Archive for May, 2010

A gift of $2,600 to the Armidale Pipe Band has recognised the band’s vital contribution to a celebration of Scottish culture held earlier this year at the University of New England.

The CWA Weekend Country of Study School, held every year in February at UNE, focused this year on Scotland. “An important part of the weekend was the participation of the Armidale Pipe Band,” said Sharon Gallen, Manager of the UNE Conference Company, which organises the event.

“It performed in the welcoming ceremony at UNE’s Earle Page College on the Friday evening, playing ‘Scotland the Brave’ during the raising of the Scottish flag,” Ms Gallen said. “A highlight of the formal dinner that evening was their ‘Piping in the Haggis’ and their dramatic presentation of the ‘Ode to a Haggis’.

“On the Saturday evening the band presented a rousing performance as the centrepiece of a traditional ceilidh, and band members provided accompaniments for Highland dancers and singers throughout the evening.”

Earlier this month at UNE, Ms Gallen and Conference Officer Kath Jacques – on behalf of the University and its Conference Company – presented a cheque for $2,600 to the band’s President, Beryl Leslie, and Pipe Sergeant, Darrell Fisher. (Mr Fisher’s contribution to this year’s CWA Study School also included a talk titled “A journey through the uniqueness of the Scottish Borders”.)

Every February, the CWA Weekend Country of Study School brings more than 200 participants from all over the State to Armidale. This, like the many other conferences and events held at UNE each year, benefits the local community and the local economy. Ms Gallen said that the gift to the Pipe Band – a community organisation – was a specific example of this benefit.

Mr Fisher and Ms Leslie said the gift was “greatly appreciated”. The money will assist with the purchase of uniforms and equipment for the band, which travels widely and performs with acclaim wherever it goes – including, this year, the Anzac Day march in Sydney.

The Armidale Pipe Band is already planning for its 110^th anniversary next year.

THE PHOTOGRAPH displayed here expands to show (from left) Darrell Fisher, Beryl Leslie, Sharon Gallen and Kath Jacques – with the cheque.

A major musicological conference at the University of New England has resulted in a book that demonstrates – in the words of its editor, Jason Stoessel – “the quality and vibrancy of music research in Australia”.

Identity and Locality in Early European Music, 1028-1740, published recently in the UK and the United States by Ashgate Publishing, comprises ten essays, seven of which are by Australian scholars. The international contributors are from Canada, the UK, and Hong Kong.

In launching the book at UNE, the eminent Australian musicologist Dr Rex Eakins said that it was a product of the 29^th National Conference of the Musicological Society of Australia, which was held at UNE at the end of September, 2006.

Dr Eakins, who lectured in Music at UNE from 1985 to 2007 and played a major role – together with his colleague Dr Stoessel – in organising the 2006 conference, said that the book had been envisaged right from the planning stage of the conference. Dr Stoessel thanked Dr Eakins as the main instigator of the conference, saying that “without Rex this project would not have eventuated”.

In his Preface to the book, Dr Stoessel explains that “a limited number of papers [from the conference] were selected, and authors were asked to contribute chapter-length essays examining the issues and findings outlined in their papers in greater depth and extent”. The resulting essays examine the influence of local or regional identity on music from medieval plainchant in Aquitania and the Iberian Peninsula to the music of Renaissance Augsburg and Baroque Naples and Dresden.

The interaction of issues of personal and local identity is explored in an essay by Rosalind Halton on the role of Roman and Neapolitan copyists in the transmission of Alessandro Scarlatti’s serenata Venere, Adone et Amore. An essay by James Grier, Professor of Music History at the University of Western Ontario in Canada, based on his invited keynote address at the 2006 conference, discusses the strategies used by the eleventh-century monk Adémar de Chabannes in adapting old musical traditions and “forging” new ones in a creative attempt to elevate the local saint – St Martial of Limoges – to apostolic status.

Jason Stoessel lectures on music history, musical cultures and music theory at UNE. His primary research focus is Western European polyphonic song and its cultural context in the late fourteenth and early fifteenth centuries. His own contribution to the book examines the relationship of the composer Johannes Ciconia to the early humanist culture of Padua. An essay by Reinhard Strohm, Professor of Music at the University of Oxford, UK, titled “Late-medieval sacred songs: tradition, memory and history”, was presented in Armidale as a public lecture – the 2006 Gordon Athol Anderson Memorial Lecture – during the conference.

