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Issue 21 - 3 November

ACU National Update is produced fortnightly for staff, students and friends of Australian Catholic University (ACU National). To submit a news article or event, please email editor@acu.edu.au or call 07 3623 7491.

Vice-Chancellor addresses staff

Vice-Chancellor Professor Greg Craven has begun his staff addresses on each ACU National campus.

At the Canberra (Signadou), Brisbane (McAuley at Banyo), Melbourne (St Patrick’s) and North Sydney (MacKillop) campuses, Professor Craven emphasised the pending stage of ‘hyper-competition’ among universities, particularly in light of the Bradley Review to be released at the end of the year.

He also reaffirmed ACU National’s many strengths ahead of the structural changes that will occur over the coming months. Professor Craven will speak on the Strathfield Campus on Monday, 3 November and at the Ballarat Campus on Friday, 21 November.

East Timor graduation

ACU National’s Graduation Ceremony for the Catholic Teacher’s College, Baucau, was held on Saturday 25 October in East Timor.

36 students were awarded the Bachelor of Teaching (Primary) and Jose Mendes was presented the College’s first ever Master of Educational Leadership.

The University was represented by Chancellor Br Julian McDonald, Dean of Education Professor Marie Emmitt, Director for the Institute of Community Engagement Professor Jude Butcher, School of Education Leadership Professor Tony D’Arbon, Research Officer Mr Bruno Yvanovich and Graduations Officer Ms Kathy Macpherson.

Staff were joined by five donors from the eMerge Foundation, a group which has become a fantastic supporter and friend of ACU National.

East Timor Minister for Education Dr João Cancio Freitas delivered the Occasional address at the ceremony, praising the College and ACU National’s commitment to the program, as proud family and friends joined the graduates for refreshments. Australian Ambassador to East Timor His Excellency Peter Heyward also attended the ceremony with his wife Susan.

The graduates are incredibly grateful and appreciative of the program, which will enable them to better support their families and improve the education of young people in their community.

A function, run by New South Wales Parliament Asia Pacific Friendship Group, was held at New South Wales Parliament House on Thursday, 30 October to raise money for the college.

Offical Timor party (L-R) Peter Heyward, Helen Games, Ian and Marionne MacRitchie (eMerge Fdn) and Chancellor Brother Julian McDonald CFC, AO with Dawn and Rob Yeates (eMerge)and ICFP Director Br Fons van Rooij fms
Chancellor Timor graduation Brother Julian McDonald CFC, AO with graduate Jose Mendes
Timor donors with grads Dawn Yeates, Rob Yeates and Ian MacRitchie from the eMerge Foundation with two graduating students
Timor graduates A group of graduates with Jose Mendes, MEdLead graduate, in the centre

Indigenous week celebrated

The University celebrated Indigenous Week from 20-24 October with a range of events across the campuses.

The Ballarat Campus (Aquinas) held an acknowledgement of the Wathaurong country and an Indigenous flag raising ceremony followed by a morning tea for staff and members of the local Indigenous community. An afternoon session was held to provide an opportunity for students and staff to gain information about field experience, volunteering and community engagement within Indigenous communities.

The Strathfield Campus (Mount Saint Mary) commenced the week with a flag raising ceremony, and BBQ to welcome the Indigenous residential students. Members of the campus community were invited to add their voice to the growing number of Australians calling for justice for Indigenous peoples by placing a hand in the ground in support of Australians for Native Title and Reconciliation (ANTaR’s) Sea of Hands initiative.

Activities continued throughout the week including a moving performance of a traditional Indigenous dance by residential student Robert Blair. Staff and students were also treated to billy tea and damper. NATSICC Chairperson Ms Elsie Heiss was the guest speaker at the week’s concluding Mass. Mission Engagement staff paid special tribute to the involvement of staff and students throughout the week.

The Brisbane Campus (McAuley at Banyo) commenced the week with a guest lecture by Dr Stefano Girilo on The Italian Connection: New historical sources on European-Aboriginal relationships.

