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Additional reports-
This report lists significant media activity since November [PDF 40KB] in relation to events at the University of Tasmania.
The space management policy is currently under review and the review will take into consideration the present space requirements at UTAS whilst also addressing the issue of managing the quality of space use. Space is the second biggest cost at the University and the policy needs to reflect both cost minimisation as well as the accommodation of student and staffing needs. The present policy was deemed by the working party to be outdated and is currently under revision. A review of space management policies at other national universities will inform the reworking of the current policy.
The faculty/school funding model is under review with the new model to be implemented during the 2011 budget round beginning in May 2010.
In 2010 Australia Day Honours were awarded to UTAS Alumni: Mayor Kim Polley (OAM); Mr Michael Street (Emergency Service Medal); Mr Andrew Comer (Australian Fire Service Medal); Dr Ian Grey (OAM) and Dr Stephen Gumley (AO
In late 2009 an application was made to Launceston City Council to rename a portion of the East Tamar Highway (Northern Outlet) to ‘University Way’ for the road between the CBD and the Newnham connector. In January 2010 Launceston Council advised the University that it had instead agreed to change the name of Newnham Link to ‘University Way’. This section of road runs between the East Tamar Highway and George Town Road. Signage along the roadway will be modified to reflect the new name.
The Community Friends and Networks Programme, which aims to connect newly arrived students with locals within the community and to promote rewarding interaction amongst participants, was successfully launched at the Academy Gallery at Inveresk, Launceston on Thursday 28 January. The Programme was launched by acting Pro Vice-Chancellor (Students & Education) Professor Gary O’Donovan at a function attended by around fifty people, reflecting a wide interest in and support for the Programme from both within and outside the University community.
The Community Friends and Networks Programme is now able to actively offer a state-wide service, with coordinators in place in Launceston and Hobart. The current priorities for the Programme are to consolidate processes and policies for the matching program and to build up a pool of local volunteers so as to be ready to cater for the expected demand for the service throughout 2010.
Library staff have worked to minimise disruption to services in the Morris Miller and Launceston Campus libraries over the past months due to the implementation of two major projects:
1. Morris Miller Library
A major refurbishment of Morris Miller Library Level 2 commenced in November 2009. The project is the second stage of the UTAS Library Master Plan to redevelop the Morris Miller Library and aligns with the UTAS Master Plan and the national trend for university libraries to upgrade their facilities.
The redevelopment will significantly increase study spaces, provide a redeveloped space for Reference and Reserve collections which give access to high use material, improve communications through enhanced wireless access for the rapidly increasing trend towards laptop computers, and further improve access to online information and library services by facilitating 24/7 access to Learning Hubs on Levels 2 and 3.
As of January 2010, the Client Services desk has been moved, as have the Reserve and Reference collections, and Library staff have been relocated to Level 3. However, the Library aims to see a smooth start to Semester 1 with plans in place to minimise disruption to students.
2. Launceston Campus Library
The historical legacy from the UTAS/TSIT merger has been that the Launceston Campus Library and the southern libraries have used different classification schemes, which has produced unnecessary complexities for Library clients and staff. Launceston (and the AMC) used Dewey classification (DDC), and the southern libraries Library of Congress (LC) classification. The University has given the Library strategic funding to convert the Dewey collections to LC. The AMC Library was converted to LC June/July 2009, and work is underway to reclassify most of the Launceston Campus Library. As at January 2010, just over half of all the books and journal volumes had been re-labelled. This is a massive project with many logistical challenges which the Launceston Library staff are working through very successfully.
The University College Program (previously known as the UTAS College Co-delivery Pilot Program) will include 26 university units of study across 3 Faculties in 2010. These units will be offered to pre-tertiary students in collaboration with the senior secondary sector. This year is the final year of the pilot and as such there will be an increased focus on evaluation. Complementing this evaluation will be a review of the High Achievers Program (HAP) which has been offered at UTAS since 2004.