“Good editorship involves attention to detail as well as people management,” Dr Eakins said, commenting on Dr Stoessel’s “faultless” achievement in this respect and adding that Identity and Locality in Early European Music, 1028-1740 represented “a major achievement on many levels”.

For more information on Identity and Locality in Early European Music, 1028-1740, go to: http://www.ashgate.com/default.aspx?page=637&calctitle=1&pageSubject=558&title_id=8646&edition_id=11301.

Clicking on the image displayed here, taken from the cover of the book, reveals a photograph of Dr Jason Stoessel at the book launch earlier this month.

A ceremony at the University of New England yesterday celebrated the award of more than 200 scholarships, totalling almost $8.8 million in value, to UNE students.

In welcoming scholarship donors and recipients and their families to UNE’s 2010 Scholarship Presentation Ceremony, the University’s Senior Deputy Vice-Chancellor and Deputy Vice-Chancellor Academic, Professor Graham Webb, said the ceremony celebrated “the generosity of donors and the achievements of students”.

Professor Webb said that the record number (214) and record total value of undergraduate and postgraduate scholarships awarded at this year’s ceremony were “remarkable”, and explained that there had been an increase of 30 per cent in scholarship donations over the past year.

He said that UNE’s Country Scholarship Scheme, established in 1998, was unique in Australia in providing opportunities for young people from regional and remote areas to study in a rural setting. This benefited regional Australia, he said, as research had shown that a high proportion of people who study in regional centres return to the regions to work.

“Scholarships are important for the region and can be life-changing for the recipients,” Professor Webb said before presenting UNE Country Scholarships, worth $5,000 a year for the duration of their course, to 22 first-year undergraduates.

Many of the undergraduate scholarships were presented by the individuals – or representatives of the organisations – donating them. “This is a wonderful event,” said Mr Max Schroder, who presented Max Schroder Country Scholarships to Cortney Skinner and Brittany Thomas. “It’s great for the recipients to be recognised,” Mr Schroder said, adding that the quantity of scholarship funds attracted by the University was “marvellous”.

The Max Schroder Scholarship is to assist Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students with living expenses and incidental costs of study. Mr Schroder, who studied at Armidale Teachers’ College in 1959-60 and gained BA (Honours) and MA degrees from UNE by distance education, said his experience in teaching Aboriginal children at an Armidale school had contributed to his interest in helping Aboriginal students at UNE.

Undergraduate scholarships presented for the first time this year included the Sarah Heagney Memorial Scholarship (presented by Mrs Julie Heagney to Emma Gillogly), the Bernard Coffey/UNE Country Scholarship (presented to Fiona Dean), and the Duncan Family Scholarship in Pharmacy (presented to Anthony Thomy).

In introducing the presentation of postgraduate scholarships, UNE’s Pro Vice-Chancellor Students and Social Inclusion, Eve Woodberry, who was acting as MC for the ceremony, explained that the scholarships are “awarded to students undertaking a Master’s degree by research, or a research doctoral degree”. “They are variously funded by the Commonwealth, the University, and a number of organisations, companies and individuals,” she said. “Postgraduate scholarships range in value from $1,000 for one year to $100,000 over three years, and, because of this, they are highly sought-after and competitive.”

Of the many postgraduate scholarships awarded to UNE students this year, 51 were presented at yesterday’s ceremony.

Commonwealth-funded scholarships include Australian Postgraduate Awards and International Postgraduate Research Scholarships, and UNE-funded scholarships include UNE Research Scholarships, UNE International Fee and/or Stipend Scholarships, UNE Strategic Scholarships, and Faculty International Scholarships. Donor organisations include the Australian Sheep Industry CRC, the Cotton Catchment Communities CRC, Forest and Wood Products Australia, and Olsson Industries Pty Ltd.

Privately-endowed postgraduate scholarships include the A.S. Nivison Memorial Scholarship (presented at yesterday’s ceremony to Fiona Fishpool), the Keith & Dorothy Mackay Honours Scholarships (presented to Simon Stubbs), and the Keith & Dorothy Mackay Travelling Scholarships (presented to Nicole Austin and Mohammed Habibullah Bahar).

