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ACU Update - Issue 1
ACU Update is produced fortnightly for staff, students and friends of Australian Catholic University (ACU). To submit a news article or event, please email editor@acu.edu.au or call 02 9739 2514.
• New Dean of Health Sciences
• New ITCS Director
• New Director of Institute of Business and Informatics
• Boost for student communications
• Minister's Awards for Excellence in Art
• Archbishop of Adelaide to deliver Lenten Lecture
• Perspectives on poverty
• Contributing to Catholic education
• New faces during Orientation Week 2007
• Room at the inn?
• Workshops in online teaching and learning
• Computer requirements
• Upcoming Events
New Dean of Health Sciences
ACU’s new Dean of Health Sciences Professor Pauline Nugent will join the University in late February to oversee the University’s nursing, midwifery and exercise science courses .
Professor Nugent joins the University from Deakin University, where she was the inaugural Chair of Nursing Development and Associate Dean (Partnerships and Innovation) in Deakin’s Faculty of Health and Behavioural Sciences.
Professor Nugent is also Chair of Victorian healthcare service Southern Health and a Fellow of the Royal College of Nursing Australia.
“I am delighted to welcome Professor Nugent as ACU’s new Dean of Health Sciences and wish her every success in furthering the University’s great teaching and research in this area, including the increasingly important disciplines of sports science, community fitness and health promotion,” said Vice-Chancellor Professor Peter Sheehan AO.
Professor Nugent
ACU welcomes the new Director of ITCS, Mr Paul Campbell, who will commence in February.
Mr Campbell, currently Business Technology National Manager at law firm Clayton Utz, will bring to the University his extensive senior management experience in technology and communication strategies, as well as policies, plans and direction.
Mr Campbell, who holds a Master of Business and Technology degree from the University of NSW, will be based at the North Sydney Campus (MacKillop).
New Director of Institute of Business and Informatics
Professor Adam Steen, the new Professor of Accounting and Director of the Institute of Business and Informatics, within the Faculty of Arts and Sciences will commence at ACU on 1 February.
Professor Steen joins ACU from Swinburne University of Technology where he was Associate Professor of Accounting in the Faculty of Business and Enterprise. Previously, Professor Steen has held positions at Melbourne Business School, Monash University and La Trobe University. He has also presented at leading conferences and published in academic and business journals.
Professor Steen is an active member of CPA Australia and has been invited to lecture internationally and conduct consulting assignments with the World Bank, the Government of Indonesia and other local and global organisations.
Boost for student communications
A pilot Web Radio Communication network to be set up between three of ACU’s campuses has received the Vice Chancellor’s Development Award for General Staff.
Congratulations to Brisbane Campus (McAuley at Banyo) Mission Engagement Team Member Mr Andrew Beiers who secured the Web-based Radio Communication Network Project (WRCNP) grant.
The project, to eventually include video streaming links, is expected to enhance the dynamic sharing of information between student associations and build on the University’s national identity and sense of community.
Mr Andrew Beiers
Minister's Awards for Excellence in Art
Brisbane Campus (McAuley at Banyo) is hosting an exhibition of selected artworks from the Minister's Awards for Excellence in Art. The exhibition will be held in EC.01 Banyo Gallery and will run until Friday 23 February.
The Minister's Awards for Excellence in Art, an initiative of the Queensland Department of Education and the Arts since 1990, aims to recognise and promote excellence in art education in state and non-state schools throughout the State.
The awards are not a competition, but focus on the outstanding endeavours of senior art students in our schools. Through their work the students demonstrate an ability to interpret, express and communicate ideas from an independent viewpoint.
For more information please visit http://education.qld.gov.au/community/events/artawards/ or call Lindsay Farrell on extension 7191.
Lindsay Farrell at the exhibition
Archbishop of Adelaide to deliver Lenten Lecture
ACU’s annual Lenten Lecture will be delivered by Adelaide Archbishop The Most Rev. Philip Wilson on the evening of Ash Wednesday 21 February at the North Sydney Campus (MacKillop).
The 2007 Lenten Lecture, the University’s major public oration, was introduced in 1999 and addresses theology in Australian culture. It marks the beginning of the Church's significant liturgical season of Lent.
For enquiries or to RSVP please contact Cynthia Donald on 9739 2943 or Cynthia.donald@acu.edu.au
Perspectives on poverty
Japanese colleagues collaborating with ACU’s Centre for Early Christian Studies have been awarded a $50,000 grant for two years by the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science, which has an agreement with the Australian Research Council.
