Archive for December, 2011

2011 has been an eventful year for the University of New England.

We brought our ideas and vision for UNE together and what emerged was an ambitious document in the form of the Strategic Plan 2011-2015.

The priorities and strategies of the Plan have been intrinsic to everything the University has delivered  and striven for this year.

The Strategic Plan will take us through a very challenging time in the University sector, a time we are aiming to emerge from stronger and more competitive as a result of our strategic initiatives.

In pursuit of this goal we have formed a commercial arrangement with Pearson Australia to improve and enhance our online offerings, we will introduce Trimesters in a range of courses in  2012, and we have entered into an early entry partnership agreement with the University of Sydney.  We have also entered into an agreement with University of Western Sydney to provide their distance education units in 2012. These units will be given pre-approved standing towards UWS degrees.

We were given a competitive advantage in May with the switching-on of the National Broadband Network in Armidale.

At the official launch in May the Prime Minister said “The NBN will end the tyranny of distance between rural and regional Australia and our capital cities, literally changing the way Australians live and work.”

We have been working hard to exploit this game-changing technology by establishing a partnership with University of California’s  Irvine  Medical School to give UNE Medical students access to state-of-the-art learning technology via broadband connections.  Our Smarter Safer Homes, QuickSmart and Smart Farm initiatives are also utilising this technology to improve learning outcomes for the community.

UNE’s role in creating a strong regional community in New England was also on show at the Regional Futures Summit earlier this year, which was attended by the Minister for Regional Australia, Regional Development and Local Government Simon Crean and Minister for Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy Senator Stephen Conroy. 

Research at UNE was given a major fillip with $4.8 million from the Commonwealth Government’s Collaborative Research Network (CRN) fund.

UNE in collaboration with five partners has begun recruiting for the CRN for Mental Health and Wellbeing in rural regions and it will be officially launched next year.

Last week we received an early Christmas present in the form of $36.6 million in Structural Adjustment Funding.

This funding will allow UNE to convert more of our courses to an online format – currently only 5% of courses are fully online- and to establish a future campus in Parramatta. It will allow us to upgrade our IT systems, and implement partnerships with other higher education and VET providers.

As I said at the beginning it has been an eventful year for UNE but it has also been a productive year.

The changes that we are putting in place have required hard work across the University. But I am convinced that the changes and initiatives put in place will leave the University in a strong position.

Compliments of the season and my best wishes to you all.

Regards,

Jim Barber
Vice-Chancellor and CEO

It was his four years of voluntary work with Médecins Sans Frontières on the Iranian-Afghan border that made Iranian-born doctor Hadi Nojoumian aware of the difficulties in providing high-quality health care to people in rural, remote, and disadvantaged areas. Now, after establishing his career as a cardiologist in Sydney, he has moved to Armidale – drawn by the reputation of the regionally-based Joint Medical Program (JMP), which includes a School of Rural Medicine at the University of New England.

“When I found out about this program I was very excited,” Dr Nojoumian said. “It’s enabling medical students to receive top-class training in a country area – making it more likely that they will go on to practice in the country.”

“At the same time, I found out that there was a need for a cardiology physician in Armidale,” he said. Hence his arrival in Armidale last month as a Senior Lecturer at UNE’s School of Rural Medicine and a Visiting Medical Officer (as cardiologist and physician) at Armidale Hospital for Hunter New England Health – a Local Health District that is also a partner in the JMP. The Joint Medical Program is an expansion of the highly successful University of Newcastle medical program in partnership with the University of New England, Hunter New England Health and Central Coast Health.

Dr Nojoumian has enjoyed working with junior medical staff at Armidale Hospital over the past month, and is looking forward to meeting his UNE students next year. “I’ll be working with fourth and fifth-year medical students training at the hospital,” he said, “and participating in third-year students’ problem-based learning at the University.”

Professor Peter McKeown, Head of UNE’s School of Rural Medicine, said he was proud to be able to add Dr Nojoumian to the growing list of clinical specialists on the staff of UNE. “He brings to the community a very high level of clinical expertise that was not previously available in the New England region,” Professor McKeown said, “and combines that with a commitment to undergraduate and postgraduate medical education. Dr Nojoumian is a key member of the growing UNE specialist medical group providing services to the community.”

Hunter New England Health Chief Executive Michael DiRienzo said the appointment of Dr Nojoumian would further strengthen both Armidale’s specialist medical services and the Joint Medical Program.

