In 2010, as a direct result of our previous success, SIFE was approached by the Beef Cooperative Research Centre (CRC) to help them better market their Beef Profit Partnerships Program. We organised a series of focus groups with students; Beer, Beef, Questions, who analysed the marketing materials of the Beef CRC.

This year the Farming Futures Project was looking for a new direction, so we decided to tackle an issue that directly affects us; employment post uni. Thus, the Farming Futures Industry Dinner concept was born; it is an initiative to bridge the gap between university students and the rest of the agricultural industry. Several guest speakers are organised and other industry representatives will attend the dinner.

The Dinner is being held on October 29th at the Armidale Bowling Club from 6pm. We invite any person interested in SIFE or agriculture to come along on the night and see our results for yourselves. Event details can be found on Facebook.

HSBC Prize Winning Photo

2010 was an exciting year for the UNE SIFE team. The projects from 2009, including the Minimbah project, ADC and Farming Futures were carried into 2010. SIFE Australia added a special competition called the Can Hunger Challenge to the Australian SIFE program. SIFE UNE won second prize in this competition for it’s urgent hunger relief appeal.

The Minimbah project received a grant from HSBC and gained the support of New England Mutual to introduce a financial literacy program to the school. A photo of the Minimbah project won the team $500 when it was awarded second prize in the HSBC World photo competition in April. The team sourced 30 boxes of books from the Australian Literacy and Numeracy Foundation (ALNF) as part of their share-a-book campaign which led to a visit from childrens author Libby Hathorn  and a film crew to launch the ALNF’s campaign in September.

2010 UNE SIFE team at the National Competition

The National SIFE Competition was held in Melbourne and once again SIFE UNE performed well. Taliska Kiebat and Nicala Rayner presented the Minimbah project in the HSBC Financial Literacy competition and Sally Hatton represented the team in Top to Future Top. Heather Smith, Jo Grogan, Nicole Fogarty and Merri Knox presented in the main round of competition. The team proceeded through to the semi-final round where they were up against The University of Western Australia and The University of Melbourne who went on to be placed first and second in the final round.

Nicole Fogarty and Priscilla Fisher were awarded scholarships by the regional SIFE coordinator to travel to the SIFE World Cup in Anaheim, LA in October. It was a valuable experience for them individually as well as for the team. They saw the best teams in the world present their projects over three days. Nicole and Priscilla returned from the World Cup inspired to make 2011 SIFE UNE’s most successful year to date.

Nicole Fogarty getting to know SIFE members from other countries at the World Cup

SIFE UNE performs strongly at the Annual National SIFE Competition

Samantha Harris, Heather Smith, Nicole Fogarty

On July 8-12, 2009, the SIFE (Students In Free Enterprise) team from the University of New England travelled to Sydney to compete at the National SIFE Competition, where they performed strongly, proceeding to the final, championship round.

The National competition and conference was facilitated by SIFE Australia and saw the arrival of more than 20 university teams from throughout the country, along with high profile executives from some of Australia’s top corporations.

The program involved career development seminars, individual topic presentations and main round presentations, where each university vied for the championship title and the opportunity compete at the SIFE International conference in Berlin, Germany.

The team from SIFE UNE presented a project they are working on with the Minimbah Aboriginal Corporation Preschool & Primary School in the HSBC Financial Literacy competition. Their performance was praised by both judges and peers for its “ethical responsibility and innovation”, according to Jo Vickery, business lecturer and SIFE organiser at UNE.

Another feature of the conference was the Top to Future Top’s seminar where individuals from SIFE teams were able to sit down with company executives from corporate heavyweights such as Woolworths and HSBC to discuss issues such as climate change and the global financial crisis.

In the Main Round of competition, SIFE UNE presented their Minimbah, Armidale Profile, Farming for the Future and Wool Expo projects. SIFE UNE received accolades from judges, SIFE officials and competing university teams, and progressed first to the Semi-Final round and later to the Championship Round, where they were considered in the top four SIFE teams in the nation.

“This achievement is a testament to the dedication and hard work of all involved in the SIFE UNE team,” Ms Vickery said.