Archive for October, 2009

The University of New England’s School of Law is pleased to invite you to the 2009 Annual Sir Frank Kitto Law Lecture Torture, Human Rights and the Rule of Law, presented by Professor Keith Ewing from Kings College London.
Professor Ewing is a leading public law scholar. He has co-authored important texts on civil liberties including Freedom Under Thatcher: Civil Liberties in Modern Britain and The Struggle for Civil Liberties: Political Freedom and the Rule of Law in Britain (both with Professor Conor Gearty). His most recent work, The Bonfire of the Liberties: New Labour, Human Rights, and the Rule of Law, is soon to be published by Oxford University Press.

The University of New England stands to benefit from the development of strategic relationships in the international arena, following the unqualified success of its International Health Conference held in Thailand this week.

The International Conference on Health Service Delivery Management is a joint effort between UNE and Thailand’s Naresuan University, and has attracted more than 450 delegates from across three continents.

The Vice-Chancellor and CEO of UNE, Professor Alan Pettigrew, in Thailand, said the conference had pulled together knowledge from the fields of health, medicine and education to address global issues in health service delivery.

He said the conference had attracted considerable international interest from health practitioners, health providers, and educators from 16 countries including Australia, Sudan, Nepal, Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, Laos and Bhutan.

“All of the international experts present are committed to improving health care and to learning from each other through research and education strategies,” Professor Pettigrew said. “The international partnership between UNE and Naresuan University is evidently world-leading in its concept and practical application for improving health care in rural and regional settings.”

Professor Victor Minichiello, Pro Vice-Chancellor and Dean of UNE’s Faculty of The Professions, said that the strategic relationships developed between UNE and institutions such as Naresuan University and the World Health Organisation would provide benefits to the global community.

“It is anticipated the conference will result in the expansion of this collaboration into a wider regional network,” Professor Minichiello said. “I commend the organisers for their vision and dedication to the wellbeing of communities, and look forward to UNE working with global partners to develop strategic relationships that not only benefit UNE, but tackle global health service problems head-on.”

THE PHOTOGRAPH displayed here expands to show a colourful ceremony at the conference.
This article was written by UNE’s Marketing and Public Affairs and reproduced here with their permission.

The University of New England’s most outstanding accounting and finance students have been recognised by Australia’s national accounting peak body, CPA Australia.

More than 178 awards were presented to the New England Business School’s top-ranking students last Friday.

UNE Chancellor, Dr Richard Torbay extended his congratulations to students and staff at the Business School, and said the awards were evidence of the high teaching quality and calibre of UNE students.

Dr Torbay stressed the importance of industry links, and the benefits of strategic relationships between educational providers like UNE, and industry associations, like CPA Australia for young people at the beginnings of their careers.

“New England Business School and CPA Australia have a strong, and long-term relationship that has provides enormous benefits for both students and staff at UNE.

“A key feature of the relationship is the regular visits by high-profile CPA Australia members to the University,” Dr Torbay said.

Vice Chancellor and CEO, Professor Alan Pettigrew suggested the awards provided an opportunity for CPA Australia to meet some of UNE’s top ranking students.

“Regular visits by industry organisations significantly negate the potential professional isolation of being in a regional area, and help establish strong and productive national networks not only for our staff but also for our students.

“When they visit, the people from CPA Australia spend an extraordinary amount of time talking one-on-one with students, as well as giving more formal talks,” Professor Pettigrew said.

NSW Director of CPA Australia Ron Switzer said he was pleased that the strong relationship between the accounting and finance peak body and UNE provided tangible benefits to students.

“The awards are designed to provide an opportunity for both CPA Australia and the University to recognize and celebrate the hard work and commitment of business students upon graduation.

“Today’s business students will be tomorrow’s business leaders, and it’s important that the outstanding achievements of UNE business students are recognized and provided with a much encouragement as possible during the early stages of career development,” Mr Switzer said.

This article was written by UNE’s Marketing and Public Affairs and reproduced here with their permission.

The University of New England is adopting an innovative approach to the training of health-care professionals in mental health practice.

Next year, UNE’s School of Health will introduce a new program that will address mental health from the perspectives of all the professionals who deal with it - including nurses, GPs, counsellors, teachers, social workers, and occupational therapists.

“With this holistic approach, we’ll be bringing together students from throughout the community of carers,” said the convener of the new program, Dr Sally Hunter. “This will give each of them a greater appreciation of the input of their colleagues from other health-care disciplines in dealing with mental health issues. The course will include case studies from all of those disciplines.”

This interdisciplinary approach includes the composition of the teaching staff as well as of the student cohort. “A core guiding principle has been that teaching will be by an interdisciplinary team,” Dr Hunter said.

The new program builds on UNE’s established reputation in fields such as nursing, counselling and psychology, and the success of its recently-introduced Bachelor of Medicine (Joint Medical Program) and Bachelor of Social Work degree programs. It provides for a “nested” series of awards beginning with a Graduate Certificate in Mental Health Practice and progressing to a Graduate Diploma in Counselling for Health and Social Care, and then to a Master of Counselling degree.

The entire program will be delivered by distance education, with the Graduate Certificate program comprising four units that can be completed in one semester of full-time study or one year of part-time study. The Graduate Certificate program also includes two compulsory residential schools.

“Students will be working on-line with people from other health-care disciplines, and meeting them face-to-face at residential schools,” Dr Hunter said. “This will enable them to develop an interdisciplinary perspective on mental health care. Currently, professionals in one health-care discipline are often unaware of what their colleagues in other disciplines do.

“We are very excited about the new program, and have received positive feedback about it from many of our current students.”

“There’s an acknowledged need in our community for people who can help those suffering from mental illness - and their carers,” she explained. “This is especially so in rural areas, where there is a hidden level of depression. If we catch mental illness early, people have a better chance of recovery.”

This article was written by UNE’s Marketing and Public Affairs and reproduced here with their permission.