“Our commitment to the Joint Medical Program allows us to both enhance medical services at Armidale Hospital and enrich the teaching environment Armidale Hospital provides to doctors in training,” Mr DiRienzo said. “Building strong services in the Armidale community is a priority for Hunter New England Health, so we are pleased our partnership with UNE’s School of Rural Medicine (within the Joint Medical Program) is allowing us to consistently attract high-calibre staff to the region.”

Born and brought up in Iran, where he completed his undergraduate medical training at Mashad University, Dr Nojoumian migrated to Australia in 2000. After working for a year as a lecturer in anatomy at the University of Sydney’s medical school, he moved to Grafton where, over the next two years, he gained experience as a regionally-based GP. For the following seven years he worked at Sydney’s Royal North Shore Hospital, where he completed his cardiology training, and then spent a year at the St George Hospital in Sydney as an Interventional Cardiology Fellow before his move to Armidale.

That move will be complete when his wife and two daughters, aged eleven and seven, travel from Sydney to join him within the next few weeks.

Media contact: Leon Braun (UNE public relations) on (02) 6773 3771.

Students from as far as Tasmania, Queensland and Western Australia joined students from schools in the New England North West region to attend the University of New England’s Primary Industry Centre for Science Education (UNE PICSE) Industry Placement Student Camp, December 12-16, 2011.

The 23 students interacted with leading and internationally recognised scientists to discover the current research and developments in primary industries and the exciting science based careers supporting primary industries. The students experienced interactive activities and guided tours of award-winning, innovative primary industries based businesses.

The week was an opportunity for the students to see the careers that are available within the agricultural science sector, which they would have never previously thought of as well as being able to talk to world class scientists about their current work.

“This is an outstanding opportunity for students to gain a first-hand experience into a broad range of worthwhile science based career opportunities,” said Susanna Greig, Science Education Officer and manager of the UNE PICSE program. “These students are enjoying a great experience and have grabbed onto the opportunity with both hands”

Patrick Grienewold, who has just completed Year 12, travelled all the way from Launceston in Tasmania to participate in the Science-to-Industry camp.

“I’ve learnt lots at the camp,” he said. “I’ve worked with sheep on the farm, and it was interesting, today, to find out what happens to the wool once it’s out of the shearing shed.

Briony Looker from Glen Innes will complete Year 12 in 2012. “I’ve been around animals all my life,” said Briony, who lives on a farm. “I’d like to study for a rural science degree at UNE and ultimately work in something like a beef research advisory position.”

PICSE is a national collaboration between – and is funded jointly by – the Commonwealth Government, universities, regional primary industries, national primary industry organisations, and businesses. This integrated strategy delivers science class activities, teachers’ professional development, teaching resources, student camps and student industry placement programs, building strong and sustainable relationships between school students, teachers, universities and local scientists or employers associated with primary industries, particularly in the production of food and fibre.

This UNE PICSE program is made possible with the support from the following partners:

School of Environmental Science, UNE, Walcha Dairy, Sheep CRC, Poultry CRC, Grasslands Society of NSW, UNE Marketing & Public Affairs, Animal Genetics & Breeding Unit, Veterinary Health Research Institute, Glendon Poultry, Tamworth Agricultural Institute, Viterra Malt, East West EnviroAg, Tomato exchange and Glen Innes Research Station.

Media contact: Susanna Greig, Science Education Officer on 0457 562 680.

The University of New England is adding to its sporting credentials next year by significantly expanding the number of sports majors it has on offer.

The Vice-Chancellor, Professor Jim Barber, said that in 2012 UNE would offer new specialities in sports management and physical education, building on the existing programs in sports science and exercise physiology.

“The changes, outlined in UNE’s new Sports Prospectus, are about creating greater career opportunities for students in the field of sport,” Professor Barber said.

“The Sports Prospectus details UNE’s suite of courses designed to educate professionals in the sporting sphere and also the leading-edge sport and exercise infrastructure we have on hand at our Armidale campus.  

“It also outlines our exciting work with the Australian College of Physical Education to expand into the undergraduate areas of sports coaching, sports development, and health and leisure, and into the postgraduate fields of sports medicine and sports management.”

UNE’s reputation in sporting excellence will also be enhanced in 2012, with the University’s sponsorship of the National Rugby League team, the Parramatta Eels.

UNE has signed with the Eels as a jersey sponsor for their 2012 NRL season.

Professor Barber said it was the first time that a tertiary institution had become a major partner of an NRL club.

“The sponsorship will also see the Parramatta Eels hold their pre-season training camp in Armidale early in 2012,” he said.