The celebrations continued with poetry readings by Yvette Holt and Ken Canning and Indigenous art activities with Julie Appos in Weemala’s Reflection space.

Ballarat Indigenous Mass Ballarat Campus Indigenous Mass
Indigenous poetry Poet Ken Canning reads one of his works to staff and students at Weemala’s Indigenous Reflection Space on the Brisbane Campu
Indigenous dance Robert Blair performing the Kangaroo Dance on the Strathfield Campus
Strathfield Indigenous week Students and staff with Ms Elsie Heiss on the Strathfield Campus

Seeking change for asylum seekers

A documentary following the travels of ACU National honorary doctorate recipient and Edmund Rice Centre director Phil Glendenning through Afghanistan, Syria, Turkey, Iran and Canada will screen on SBS on Wednesday, 19 November at 8.30pm.

Dr Glendenning and the Edmund Rice Centre have made it their mission to discover what happens to asylums seekers who aren’t considered as refugees after they are sent home from Australia.

The documentary, A Well-Founded Fear, is a moving story covering Dr Glendenning’s search. Please visit awellfoundedfear.com.au for more information.

Brilliant Blackrock

Drama students on the Brisbane Campus (McAuley at Banyo) delivered two brilliant performances of Australian play Blackrock on 20 and 21 October.

The play’s themes of power, gender, mateship, loyalty, family and love actively challenge young people to dialogue about the story, the text and role portrayals.

The performance, directed by senior drama lecturer Dr Tracey Sanders, received feedback from its audience that the University should be proud of the talent, energy and commitment of our drama students.

Blackrock Brisbane Campus drama students with Blackrock director, senior drama lecturer Dr Tracey Sanders (front row, centre)

Study Guide cover design competition

The University’s Academic Skills Unit is offering a $250 prize for a student artwork or design for the cover of the new ACU National Study Guide: Skills for Success, to be published in Semester 2, 2009.

Artworks may be created in any medium, but need to be submitted for judging in the form of a digital image.

Submissions are to be emailed, preferably as a JPEG file with a resolution of at least 300 pixels per inch and a maximum file size of 3MB, to covercomp.asu@acu.edu.au Graphic design submissions need to be entered as a PDF file created in InDesign, Illustrator or Photoshop, again with a file size limited to 3MB.

All entries must include the full title of the publication, ACU National Study Guide: Skills for Success, in addition to the words Academic Skills Unit, and a space for the ACU National logo.

Any questions about the competition can be directed to the entry address, covercomp.asu@acu.edu.au Entries close on Friday 12 December, 2008.

Teaching awards for excellence

Around 50 family and friends gathered at the Clancy Building on the Strathfield Campus (Mount Saint Mary) for the presentation of the Primary Pre-Service Teacher Awards for Excellence in Science Education, awarded by the Department of Education, Science and Training in early October.

The awards were presented to students who achieved the highest marks in the 2007 Science and Technology units in the Bachelor of Education and Master of Teaching programs in the School of Education (NSW).

Funding of $2,000 and a full set of published units per recipient was provided by DEST as part of the national science and literacy initiative, Primary Connections. The awards were presented by Councillor Keith Kwon, Mayor of Strathfield and Ms Anna Davis, President of the Science Teachers' Association of NSW.

Apologies to School of Education (NSW) science and education technology lecture Ms Anne Forbes for excluding her name from the photo in the last edition of the Update.

Teacher awards Student award winners with NSW School of Education staff - Associate Professor Marea Nicholson, Dr Julie Clark and Ms Anne Forbes, Councillor Kwon and Ms Anna Davis

The challenge of affluence and poverty

ACU National’s Institute for Advancing Community Engagement (IACE) invites staff, students and friends of the Brisbane Campus (McAuley at Banyo) to the Dare to Make a Difference lecture on Monday, 3 November.

Adjucnt Professor Robert Fitzgerald, AM will deliver the address, A Rich Young Nation: The Challenge of Affluence and Poverty in Australia. Professor Fitzgerald is currently a full-time Commissioner with the Productivity Commission.

