Archive for December 24th, 2010

2010, a year of consolidation and renewal for UNE, began with the arrival of a new Vice-Chancellor, Professor Jim Barber, at the beginning of February.

Professor Barber’s first official function as Vice-Chancellor was at an event characteristic of that consolidation and renewal: the opening of a new, state-of-the-art greenhouse complex for research and teaching within the School of Environmental and Rural Science. The complex includes 25 separate rooms, in each of which temperature and watering can be controlled independently. Research using the new greenhouse facilities is already contributing to national programs – particularly in relation to climate change.

The year ended with a related event: the opening of new laboratories for research into reducing greenhouse gas emissions in agriculture. The “UNE Carbon and Climate Change Research and Learning Facility” is the new home of the UNE-based National Centre for Rural Greenhouse Gas Research – a joint venture between UNE and Industry & Investment NSW – launched in 2009. The Centre is an “offspring” of the Primary Industries Innovation Centre, which is also based at UNE.

The development of collaborative arrangements – with other universities as well as with government and industry – was a major theme for the year, which saw the signing of important agreements with educational institutions both in Australia and abroad. In October Professor Barber and the Chancellor, Dr Richard Torbay, signed Memoranda of Understanding with the University of Sydney, the University of Western Sydney, and TAFE NSW establishing collaborative arrangements aimed at giving more students access to higher education. “While each agreement is unique,” Professor Barber said, “collectively they promote a more inclusive, flexible and responsive higher education environment: one where universities serve the national interest through collaboration rather than dog-eat-dog competition.”

The signing of an agreement with China’s Henan Agricultural University (HAU) in November was one of several agreements with overseas universities ratified during the year. The comprehensive agreement with HAU will enable students who have completed a diploma program or two or three years of a degree program at HAU to complete a UNE degree – with advanced standing – in the areas of accounting, business, biotechnology and molecular genetics, environmental science, animal science, agriculture, and agricultural and resource economics. UNE is currently teaching students from seven Chinese educational institutions through advanced standing and cooperation agreements.

In March Professor Barber officially launched a project – “DEHub” – representative of another aspect of UNE’s collaborative activities.”DEHub” is a collaborative research project that is paving the way for 21^st century developments in distance education. The project, funded by the Commonwealth Government and led by UNE, also involves Charles Sturt University, CQUniversity, the University of Southern Queensland, and New Zealand’s Massey University. Together, these universities form a “hub” of research-based expertise on new developments in distance education practice. Professor Barber said that DEHub was “at the forefront of research and development behind a global educational movement towards distance education”.

Semester 1 ushered in some important new degree courses, including three Bachelor’s degree programs in the field of sport and exercise science, and a Bachelor of Pharmacy degree program. The introduction of these new health/medicine-related courses, capitalising on UNE’s expertise in physiology and biochemistry, followed the successful introduction of the Bachelor of Medicine program conducted in partnership with the University of Newcastle and now at the end of its third year.

The University continued – and consolidated – its productive relationships with the wider Armidale and New England communities through a range of public events. One of the most popular of those events, the annual UNE Schools Acquisitive Art Prize competition and “Let’s Hang It!” exhibition, was held in June – for the seventh successive year – at the New England Regional Art Museum. The competition attracted about 500 entries from 35 schools in 17 towns and cities throughout northern NSW.

For the second successive year, UNE was the major sponsor of Armidale’s annual Sustainable Living Expo (SLEX). Eleven experts from UNE spoke to SLEX audiences about their research in fields related to conservation and sustainability, and the University – which was recognised by the NSW Government in this year’s Green Globe Awards for its commitment to sustainability – was able to demonstrate aspects of that commitment.

While looking ahead and planning for the deregulated higher-education environment to emerge in 2012, the University continues to treasure and build on its proud traditions of excellence in scholarship and its unrivalled reputation for “overall student satisfaction”.

In October, one of the oldest community radio stations in Australia, UNE’s student-run TUNE! FM, celebrated its 40^th anniversary of continuous broadcasting. The celebration included the official opening of new studios, from which TUNE! FM began broadcasting in August.  The Chancellor, Richard Torbay, speaking at the event, said that the station, which provides student volunteers with radio industry training, had “touched many lives”.

Another event that marked the 21^st-century continuation of a long-standing tradition was the arrival at UNE of Dr Randall Pogorzelski, UNE’s first Charles Tesoriero Lecturer in Latin. During a function in November to welcome him, Professor Barber pointed out that Latin was one of the “foundation disciplines” of the University, and said he hoped that the lectureship, established through a bequest by Dr Charles Tesoriero, would be the “cornerstone of world-wide initiatives in teaching Latin”.