Keith & Dorothy Mackay Travelling Scholarships are awarded to graduates who have demonstrated outstanding academic ability. The scholarships assist students with expenses towards a short-term attachment to another university, or attendance at an international conference where they will be presenting a paper on their research.

THE PHOTOGRAPH displayed here expands to show UNE’s Deputy Chancellor, Mr Scott Williams, with three of the 10 recipients of Scott Williams Opportunity Scholarships: (from left) Sarah Pumpa, Sophie Blyth and Tessa Roe.

The “Voice” Staff Satisfaction Survey is being held again at UNE from May 17 to May 28, 2010, providing an opportunity for all staff members to voice their opinions on the UNE workplace.

Vice-Chancellor Professor Jim Barber has welcomed the Voice survey as an opportunity to understand the views of UNE employees on their workplace, as well as to measure the progress UNE has made since the first iteration of the Voice Survey at UNE in 2007.

“It is apparent that progress has been made at UNE since the 2007 Voice survey, which is very encouraging. The results we received in 2007 left us with some ground to make up. I believe that UNE has made significant effort to do this, and while there is still further improvement required, the 2010 data will provide a measure of our progress to date and assist to inform our future actions,” he continued.

Professor Barber emphasised how important it was that all staff participate in the Voice Survey. “To date, 27 per cent of all UNE employees have responded to the survey. Obviously the more employees that respond, the more meaningful the data will be. We are aiming for a similar response rate to 2007, which was 63 per cent.”

Developed by a team of researchers and consultants in the Voice Project at Macquarie University, the Voice Survey anonymously measures staff opinion of 31 work practices and outcomes including leadership, cooperation, safety, professional development and teamwork.

The survey assists organisations to understand the health of the organisation from the prospective of all employees. It provides a channel for “bottom-up” communication for employees, and helps management teams diagnose strengths, weaknesses and risk in the organisation as well as individual work areas.

This survey has been conducted within a wide array of organisations over the past seven years. To date, 29 Australian universities have participated in the Voice Project as well as a range of public and private sector organisations including Blackmores, Panasonic, Roche and Wesfarmers.  The collection of data from more than 1900 organisations  and thousands of employees across multiple business sectors and industries and thousands of employees allow allows participating organisations to effectively benchmark their survey results.

When it was conducted in November 2007, 63 per cent of all UNE staff members responded.

“The 2007 participation rate was an excellent response to the introduction of the Voice Staff Satisfaction at UNE, and ideally we would like to achieve a similar response rate this time around,” said the Acting Manager of UNE Organisational Development Unit and Voice Survey Project Manager, Bronwyn Kirk. From early 2008, significant effort was made by the VC Unit and ODU to communicate the results of the Voice survey to all staff and individual work areas. The outcomes of the survey recommended priority action in the areas of cross-unit cooperation, leadership and recruitment and selection, processes and services and involvement of staff in organisational development.

Much work has been done across the university to improve in these areas, and in order to continue this work, all staff are strongly encouraged to identify areas of UNE still requiring attention and resources.

Responses to the survey are anonymous, and the results will be reported back to UNE from Macquarie University in a way that will prevent any individual person’s responses from being identified. The survey takes about 20-30 minutes to complete, and is available online at http://www.voiceproject.com.au/une.aspx. It needs to be completed by Friday 28 May.

For more information on completing the survey, contact Bronwyn Kirk on extension 5018 (e-mail: bronwyn.kirk@une.edu.au).

An eminent academic pharmacist and research toxicologist from Canada, who has been working at UNE as a Visiting Professor for the past three months, will present a seminar  today titled “Street Drugs – is there anything we can do?”

Today’s seminar will be at 1 pm in Lecture Theatre 1 in UNE’s McClymont Building.

Wayne Hindmarsh (pictured here) is currently Professor and Dean Emeritus of the Faculty of Pharmacy at the University of Toronto. On completion of his university training at the Universities of Saskatchewan and Alberta, he spent some time in hospital and community pharmacy, and as a toxicologist with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police in their crime detection laboratories, where he did investigations into substance use, sudden death cases, homicides and alcohol-related charges, and lectured in pharmacology.

His research interests include forensic toxicology, clinical toxicology, drug education, and substance abuse. He is the author of two books on topics related to drug use and abuse, and gives frequent lectures on these topics.