The Commission is the Australian Government’s independent review and advisory body on microeconomic policy and regulation. The Commission’s core function is to conduct public inquiries on key economic, social and environmental issues bearing on Australia’s economic performance and community well-being.

Professor Fitzgerald holds degrees in commerce and law from the University of New South Wales. He was made a Member of the Order of Australia in 1994, is a recipient of the Centenary medal, was awarded an honorary doctorate by ACU National in 2001, and is now an Adjunct Professor at the University.

The lecture will begin at 6.30pm, with refreshments from 6pm, in Lecture Theatre IB.12 on the Brisbane Campus, at 1100 Nudgee Road, Banyo. Please RSVP to the IACE at iace@acu.edu.au, or to (07) 3623 7111.

ARC Grant success

Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Research and International) Professor Peter Wilson has congratulated the success of ACU National’s latest ARC grant recipients.

Professor Elizabeth Warren has been awarded an ARC-Discovery grant with Professor TJ Cooper, while Professors Peter Howard and Jude Butcher have obtained an ARC-Linkage grant with industry partners, Mission Australia and the St Vincent de Paul Society.

Four other successful grant submissions were submitted with collaborating researchers from other Universities, including Vice-Chancellor Professor Greg Craven (with UNSW), Associate Professor Peter Rendell (with UNSW), Professor Shurlee Swain (with Monash), Professor Peter Camilleri and Associate Professor Morag McArthur (with La Trobe).

Author shares style with literature students

School of Arts and Sciences (NSW) Associate Professor Michael Griffith invited celebrated author David Malouf to speak with first year and third year literature students about his novels Conversations at Curlow Creek and Remembering Babylon recently.

Both events were a stunning success, with first year students able to interrogate Mr Malouf both about the spiritual content of his work and about his distinctive style which takes the reader to the very heart of the human experience.

Third year students, who are studying Remembering Babylon in the context of a unit William Blake and the Visionary Imagination, had an opportunity to hear first hand how David sees his fiction as an agent in transforming our inner lives.

Mr Malouf happily signed copies of his book following the lecture, and praised ACU National and its students for the lively and stimulated questions his visits regularly bring.

Author with lecturer Mr Malouf with Associate Professor Michael Griffith
Author signs books Mr Malouf signing students' books

NSW Government graduate program

Students and graduates from the North Sydney (MacKillop) and Strathfield (Mount Saint Mary) campuses are encouraged to consider the New South Wales Government’s Fast Track Graduate Program, which has been launched to assist the long-term growth of a skilled and capable public sector workforce and to position the New South Wales public sector as a preferred employer for high potential graduates.

The Fast Track program offers graduates 18 months hands-on experience in dynamic policy or accounting roles across the public sector, a development program designed to accelerate careers, a competitive salary package and a permanent position with a New South Wales Government agency on successful completion of the program.

For further information email graduateprogram@dpc.nsw.gov.au or call 02 9228 5863. Applications are open until Friday 7 November 2008.

Student celebrate semesters

Two student events have proved that social activity among students is alive and well across ACU National’s campuses.

In New South Wales, earlier this year, a Harbour Cruise was held to celebrate the completion of Semester 1.

The event, which attracted more than 360 students from the North Sydney (MacKillop) and Strathfield (Mount Saint Mary) campuses, proved to be a great way for student's to unwind after 1st semester and look forward to the holidays.

The Brisbane Campus’ (McAuley at Banyo) end of year party, Summer Night Fest, was a huge success with around 150 students, graduates and friends attending on Friday, 24 October.

Congratulations to all students and staff that assisted in organising the event, and a particular thank you to staff from Business, Campus Operations, ACUonline and University Relations for their involvement.

Sydney Harbour cruise New South Wales Habour Cruise
Sydney Harbour cruise Students at Summernight Fest on the Brisbane Campus

Choir a soaring success

Congratulations to the Australian Catholic University Choir, based at the Brisbane Campus (McAuley at Banyo), and School of Arts and Sciences (QLD) senior lecturer Ms Judy Fromyhr for their wonderful performance at the Cathedral of St Stephen on Sunday 12 October.

