Archive for May, 2009

At a ceremony in China last week, the University of New England (UNE) and Wuxi South Ocean College (WSOC) celebrated the 10^th anniversary of a highly successful educational partnership.

The partnership has brought about 350 students from the College in Jiangsu Province, China, to Armidale, NSW, to undertake business studies at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels at UNE.

UNE’s Vice-Chancellor, Professor Alan Pettigrew, speaking at the Wuxi celebration, said that the partnership was “enriching – both personally and professionally – for students and staff at both institutions”.

“While WSOC students gain from UNE’s strong international reputation for academic excellence and outstanding student support services,” he explained, “UNE benefits from the cultural diversity WSOC students bring to the campus and the internationalisation of our academic program.”

Professor Pettigrew said the relationship, begun in 1999 as a Collaborative Teaching Agreement, had become an Advanced Standing Arrangement in 2006. Under this arrangement, Wuxi students undertake 2.5 years of study (including English language) at WSOC, and then move to Armidale, where they transfer with Advanced Standing into an undergraduate program for their final 1.5 years of study. There are currently more than 70 Wuxi students at UNE completing their Bachelor of Business degree studies.

The Director of the Wuxi Municipal Education Bureau, Mr Lu Weidong, also speaking at the ceremony, reflected on the success of the 10-year association and commended all staff members involved for the high quality of the program.

Professor Xiaoxing Zhou, the President of WSOC, was the host for the occasion. He was accompanied by the previous President, Professor Honglu Zeng (a member of the WSOC Council), Dr Kevin Gao (the Assistant President of WSOC, who is a UNE graduate), Mr Michael McAuley (the College’s Associate Dean Academic), and Mr Mark Zhang (Vice Head of School – and also a UNE graduate).

The Head of UNE’s School of Business, Economics and Public Policy, Professor Alison Sheridan, and the UNE team leader for Wuxi, Dr Peter McClenaghan, accompanied Professor Pettigrew to Wuxi for the celebration.

Special guests at the ceremony included Mr Iain Watt, the Minister-Counsellor for Education at the Australian Embassy in Beijing, Mr Kevin Qian, Chairman of the Chiway Holding Group (of which WSOC is a subsidiary), and Dr Xiangning Yang, Vice Director of the Jiangsu Provincial Department of Education, who is also a Professor at Nanjing University.

During the ceremony Professor Zhou and Professor Pettigrew joined in launching the WSOC & UNE Alumni Association, and Professor Pettigrew presented Professor Zhou with a painting of the UNE building in which Wuxi students attend most of their classes.

The image displayed here expands to show Professor Xiaoxing Zhou (left) and Professor Alan Pettigrew launching the WSOC & UNE Alumni Association.

Australian University Sport (AUS) has named the University of New England as Australia’s champion sporting university for 2008 on a “per capita” basis.

The Chief Executive Officer of AUS, Don Knapp, presented the “Overall Per Capita University Champion” award to David Schmude, Executive Director of Sport UNE, at an awards dinner during the annual AUS National Conference in Sydney last week.

“Winning the Per Capita Championship shows that we punch well above our weight,” Mr Schmude said.

UNE has won the title of “Per Capita Champion” at the annual Australian University Games four times in the past, but this is the first time it has won the “Overall” award, which takes into account UNE’s performance at the various Australian University Championships (including the Snow Games and Conference Challenges).

“2008 was a very successful year for UNE,” Mr Schmude said. “This award is a real credit to both the University and the students.

“An impressive 174 athletes represented and supported UNE in the Australian University Games held in Melbourne between 28 September and 30 October 2008,” he explained. “In addition to these games, 25 UNE athletes participated in the East Coast Challenge, and the 22 attended the Snow Games. This remarkable accomplishment highlights a serious level of dedication and commitment to sport by UNE.

“Now we’re looking forward to sending teams to this year’s events – including the Conference Challenges in July, the Snow Games in August, and the Australian University Games on the Gold Coast in September.”

UNE students interested in joining these teams should contact Sport UNE’s Sports Development Officer, Brad King, on 6773 5181.

