronomical knowledge by making significant observations – including observations of asteroids and comets.

Mr Boerkamp said that UNENTAS, which meets at the Kirby Observatory on the third Wednesday evening of every month, welcomed new members. He urged everyone with an interest in astronomy to visit the observatory and meet UNENTAS members over the weekend.

For more information, contact Martijn Boerkamp on 0427 833 154 or go to: www.unentas.armidale.com.

Young researchers in NSW universities will now be able to apply for a highly-regarded international scholarship that will enable them to travel overseas to study with leading researchers in the United States.

The Premier of NSW, the Honourable Nathan Rees MP, announced during a recent event at the University of NSW that the NSW Government had invested $250,000 in the establishment of the Fulbright NSW Scholarship, with matching funding contributed by all the universities in NSW.

“The Fulbright program supports people who excel in any discipline – from academia to business and the arts,” Mr Rees said. “The scholarship will be valued at A$50,000, with the first applications to be invited in June this year, and the winner will be a postgraduate or postdoctoral student whose project is judged to have the greatest potential benefit for NSW.”

The Vice-Chancellors of all the universities in NSW have expressed their appreciation of the support for higher education by the NSW Government indicated in the establishment of the scholarship.

Professor Alan Pettigrew, Vice-Chancellor of the University of New England, said that the financial cooperation between the NSW Government and all the NSW universities was “a testament to the commitment of both sectors to the future development of NSW”. “This is an exciting step forward for innovation in our State,” Professor Pettigrew said.

Mr Tom Pascarella, Chair of the Australian-American Fulbright Commission, said that the Fulbright NSW Scholarship would give talented young people from NSW special opportunities to participate in the Fulbright Program. “It will promote professional and academic links between the United States and NSW, with research projects that will provide long-term benefits to the State,” Mr Pascarella said.

Clicking on the image displayed here reveals a photograph of Mr Rees (centre) and members of the NSW Vice-Chancellors Committee (Professor Pettigrew fourth from left) with Mrs Judith Fergin (US Consul General, Sydney), Professor Mary O’Kane (NSW Chief Scientist and Scientific Engineer), and Mr Tom Pascarella and Dr Joe Hlubucek from the Australian-American Fulbright Commission at the announcement of the Fulbright NSW Scholarship. Photo: Prudence Upton.

The Hon. Richard Torbay MP, installed today as Chancellor of the University of New England, told his audience at a UNE graduation ceremony that, at this critical time in the history of higher education in Australia, the University would be “taking advantage of every opportunity” to move forward.

“There are reasons UNE can regard itself as at the forefront of the changes flagged recently by the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Education, Julia Gillard,” Dr Torbay said. These included UNE’s “existing policies and programs that successfully provide access for socially and geographically disadvantaged students”, and the maximum rating for graduate satisfaction that the University consistently achieved in The Good Universities Guide.

He said these factors would help to align UNE with the Federal Government’s increased emphasis on “student-centred” education.

“While UNE is still highly regarded as the pioneer in distance education,” he continued, “it is now competing on this ground with many other universities – such is the recognised value of distance-based learning. To continue to lead in this area, the University must look at the avenues and opportunities available to it and invest wisely in new technology.”

Dr Torbay said he was enjoying working with “a very dedicated Vice-Chancellor and senior management team”, as well as with his colleagues on the UNE Council, “as we steer our great university towards the future of higher education, taking full advantage of the opportunities ahead”.

The Occasional Address at today’s ceremony was delivered by Dr Ed McAlister AO, former Assistant Director of the Adelaide Botanic Gardens and Chief Executive Officer of the Royal Zoological Society of South Australia. Dr McAlister, who graduated from UNE in 1977 with a Bachelor of Science degree, said UNE “consistently punches above its weight” in many areas. “You have earned a degree from an excellent university,” he told the graduands – “a degree which, thanks to the efforts of many who have gone before you, is recognised and well regarded inter-State and overseas.”

The Vice-Chancellor, Professor Alan Pettigrew, presented Dr McAlister with a University of New England Distinguished Alumni Award in recognition of his “outstanding and significant contributions”. Dr McAlister spoke about the vital role that the support of others – particularly of family – plays in an individual’s success and, recalling his own graduation at UNE, said: “I remember the pride and joy on the faces of my wife and daughters and the many friends who came to help me celebrate what for me, as a part-time student, was the culmination of many years of effort. I thank my family again today – particularly my wife Margaret, who is here in the audience to support me as I give this address, and has watched this morning as I have had conferred upon me a very significant honour from this university.”