The concert was part of the 2008 St Stephen’s Concert Series which presents Brisbane music-lovers with the opportunity to hear a variety of choral and instrumental music performed by artists with local, national and international recognition.

The ACU National Choir was joined by St Stephen’s Cathedral Choir, St Stephen’s Schola, St Stephen’s Chorale, Malcolm Liddell Brass Ensemble, and Greg Mayer on the organ to form over 60 choristers.

Dr Ralph Morton conducted the program, which included Edward Elgar’s Give unto the Lord, The Spirit of the Lord, Giovanni Gabriele’s Jubilate Deo and Heinrich Schutz’s Alleluja!

Education program honoured

School of Education (ACT) senior lecturer Dr Rhonda Faragher has been awarded an Endeavour Executive Award by Deputy Prime Minister, The Hon Julia Gillard MP.

The Endeavour Executive Awards provide professional development opportunities for high achievers in business, industry, education and government. The Awards focus on building skills and knowledge through a host work environment.

Dr Faragher’s program aims to improve the educational outcomes of children with Down syndrome in Singapore and Australia through working with colleagues at the National Institute of Education and the Down Syndrome Association of Singapore.

The collaboration will include sharing research and approaches to teacher education as well as attending and contributing to the 2nd International Association for the Scientific Study of Intellectual Disability - Asia Pacific (IASSID – AP) Regional Congress.

The final phase is establishing on-going links between Singapore and Australia in DS research and practice.

Canberra Campus (Signadou) Acting Rector Professor Michael Gaffney has affirmed Dr Faragher’s award as a powerful endorsement of ACU National’s commitment to social justice and the marginalised, in addition to the Faculty of Education’s expertise in educating learners with intellectual disabilities.

Liberating education forum

The Strathfield Campus (Mount Saint Mary) will host a forum, Liberating education: A right for people communities and nations, on Friday, 26 November.

The forum will feature speakers on topics including the right to education, the global status of education and Indigenous and life-long learning.

The forum will begin at 6pm in the Jack Gleeson Auditorium, with a second event to be held at Loyola Senior High School in Mt Druitt on Monday, 8 December.

Education graduate honoured

Ballarat Campus (Aquinas) Education graduate Ms Joanne O’Kelly has been named a finalist in the 2008 ASG Inspiration Teacher Award category as part of the National Excellent in Teaching Awards.

The inaugural awards celebrate the often-unsung contribution teachers make to the lives of their students, parents, communities and their profession. Ms O’Kelly, who teaches year 1 and 2 at St Columba’s Primary School in Ballarat North, is the only teacher from the Ballarat region to be named as a finalist.

“It’s lovely that someone went out of their way to nominate me,” Ms O’Kelly, who has been teaching for seven years, said. “I’ve always enjoyed being around children.”

The competition’s 60 state and territory winners will be announced in November, while the 10 national winners will be revealed later this year.

Japan consul speaks on Australian relations

Sydney Consul-General of Japan, Mr Nobuhito Hobo, delivered a guest speech entitled Japan and Australia relationships in a ‘turbulent’ era at the Strathfield Campus (Mount Saint Mary) on Friday, 17 October, courtesy of the School of Arts and Sciences (NSW).

Mr Hobo shared his thoughts on Australia’s economic diversity in the context of the Australia-Japan bilateral relationship by comparing the differences between, and strengths of, our two countries.

The topic was timely and the audience found it interesting particularly as Mr Hobo was willing to answer questions on any topic, including the sensitive issue of whale catching.

Mr Hobo was surprised when he was introduced by Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Research and International) Professor Peter Wilson and first year Japanese student Andrew Djo who spoke in Mr Hobo’s native tongue.

Mr Hobo Mr Nobuhito Hobo (back, centre) is joined by Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Research and International) Professor Peter Wilson (back, left) and students