The national participation agenda has thrown the spotlight on preparation programs and associated pathways to university. In order to progress this agenda at UTAS in 2010, the UTAS College initiative will continue to work on the development of articulation pathways from the VET sector via the Tasmanian Articulation and Credit Transfer Committee, and on refining and developing the University Preparation Program (UPP). An initial UPP Intensive Summer school has been successfully offered in Launceston and another will be piloted mid- semester in Hobart.
The Faculty welcomes two new Heads of School – Dr Barbara Hartley (School of Asian Languages & Studies) and Associate Professor Kate Crowley (School of Government).
As Professor Jonathan Holmes begins his role as Discipline Scholar for the ALTC in February, Associate Professor Pam Allen will become Associate Dean (Teaching & Learning).
Tasmanian School of Art
Professor Donald Fortescue, (Furniture Program Chair, California College of the Arts) – This highly respected furniture designer and academic, ran a spring school master class in December for the School of Art and Tasmanian Polytechnic students.
The 2009 Graduate exhibition opening, Future Legends, attracted almost 900 visitors making the night a wonderful celebration for students, families and friends.
A highlight of MONAFOMA 2010 was 48 Fugues for Frank, at Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery’s Bond Store. Curated by Art School lecturer Leigh Hobba, the exhibition and performance tribute to Frank Zappa featured pianist Michael Kieran Harvey, concrete poetry by Arjun von Caemmerer and artworks by Rob O’Connor, Matt Ward, Michelle Lee and Aedan Howlett.
The Art School is very pleased to have been able to appoint 8 talented and highly regarded artists to fractional and full time positions within the school. The appointments herald generational change building the extraordinary contributions and achievements of a cohort of senior academics.
The national forum to discuss studio teaching and a pedagogy, held on December 3 and 4, attended by 140 academics from all education sectors nationally. The highlight was a ‘Skyped’ interview and presentation by Eric Booth, arts education advisor to President Barrack Obama. http://pathwaysproject.ning.com/
School of Asian Languages
Taiwan Ministry of Education Talent Cultivation Grant
Dr Mark Harrison and Dr Haiqing Yu (of UNSW) spent November to January in Taiwan on their collaborative research project Taipei as a Global City: Place-making between the screen and the everyday, funded by a generous grant from the Taiwanese Ministry of Education.
Whilst in Taiwan, Dr Harrison has been investigating future collaboration with the National Taiwan Normal University. Professor Liang Yi-pin, the director of the NTNU International Office, is supportive of the proposed student exchange collaboration between UTAS and the Graduate Institute for the Teaching of Chinese as a Second Language (GITCLL), whereby SALS offers the Taiwan Studies unit HMC326 in-country at NTNU and in return GITCLL masters students take a 400-level UTAS unit. HMA414 is a likely starting point.
Dr Harrison and Dr Ayxem Eli are visiting Xian University, Yunnan University in Kunming and Zhejiang University in Hangzhou to identify a long-term partnership for an in-country language program for students of Chinese as well as investigate research collaboration opportunities.
New Graduate Certificate advanced-level language units are being developed for flexible delivery to in-service language teachers. The unit preparation is progressing well with input from CALT and funded by DEEWR through the NALSSP grant. Initial enrolments are meeting DEEWR targets, with take up from 14 teachers (Japanese), 4 (Indonesian) and 2 (Chinese).
Dr Taufiq Wang Tanasaldy commenced as Lecturer in Asian Studies and Indonesian in Launceston. Taufiq is most recently from ADFA @ UNSW in Canberra. As well as a research background in regional ethnic politics in Indonesia, he has research interests in East Asia, and speaks fluent Mandarin, intermediate Korean and basic Japanese.
Dr Nicole Tarulevicz commenced as Lecturer in Asian Studies in Hobart. Nicki joined us from Cleveland State University. Her current project is a cultural history of food in Singapore and her other research interests are nationalism and food.
Mr Stephen Miller also commences as Associate Lecturer Indonesian in February. Stephen is from the University of New England.
2010 is the first year of the School’s innovative Asian Studies UTAS College Program. The program will strengthen SALS’s existing ties with the state’s college community.