Also during today’s ceremony, Professor Pettigrew presented a Vice-Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Learning and Teaching to Jackie Reid, a Lecturer in UNE’s School of Science and Technology, saying that Ms Reid had “adopted a consistently innovative approach to the teaching of statistics based on educational theory and the adoption of innovative learning technologies”. Today’s ceremony was for people graduating in the Sciences and Health. There will be further ceremonies tomorrow (Education), Friday 3 April (Economics, Business and Law), and Saturday 4 April (Arts).

THE PHOTOGRAPH of Dr Torbay displayed here expands to include Dr McAlister (left) and Dr Francis Karanja. Dr Karanja graduated as a Doctor of Philosophy at today’s ceremony.

About 2,500 people are graduating from the University of New England this autumn, with almost half of those preparing to attend graduation ceremonies at UNE over the next two weekends.

A highlight of UNE’s Autumn Graduation, 2009, will be the installation of the Hon. Richard Torbay MP as the University’s new Chancellor during the first of the ceremonies, which will be on Friday 27 March.

That ceremony – for the graduation of candidates for degrees, diplomas and certificates in the Sciences and Health – will be followed by others on Saturday 28 March (Education), Friday 3 April (Economics, Business and Law), and Saturday 4 April (Arts). All the ceremonies will begin at 10.30 am, and take place on the lawns of “Booloominbah”.

Each of the four ceremonies will include an Occasional Address by a guest speaker who has achieved distinction in a discipline or profession appropriate to the degrees being conferred on the day. The speakers, in the order of the ceremonies, will be: Dr Ed McAlister AO, former Assistant Director of the Adelaide Botanic Gardens and Chief Executive Officer of the Royal Zoological Society of South Australia; Ms Debra Kelliher, Head of School at the Presbyterian Ladies’ College, Armidale; Mr Tony Windsor MP, Member for New England; Emeritus Professor Peter Sheehan AO, who retired in January 2008 as Vice-Chancellor of the Australian Catholic University after serving in that role for 10 years.

Both Dr McAlister and Mr Windsor are graduates of UNE (having gained Bachelor of Science and Bachelor of Economics degrees respectively), and Professor Sheehan was a Lecturer and then Senior Lecturer in Psychology at UNE from 1968 to 1972 before becoming Professor of Psychology at the University of Queensland in 1973.

The Vice-Chancellor, Professor Alan Pettigrew, will present Dr McAlister with a University of New England Distinguished Alumni Award during the ceremony on Friday 27 March, and, on Saturday 4 April, the Chancellor will present an honorary degree of Doctor of Letters to Associate Professor John Ryan. Dr Ryan, an internationally renowned scholar, is one of UNE’s most eminent and long-serving researchers and teachers, and is well known in the wider community for his ground-breaking work as a regional and cultural historian.

The University is expecting the graduation ceremonies to bring about 4,000 visitors – family members and friends of the graduands – on to the UNE campus over the four days.

The Vice-Chancellor of the University of New England, Professor Alan Pettigrew, has launched a University-wide survey seeking the ideas of staff members on the role of UNE in the practice and promotion of environmental sustainability.

The online survey of UNE staff, launched last week, is called “Perceptions, aspirations and expectations of environmental sustainability: What are we doing in higher education for creating a sustainable future?” In launching it, Professor Pettigrew encouraged staff members to have their say in a survey designed “to engage us all in our important commitment to sustainability”. He said that the outcomes would “inform future sustainable practices, research and education at UNE”.

The Chancellor of UNE, the Hon. Richard Torbay MP, is urging all members of the UNE community to participate in the online survey. “A sense of ownership and involvement is an important component of any successful strategy,” he said. “The more people engage and put forward their ideas the more sustainable and effective the plan will be on campus and within the wider community.”

Dr Robyn Bartel, Chair of the UNE team charged with implementing the international Talloires Declaration for Sustainability, to which UNE is a signatory, said that the response to the survey had already been exciting. “It’s an anonymous survey, but already the responses show that there are many environmentally aware and concerned people at UNE,” Dr Bartel said.