His many medals and awards include the Governor General Commemorative Medal for the 125^th Anniversary of the Confederation of Canada for his work on drug use/abuse, and the Douglas M. Lucas Award in recognition of Excellence in Forensic Science. He is a Fellow of the Canadian Society of Forensic Science and a Fellow of the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences.

Professor Hindmarsh has served as President of the Association of Faculties of Pharmacy of Canada, the Association of Deans of  Pharmacy of Canada, the Canadian Council for Accreditation of Pharmacy Programs, and the Pharmacy Examining Board of Canada.

He has extended his expertise to the United States, Mexico, the Caribbean countries, South America, India, China, Saudi Arabia, Korea – and now Australia, where he has played a key role in establishing UNE’s new Bachelor of Pharmacy degree program.

Armidale, NSW is a world away from the Northern Territory cattle station where she grew up, but Georgie Chisholm is enjoying the difference – and the new perspectives on the cattle industry that she’s gaining through her studies at the University of New England.

Georgie (pictured here), who comes from the one-and-a-half-million-acre “Naperby” station, 230 km north-west of Alice Springs, started her studies at UNE towards a Bachelor of Agribusiness degree in 2007 after completing her schooling at Ascham girls’ school in Sydney. “Coming to university – and living in a university college – was great after the restrictions of a girls’ boarding school,” she said.

She lived in UNE’s Robb College for three years before moving into town accommodation with two girls who were her fellow students at school and then at Robb College. Now in her Honours year, she is working on a project concerning the application of new technology in the cattle industry. “I’d like to work in cattle production,” she said, “and coming to university has given me a whole new scientific perspective on the industry.”

She said she would advise anyone growing up in a remote area to “broaden their perspectives” by taking up any opportunity to study at university – particularly a smaller, regional university such as UNE. The new perspectives she has gained at UNE have included insight into the meat industry through participation at a national level in the Intercollegiate Meat Judging Competition.

She recalls her early years of schooling – via the radio-based School of the Air – as “great fun”. She and her brother Sam had a governess on the station and, to prepare them for boarding school, their mother would sometimes take them to a school in Alice Springs on shopping days.

Georgie’s educational journey from the schoolroom on “Naperby” station has taken her all the way to the University of New England in Armidale – a journey to a “completely different environment”, she says, but one she wholeheartedly recommends.

Members of an Australian institute for research on distance education, based at the University of New England, have hosted the first visit from their South American colleagues in the “Southern Skies Distance Education Academic Exchange” project.

Funded by the Australian Government’s Council on Australia Latin America Relations (COALAR), the project promotes academic exchange between the four Australian universities collaborating as “DEHub” (Distance Education Hub) and four educational institutions in South America.

“The visit enabled the exchange of knowledge, experiences, and examples of best practice in distance education,” said the Director of DEHub, UNE’s Professor Belinda Tynan. “It established links between the two regions, and facilitated capacity building in the participating institutions.”

“DEHub is a Commonwealth-funded research institute focused on developing, facilitating and disseminating information on best practices in distance education for the higher education sector,” Professor Tynan explained.

The visiting scholars were from the Brazilian Association for Distance Education, the Online and Distance Education Centre at Fundação Getúlio Vargas in Brazil, the ICDE Latin America Network and University of Morón, Argentina, and the National University of Quilmes in Argentina. They visited UNE in Armidale and the other DEHub partners : Charles  Sturt University (Bathurst), Central Queensland University (Rockhampton), and the University of Southern Queensland (Toowoomba).

In meetings with senior representatives of each university, they learned more about the differences and similarities in approaches to – and technologies employed in – distance education by their institutions in Australia, Brazil and Argentina.

Dr Carina Bossu and Dr Fredy Valenzuela, researchers and lecturers at  UNE, travelled with the delegates from Latin America and were pleased to assist in translating where appropriate. Former UNE doctoral students from Latin America, and now employed by the University,  they represent a key to future links with the region.

“Distance education is an important means of guaranteeing access, quality, and equity of education,” said one of the South American delegates, Associate Professor Sara Perez from the National University of Quilmes. “I recognise that these three elements are concerns of all the participating institutions, and this will no doubt facilitate future exchanges.”

