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Issue 23 - Thursday 27 November

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 07 3623 7491.

ACU leads nation in first and overall preferences

National preference reports confirm that ACU shows a sector-leading increase in both first and overall preferences, a percentage increase greater than any university in Australia.

Across all six ACU campuses, first preferences are up. Nationally, the university saw a 28 per cent increase in first preference choice and a 23 per cent increase in overall preference.

In Brisbane, both first and overall preferences were up 40 per cent. In the competitive Melbourne market, the university showed a 38 per cent increase in first preference choice. In Canberra, the campus saw an especially large rise, with a 165 per cent increase in overall preferences.

Vice Chancellor Professor Greg Craven attributed this success to the commitment of staff members to providing a quality and responsive learning environment.

“We are hard at work creating a university environment focused on the student experience,” Professor Craven said. “Years of dedication have resulted in this excellent outcome and an institution clearly poised to adapt to Gen Y and beyond. In an increasingly competitive university sector posed on the brink of the Bradley Report tidal wave, we have demonstrated our responsiveness. We know how to surf.”

Flagship education and health programs, a growing research reputation, and a focus on core values of service, intellectualism and giving students a personalised academic experience have contributed to the result.

This year, ACU launched its innovative Early Achiever’s program, making it the only university in Australia to consider community service as part of the acceptance process. To date, more than 1,000 high calibre students across the country have applied to this program,

“The message that service is a core part of a student’s identity and of a university education resonates strongly with students. We simply gave potential students an opportunity to show what service means to them, and we have been amazed by the result. Once again, our message hit home.”

Business and higher education (B-HERT) awards

ACU has won two of the seven prestigious Business / Higher Education Round Table (B-HERT) awards.

ACU academics involved in collaborative industry, government, non-profit and educational partnerships walked away with prizes for Best Education and Training Collaboration for the MyScience program and Best International Collaboration in Research and Development or Education and Training for delivering tertiary education to refugees on the Thai-Burma border.

Staff members Marea Nicholson and Anne Forbes were part of the NSW-based MyScience project team.

“We and our many project partners recognise the key role that science knowledge will play in the future of all Australian industries,” they said. “The groundwork for science literacy must begin early.”

For more than four years, ACU has offered a Diploma in Business and Certificate in Theology to camp-based refugees on the Thai-Burma border. Recently, Open Universities Australia and the Association of Jesuit Colleges and Universities joined the project, which already has seen students completing the programs move on to university courses or employment in Thailand, USA and Australia.

“Many camp refugees return after study to work for NGOs to help their own people,” said Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Academic Affairs) Professor Gabrielle McMullen, who was the University sponsor in establishing the program. “This educational opportunity is truly life-changing for the participants.”

“The B-HERT recognition is greatly appreciated by everyone involved,” she added. “But it is the refugee students themselves who are inspirational to us all and must remain our focus.”

ACU 2008 B-HERT award winners ACU 2008 B-HERT award winners

2008 Staff Award for Outstanding Community Engagement

ACU Vice-Chancellor Professor Greg Craven has awarded the 2008 Staff Award for Outstanding Community Engagement to School of Education Senior Lecturer Dr Ann Gervasoni of the Ballarat Campus (Aquinas).

Dr Gervasoni has worked to assist financially disadvantaged children to learn mathematics by developing a partnership between ACU staff, students and The Smith Family, resulting in a community-based Maths Club for children, which has grown into three separate Maths Clubs.

Dr Gervasoni has assisted pre-service teachers to assess the children and produced learning plans to help each child. She has also worked to build community partnerships for a Clemente Program in Ballarat through initiating, building and extending partnerships between agencies and institutions.

Since visiting Baucau, she has worked to support the growth of Friendship Schools, and community projects in East Timor, culminating each year in the annual Friendship Schools Forum which brings together school leaders from Ballarat schools, and members of the East-Timorese and Ballarat communities. Her broad experience has also involved coordinating a lecture to raise awareness of social injustices experienced by the people of East Timor. The selection panel was impressed by Dr Gervasoni’s very comprehensive work, variety of experiences and ability to bring people together.