“The Eels will stay on campus to utilise UNE’s state-of-the-art training and sports science facility.

“Our sponsorship of the Eels will raise the awareness of our exceptional sporting facilities and the wide range of courses we offer.”

“More than 2,000 of UNE’s Distance Education students come from Parramatta territory, and this sponsorship will increase the brand awareness of UNE in the growing Western Sydney area,” Professor Barber said.

Parramatta Leagues club CEO Bob Bentley said the club is very excited to be the first NRL side to be sponsored by a tertiary institution.       

“At Parramatta we take professional development and  further education of our players seriously. There are several players in our NRL team including Luke Burt and Tim Mannah who are currently undertaking higher education studies,” Mr Bentley said.

“Additionally, our Toyota Cup Under-20s players are all involved in education programs, with many of the 36-strong group studying at either University or TAFE.

“The NRL team is looking forward to holding the pre-season camp in Armidale and meeting with the local community.”

On average, the Parramatta Eels have a viewing audience of almost 400,000 on free-to-air television, a home ground attendance of 17,000, and sell more than 20,000 jerseys each year.

The 2012 Parramatta Eels Jersey is now on-sale.

More information on the sports prospectus can be found at www.une.edu.au/excellence. 

For media enquiries, please contact Catherine Goldie on 0409 215 640.

The Parramatta Eels will travel to Armidale early next year for their pre-season camp.

The University of New England is a jersey sponsor of the National Rugby League side in 2012, affording locals the opportunity to meet and interact with the players.

UNE’s Vice-Chancellor Professor Jim Barber said the sponsorship was part of a major sports focus for UNE in 2012.

“Next year we will be showcasing UNE’s growing academic strength in various disciplines associated with sport, as well as the University’s superb playing fields and state-of-the-art training and sports science facility,” Professor Barber said. 

“The Parramatta Eels arrive in Armidale on Tuesday 31 January for their four-day visit and will stay on campus to utilise our training facilities,” he said.

“Their visit will include plenty of opportunities for New England Rugby League fans to interact with some of the game’s greats.”

The Armidale Dumaresq Mayor, Councillor Peter Ducat, welcomed the opportunity to be the major sponsor of this UNE initiative.

 ”Armidale has core strengths as a venue for sporting events that bring millions of dollars in to the Armidale economy each year,” Councillor Ducat said.

“Through this sponsorship Armidale Dumaresq Council can support the city’s efforts to increase visitation numbers – whether it be for sport, recreation or education.”

Fans will get the chance to meet the players at a civic reception and also at a dinner with the Eels.

“There will also be opportunities for local schoolkids to be involved in coaching clinics with the players,” Councillor Ducat said.

“I expect this association with the Parramatta Eels to draw people from throughout New England – which is great news for businesses in Armidale – in addition to strengthening the Armidale brand as an ‘Evocity’,” he added.

For media enquiries, please contact Catherine Goldie on 0409 215 640.

Twenty-six girls from twelve high schools around northern NSW have had an experience that, in the words of one of them, was “very inspirational”.

“This was the second Women in Engineering Weekend we have run at the University of New England, and it was very successful as the girls told us how much fun they had had, and that they were now considering engineering as a career,” said Dr Janelle Wilkes, a lecturer in environmental engineering at UNE, who was one of the organisers of the event.

“It was fantastic to see the girls engaged in surveying, designing and building bridges (as pictured here), designing highway bypasses, and site visits, and then to see the wonderful support of their parents who came along to the bridge testing,” Dr Wilkes said.

At one of the sites visited, Dr James Turnell, Senior Engineer Sewerage and Solid Waste for Armidale Dumaresq Council, said: “I was really impressed with the positive attitude of the budding young engineers, as they showed great enthusiasm for learning about wastewater treatment and waste management. They were unafraid to really get in there and take a look.”

The girls – all of them in Years 9-11 – travelled to UNE from Armidale, Bellingen, Coffs Harbour, Coonabarabran, Glen Innes, Grafton, Gulgong, Kempsey, Maitland, Mudgee and Tamworth for the weekend (Friday 25 – Sunday 27 November) and stayed at UNE’s Mary White College.

UNE – in collaboration with Roads & Maritime Services (formerly the RTA), the Institute of Public Works Engineering Australia (IPWEA), the Women in Engineering group within Engineers Australia, Armidale Dumaresq Council and local professional organisations and employers – is working to attract more women students into engineering. UNE is aiming to boost the percentage of women in its Bachelor of Engineering Technology degree program from the current 8% to 20% by 2013. The Women in Engineering Weekend was designed to demonstrate to the participants the value and attractiveness of engineering as a career choice for women, and the written feedback from the girls showed that this had worked.