The image displayed here expands to show Don Knapp, Chief Executive Officer of Australian University Sport (left) with David Schmude (centre) and Brad King after the presentation of the trophy.

Two Cooperative Research Centres that have their headquarters at the University of New England have received Awards for Excellence in Innovation during the Cooperative Research Centres Association’s annual conference in Canberra this week.

UNE’s Vice-Chancellor, Professor Alan Pettigrew, congratulated the UNE-based Chief Executive Officers of the Australian Poultry CRC and the CRC for Sheep Industry Innovation on the awards, noting the achievements of their respective CRCs as “outstanding”.

The awards were presented by Senator Kim Carr, the Minister for Innovation, Industry, Science and Research, and Dr Megan Clark, the Chief Executive Officer of CSIRO, at a Gala Dinner held in the Great Hall of Parliament House on Tuesday evening.

The Poultry CRC won its award – for education, training and outreach – for Poultry Hub, an interactive online educational resource designed to stimulate the interest of Generation Y in poultry production and thus help to stem the “brain drain” from agricultural studies at Australian schools and universities. The Food and Agriculture Organisation of the UN has praised the Web site (poultryhub.org).

The Poultry CRC’s Chief Executive Officer, Professor Mingan Choct (pictured here), who received the award on behalf of the CRC, said the agricultural sector needed to “skill up”. “Demand for graduates in agricultural science is projected to grow explosively as Australia defends its lead in the field,” he said.

Based on the popular “wiki” software, Poultry Hub‘s array of useful resources and multimedia is proving a hit with both students and teachers . Poultry Hub is being developed to support the transfer of information from R&D into the industry as well as supporting the education and training aims of the CRC.

The Sheep CRC’s Precision Sheep Management (PSM) initiative, a revolutionary approach to sheep management, received an award for innovation in science and technology. Accepting the award on behalf of the CRC, its Chief Executive Officer, Professor James Rowe, acknowledged the team effort required for such an ambitious industry initiative, and the value of the CRC model.

“Essentially, Precision Sheep Management is a package of tools for graziers to move the management of their sheep from a mob to an individual basis,” Professor Rowe said. “Historically, shepherds looked after the whole flock. Over time, that moved to farmers dividing sheep up into groups based on age, sex, type or breed, and managing those as mobs.

“Now, with affordable and robust technology, we can monitor and manage each and every animal in the mob according to its needs and merits, as well as the farmer’s and the market’s needs.

“It’s a whole new approach to livestock management, and it’s driving productivity improvement.”

The presentation of scholarships worth more than $2.7 million at the University of New England brought scholarship donors and students together earlier this month in a celebration of the University’s vital role in the community.

UNE’s Vice-Chancellor, Professor Alan Pettigrew, welcomed the scholarship donors and recipients, and members of the UNE and wider communities, to the University’s Scholarship Presentation Ceremony for 2009, and thanked the donors for their generosity and their vision.

During the ceremony, scholarship donors met and congratulated recipients as they presented 85 undergraduate scholarships worth more than $1.2 million and 77 postgraduate scholarships worth more than $1.5 million. The donors included representatives of industry, business, government, community and professional organisations, as well as individuals.

Inaugural scholarships this year included the Clyde Agricultural / Edward Scott UNE Scholarship (presented to Scott Miller), the NAB Agribusiness / UNE Scholarship (presented to Ross Leggett), and the Poultry CRC Undergraduate Vacation Scholarship (presented to Daniel Handcock).

UNE’s Deputy Chancellor, Scott Williams, presented four students with Scott Williams Opportunity Scholarships. These scholarships are for students who demonstrate their potential in business entrepreneurial initiatives, skill and ideas, demonstrate leadership potential, and are actively involved in College and/or other community activities. One of the four, Nicholas Watts from Willow Tree, said the scholarship had enabled him to take on extra-curricular activities while studying – activities which had included launching an Australian Fellowship of Evangelical Students group at UNE, UNiTEdinc (www.unitedinc.org). “Working with the UNiTEdinc team has been an absolute pleasure and a great way to learn from experience how to work with a team to serve the community of students at UNE,” he said.