“Several years ago, UNE demonstrated its commitment to environmental sustainability by becoming a signatory to the Talloires Declaration, an international agreement for the promotion of all things ‘sustainable’ in higher education,” Dr Bartel explained. “Since then, the Talloires team at UNE has been successful in obtaining a number of large grants to support the University’s research, teaching, and general operations with regard to sustainability. The team’s latest project is a study of sustainable practices at UNE which will inform decisions about future sustainability initiatives across the campus and the region. The current survey is part of that study.”

“The purpose of the survey is to put together a picture of what UNE staff members are doing for environmental sustainability, what they would like to achieve, the barriers that prevent their expectations being met, and the support required to meet their aspirations towards environmental sustainability,” said the project leader, Dr Susen Smith. “The results of the survey will inform sustainable practices at UNE, but also tell us more generally about what people want to do at home and at work to reduce their impact on the environment. The results will be of interest to anyone hoping to find out what people are doing – and want to do – to better their environment.”

Alongside Dr Bartel and Dr Smith, UNE’s Talloires Declaration Implementation Committee includes Dr Mike Littledyke, Dr Darren Ryder (pictured here with Dr Smith), and Dr Joy Hardy. The committee members pointed out that the project would not have gone ahead without the work of Carol Davies as research assistant, the funding received from the Faculty of The Professions, and additional support from Facilities Management Services. In constructing the survey, the team said, they had been fortunate in being able to consult Chris Ipkendanz, UNE’s newly appointed Environment Officer, who hopes to use the survey results in implementing sustainability initiatives across campus.

THE PHOTOGRAPH displayed here expands to show (from left) Chris Ipkendanz, Dr Mike Littledyke, Dr Robyn Bartel, Dr Darren Ryder, Dr Susen Smith, Carol Davies and Dr Joy Hardy.

Dozens of regionally-based organisations participated in the University of New England’s first Rural Careers Expo, enabling students at the University to gain first-hand knowledge of graduate employment opportunities in regional NSW.

“It was an opportunity for our students to speak directly with people working in a professional field, and to find out about employment, work experience, and scholarship opportunities,” said Airlie Bell, a UNE Careers Officer. “We’re delighted at the response from employers – so many, from across such a wide cross-section of professions.”

A steady stream of students visited the expo in UNE’s Lazenby Hall earlier this month, and talked to the professional people who were providing information at their respective stalls. Sandra Stuart from Nambucca Heads, a final-year student of Psychology and Law, said she had come to the expo because she was hoping to find employment in the Armidale region – perhaps in a State Government department. Sandra was impressed by the number of organisations represented – including several State Government departments and agencies. Her visit to the expo was fortunate in more ways than one, as she was one of five winners of “lucky door” prizes donated by Forsyths Chartered Accountants.

Several of the professional people who visited UNE for the Rural Careers Expo are themselves graduates of UNE. One of those – Gennie Gittoes, who graduated in Rural Science in 1981 – is now the New England Regional Service Manager for the NSW Farmers Association. Ms Gittoes explained that the NSW Farmers Association, in its capacity as a lobby group for rural and regional rights and the sustainability of rural communities, had joined with UNE in planning the expo.

Another visiting graduate was Brendan Murray, a partner in Bentleys Chartered Accountants, who holds a UNE degree in Financial Administration. “UNE graduates are excellent candidates for recruiting to our firm,” Mr Murray said. Speaking at the expo, he announced that – starting this year – Bentleys would be offering two $500 bursaries a year to UNE undergraduates – one to a second-year student (along with a month’s work experience in the firm) and the other to a third-year student (with the possibility of a subsequent graduate position).

Gabrielle McFarland (pictured here with Brendan Murray), Human Resources Manager for Boyce Chartered Accountants, announced that her firm was inaugurating a sponsorship program for emerging graduates, beginning in 2010, in memory of Tony Quirk – a UNE graduate and Boyce Director who died in 2005. The “Tony Quirk Accounting Sponsorship”, for a UNE student in the final year of an Accounting/Economics or Financial Administration degree program, carries a financial incentive of $4,000 and a guarantee of 12 months’ work in the firm’s Moree office. Applications for the inaugural award close on the 29^th of May, 2009.

Amy Nason from Grad-Link, the graduate management arm of the agricultural recruitment and information company Rimfire Resources, said that UNE graduates were “highly regarded” by employers in the agricultural industries. Other organisations represented at the expo included the Benevolent Society, Hunter New England Health, the Road Transport Authority, the Border Rivers – Gwydir Catchment Management Authority, Moree Plains Shire Council, and the Brolga Project – a government-funded initiative that helps university students find work experience opportunities in rural and regional Australia.