Professor Fredric Litto, President of the Brazilian Association for Distance Education, said that he could see “huge potential for educational collaboration between South American countries and Australia because of their similarities and needs for highly qualified professionals – for example, collaboration in the delivery of distance courses in agribusiness, meat science, food technology, and teacher education”.

“There is a potential for research into the use of distance-education technologies for people who seek further education in these areas,” he said, “and for post-doctorate research exchanges between Australia and Brazil.”

The visit closed with a meeting in Canberra with the Brazilian Ambassador, Fernando de Mello Barreto, the Argentinean Ambassador, Pedro Villagra Delgado, and Jane Duke, Assistant Secretary of the Canada and Latin America Branch within the Americas and Africa Division of the Australian Department  of Foreign Affairs and Trade, representing COALAR.

Professor Victor Minichiello, Pro Vice-Chancellor and Dean of UNE’s Faculty of The Professions, said it was clear from the discussions at the Canberra meeting that high-quality distance education is seen to be critical for the educational opportunities of future generations.  “UNE, through its leading role in the DEHub program, is playing an important part in getting scholars from around the world to work together in developing a knowledge and scholarship platform to guide sound teaching and learning practices in distance education,” he said.  “It was pleasing to see our colleagues recognise that UNE and its partner institutions in Australia are taking this leadership role in distance education.”

“With education being a key priority for COALAR in achieving collaboration between Latin American countries and Australia, I am very pleased that we are able to support this project,” said Jane Duke. “Educational exchange and capacity building are vital to increase national skills and capabilities among the countries involved in this project.”

The second stage of the project will take place in late August and early September, when the partner universities of the DEHub consortium will visit the two universities in Argentina and attend the 16^th International Congress for Distance Education in Brazil, where there will be a focus on Australian distance education.

Angelika Henschel, the author of a book comparing Australian and German social work practices in dealing with domestic violence, has spent the past two months working with lecturers and students in the University of New England’s ground-breaking new social work degree program.

Professor Henschel (pictured here), from the Institute of Social Work at Lüneburg University in Germany, is an international authority on social work practices in relation to domestic violence, and her book – published in 2003 and subtitled “Learning from Down Under” – focuses on that issue.

“There are many similarities between Australia and Germany in regard to domestic violence,” Professor Henschel said. “In both our countries, every third woman between the ages of 16 and 85 has experienced domestic violence at least once, and there are still a lot of people who think it’s not such an important problem. We’ve come a long way since the first women’s refuges were set up in the 1970s, but it’s an ongoing process.”

Professor Henschel visited Armidale in February last year and delivered some of the first lectures to the inaugural intake of students in UNE’s Bachelor of Social Work degree program. She said she was impressed by the application of UNE’s expertise in online learning to delivering the program at a distance, by the organisation of the intensive residential schools for distance-education students, and by the focus on problem-based learning.

“In Germany, online learning is not usual,” she said. “Most of our students study on campus. We’re really just starting to look at online learning, and I’ll be taking a few of your good ideas back to my university.”

During her current visit to UNE, Professor Henschel has been teaching at residential schools. “I like the way the Bachelor of Social Work course – with its intensive schools – has been developed,” she said. “Problem-based learning is well developed here: with its focus on group work – demanding the participation of the students – it’s a very effective way of teaching adults.”

Professor Henschel and her UNE colleagues have also been working with Tamworth Regional Council and local service providers on a project to address social problems in the Tamworth suburb of Coledale. “They’re planning a new youth centre there,” she said, “and we’d like to do some project development and evaluation for it. Maybe we could get UNE students involved through work-experience placements; there might even be opportunities for my students from Germany.”

“It could be a good opportunity to get students from UNE and Lüneburg University together,” she added, explaining that the two universities had signed a Letter of Intent to facilitate academic and student exchanges.

Now near the end of her current visit to UNE, she hopes to keep coming back. “It’s been a good experience – such a warm welcome to me as a stranger, and such support from my colleagues,” she said. “I think they really care about people.”

In a farewell ceremony yesterday, the University of New England congratulated 38 students from 16 overseas countries who will soon be completing their studies at UNE, and thanked them for their gifts of cultural diversity and international insight.