Their project is Joint Studies in the Perspectives on Poverty in an Era of Crisis - Testing Some Social Models of Early Christianity.
Those involved from ACU include Centre for Early Christian Studies Director Professor Pauline Allen, and chief investigators Dr Bronwen Neil and Centre Fellow Dr Wendy Mayer, with research associates Dr Geoffrey Dunn and Dr Silke Trzcionka.
The Japanese research team is expected to complement the Centre's project on Poverty and Welfare in Late Antiquity, which has received $320,000 from the ARC for 2006 to 2008.
Contributing to Catholic education
Congratulations to Brisbane Campus (McAuley at Banyo) School of Arts and Sciences Lecturer in Drama Dr Tracey Sanders who was recently elected to the board of the Queensland Catholic Education Council for a three-year term.
The Queensland Catholic Education Commission (QCEC) exercises certain statewide responsibilities in respect of Queensland’s Catholic schools.
“This appointment will complement the work I do at ACU in education and arts and allow me to make a broader contribution to Catholic education in Queensland,” Dr Sanders said.
Dr Tracey Sanders
New faces during Orientation Week 2007
New students will mingle with academic staff and current students on all six campuses during Orientation Week, from Monday 19 February to Thursday 22 February.
There will be tours of computer labs and libraries, talks on balancing life and study, invitations to join student associations, and tips for making the most of the first year experience at the University.
To view the program for each campus please visit www.acu.edu.au/orientation
ACU Senior Lecturer in the School of Business and Informatics (Victoria) Dr Theda Thomas, the inaugural University First Year Experience (FYE) Coordinator has set up a WebCT special project to raise questions of concern to first year students and other relevant issues.
Input from all staff is encouraged. To participate, please email first_year@acu.edu.au with your full name, campus, organisational unit and position.
Staff are invited to help welcome international students by assisting them to find accommodation and part-time jobs.
To aid communication, the University’s International Recruitment Manager Marg Canny has placed a notice board at the busiest campus for international students, North Sydney Campus (MacKillop). It is near the University’s International Office, Ground Floor 3 Berry Street, North Sydney.
“You might know someone with an affordable spare room,” she said. “It doesn’t have to be near a campus, as many of the students are prepared to travel to keep their costs down.”
Please contact the following staff for more information on international student accommodation:
• Sydney, Ballarat and Canberra - Marg Canney extension 2441 or email m.canny@mackillop.acu.edu.au.
• Melbourne – Louise Howie extension 3302 or email louise.howie@acu.edu.au
• Brisbane – Robyn Young extension 7185 or email robyn.young@acu.edu.au
Workshops in online teaching and learning
Hands-on workshops in using the tools of WebCT/Blackboard for online teaching and learning will be offered on all campuses from Monday 5 February.
Similar workshops offered in November were enthusiastically received, according to the University’s Institute for Advancement of Teaching and Learning Online Teaching and Learning (IATL) National Coordinator Emma Felton.
Using Communication Tools will demonstrate the use of discussion forums, mail, chat tools and announcements. Creating an Online Unit will show how content and files can be created and uploaded using template and style sheets. Assessment Tools will cover the online submission of assignments, quizzes and surveys.
Library Sessions will also be run, focusing on using the Library’s electronic resources, linking to full text articles in online units, copyright, scanning, and more.
The workshops are offered by the IATL in conjunction with ACUonline and the University's library services. To register, please contact Sulo Jeyapalan on extension 4155 or sulo.jeyapalan@acu.edu.au
Academic staff are invited to ensure that computers in teaching spaces, libraries and computer labs at all campuses are ready for first semester teaching and learning.
Software requests, including licensed plug-ins, different versions and updates should be given to the Client Services staff on each campus by Friday 2 February. Staff on the Strathfield Campus (Mount Saint Mary) are reminded to be in contact by today – Wednesday 17 January.
“This will give our local teams time before the semester starts to carry out testing and roll out the software images onto the machines in the labs and common access areas such as the library,” Client Support Services Manager Robert Irving said.
For further details, please contact your local ITCS officers or the Helpdesk on extension 7272.
Details on these and other upcoming events can be found at www.acu.edu.au/events
Promote your event by listing it on the myACU events section and by emailing details to editor@acu.edu.au.