In the light of the success of UNE’s first Rural Careers Expo, Ms Bell said that she and her colleagues were “looking forward to repeating it as an annual event”.

THE PHOTOGRAPH of Gabrielle McFarland and Brendan Murray displayed here expands to include UNE’s Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Professor Graham Webb.

Researchers at the University of New England are talking to young people about their experience of losing a friend to suicide.

By gaining an understanding of their experience, the researchers hope to develop a framework for understanding similarly bereaved young people in future, and to develop a tool for use in schools and in health and community services to assist in services after a suicide occurs.

Mr Warren Bartik from the NSW Department of Health, Dr Myfanwy Maple from UNE’s School of Health and Dr Helen Edwards from UNE’s School of Education are seeking young people, aged 12 to 24 at the time they experienced the death, who would be willing to share their experiences of the suicide death of a friend.

Dr Maple has conducted award-winning research over the past six years that is helping to support the parents of young people who have died through suicide. This new project, she said, was encouraging bereaved young people to talk about their grief, and how a friend’s death had affected their lives. “To date, responses to youth suicide have primarily focused on prevention,” she explained. “While preventative work is vital, such a focus ignores the experiences of those most intimately involved in the suicide death of a young person.”

Mr Bartik, a psychologist and mental health specialist, will be conducting interviews with participants. “Young people closely affected by suicide are able to offer a unique insight into suicide,” he said, “allowing us to challenge assumptions, develop more appropriate prevention strategies, and understand the phenomenon more broadly. As suicide is unlikely to cease entirely, it is vital that we understand the experiences of those most closely affected, whose lives are changed forever.”

The researchers said that all participants, and any information they provided to the research project, would be treated confidentially. Participants under the age of 18 will need their parents’ permission to be interviewed.

For more information on the project, or to discuss the possibility of participating, please phone Warren Bartik on 0429 100 091 or Dr Myfanwy Maple at UNE on (02) 6773 3661.

A fund-raising dinner at the University of New England this Friday, 20 March, will allow all members of the UNE and Armidale communities to enjoy an experience of Middle Eastern culture while helping the victims of the bushfires in Victoria.

All proceeds from the dinner, organised by the Saudi Students’ Association at UNE, will go to those in need in the wake of this year’s devastating fires.

Meshaal Alshammary, a member of the executive of the Saudi Students’ Association, said that the cost of tickets for the dinner had been set at only $5 to allow as many people as possible to attend. “We want everyone to come,” he said. “This fund-raising dinner is a contribution by the Saudi students – as members of the UNE and Armidale communities – to the national appeal to help Australians in distress.”

The dinner, in the UNE Bistro, will begin at 6 pm, and tickets will be available at the door. Middle Eastern food will be served, and guests will be entertained by Arabic music. Among the guests will be the Armidale Dumaresq Mayor, Councillor Peter Ducat, and the President of the Armidale Branch of the Red Cross, Mrs Pauline Cavel.

Mr Alshammary said the informal nature of the occasion would allow everyone to relax and enjoy themselves. For more information, contact him on 0421 758 456.

The Chancellor of the University of New England, Richard Torbay, has welcomed the introduction of a Bachelor of Social Work degree at UNE to meet the shortage of professionals, particularly in rural and regional areas.

The NSW Minister for Regional Development, Phillip Costa, an alumnus of Armidale Teachers’ College, was on campus today to officially launch the new four-year degree program. The first intake includes 22 internal and 41 external students, almost all from non- metropolitan regions.

“This degree is the first to specialise in social work practice in rural and regional areas, where geographic and professional isolation are significant factors,” Mr Torbay said. “There is a huge shortage of social workers in NSW, with more than 400 vacancies in regional areas alone at present.

“Dr Myfanwy Maple and her colleagues who put this degree together have shown great initiative in harnessing existing University expertise and facilities and adding the necessary extra components to establish this course.”

The Chancellor said that the new degree was in line with the establishment of UNE’s School of Rural Medicine, which, as part of the Joint Medical Program in collaboration with the University of Newcastle, was now in its second year on the UNE campus.

“The University is taking a leading role in addressing shortages of skilled professionals outside the major cities,” he said. “It is well established that students who study in regional areas are more likely to stay and work in regional areas.”