“We value you for what you bring to us,” said the Vice-Chancellor, Professor Jim Barber, before presenting them with “Certificates of Participation” recognising their contribution to the life of the University. Dr Vernon Crew, UNE’s Director of English Language and International Services, said the ceremony expressed “the value we attach to you for widening our perspectives”.

UNE currently has more than 900 international students, with almost 200 of those (from 24 countries) due to complete their studies this semester. Yesterday’s farewell was for those who will be unable to attend the University’s next formal graduation ceremony in October.

In his address to the students, Professor Barber said that the farewell ceremony was “indicative of what has made UNE distinctive for so long now” – the fact that “we’re interested in each one of you”.

“What a moment in our lives!” said Ifa Nahrifa Hanafi, responding on behalf of the students. Ms Hanafi, who comes from the Indonesian island of Sulawesi, recalled her experience of arriving at UNE fearful that she wouldn’t understand lectures, and eventually realising that she was “surrounded by people willing to help”.

Ms Hanafi is nearing the end of her studies for a Master’s degree, during which she has been working with UNE Senior Lecturer Dr Ian Godwin on a project in sheep nutrition. She thanked the whole UNE community – including particularly her lecturers in the School of Environmental and Rural Science, and the staff of UNE International and the Dixson Library – for her UNE experience, and said that she would choose to return to UNE if ever she had an opportunity to pursue doctoral studies.

Obokeng Raikane from Botswana, who has lived in Armidale while studying at UNE for a Bachelor of Business degree majoring in agribusiness, has already begun online studies towards a UNE Master’s degree.

Mr Raikane, who was one of the students farewelled at yesterday’s ceremony, is a specialist in agribusiness with the public service in Botswana. He said that, for overseas students of agribusiness, “it’s best to be at UNE”. Referring to UNE’s developing relationship with Botswana in agricultural research, he said he hoped that many more people from Botswana would be able to study agribusiness and related subjects at UNE.

THE PHOTOGRAPH of Ifa Nahrifa Hanafi displayed here was taken during her talk at yesterday’s ceremony. Clicking on this image reveals a photograph of Ms Hanafi receiving her “Certificate of Participation” from the Vice-Chancellor, Professor Jim Barber.

Jillian Huntley, who is exploring the use of new X-ray technology in analysing the composition of ochre pigments used on ancient art and artefacts, has won a prize at the University of New England for an essay on her work.

The Charles Ede Essay Prize is an annual prize for an essay by a student at UNE about – or inspired by – exhibits in UNE’s Museum of Antiquities. Ms Huntley’s essay discusses the potential of X-ray fluorescence spectrometry for examining pigments decorating objects in the museum.

Archaeology & Palaeoanthropology at UNE acquired a portable Bruker X-ray fluorescence (PXRF) instrument (pictured here) at the end of 2008. The instrument – which has applications in many fields of research – enables archaeologists to analyse the elemental composition of ancient artefacts without destroying the material being examined.

Ms Huntley’s essay has close links with the doctoral research she is undertaking as part of a multidisciplinary team examining the rock art of the Kimberley region of Western Australia. This major project, funded by the Australian Research Council and led by Mike Morwood (a Visiting Professor at UNE) and UNE’s Dr June Ross, is titled “Change and continuity: archaeology and art in the North Kimberley, North-west Australia”.

“The research program aims to explain specific changes in the human occupation of the region in relation to climate change, internal social processes, outside contact, and other possible factors,” Ms Huntley said. “It involves the excavation of selected sites, the examination and close description of rock art sites, the application of absolute dating techniques, archaeometric analysis of rock art and pigments, the collection of ethnographic information about the sites, and the development of an electronic archive of recorded sites.”

“My archaeometric work with the pigments of the Kimberley will build on previous work I’ve done on the rock art of the Sydney Basin,” she explained. “I’m excited to be among the first archaeologists in the country to explore the possibilities of PXRF, which enables a wholly non-destructive geochemical analysis that may unlock secrets encoded in the pigments used to create Kimberley rock art millennia ago.”

The Ede Prize, awarded annually by the UNE Museum of Antiquities Committee, is donated by the London-based antiquities dealer James Ede in honour of his father Charles Ede, who began the firm’s long association with the museum. Comprising both cash and a book prize, it has a total value of $500.

THE PHOTOGRAPH displayed here expands to show Jillian Huntley demonstrating the use of the PXRF instrument.