UNE has taught geology and conducted research on the geology of the New England region ever since 1939 – the year after its foundation as New England University College. In November, an international conference and reunion of staff members and graduates in Geology at UNE celebrated 70 years of that research. The 160 participants in the “New England Orogen 2010″ conference included the institution’s first Honours graduate in geology, Dr Ken Williams, and its first Doctor of Philosophy in geology, Professor Keith Crook. The first day of the conference was a “Tectonics Symposium”, devoted to papers on the formation of the region of tectonic upheaval known as the New England Orogen. The symposium honoured the significant contribution of the UNE geologist Professor Peter Flood to an understanding of that phenomenon.

Iain Davidson, Emeritus Professor of Archaeology at the University of New England, is the 2010 recipient of the Australian Archaeological Association’s highest award: the Rhys Jones Medal.

Professor Davidson is the eighth recipient of the highly-regarded award for “outstanding contribution to Australian archaeology”. The previous recipients include two former UNE academics and two UNE graduates in archaeology.

The medal was presented at this month’s Annual Conference of the Australian Archaeological Association, hosted in 2010 by the Australian National University.

“I was both flattered and surprised,” Professor Davidson said – “surprised because I haven’t concentrated on any one thing during my varied career in archaeology. I was particularly happy, however, that the citation mentioned the fact that I’ve had some very good students, many of whom are now in important positions in Australian archaeology.” He said the prominent role of UNE in Australian archaeology had been established in the 1960s through the pioneering research and inspirational teaching of Isabel McBryde, the second recipient of the Rhys Jones Medal.

Professor Davidson’s research has included work on the Spanish Upper Palaeolithic, the archaeology and ethnography of north-west Queensland, Australian rock art, archaeology and heritage, and language origins. His 34-year career on the academic staff of UNE, beginning in 1974, culminated in his award of a Personal Chair in Archaeology in 1997 and his appointment as Emeritus Professor in 2008.

A Cambridge graduate, he arrived at UNE 12 weeks after the University established an academic department devoted to prehistory and archaeology – later to become the Department of Archaeology and Palaeoanthropology. When that department was absorbed into a multidisciplinary School of Human and Environmental Studies, Professor Davidson was appointed foundation Head of School.

While President of the Australian Archaeological Association in 1990-91, he ensured the adoption of the Association’s first Code of Ethics. He was elected as a Fellow of the Australian Academy of the Humanities in 1994, holds honorary positions at Flinders University, the University of Queensland and Harvard University, and was the foundation Director of the Heritage Futures Research Centre at UNE.

Iain Davidson developed an early interest in hunter-gatherer culture through field work on Palaeolithic sites in Greece, Jersey and Spain. “With this interest in hunters, I came to Australia – the continent of fisher-gatherer-hunters,” he said. Over the years he has been awarded major grants from funding bodies including the Australian Research Council and the Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies to investigate Aboriginal archaeology, rock art, resource use and museum collections, and has worked on projects with Anaiwan, Darug, Gamilaraay, Kalkadoon, Undekerebina, Wankamadla, Wonarua, and Yulluna people.

Following in the footsteps of Rhys Jones himself (the first recipient of the Rhys Jones Medal) and John Mulvaney (its third recipient), Professor Davidson held the Visiting Chair of Australian Studies at Harvard University in 2008-9, where he organised the 1^st Harvard Australian Studies Symposium. Titled “People Colonising New Worlds”, the symposium compared the human colonisation of Australia with that of the Americas. Papers from the symposium are now being published in the journal Quaternary International, and one of Professor Davidson’s current projects is the organisation of this material into a coherent narrative. “I feel very strongly that we need to write narratives about these epoch-making migrations in human pre-history,” he said.

“Professor Iain Davidson is an exceptional scholar of international standing who has made significant contributions to some of the big questions in archaeology – such as the origins of language, and the colonisation of Australia,” said Dr Lynley Wallis, President of the Australian Archaeological Association.  “With his long-term commitment to advancing archaeology in Australia, both through research and his support of Aboriginal people, it is very fitting that his achievements are recognised with this award.”

The Australian Archaeological Association (AAA), the largest archaeological organisation in Australia, was formed in the 1970s to represent a diverse membership of professionals and others interested in archaeology. AAA promotes the advancement of archaeology, provides an organisation for the discussion and dissemination of archaeological information and ideas, convenes meetings at regular intervals, and publicises the need for the study and conservation of archaeological sites and collections. At the end of 2010, AAA had more than 700 members – from historical, maritime, and Indigenous archaeology and cultural heritage management backgrounds.

The AAA Web site is at: http://www.australianarchaeologicalassociation.com.au