“It was wonderful to see so many other girls with the same interest come together and work together, sharing thoughts and ideas,” said Emma Hayes from Coffs Harbour High School. Emma was one of three students whose work over the weekend won them prizes of a week’s work experience with Roads & Maritime Services; the others were Dawn Vassel (Gulgong High School) and Sarah Robinson (McCarthy Catholic College, Tamworth).

Book prizes went to Brooke Cooper (PLC Armidale), Esteriana Ewkawati (Glen Innes High School), and Lani Dean and Tiffany Van Dam (Bellingen High School).

“We had wonderful support from Roads & Maritime Services and Armidale Dumaresq Council – including financial support and personnel who ran many of the activities and site visits over the weekend,” Dr Wilkes said. “Support also came from the IPWEA, Engineers Australia, and many of the local councils in the areas the girls came from.”

Myee Gregory, who has just completed an Honours degree program at the University of New England, is the recipient of an international award recognising her academic excellence, service to the community, and leadership.

Myee (pictured here) was the only student from around the world to receive the Golden Key Pillars of Excellence Award for 2011.

The Pillars of Excellence Award is open to all undergraduate, graduate and post-graduate student members of the Golden Key International Honour Society. The UNE Chapter of the Honour Society, established in 2002, is one of more than 400 Golden Key chapters at colleges and universities in Australia, Canada, India, Malaysia, New Zealand, South Africa, The Bahamas and the United States.

Myee will graduate from UNE in March 2012 with First Class Honours in Media and Communications. As part of her Honours program this year she made a social documentary film called The High Road while travelling in Nepal with the Australian community development worker Sarah Taylor. Sarah, who comes from the New England village of Kentucky, established her business White Circles Global Trading in 2009 to support women and communities in Nepal. “This is achieved through teaching village women how to make products that are then sold in Australia to financially support education in the village,” Myee explained.

Myee is travelling to Melbourne to attend a screening of The High Road at the Red Monkey Tea House on Thursday 15 December.

“The Pillars of Excellence Award made a significant contribution to the making of the documentary,” Myee said, “enabling me to buy a computer and editing software. More importantly, it provided a strong motivational boost.”

Myee has been very active during her four years at UNE, having received a New England Award, completed a NSW Parliamentary Internship, and participated in the Vice-Chancellor’s Student Leadership Program.

As a resident of Earle Page College, she has been involved in various community service and leadership roles, including membership of the committee for the College’s annual “Coast Run” charity fund-raising campaign. As a Senior Academic Mentor in 2011, Myee founded the successful Intercollegiate Quiz Challenge.

“It was such a surprise to get the award,” she said. “I never expected to get it, but figured there was no harm in applying. I’m so glad I did!”

A plan to use the National Broadband Network (NBN) to help frail, elderly people live independently in their own homes is about to become a reality.

Specialists in communications innovation from the University of New England and CSIRO are working in collaboration with Armidale’s Autumn Lodge aged care facility in a project aimed at demonstrating the use of simply-installed, NBN-linked devices to help elderly people maintain contact with their families and community services while living safe and comfortable independent lives.

A meeting at UNE last week saw the development of the project, “Smarter Safer Homes for Aged People”, from planning to implementation stage.

UNE’s Associate Professor Stephen Winn, who is leading the project, said the first phase of its implementation would see the installation of environmental sensing and communication devices in residences at Autumn Lodge in 2012. “This will provide evidence of the effectiveness of such technology in improving people’s quality of life by helping them to live independently, monitoring their health and wellbeing, and keeping them in touch with their families. In this way it should also remove some of the burden of care from people whose elderly parents are living alone.”

“Based on the evidence from this trial, the next phase of the project will involve extending the adoption of this technology – at minimal cost to householders – into the wider community,” Dr Winn said.

“CSIRO is looking for opportunities for service delivery using broadband communication technologies,” said Colin Griffith, the Director of CSIRO’s Australian Centre for Broadband Innovation, who travelled from Sydney to UNE for last week’s meeting. “This project in ageing and health is very exciting. And with Armidale’s connection to the NBN, it’s an opportunity for this city to be a real showcase for what’s possible.”

“The technology is simple, invisible, and cheaply fitted,” Mr Griffith said. “Its functions include controlling temperature, and detecting events in the home such as a fall and alerting relatives and friends.”