The School successfully conducted the first in-country Japan studies program, titled Performance Tradition and Modernity in Japan. Students participated in Japanese theatre workshops and viewed performances. This unit complements the existing in-country Japanese language studies program and greatly expands in-country Japan studies opportunities for SALS and Asian Studies students.
School of Sociology and Social Work
Dr Daphne Habibis has published a major paper on the relationship between Indigenous geographical mobility and housing for the Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute (AHURI) Titled: Improving Housing Policy Responses to Indigenous Patterns of Mobility, the study forms part of a major grant from AHURI.
From 2009 onwards, Social Work@UTAS will be included in the Commonwealth’s Health Workforce Planning initiative regarding clinical placements with Social Work@UTAS continuing to establish strong ties with the Social Inclusion Office.
School of English, Journalism and European Languages
Danielle Wood conducted a successful Summer School unit, HEA340 Writing Tasmania.
Two postgraduate students, Christine Angel and Adam Ouston have both been awarded Tasmanian Research Scholarships.
Professor Mardi Dungey, of the School of Economics and Finance, has completed her second set of 3 in-class sessions in finance for primary school students. The School will be discussing continuing the sessions in 2010 and working towards developing a unit for wider distribution.
Professor Dungey gave a talk on the implications of the Global Financial Crisis to the Local Government Funding Conference in Hobart in November 2009.
On Thursday 3 December Associate Professor Graeme Wells, of the School of Economics and Finance, participated in the press conference and launch of the ‘Our Common Ground’ project. His role in this project is to help resolve conflict over forestry in Tasmania by proposing new timber processing activities. He did interviews for ABC radio and TV, and his comments were reported in the Mercury.
On Friday 4 December, Associate Professor Wells participated in the debate at the annual Tasmanian Economic Forum, on the topic: ‘A sustained recovery will involve significant pain for the Island State.’
Professor Oswin Maurer will be spending his sabbatical in the School of Economics and Finance through until the middle of 2010. Professor Maurer is Professor of Marketing and International Management at the Free University of Bozen-Bolzano, Italy, a partner institution of the University of Tasmania, where has been the Dean of the School and Economics and Management.
Professor John Tisdell will join the School of Economics and Finance on 1 February, as Professor of Natural Resource Economics.
Tom Baxter, of the School of Accounting and Corporate Governance, was quoted in an article by Matthew Denholm, ‘Critics say Tarkine road at a dead end’, Weekend Australian, 28 November 2009, p. 7. Tom was also quoted in another article by Matthew Denholm, ‘Three key reforms promise era of transparency and good governance’, Weekend Australian: Inquirer, 28 November 2009, 6, and an article by Sue Neales, ‘Tarkine road funds burn Labor’s pocket’, Mercury, 28 November 2009, 6-7.
Hartini Jafaar, a PhD student in the School of Accounting and Corporate Governance, won the best paper award for her paper ‘Accounting conservatism, firm life cycle and value relevance of intangible assets’ at the 11th International Business Research Conference held in Sydney, December 2-4.
Dr Gail Ridley and Ms Patricia O’Keefe, of the School of Accounting and Corporate Governance, received the Faculty of Business Awards for Research and Early Career Research, respectively, for 2009.
Dr Martin Grimmer, Acting Dean, was quoted heavily in an article entitled ‘Pura boycott sours brand’, which appeared in Tasmanian Country on 13 November 2009.
The School of Management is hosting the 2010 Council for Australian University Tourism and Hospitality Education (CAUTHE) conference in February 2010, which includes a reception at Government House.
Skills Tasmania recently confirmed acceptance of an Australian Innovation Research Centre (AIRC) project proposal outlining a study of firms in the North-West region of Tasmania (developed following a series of discussions with Skills Tasmania throughout 2009, and submitted on 25 September 2009). The project start date and resourcing are being finalised, and the project is expected to begin in early 2010, and be completed within 6 months.
A final research report ‘Structure, business demographics and innovation in Burnie’ was submitted by the AIRC to the Burnie City Council on 18 September 2009. The project report was well received and the Council is planning a public launch of the report.
