Issue 14 - Friday 25 July

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

• ACU National Wired tunes into WYD
• Ballarat hosts pilgrims
• ACU National pilgrims lead the way at WYD
• Stations of the Cross exhibition at Melbourne Campus
• Uni Games 2008
• Intellectual property management and commercialisation conference
• Nursing students feature in Air Vanuatu magazine
• Student recruitment activities in full swing
• Exploration of globalisation for the common good
• Professor McMullen honoured by appointment
• University makes agreement with Canberra Southern Cross
• Flagship wins AusAID funding for Australian Leadership Award Fellowships
• ACU National opens doors to future students
• Community engagement seminar
• ACU National student leads discussion on medication
• Japanese guests at ACU National
• Scheme to attract international fellowships
• Power of partnerships
• Smith Family partnership benefits Indigenous students
• Oorala celebration at North Sydney
• Upcoming Events

ACU National Wired tunes into WYD

The ACU National Wired radio project has kicked into full swing, with highlights of the live broadcast from the Strathfield Campus’ (Mount Saint Mary) Spirit Alive Fest now available to be heard via the University’s website.

During the Spirit Alive Fest throughout the week, the Wired DJ’s ran hourly shows and interviewed World Youth Day (WYD08) pilgrims and dignitaries.

Special thanks goes to Wired coordinator Andrew Beiers, producer Nigel Munro-Wallis, engineer John Dixon, technical advisor Jacob Booth and the many students who have donated much of their time and energy to the project.

The ACU National Wired team invites all staff and students to visit www.acu.edu.au/student_life/acu_radio/ and tune into the broadcasts.

Ballarat hosts pilgrims

The Students Common room at the Ballarat Campus (Aquinas) has been the host centre for overseas pilgrims visiting the Diocese of Ballarat for the past week as part of the Days in the Diocese celebrations.

Over 130 pilgrims from Timor Leste, Ireland, Canada, USA, Macau and Portugal have been billeted with families in Ballarat and the surrounding districts.

The visiting pilgrims, the Diocese of Ballarat pilgrims and our ACU National student pilgrims have all been involved in a variety of events both on the Ballarat Campus and other sites including Sovereign Hill.

Events included:  social outreach work, prayer services and daily Mass, a cultural and arts exchange concert, a parish/schools communities' bushdance, Mass and festivities involving 35 000 people at Telstra Dome in Melbourne and time spent getting to know their host families. It has been a very joyous time for both the visiting pilgrims and our local community members.  

ACU National pilgrims lead the way at WYD

ACU National had the largest student representation of any university in the world at World Youth Day (WYD08), with more than 500 pilgrims attending the festivities in Sydney last week.

The Spirit Alive Fest at the Strathfield Campus (Mount Saint Mary) captured some of the excitement and celebration of WYD08.

 

Stations of the Cross exhibition at Melbourne Campus

As part of the Days in the Diocese celebrations associated with World Youth Day (WYD08), an exhibition of Stations of the Cross created by Melbourne- based young people was held at the Gallery of the Melbourne Campus (St. Patrick’s).

 The exhibition included a wonderful array of responses to the 14 stations, both contemporary and iconic, in a diverse range of mediums from painting and lithography to photography and sculpture.

The exhibition was officially opened by Lady Gobbo, with Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Academic Affairs) Professor Gabrielle McMullen awarding prizes to the winning artists.

First Prize of $500 was awarded to Loyola College students Veronica Harland-Lee, Vanessa Fulton and Elly Laughton for their metaphorical photograph of Jesus rises from the dead. They have decided to donate their prize to the Burma Aid Appeal.

Second Prize of $250 went to ACU National student Marijke Davey for her intricately detailed sculptural model of The Garden of Gethsemane, while the third prize of $150 went to Star of the Sea College student Isabella Ferrier for her poignant contemporary photograph of Jesus and the Sanhedrin.

Uni Games 2008

Students are invited to represent ACU National at the 2008 Australian University Games (AUG) in Melbourne from 28 September to 4 October.