Dr Ann Gervasoni Dr Ann Gervasoni

2008 Student Award for Outstanding Community Engagement

The 2008 Student Award for Outstanding Community Engagement has been awarded to excercise science student Ms Maria Boulatsakos of the Strathfield Campus (Mount Saint Mary).

Maria has been involved in numerous community engagement initiatives, taking great pleasure in her work and in making people smile. Since becoming a children’s entertainer, she has explored unique opportunities in the community working at a number of charity events and entertaining sick children in hospital.

Her diverse experience has included volunteering at a US summer camp for children with behavioural, learning and emotional difficulties and at an Edmund Rice holiday camp for disadvantaged Indigenous children in Central NSW.

At ACU, Maria coordinated the “Make Poverty History” project at Strathfield and volunteered her talents as a clown during the 2008 Orientation program. She has also spoken about Social Justice Projects on a University DVD, volunteered at the “SpiritAlive Fest” during World Youth Day, and more. The selection panel considered the outcomes of Maria’s engagement to be exceptional, with impressive support documentation and longevity of involvement.

Maria Boulatsakos Student Maria Boulatsakos

Blessed Mary MacKillop ‘comes home’ to ACU: Cardinal Pell unveils sculpture

Archbishop of Sydney His Eminence Cardinal George Pell has unveiled a sculpture of Blessed Mary MacKillop at ACU’s North Sydney (MacKillop) Campus.

Cardinal Pell described Mary as a “woman who valued education immensely and worked consistently and well with people most in need of it”.

“Australians take great pride in the achievements of Blessed Mary MacKillop, so I am delighted that a site dedicated to her memory should be in these grounds, the MacKillop campus of Australian Catholic University,” said Cardinal Pell.

ACU Vice Chancellor Professor Greg Craven commissioned the sculpture by artist Linda Klarfeld to celebrate the University’s history and ongoing affiliation with Blessed Mary MacKillop.

“I particularly asked that she be depicted in her later years,” Professor Craven said. “She knew this house, knew this garden. We see this as the Blessed Mary MacKillop coming home to MacKillop Campus.”

Klarfeld, whose sculptures are highly regarded and sought after by collectors, was “thrilled that Cardinal Pell unveiled the statue of Mary MacKillop”.

“Mary MacKillop was an incredible woman and she dared to believe in her dream and that’s why I feel quite a strong connection with her,” Klarfeld explained.

Congregational Leader of the Sisters of St Joseph Sister Anne Derwin spoke of Mary’s popularity for “people of faith, people of suffering and people of goodness”, adding that “she went about daily life in the most ordinary ways, filled with kindness and generosity” and was a symbol for Australians who believed in “a fair go for all”.

Cardinal Pell, sculptor Linda Klarfeld and Vice-Chancellor Professor Greg Craven with sculpture of Blessed Mary MacKillop Cardinal Pell, sculptor Linda Klarfeld and Professor Craven

Donor dinner at Central Hall at Melbourne Campus

A number of Victorian major donors and holders of honorary doctorate degrees from ACU recently joined Vice-Chancellor Professor Greg Craven and Deputy Vice-Chancellor(Academic Affairs) Professor Gabrielle McMullen at a dinner in Central Hall at the Melbourne Campus (St Patricks).

Professor Craven thanked donors such as The Ian Potter Foundation which has provided the University with $500,000 in matched challenge grant funding for the restoration of Central Hall. He also discussed the $1.2 million in Federal Government Better Universities Renewal Funding which will allow Central Hall to be fully fitted out as a large capacity flexible lecture space to accommodate growing numbers of undergraduate students.

The Vice-Chancellor shared his vision for the expansion of the Melbourne Campus and the need for a new building program to cater for outstanding student demand.