During November and December 2009, the AIRC has continued technical work on Tasmanian Innovation Census (TIC) databases and has added significant value to existing data assets. This has included:
Completion of coding of qualitative responses from the TIC data for firm-identified ‘most important innovations’
Mapping of TIC industry codes to International ISIC industry codes, and coding TIC data to the OECD technology classification
Firm population data maintenance work, including updating parts of the population, and developing a strategy for full population maintenance/updates in preparation for future survey work
Investigating stratification of the existing population to provide more accurate estimates for financial data (that account for non- response)
Bachelor of Teaching Graduate Jane Dobson has been named the Most Outstanding Beginning Teacher in Australia at the Australia Awards for Teaching Excellence. Now teaching science at Claremont College Ms Dobson told the Hobart Mercury that she believes all students can be scientists and she works to ignite scientific imagination.
Professor Emeritus Bill Mulford’s 2008 Australian Council for Educational Research publication The Leadership Challenge: Improving Learning in Schools is to be translated and used in a project to assist Ukraine school systems in their efforts to transform education to inclusive practice over the next 4 years. A major component of the project involves the professional preparation and development of knowledgeable educators. To this end the project partners, the Faculty of Education at the University of Calgary and the Institute of Special Pedagogy in the Academy of Pedagogical Sciences of Ukraine, have developed a series of courses to be implemented in several universities across Ukraine. Bill’s book is to be used in these courses.
In the paper, Reconceptualising University Teachers’ Conceptions of Student Learning, in The International Journal of Learning, Thanh T Nguyen and Ng Tran Duc attempt to reconceptualise university teachers’ conceptions of student learning in 9 empirical studies is provided. Largely based on intended learning outcomes, 4 categories are found arranging on a continuum from lower level, i.e. storing/recalling atomised information and reproductive understanding, to higher level i.e. reorganising/modifying knowledge and change-in-way-of-thinking. The former conceptions lay foundation for teacher-centred approach to teaching while the latter conceptions set the ground for student-centred approach. Implications of this reconceptualising for enhancing teacher quality are also discussed.
The revised pre-service teaching degrees will roll into effect for students enrolling in 2010. The Faculty held launches across the state at the Hobart, Launceston and Cradle Coast campuses to educate external stakeholders, potential students and the media on these exciting developments.
Faculty of Education graduate Jotham Krom at Kulkarriya Community in the Kimberley region of WA invited Ian Edmondson to coordinate a project building 5 plywood canoes with his class of 20 grade 5/6 students. Jotham is in his second year as a teacher at Kulkarriya, having been the first student to complete a remote practicum. Kulkarriya Community School is located on Noonkanbah Station, one of the oldest and most significant Aboriginal communities in the Kimberley, being an Indigenous-operated cattle station. The community is located on the banks of the Fitzroy River.
Ian felt this opportunity was too good to refuse with strong linkage to his teaching - Design/ Technology, Teaching in Remote Locations and Indigenous Education, with the chance to strengthen links with this group of Aboriginal Independent Community Schools. There are currently two UTAS graduates working in this school (and another 13 employed across the Kimberley, with 4 more employed for next year).
Dr Andrew Fluck was featured in The Australian Newspaper’s Higher Education Supplement on 18 November for his use of laptops in his third year education subject. Dr Fluck said “We understand it’s the first time in Australian tertiary education that students have been allowed to use their computers in this way.” Dr Fluck has worked with a small Hobart company, Open Technology Solutions, to devise software eExam to do the job.
As part of the ongoing project ‘Raising the Bar Closing the Gap’, Professor Ian Hay and Associate Professor Geraldine Castleton presented at the Department of Education’s symposium on literacy at the Tailrace Centre. Professor Hay was featured in the Examiner newspaper the next day, explaining the importance of newspapers in developing literacy skills.
2009’s Faculty Book Launch showcased 7 titles produced by Faculty staff over the last 12 months (see titles over page). Wife of the Governor, Mrs Frances Underwood was the special guest speaker, and as a former school principal fully appreciated the breadth of topics covered.