Among the undergraduate scholarships presented were 13 UNE Country Scholarships valued at $5,000 a year for the duration of the student’s course. UNE’s Country Scholarship Scheme, established in 1998, has helped more than 200 outstanding school-leavers from regional and remote areas to live and study at UNE. Country Scholarships are supported by organisations and individuals, as well as by the University itself.

While these scholarships (and many others) are available to students throughout UNE’s wide range of disciplines, the UNE Country Equity Scholarships, supported by the Vincent Fairfax Family Foundation, are awarded to students from country areas who are interested in teaching and nursing careers. Three Country Equity Scholarships were presented on Wednesday. Other scholarships presented to students of particular disciplines included scholarships for students of Urban and Regional Planning supported by Armidale Dumaresq Council, Kempsey Shire Council and Moree Plains Shire Council, and the Hyman Scholarships for Rural Medicine.

In offering a vote of thanks to the scholarship donors and the University, Fiona Fishpool, a previous recipient of a Wool Industry Undergraduate Scholarship, thanked the scholarship sponsors and donors, and the University, for recognising the students’ achievements and potential. “I am honoured to be counted among these students who have demonstrated such extraordinary commitment to academia, leadership, sport, and community involvement,” she said. “The financial assistance provided by these scholarships can be the difference between a student undertaking tertiary education or not. It can assist in living expenses and in purchasing necessary course material, and for many it will encourage not only academic achievement but involvement in all the social, cultural and sporting opportunities that UNE has to offer.”

Ms Fishpool concluded by urging her fellow scholarship recipients to make the most of the experiences UNE presents to them. “I urge you to make the most of the opportunities afforded to you by your scholarship, and to give back what you can through your continued success,” she said.

THE PHOTOGRAPH displayed here, taken at the Scholarship Presentation Ceremony, shows the Director of the Office of Advancement and CEO of the UNE Foundation, Martha Saw, and a recipient of an Australian Postgraduate Award, Nick Flood. It expands to show (from left) the recipient of the Mary Spence Memorial Scholarship, Kenneth Gunther, Mrs Ann Pettigrew, Professor Alan Pettigrew, the Chairman of the UNE Foundation, Dr Geoff Fox, and Deputy Chancellor and donor Scott Williams,

The Chancellor of UNE, Richard Torbay, speaking last week at the University’s Mary White College, said he saw his role as Chancellor as an opportunity “to institute closer engagement with the wider community in our region”.

Dr Torbay (pictured here) was speaking about “The Chancellor and his Role” at the College’s 46^th Annual Chancellor’s Dinner on the evening of Friday 22 May.

“For that purpose,” he said, “I have invited 14 regional mayors and general managers to visit the campus on July 9 for a day of seminars, tours of facilities, and discussions with academics and students.”

And, “to expand our international focus,” he continued, “I have arranged for the Consuls General of Canada, the United States, Japan, China, Ghana, Vietnam, India, Korea, Argentina and Indonesia to come to the campus on June 11 for briefings and discussions with senior management, academic staff, and students.

“I have also instigated closer communication between the UNE Council and the academic and general staff,” Dr Torbay said. “We have managed our meetings to allow time for breaks over tea and coffee to meet academics and general staff members and hear directly about their ventures, their issues, and their concerns.”

“Every single member of the UNE team plays their part in our shared success,” he said, “and I believe in the power of networking and friendships.

“My approach to management is to work with people’s strengths and to focus on solutions rather than problems.”

Dr Torbay said that, in his 20 years of working on campus for the UNE Union, and in the subsequent years of his service on the UNE Council, he had experienced a number of Chancellors – all with a different style. “If I were to single out any one of them for special mention,” he added, “it would be Dr Rob Robertson-Cunninghame.”

“Dr Rob had such a long association with UNE,” he said, “and he worked for it tirelessly with belief and total dedication. His passion, commitment, shrewd commonsense, integrity, dignity, modesty, and interest in all aspects of university life were inspiring. He was an excellent example of how an outsider can bring a breath of fresh air to an institution that always needs to look outside itself for regeneration and growth.”