Distinguished guests at the well-attended dinner included honorary doctorates Lady Primrose Potter AC DLI; Mr Rino Grollo and his wife, Diana; Hon Judge Eugene Cullity QC and his wife Shirley; Ms Margaret Gurry AM; Sister Rosemary Crumlin RSM, Associate Professor Richard Divall OBE, and The Ian Potter Foundation CEO Janet Hirst.

White Ribbon Day 2008 and Employee Assistance Program

All ACU campuses took part in White Ribbon day, the first campaign led by men to end violence against women in the world.

“I became an official White Ribbon Day Ambassador because I strongly support this campaign, and believe that sharing knowledge and showing our support can have an impact,” said Vice-Chancellor Professor Greg Craven. “I also believe that White Ribbon Day is aligned with the University’s mission, as it identifies with the dignity of all human beings.”

Through White Ribbon Day, men are encouraged to take a stand and say violence, in any form is never acceptable. It is also an opportunity to share information about the issue of violence against women, and to highlight the resources and support that are available in the community to assist those in need.

White Ribbon Day Visit http://www.whiteribbonday.org.au for more information about White Ribbon Day.
White Ribbon Day at Brisbane Campus with Selena Collins (left) and organiser Leisa Duncan White Ribbon Day at Brisbane Campus with Selena Collins (left) and organiser Leisa Duncan
White Ribbon Day Strathfield Campus organisers, David Keegan and Nicky Alsemgeest White Ribbon Day Strathfield Campus organisers David Keegan and Nicky Alsemgeest
White Ribbon Day at North Sydney Campus organiser Kim O'Brien with John Cameron White Ribbon Day North Sydney Campus organiser Kim O’Brien and University Services Executive Director John Cameron

Confidential Employee Assistance Program (EAP)

Vice-Chancellor Professor Greg Craven has alerted staff to the Employee Assistance Program (EAP) offered by the University, which provides professional, confidential counselling services free of charge to assist staff with both work related and personal issues.

Visit http://my.acu.edu.au/17108 or telephone 1800 81 87 28 for more information about the EAP.

Canberra Campus staff assist schools in Cootamundra, Temora and Young

A number of teachers in Cootamundra, Temora and Young are turning to technology to add interest to their lessons and help prepare their students for a working world which includes computers.

Rural, regional and suburban teachers came together for a full-day workshop and twilight seminars in Cootamundra to enhance their skills in using Interactive Whiteboards (IWBs) in their classrooms.

Interactive Whiteboards allow teachers and students to tap into resources from all over the world through the internet, displaying them to the whole class.

Some 35 teachers from Sacred Heart Central School Cootamundra, St Anne’s Central School Temora and St Mary’s School young took part in the training sessions earlier this year, led by classroom teachers from Canberra and staff from the Canberra Campus (Signadou) including Head of School of Education (ACT) Dr Carolyn Broadbent, Education Lecturer Sister Jo Brady and Dr Maureen Boyle.

“Research shows that students are more engaged in their learning when an IWB is used in the classroom,” said Dr Broadbent. “At the same time, they are learning valuable comprehensive skills in the wise use of technology.”

In sessions held a month apart so that teachers could practise and share their skills, the teachers were able to build on their current skills in small groups with the help of mentors. In evaluations after the final session, IWBs to Support and Extend Good Teaching Practice, teachers said they enjoyed and appreciated the in-service opportunities being held near their schools.

Literacy project involves Rotary

Brisbane Campus School of Education Senior Lecturer Dr Janelle Young, appointed Chair of Rotary District 9600 Literacy Taskforce, plans to launch an inaugural project, Tales from a Dilly Bag.

Of the 74 Rotary clubs in District 9600, 62 are in Queensland, two in the Solomon Islands, and 10 in Papua New Guinea.

The project involves sponsoring a class room full of young readers, and purchasing a kit for use in schools where Indigenous children are enrolled. Older students will be trained as reading mentors.