Successful School Principalship in Tasmania
Author(s): Bill Mulford and Bill Edmunds
Publisher: University of Tasmania, ISBN: 9781862954915
Successful School Principalship in Tasmania: Case Studies
Author(s): Bill Mulford, Susan Johns and Bill Edmunds
Publisher: University of Tasmania ISBN: 9781862954922
Critical Discourse Analysis: An Interdisciplinary Perspective
Author(s): Edited by Thao Le, Megan Short & Quynh Le,
Publisher: Nova Science Publishers, ISBN: 9781607413202
Australian School Leadership Today
Author(s): Edited by Neil Cranston & Lisa Erich
Publisher: Australian Academic Press, ISBN: 9781921513336
Technoliteracy, Discourse and Social Practice: Frameworks and Applications in the Digital Age
Author(s): Edited by Darren Pullen, Christina Gitsaki & Margaret Baguley
Publisher: IGI Global, ISBN: 9781605668420
Multiliteracies and Technology Enhanced Education: Social Practice and the Global Classroom
Author(s): Edited by Darren Pullen & David Cole
Publisher: IGI Global, ISBN: 9781605666730
Multiliteracies in Motion: Current Theory & Practice
Author(s): Edited by Darren Pullen & David Cole
Publisher: Routledge, ISBN: 9780415801577
Senior staff of the Faculty were occupied over the Christmas/New Year break responding to the Australian Government Department of Health and Ageing (DoHA) invitation to apply for the first allocation of money from the COAG $1.1 billion for Health Workforce Clinical Training. Applications for clinical placement training enhancement were coordinated using the Partners in Health agreement with Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) with a focus on state-wide programs which increased clinical placements in DHHS, private, community, aged-care, regional and rural settings. The second set of applications related to infrastructure to support clinical placements and again a state-wide approach was taken.
Funding obtained for these applications will be for 2010 only. In the following 3 years the money will be allocated to the newly established Health Workforce Australia for which a CEO has been appointed and a Board is now being established.
In late November the Faculty held a successful Reception in Hobart to acknowledge the work of the Faculty within the University and community and particularly to thank those members of the community in health, community and non-government services and members of the professions for their support of teaching and research throughout the year.
For the Hobart based staff, particularly in the School of Medicine, the Christmas/New Year period was also marked by the major move from the old Medical Sciences building at Sandy Bay to Medical Science Precinct in the city. A number of staff also moved from the Clinical School building at the Royal Hobart Hospital campus site to the new building to join Menzies Research Institute staff in the new Medical Science 1 building.
The School of Nursing and Midwifery continues to grow especially in postgraduate enrolments and will have the first graduates from the accelerated pathway Bachelor of Nursing this year in Rozelle NSW and Hobart. The Faculty and its Schools are addressing the findings of the 'Your Voice' project and the new governance structure in the School of Nursing and Midwifery will also assist in this through the involvement of all staff.
One of the Faculty’s star students, Ronan Fenton, was honoured at graduation with the award of a University Medal.
Successful completions
Wei Bing Xiao (PhD)
In connection with our 2010 Summer School we are hosting a number of distinguished visitors from overseas and interstate including:
Professor Norman Palmer, an internationally renowned expert in Art and Antiquities Law and Visiting Professor of Law at King’s College London, will be taking Art, Antiquity and Law.
Professor Aniceto Masferrer from the Faculty of Law, University of Valencia, Spain who is taking a Comparative Law unit.
Ruth Redmond-Cooper will be contributing to both Art, Antiquity and Law and Comparative Law.
Professor Tim McCormack, the Foundation Australian Red Cross Professor of International Humanitarian Law at the University of Melbourne and one of the Faculty’s Adjunct Professors, will be taking International Human Rights.
Dr. Justin Dabner, an Associate Professor at the Law School of James Cook University is taking the Tax 1 unit.
Professor Peter McGovern and Dr Kate McGovern from the United States are also visiting the Faculty as Visiting Scholars.
Professor Chalmers recognised as Distinguished Professor
At the December 2009 Law Graduation ceremony, Professor Don Chalmers was recognised as one of the University’s Distinguished Professors and gave the Occasional Address.