The event will showcase some of Melbourne's best sporting venues and provide students with an unforgettable social experience to compliment the sporting schedules.

Students can choose to from a range of 30 sports including athletics, Australian Rules football, badminton, basketball, beach volleyball, cross country, cycling, fencing, golf, handball, hockey, judo, kendo, lawn bowls, netball, rowing, rugby league 7s, rugby union 7's, soccer, softball, squash, swimming, table tennis, taekwondo, tennis, tenpin bowling, touch, ultimate frisbee, volleyball and water polo.

To discover further information about the AUG visit one of the Uni Games Stalls which will be on each campus over the next fortnight, or contact National Sport and Recreation Officer Mark Young on mark.young@acu.edu.au or 07 3623 7479

The Stalls will feature giveaways, food, Rebel Sport discount vouchers, Red Bull energy drinks and a range of exciting activities.

• Brisbane Campus - Wednesday 30 July, 12 to 1pm, outside I Building
• Melbourne Campus - Wednesday 30 July, 12 to 1pm, main hallway outside reception
• Ballarat Campus - Wednesday 6 August, 12 to 1pm, Ballarat Courtyard
• Strathfield Campus - Wednesday 6 August, 12 to 1pm, main campus courtyard (outside the Student Association)
• North Sydney Campus - Wednesday 6 August, 12 to 1pm, North Sydney Courtyard
• Canberra Campus - Thursday 7 August, 12 to 1pm in the Signadou Courtyard

Visit www.acu.edu.au/sport for information about Sport and Recreation activities at ACU National.

Intellectual property management and commercialisation conference

Nursing and midwifery staff are invited to attend the 2nd Annual Intellectual Property Management and Commercialisation for Hospitals Conference in Sydney on Thursday 11 September.

The conference is being presented by BioMed North Limited and the Offices of Commercialisation within the Sydney West Area Health Service (SWAHS) and the Northern Sydney Central Coast Area Health Service (NSCCAHS).

For registration details and further information please visit http://www.officeofcommercialisation.com

Nursing students feature in Air Vanuatu magazine

ACU National nursing students are featured in the latest edition of the Air Vanuatu magazine Island Spirit. Students travelled to Vanuatu for two weeks earlier this month to build upon and share their nursing skills at Port Vila hospital and a health clinic in Emua on Espiritu Santo, one of Vanuatu's 83 islands.

The students received credit for their experience through the Faculty of Health Sciences program for international community immersion. The program, which has been running for a number of years, was developed by School of Nursing (NSW and ACT) lecturer Ms Jacqui Guy.

"It takes passion, ongoing persistence and much negotiating with the host country to offer an experience such as this, but the learning outcomes are obvious and the intrinsic rewards are great for both students and staff alike," Ms Guy said.

"It stimulates them to examine the influence of cultural patterns on their own health and those of other cultures, while increasing their level of cross-cultural awareness and competency. It also awakens students to social justice issues."  

Student recruitment activities in full swing

Across the country the Student Recruitment Team has been hard at work representing ACU National at various career expos and schools advising future students on their study options at Australia’s only national University.

The recruitment team attended the World Youth Day (WYD08) Vocations Expo at the Sydney Exhibition and Convention Centre in Darling Harbour last week where they spoke to hundreds of domestic and international students.

In Brisbane, the University was well represented at the Tertiary Studies Expo (TSXPO) over the 19 and 20 July.

The TSXPO is the largest careers exhibition in Australia, with around 23,000 future students attending the two day event.

The Melbourne Campus (St. Patrick’s) will also host the annual Bayside Tertiary Information Service (TIS) event next week, which will attract more than one thousand year 12 students from across Victoria's Bayside region.

To view the Student Recruitment Team calendar visit: www.acu.edu.au/careersadvisers

 

Exploration of globalisation for the common good

Three papers were delivered by ACU National staff at the 7th annual conference on Globalisation for the Common Good: An Interfaith Perspective, held at Trinity College, University of Melbourne recently.