Greg Clarke, the Business Manager at Autumn Lodge, said that, with its access to the NBN, the aged care facility had been keen to pursue the opportunities offered by the new technologies. “Autumn Lodge is a community-based organisation, and the welfare of residents is our main priority,” Mr Clarke said. “Our village units for independent living provide an ideal trial site, and this project can enhance the quality of life of the units’ residents by keeping them in touch with their families and friends and living in their familiar surroundings.”

The University of New England is mourning the loss of former Vice-Chancellor Sir Zelman Cowen.

While Sir Zelman might be more widely known to staff though his role as Governor-General of Australia from 1977 to 1982, he is remembered fondly for the innovation and drive he brought to UNE in its early years.

Sir Zelman was born in 1919 in Melbourne. He graduated in Arts and Law from Melbourne University and was awarded a Rhodes Scholarship in 1940, which he took up in 1945 after serving in the Royal Australian Naval Volunteer Reserve.

He lectured at Oxford until 1951, when he returned to the University of Melbourne as Dean of the Law School, and was an academic lawyer of international reputation. In 1967 he took up the position of Vice-Chancellor at the University of New England (as pictured here).

UNE’s  Vice-Chancellor, Professor Jim Barber, said that Sir Zelman had described his three years at UNE as an enriching experience during which he had learnt a great deal about the business of being a Vice-Chancellor and about the Australian university system.

“His enthusiastic support for the establishment of a School of Hydrology paved the way for the current School of Environmental and Rural Science, which remains one of the largest and most respected agriculture and environmental science schools in Australia,” Professor Barber said.

In 1978 Sir Zelman said: “My life in universities, and particularly as a Vice-Chancellor, has taught me many things and has yielded up experience which is very valuable to me in my present office.”

From UNE he went on to become the Vice-Chancellor of The University of Queensland and then the Governor-General of Australia.

The Chancellor of UNE, Richard Torbay, said the University had benefited immeasurably from Sir Zelman’s leadership and association.

“Our thoughts are with his family at this time,” Mr Torbay said.

Twenty science teachers from secondary schools in Armidale, Gunnedah, Guyra, Inverell and Tamworth spent two days at the University of New England last week finding out about the latest advances in research supporting food security.

Another teacher, Edgar Cooper, travelled all the way from his school in Perth to participate in this professional development event organised by the UNE Primary Industry Centre for Science Education (PICSE). Mr Cooper, who received a travelling scholarship from the national PICSE organisation to travel to Armidale, said these PICSE events were “some of the best professional development programs offered to teachers”. “And the opportunities the PICSE program extends to our students are just terrific,” he added.

PICSE is a national collaboration between – and is funded jointly by – the Commonwealth Government, universities, regional primary industries, national primary industry organisations, and businesses. This integrated strategy delivers science class activities, teachers’ professional development, teaching resources, student camps and student industry placement programs, building strong and sustainable relationships between school students, teachers, universities and local scientists or employers associated with primary industries, particularly in the production of food and fibre.

As well as hearing from leading researchers in various aspects of food production and environmental protection, the teachers were introduced to resources developed by PICSE, including the latest interactive program: Chemistry and Biology Interactive Lessons. Those contributing to the event included Professor Iain Young, Dr Chris Guppy, Dr Daniel Brown, Dr Darryl Savage, Associate Professor Darren Ryder and Paul Lisle from UNE, Dr Gururaj Kadkol from the NSW Department of Primary Industries, and  Belinda Pine from the NSW Department of Education and Communities.

Mitchell Smidt from O’Connor Catholic College in Armidale has been attending these PICSE events at UNE ever since they were initiated some years ago. “It’s been fantastic,” he said. “I’ve piloted some of the materials in the classroom, and it’s worked out really well. The kids can get really involved in interactive programs.”

“It’s been very informative – and great to see lots of new resources,” said Anthony Gaias from Macintyre High School, Inverell. “And I’ll be able to take the new Interactive Lessons program back to the classroom where the kids will enjoy it.”

Susanna Greig, who runs the UNE PICSE program, said: “These events really are valuable opportunities for teachers to be updated on current research developments, enabling them to pass this updated information on to their students. It’s a terrific opportunity to work with teachers linked to the PICSE program to support students in discovering the exciting science-based careers linked to primary industries, and to provide them with the knowledge to make informed decisions.”

THE PHOTOGRAPH displayed here shows Susanna Greig and Mitchell Smidt during one of the sessions on new PICSE teaching resources.