Dr Torbay spoke about the University’s past successes, and a range of current initiatives that are building on those successes, and ended by acknowledging “the support shown to me by the Vice-Chancellor, Professor Alan Pettigrew, since I have been elected to the position of Chancellor”.

The National Centre for Rural Greenhouse Gas Research, launched today at the University of New England, has already attracted more than $7 million for funded research projects over the next three years.

The Centre, a joint venture between UNE and the NSW Department of Primary Industries (DPI) to address the challenges that climate change presents to primary industries, was launched by the Minister for Primary Industries, the Hon. Ian Macdonald MLC.

“Scientists at the National Centre will initially focus on reducing greenhouse emissions from agriculture, sequestering carbon in soils, and developing next-generation biofuels,” Mr Macdonald said.

He announced the appointment of Professor Annette Cowie as Director of the new Centre, and said: “The NSW Government and UNE have assembled a formidable research capability that will now be under Professor Cowie’s guidance here in Armidale.”

Mr Macdonald said that farmers, “as custodians of a vast percentage of our land”, were “at the forefront of the greenhouse debate”. “They understand how important it is to care for the environment,” he said.

The Chancellor of UNE, the Hon. Richard Torbay MP, congratulated Professor Cowie and Professor Bob Martin (Director of the Primary Industries Innovation Centre, the UNE-DPI collaborative research centre that is the “parent” of this new Centre) for their work “in bringing this research initiative to life”.

“This research centre combines the resources of the Department of Primary Industries and UNE to enable the development of large-scale collaborative projects that involved DPI, UNE and a range of organisations, industry groups, and rural communities,” Mr Torbay said.

“This is another example of the success UNE has in engaging in partnerships that lead to greater opportunities for the region,” he continued.

The Chancellor praised the “holistic” approach of the centre – an aspect emphasised both by Professor Cowie and by the Vice-Chancellor, Professor Alan Pettigrew. Professor Pettigrew said that the Centre had been developed “in a spirit of collaborative and multi-disciplinary research”, and that UNE, for its part, was able to contribute expertise in a wide range of disciplines – from the physical and agricultural sciences to the social sciences.

Professor Cowie said the Centre would aim at a “whole systems approach” to the task of reducing greenhouse gas emissions. She said that approach would draw on the work of researchers in fundamental areas of science from throughout the University and DPI.

THE PHOTOGRAPH of Professor Annette Cowie and the Minister for Primary Industries, the Hon. Ian Macdonald MLC, displayed here expands to include Professor Alan Pettigrew (left) and the Hon. Richard Torbay MP.

Researchers at the University of New England are beginning the second phase of a three-year study that is taking a novel approach to the reduction of wood smoke pollution in Armidale.

The UNE researchers, in collaboration with Armidale Dumaresq Council, SmartBurn Australia, the Australian Home Heating Association (AHHA), and the Firewood Association of Australia (FAA), hope to involve 400 Armidale households in the study, which has received funding from the Australian Research Council.

“Our aim is to evaluate the effectiveness of two types of strategies – one educational and one technological – for reducing wood smoke pollution in Armidale,” said UNE’s Associate Professor Don Hine, one of the chief investigators on the project.

Once the participants – all households that use wood heaters on a regular basis – have been recruited, they will be randomly assigned to one of four groups. The first group will be given educational materials, provided by the project’s industry partners, containing “best practice” advice about firewood purchase and storage and wood heater operation. The second group will be given the SmartBurn device – a small canister that can be placed in wood heaters to improve combustion, reducing particulate emissions by up to 50 per cent. This will be the first large-scale field test of SmartBurn. The third group will receive both the educational materials and SmartBurn, and the fourth group will not be given anything (but will receive the educational materials and SmartBurn at the end of the study).

At the beginning of the trial, which will start in June, a survey of the participants – taking less than 30 minutes to complete – will assess their knowledge, attitudes and behaviours relating to wood smoke mitigation, and also their perception of health risks associated with wood smoke pollution. The trial will run for about three months, and the participants will be surveyed again after the end of the trial.