The conference explored the theme From the Middle East to Asia Pacific: Arc of Conflict or Dialogue of Cultures and Religions? 

Inaugural Fethullah Gulen Chair in the Study of Islam and Muslim-Catholic Relations Dr Ismail Albayrak spoke on Gülen Educational Movement and Its Contribution to the Global Peace and Tolerance, while Director of the Institute of Theology, Philosophy and Religious Education Professor Neil Ormerod presented Virtues in a globalised context.

Director of the Institute for Advancing Community Engagement Professor Jude Butcher and research assistant Mr Anthony Steel spoke on Engaging beyond differences: New understandings, perspectives and hopes.

The conference, which attracted more than one hundred participants from across the globe, was sponsored in part by the University’s Asia-Pacific Centre for Interreligious Dialogue.

Professor McMullen honoured by appointment

Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Academic Affairs) Professor Gabrielle McMullen has been appointed as the Universities Australia representative on the Competitive Grants Program Standing Committee of the Australian Learning and Teaching Council (ALTC).

The Competitive Grants Program Standing Committee provides advice on the direction, development and ongoing evaluation of the Competitive Grants Program and determines the winners of grants. 

University makes agreement with Canberra Southern Cross

ACU National has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Canberra Southern Cross Club at a Scholarships and Awards ceremony last month at the Canberra Campus (Signadou), during which several outstanding students received awards.

The MOU will formalise a strategic partnership with the objective of providing assistance to young people and families through two scholarships (Aloysius Morgan and Canberra Southern Cross Club scholarships) to assist talented but disadvantaged ACT students.

Additional support will also be provided in the form of a research partnership with the University’s Institute of Child Protection Studies to the value of $75000 across three years (including a PhD scholarship) to improve practice in the care and protection of children, young people and families.

The ceremony will also mark the announcement of the St Vincent de Paul Society Indigenous Scholarships worth a total of $4000 to be established for 2009.

Other awards to be presented include the Laurie Daniels Scholarship, the Francis Carroll Scholarship, the Kevin Moyle Award, and several DEST Science Awards.

Flagship wins AusAID funding for Australian Leadership Award Fellowships

ACU National’s Flagship for Creative and Authentic Leadership (FCAL) has won a $445,500 grant from the Australian Government, through AusAID’s Australian Leadership Awards (ALA) Fellowships program, for a project entitled Shaping Influential and Authentic Leaders: A professional development program in capacity strengthening for educational leaders.

The goal of the ALA Fellowships Program is to develop leaders who, in the short-to-medium term will be in a position to advance key regional policy issues. A total of fourteen Fellows from Nepal, India, Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam, PNG and the Philippines will attend the professional development program scheduled to commence on Monday 28 July at the Strathfield Campus (Mount St Mary).

ACU National opens doors to future students

Vice-Chancellor Professor Greg Craven has encouraged ACU National staff to become involved in the preparations for the Open Day/Night that each campus will hold in the coming months.

Staff should contact their campus’s Committee Chair for details on how to get involved.

The Brisbane Campus (McAuley at Banyo) hosted the first Open Night of the year on Wednesday 23 July, with the dates for other campuses below.

• Melbourne Campus - Sunday 17 August
• Canberra Campus - Saturday 30 August
• Ballarat Campus - Sunday 31 August
• North Sydney Campus - Wednesday 10 September
• Strathfield Campus - Saturday 13 September

Details are available through http://www.acu.edu.au/qualify/events/open_day/

Community engagement seminar

Vice-Chancellor Professor Greg Craven recently invited staff of the Strathfield (Mount Saint Mary), Melbourne (St. Patrick’s) and North Sydney (MacKillop) campuses to consider community engagement in the light of the Federal Government's recently released Bradley discussion paper on restructuring teaching, research and community engagement across the Australian tertiary sector.