The Vice-Chancellor of UNE, Professor Alan Pettigrew, said that students in the new degree program would be able to take advantage of existing expertise within UNE’s two Faculties to complement their training. “UNE has outstanding expertise in rural medicine, psychology, sociology, criminology and nursing,” Professor Pettigrew said. “Students will be able to draw on all of these collaborating disciplines to help them shape their professional development and apply it in the workplace.”

The Bachelor of Social Work degree was launched on the eve of World Social Work Day, which this year, with the theme “Social Work and Social Development: The Agenda”, aims to approach social issues and challenges collectively throughout communities.

THE IMAGE displayed here expands to show Susan Gould, Head of Hunter New England Health’s Social Work Discipline, speaking at today’s event. In introducing her, Professor Victor Minichiello, Pro Vice-Chancellor and Dean of UNE’s Faculty of The Professions, emphasised the University’s close collaboration with the social work profession in planning the degree program. Ms Gould welcomed the new degree, while Mr Costa said: “Graduates in Social Work from this university will deliver the level of service in social work that our regional communities deserve.”

The first international conference on the evidence supporting the use of complementary medicine, held at the  University of New England over the weekend, signalled a long-awaited rapprochement between the practice of complementary and orthodox medicine.

Professor Kerryn Phelps (pictured here), a former president (and first woman president) of the Australian Medical Association, delivered the opening address at the three-day conference. Professor Phelps said that, with scientific evidence as the “bridge” between orthodox and complementary practice, “we won’t be seeing so much of a ‘them’ and ‘us’ mentality, but rather a working together”. She emphasised that “it’s important for us all to work together for what’s best for patients”.

In officially opening the conference, Senator Jan McLucas, the Australian Government’s Parliamentary Secretary for Health and Ageing, said that it was being held at “an important point in the history of complementary medicine in this country”, and called for “more dialogue between practitioners of orthodox and complementary medicine”. Simon Mills, a British leader in the field, said that, at an international level, complementary medicine was now “at a crossroads”, having acquired an evidence base with the potential – finally – “to make an impact on the world of orthodox medicine”. “A conference like this will help us to move on,” he said.

More than 320 people, from around Australia and from Russia, India, the UK, Sweden, New Zealand, the United States and Malaysia, attended the International Evidence-based Complementary Medicine Conference, hosted by UNE’s School of Health and School of Rural Medicine. The conveners, UNE’s Associate Professor Kerry Bone and Dr Yoni Luxford, said that it had been not only an international forum for the presentation of exciting new research results, but also a catalyst for research collaboration and acceleration.

An important aspect of the conference was its examination of interactions between orthodox and complementary treatments. Professor Bone, who is also the Director of Research at MediHerb, said that evidence presented over the three days had helped to identify and explain both positive and negative interactions, so that positive interactions could be encouraged and negative interactions avoided. Professor Bone’s own presentation at the conference examined the safety and efficacy of complementary therapies – often used in conjunction with orthodox medicine – in the treatment of cancer.

Professor Margo Halm from the United States, whose conference presentation was a review of available knowledge on the effectiveness of essential oils such as lavandin in managing symptoms in critically ill patients, has conducted research on the use of essential oils to prevent acute skin reactions in women undergoing radiation treatment for breast cancer. Professor Halm is the Director of Nursing Research/Quality at United Hospital in St Paul, Minnesota.

Professor Frank Rosenfeldt, Head of the Cardiac Surgical Research Unit at the Alfred Hospital in Melbourne, presented the results of his research into improving the success of procedures such as cardiac bypass operations by using nutrients including antioxidants and fish oils. Professor Bone said the conference had heard about “an amazing amount of research on fish oils – including research related to brain development, the reduction of heart disease, and the treatment of inflammatory disorders”.

While a major focus of the conference was on herbal treatments, including the therapeutic effects of plants such as Echinacea and garlic and the therapeutic properties of plants used in traditional Aboriginal Australian medicine, evidence relating to the use of many other complementary therapies was reviewed.

Dr Luxford said the conference had provided a forum for “rejuvenation”, establishing networks that would enable the participants to “continue and extend their conversation about the way forward”. Professor Bone added that the conference’s generous support from the complementary medicines industry showed that “the industry is serious in promoting the accumulation of evidence in the field”.

THE PHOTOGRAPH of Professor Kerryn Phelps displayed here expands to include Associate Professor Kerry Bone and Dr Yoni Luxford.