The researchers will monitor the participants’ chimneys for particulate emissions both before and after the trial, and in this way will be able to link changes in emission levels with both the respective test condition, and any changes in attitude or behaviour. The research team has recruited several research assistants, who have already had their first training session with FAA.

Dr Hine said that participants in the study would remain anonymous, and their identities would not be revealed in the project report. “Our report will not include individual case studies, but will focus on the overall picture,” he explained.

In the first phase of the project, begun last year, the researchers conducted focus groups with people representing a broad cross-section of the local community to get their opinions about the perceived magnitude of the wood smoke pollution problem in Armidale, and the best way of managing the problem. They plan to conduct focus groups with local GPs soon. “The educational materials we have developed specifically address the physical and psychological barriers to modifying the use of wood heaters that were revealed through the focus groups,” Dr Hine said.

He emphasised that the study was “not about banning wood heaters”. “Although wood smoke pollution is a serious problem in Armidale, it is important to acknowledge that there are benefits associated with wood burning, and that a substantial proportion of the community are strongly attached to their wood heaters,” he said. “We want to see if we can create a win-win situation, where those who choose to use wood heaters can continue to do so, while at the same time reducing overall wood smoke levels in the community to an acceptable level.”

Wood heater users interested in participating in the study should contact Dr Navjot Bhullar at UNE on (02) 6773 2546, or e-mail her at: navjot.bhullar@une.edu.au.

Representatives of the Cicerone farming systems project have presented a cheque for $18,000 to the University of New England to support an annual “Cicerone Livestock Farming Systems Scholarship” at the University.

This follows the winding up last month of the Cicerone Project – a unique farmer-science partnership, begun in 1998, that conducted realistic farming systems research on topics of interest to local producers.

Cicerone’s Producer Chairman, Terry Coventry, and Cicerone Board members Clare Edwards (NSW Department of Primary Industries), David Paull (CSIRO Livestock Industries) and Jim Scott (UNE) were present at the handing over of the cheque to Professor Iain Young, Head of UNE’s School of Environmental and Rural Science.

Mr Coventry said that the intention of the scholarship was to continue the legacy of collaboration between livestock producers, researchers, extension officers and the University by assisting a young person in their study of livestock farming systems. “The scholarship is aimed at supporting students to research soil nutrient imbalances and deficiencies, as these continue to be a major constraint to the livestock industries of our region,” he said.

In accepting the funds for the scholarship, Professor Young expressed his appreciation of this legacy from a valuable learning partnership, and said that developing and delivering enhanced knowledge of managing soil fertility was vitally important for continuing to feed the world in a sustainable fashion.

The Cicerone Project was funded between 1998 and 2006 by Australian Wool Innovation as well as by members’ subscriptions and internal funds from income earned from the sheep and cattle run on the experimental farmlets. Over time, this learning collaboration expanded to influence many commercial livestock producers: at its peak, Cicerone had a membership of 120 farmers, each running on average about 6,000 sheep and 480 cattle on a total land area of approximately 180,000 ha. “We particularly liked being able to get to know the researchers, postgraduate students and extension workers well, and to see the results first-hand at the more than 50 field days held over the length of the project,” Mr Coventry said.

Professor Jim Scott, a board member on the Cicerone Project since its inception, said that it had been carried out in the footsteps of UNE’s inaugural Professor of Rural Science, the late Bill McClymont, and Dr Bill Willoughby of CSIRO. “Together, they pioneered the study of agriculture as an ecosystem on the Northern Tablelands,” he said.

“We made important advances over eight years of intensive field experimentation,” Professor Scott continued. “These included changing the system of testing for virulent footrot to a more reliable system, and investigating the pros and cons of investing in high levels of soil fertility and the re-sowing of pastures, and the role of intensive rotational grazing management – especially in relation to intestinal parasite control.” He said that four postgraduate students had carried out their studies on the farmlets, and that about 500 undergraduates had engaged in learning activities there.

Mr Paull said the Cicerone Project had given CSIRO Livestock Industries a local opportunity to provide research solutions enabling Australia’s livestock industries to be more globally competitive. “We were able to provide land, office space and scientific expertise to the project,” he said, “and in return CSIRO benefits from links established with the local and rural communities. CSIRO was privileged to be part of this important collaboration with industry, and to contribute to the supervision of PhD students involved with Cicerone.”