So far Education Queensland and Brisbane Catholic Education have agreed to participate. Dr Young received a Rotary International District Specified Grant to prepare 18 sample kits. Little Big Book Club has been an enthusiastic sponsor. There are plans to expand the project into other Rotary districts in future.

Professor Ross Fitzgerald joins ACU

Leading historian, social and political commentator, writer and broadcaster, Professor Ross Fitzgerald has joined Australian Catholic University (ACU) as a part-time Professorial Fellow within the Faculty of Arts and Sciences.

Professor Fitzgerald’s many best-selling books, both fiction and non-fiction, span subjects as diverse as ageing, the history of Queensland, Catholicism, communism and Labor in Australia, Australian Rules football, alcohol and addictions. He is also involved in a number of film projects.

Professor Fitzgerald is a high-profile researcher who serves and has served on a range of government bodies concerned with heritage, drugs and alcohol, parole, and values education.

“We are delighted to welcome Professor Fitzgerald to our University,” Australian Catholic University’s Vice-Chancellor Professor Greg Craven said. “The research expertise of Professor Fitzgerald is highly valued and we look forward to his many collaborative contributions to our research capability and record, particularly in the fields of ethics, corrective services, disabilities, social work and public policy.”

Professor Fitzgerald has praised ACU’s commitment to improving the health and well being of all Australians, including researching and supporting values education.

“As human beings, we have the capacity to choose,” Professor Fitzgerald said. “I think values education is tremendously important, to allow students and staff to think outside the square and to move beyond purely pragmatic and bureaucratic goals. Often, what matters most in life is how a person treats other persons, no matter their ethnic or religious or professional or class background.”

Born in Melbourne on Christmas Day 1944, Professor Ross Fitzgerald completed an honours degree in history at Monash University, a Master’s in political science in the United States, and a PhD in political theory at UNSW. An Emeritus Professor of Griffith University, he will be based at ACU’s North Sydney Campus (MacKillop).

Professor Ross Fitzgerald Professor Ross Fitzgerald

Queensland regional scholarship

Year 12 students planning to start University in 2009 are encouraged to consider applying for the Australian Catholic University’s Gleeson Family Scholarship, with applications closing on Friday 5 December.

The Scholarship provides $4,000 a year for the length of an undergraduate degree (with a total value of $16,000) at the Brisbane Campus (McAuley at Banyo), and is open to students from rural and regional Queensland, particularly from the Townsville Diocese.

The Gleeson Family Scholarship was established in 2006 by the family of Mr John (Jack) Gleeson AM. Jack Gleeson's work in industry and telecommunications improved the lives of thousands of people, particularly those from isolated and rural areas. In 2005 he was awarded ACU’s highest honour, an Honorary Doctorate, for his selfless and tireless commitment to the Church and society.

Further information can be found at www.acu.edu.au/scholarships or by contacting Ms Jane Thompson at jane.thompson@acu.edu.au or 07 3623 7146.

The Brisbane Campus offers courses in business, arts, education, information systems, midwifery, music, nursing, paramedicine, psychology, social work, social science and theology.

Clemente-Catalyst program to begin in Newcastle

Planning for a Clemente-Catalyst program providing tertiary education for people who are homeless and marginalised to begin in Newcastle, NSW has been underway for the past 18 months.

This is the ninth such program to be offered by ACU and partners across Australia.

Potential students and community agencies from Newcastle met recently for an information sharing session in preparation for the program’s commencement on March 9 2009.

The key partners are ACU, Sisters of St Joseph, Lochinvar and Mission Australia, with the strong support of Catholic Care and the Maitland-Newcastle Catholic Schools Office.

The first unit to be taught at the Catholic Care Centre in Hunter St Newcastle will be Introduction to Ethics.

Please contact p.howard@mary.acu.edu.au for further details.

Newcastle Catalyst-Clemente future students, partners and ACU staff ACU staff and Clemente-Catalyst partners and future students in Newcastle