Professor Craven confirmed the importance of ACU National's expertise in community engagement and praised initiatives so far, but pointed out that the government definition, as "the Australian higher education contribution to the economic, social and cultural capital of Australia" is broader than the University's social justice focus, and includes offering internet provision to communities, contributions to rural and regional areas, providing policy advice, contributing to media debate, and international engagement.

He also warned that community engagement must be embedded more deeply into core teaching and research across the University. He invited staff to find successful ways of tracking community engagement activities, and to apply for more linkage research grants, particularly in the health, human services and education sectors.

The seminar included a presentation by Institute for Advancing Community Engagement Director Professor Jude Butcher who stressed the multiple benefits of integrating community engagement with teaching and learning, and explained principles of planning, teaching and assessment using community engagement.

Together with learning outcomes, community engagement is a key theme for the University's Australian Universities Quality Agency audit over the coming months.

ACU National student leads discussion on medication

An article on ADHD and the pros and cons of medication, written by Master’s of Arts (Applied Ethics) student Steven Stolz, has appeared in the July edition of the national education publication, Teacher Magazine.

The article explores the many issues currently debated with regards ADHD and the differing opinions on treatment for the condition.

Japanese guests at ACU National

A small group of Japanese students have visited the Brisbane (McAuley at Banyo) and Melbourne (St. Patrick’s) Campuses as part of a study tour conducted by the Diversional Therapy Association of Japan (DTAJ).

The group consisted of workers from a variety of sectors within the aged care industry including diversional therapy, registered nursing, sociology, clinical psychology and occupational therapy.

Scheme to attract international fellowships

ACU National research leaders are encouraged to apply for the Honorary Distinguished Visiting Fellowships Scheme which provides funding to bring renowned international researcher to the University for a minimum period of six to eight weeks.

The Fellowship is valued at $6,000 and may be used towards the cost of an economy airline ticket, advertising for a Public Lecture in Australia, public reception, some travel between campuses, and maintenance costs in the ACU National School or Institute. 

Nominators must provide a letter from the interested distinguished researcher with the application form, outlining their desire to be honorary members of the ACU National Institute for the Advancement of Research, the dates of their intended visit and what collaborative research activities they propose to undertake while at ACU National.

Academic staff interested in the Scheme can contact Dr Stewart Sharlow on 03 9953 3446 or stewart.sharlow@acu.edu.au. Applications for 2009/2010 Scheme close on 1 September 2008. 

Power of partnerships

Staff and students are encouraged to complete a survey included in the latest edition of acunique, the Power of Partnerships, to provide feedback on the magazine and other University publications while also supporting people who are homeless. 

University Relations is donating $2 to Street Swags, a charity established by ACU National graduate Jean Madden which provides water-proof sleeping bags to people sleeping rough, for every survey completed by 31 July 2008. Please visit http://inet.acu.edu.au/acunique/ to view online versions of the magazine. The questionnaire can also be accessed via the same site.

Smith Family partnership benefits Indigenous students

A partnership between ACU National and The Smith Family (TSF) has delivered personal laptops to a number of Indigenous business students at the Brisbane Campus (McAuley at Banyo) on Wednesday 23 July.

TSF Partnership Manager Jeff Davies was on hand to present the students with their laptops, which came with 12 months free internet connection.

The project would not have been possibly without the generous support of the Brisbane Airport Corporation, and is part of TSF’s Learning for Life program.

Oorala celebration at North Sydney

As part of its World Youth Day celebrations, the North Sydney Campus (MacKillop) hosted Oorala, a celebration, reflection and dialogue on Indigenous spirituality and justice on 16 July.

Established by Mary MacKillop Place, the Oorala activities included a traditional Indigenous welcome and smoking ceremony.

Upcoming Events

• University Experience: Monday 30 June – Thursday 2 October
• Open Nights: Wednesday 23 July – Saturday 13 September
• Queensland Catholic Education Week: Sunday 27 July – Saturday 2 August

Details on this 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