Clare Edwards, an extension specialist with NSW Department of Primary Industries, said the project had been of great value to livestock producers. “It was good to be able to show farmers the side-by-side comparisons of different pastures, soil fertility levels and grazing strategies, and the effects they had on animal health, reproduction, weaner growth and wool production, especially through six challenging drought years,” she said.

Some further information about the achievements of the Cicerone Project can be found at its Web site: http://www.cicerone.org.au/.

The image displayed here expands to a photograph, taken at the handing over of the cheque, showing (from left) Professor Jim Scott, Claire Edwards, Terry Coventry, Professor Iain Young, and David Paull.

The Chancellor of the University of New England, Richard Torbay, says it is baffling that a Federal Government undertaking an “education revolution” should introduce measures that make it even harder for country university students to survive financially at university.

He said the new deal announced in the Federal Budget last week would hit regional students hardest by placing new limits on their access to youth start allowance.

“While the measures might have been aimed at metropolitan students who stay at home while they are at university, they are not appropriate for country students who have to relocate to study,” Dr Torbay said.

“Regional students will be disadvantaged through the new criteria,” he continued. “The Federal Government should examine the impact of these new provisions on country students with some urgency and change the ground rules to make them fairer.”

He said that, under the new arrangements, students who had worked full-time for a minimum of 30 hours a week on average for at least 18 months in a two-year period since leaving school would be considered independent and eligible for youth start allowance. Students who had undertaken part-time work or earned more than $19, 532 over 18 months would not.

“This doubles the hours students must work to prove their independence,” he said. “Without the allowance it makes it very difficult for them to pay accommodation and living costs and still find adequate time for their studies.”

The Chancellor (pictured here) said he was also concerned for prospective mature-age students who worked hard for the eighteen months prior to going to university, with the understanding that a certain earning level would grant them support from the government.

“Now to be told the goalposts have been shifted for eligibility to study allowances, it’s reasonable for them to be feeling cheated,” he said. “Another issue that needs re-examining is the family income cap. The Bradley Review clearly recommended the Federal Government make access to a University education easier for students from a low socio-economic background.

“It’s difficult to grasp the thinking behind capping the family income level to qualify for this support at $80,000. A family on $80,000 isn’t a family on Easy Street – by anyone’s rationale.”

About 200 students from more than 30 schools throughout northern NSW visited the University of New England last Friday to indulge their interest in mathematics in a full day of maths-based activities.

Now in its 15^th year, the annual Year 8 Mathematics Day at UNE allows keen mathematics students to meet their peers from other schools, and to compete with them in a range of interesting and enjoyable activities. Working in teams of four, the students develop skills in cooperative problem solving while applying their classroom mathematics to the solution of practical, real-life problems.

The students, accompanied by their mathematics teachers, came from as far away as Inverell, Coffs Harbour, Kempsey, Port Macquarie and Wee Waa. A team from Bishop Druitt College in Coffs Harbour won the trophy in the Secondary Schools Division, and a team from Bowraville Central School was the winner in the Central Schools Division. Each of the members of the two winning teams received a certificate and a medallion, and their schools will hold the perpetual trophies throughout the coming year. Both Bishop Druitt College and Bowraville Central School are first-time trophy winners at the Year 8 Mathematics Day.

The event is sponsored each year by the UNE-based National Centre of Science, ICT and Mathematics Education for Rural and Regional Australia (SiMERR), UNE’s School of Education, and the New England Mathematical Association. More than 20 people from these organisations were involved in the preparation and presentation of this year’s event.

“After 15 years, the day is still meeting the needs of students and schools, and is receiving high praise from both the participants and their parents,” said Professor John Pegg, the Director of SiMERR. “Most significantly, it helps to highlight the important role that mathematics plays across the educational spectrum, and how mathematics underpins so many of the trades and professions in today’s society.”

THE PHOTOGRAPH displayed here shows a student from Guyra Central School intent on solving a problem during the Year 8 Mathematics Day at UNE.