Opening of the Legal Year
The Faculty will be represented at the official Opening of the Legal Year Church Service by the new Dean, Professor Margaret Otlowski and Professor Kate Warner.
Research Activities:
This week, a Colloquium is being run in conjunction with the School of Philosophy and Faculty of Medicine with international visitors contributing including Professor Ryuichi Ida of Kyoto University and Norchaya Talib of the University of Malaya.
The Law School has collaborated with Professor Jeff Malpas (Philosophy) and Professor Norelle Lickiss (Medicine) for 4 years holding colloquia on Dignity, Suffering and Hope. The principal organisers have been Profs. Malpas and Lickiss and colleagues from Humanities, Medicine and Law have given presentations followed by discussions. The Dignity papers appeared as a text published by Kluwer. The Suffering Colloquium text is in preparation.
At the initiative of the Law Faculty, working with international collaborators, this week a Memorandum of Understanding was signed between the University of Tasmania and Universidad de Las Palmas Gran Canaria for an Exchange Agreement. This has particular potential in the fields of Law and Marine and Ocean Studies.
CODES’ 20th anniversary year culminated with two major events:
A major 3-day symposium held at Wrest Point attended mainly by alumni and industry people with a close association with CODES. The event included leading national and international speakers, many of whom were past CODES/SES students. The symposium was followed by a highly successful 4-day field trip to Tasmania’s west coast.
The launch of a 150-page, high-quality, A4 book tracing the history of the Centre since its inception in 1989. The book, entitled From the ground up, is available in hardback and paperback.
During December and January, CODES, in conjunction with the School of Earth Sciences, continued to hold workshops as part of the Teacher Earth Science Education Programme (TSEP). TSEP is a series of professional development workshops, aimed at local teachers, covering earth and environmental sciences.
CODES exhibited at the NewGenGold conference in Perth (WA) at the end of November. The theme of this biennial conference was the presentation of case histories of some of the most prominent gold discoveries of recent times. This provided the ideal platform for CODES (UTAS) to showcase its latest project work in this field to a high profile national and international audience.
CODES exhibited at the Roundup conference in Vancouver at the end of January, gaining a high degree of international exposure for UTAS and the Centre. This is a major annual event for the minerals industry, bringing together organizations and people representing all components of the global mineral exploration and mining sectors. This year’s event had 5841 visitors.
CODES’ Director, Ross Large, received the honour of being awarded Distinguished Professor status at a ceremony held at the Stanley Burbury Theatre in December.
The WA Government announced significant changes to the management of the Western rock lobster fishery in December that will move one of Australia’s largest fisheries to quota controlled management (ITQ). TAFI scientists played a pivotal role in this process, contributing to the 4 member team that developed the new quota management system adopted by Government. This is Australia’s largest single species fishery, with catches varying between 14,000 and 5,000 tonnes and over 300 active vessels. The changes will reduce volatility in business earnings, provide greater capacity to withstand periods of low recruitment, reduce capital stuffing, and smooth product supply across the year.
Associate Professor Stewart Frusher visited the Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute (CMFRI) and the National Institute of Ocean Technology (NIOT) in India in late December and early January. An objective of the visit was to determine the potential for collaborative research that could be funded under the Australia-India Strategic Research Fund administered by DIISR. Marine science and climate change are a shared priority as both southern India and Tasmania are located in regions known as climate hotspots – regions warming at a rate above the global average. A draft proposal is in preparation that, if successful, will bring together an inter-disciplinary team from UTAS and CSIRO in Australia and CMFRI and NIOT in India to develop research partnerships and foster graduate training in applied marine climate change science.
The value of the recently initiated Storm Bay climate change project, a collaboration between CSIRO and TAFI, has been recognized with additional investment from the Fisheries Research and Development Corporation (FRDC). This funding will support the collection of additional nutrient and algal data from a targeted suite of sampling sites which will in turn help to ensure the sustainable development of the Tasmanian aquaculture and fisheries by providing information on the effects of a changing climate on the water quality and productivity of Storm Bay.
Authorised by the Director, Governance & Legal
15 March, 2010
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