Launch of VCA and Music discussion paper signals the opening of a conversation

November 11, 2009 – 3:46 pm
Elisabeth Murdoch Building, Faculty of the VCA and Music

Elisabeth Murdoch Building, Faculty of the VCA and Music

The Faculty of the VCA and Music (VCAM) and the University of Melbourne have today released a 30-page discussion paper, Defining the Future for the Faculty of the VCA and Music at the University of Melbourne.

The release of the discussion paper signals the beginning of an extensive consultation on the key challenges and opportunities facing the Faculty and the University in higher arts education.

Canvassing input around the three critical areas of structure, curriculum and finance, the paper is the first stage of commitment to a consultative process given by the University and the Faculty earlier this year.

It was formally released today by the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Melbourne, Professor Glyn Davis, and the Dean of the Faculty of the VCA and Music, Professor Sharman Pretty.

A Review Committee is being appointed to consider the responses to the discussion paper and to carry out detailed discussions with key stakeholders at both the Parkville and Southbank campuses.

The Review Committee will have an independent chair and membership drawn from VCAM and University staff and students, the VCAM advisory board and a representative of the community with a background in the arts.

Professor Davis says the release of the discussion paper opens a conversation on a range of options for the Faculty of the VCA and Music.

“We are inviting wide community input – from staff, students, graduates, and members of the arts community, the arts industry, and the broader community. This provides a critical opportunity for various interested parties to contribute to the future direction of this Faculty.”

Professor Pretty says the senior leadership of the Faculty of the VCA and Music strongly support the consultation process.

“We need to find viable solutions to the complex challenges facing the Faculty in order to secure its significant future.  The discussion paper is an open document, putting many options for structure and curriculum on the table and we are looking forward to receiving the carefully considered input of all stakeholders,” she said.

The discussion paper begins with an outline of aspects of the tradition of higher arts education in Australia and overseas and recent changes in the Australian context and lays out the curriculum options for a world-class arts education institution.

Questions posed throughout the discussion paper encourage engagement in the consultation process.  The consultation is not limited to these questions but invites new questions as well as ideas, comments and proposals from staff, students, alumni, employers and the wider community.

A final report and recommendations of the Review Committee will be submitted to the Vice-Chancellor and the Dean of VCAM and recommendations will be presented to the VCA Integration Committee for approval before submission to the University’s governing body, the University of Melbourne Council in early 2010.

Any proposals for changes to curriculum will be addressed by the Faculty before progressing for consideration by the University’s Academic Board, which oversees the quality and standards of the University’s learning, teaching and research activities, and the University Council.

Copies of the discussion paper and details of consultation focus groups as they are set up will be available on the Defining the Future for the Faculty of the VCA and Music website

http://vcam.unimelb.edu.au/discussion Written responses are to be submitted by 12 February 2010 to vcam-feedback@unimelb.edu.au

By nikakisz | Posted in Teaching and Learning, University News | Comments Off

60 seconds with…Sam Long

November 11, 2009 – 3:45 pm

sam-word

What is your unit?

Neurology and Neurosurgery, the Department of Veterinary Science (Small Animal Veterinary service)

What is your job title?

Senior Lecturer

How long have you been with the University of Melbourne?

10 months

How did you come to work at the University?

I was previously working as Assistant Professor at the University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Science in Philadelphia. The Veterinary Hospital here was expanding its teaching program and a position became available, so I applied.

Describe your typical day

My day usually starts at 8:00am with clinical rounds in the hospital, where we review cases that have been admitted into hospital overnight through the Western Animal Emergency Centre (a section within the Veterinary Hospital) as well as current inpatients. Following emergency rounds we will have surgery and anaesthesia rounds where we schedule patients for the day who will have surgery or diagnostic procedures such as CT scans, radiology, ultrasound or cerebrospinal fluid taps. Then comes clinics on a Monday and Wednesday, when we see new patients with neurological diseases who have been referred from general practitioners around Melbourne and northern and western Victoria. Depending on the day of the week, we also have imaging and pathology rounds, and investigations or surgery on Tuesdays or Thursdays. Depending on the day I may have a lecture or two to give in the afternoon to third and final-year students, tutorials to give to residents or students, and often meetings in Parkville or at other campuses to discuss research proposals with collaborators.

What is it about your job that holds your interest or is particularly satisfying ?

Whilst many veterinary schools around the world have a clinical neurology service as part of their teaching hospital,  prior to my arrival there was no dedicated neurology service at the University of Melbourne’s Veterinary Hospital. Moving back to Melbourne, I’ve really enjoyed the challenges associated with starting a new clinical service which will also have an exciting research component driven by clinical cases. I have always enjoyed teaching, but the real attraction to my job here is the mix of teaching, research and clinical work – and creating that mix from scratch.

What is the best piece of advice you have received?

To be a little selfish and make sure you protect your off-clinic time for research.

What is something about yourself that your colleagues wouldn’t know?

I can juggle ( sadly, not well…!)

Where do you buy your coffee on campus?

When I am at Parkville I have to go to either Tiamo or Brunetti – it’s not on campus but the extra mileage is worth it. At Werribee (where the teaching hospital is and where I spend most of my time) I usually drink instant since I don’t have time for anything else.

What do you like most about the University?

The enormous amounts of exciting research that is going on, to which the Department of Veterinary Science can contribute.

By nikakisz | Posted in 60 seconds with... | Comments Off

Liz Baré steps down after 20 years

November 11, 2009 – 3:45 pm

LBare(web)

Ms Liz Baré, Head of University Services, has decided not to seek renewal of her contract with the University when the current term expires at the end of the year. Instead Liz is proposing to pursue a new career in higher education HR consulting.

Ms Baré is sad to be retiring from the University but taking another five-year contract would prevent her from taking up this new opportunity.  “The time when I can make a significant input to the responsible Division Management (RDM) project will end at the close of 2009 which signals a significant milestone in RDM as responsibility for implementation passes from central university divisions to faculties,” she said.

A key member of the University’s Administration for over 20 years from 1989 Ms Baré began as the Director of Personnel Services, becoming Deputy Principal, Human Resources and later Vice-Principal (Human Resources).

Senior Vice-Principal Mr Ian Marshman says Ms Baré has served under four Vice-Chancellors as the University’s Senior Human Resources adviser.  “This is a remarkable achievement during which she rightfully earned the reputation as the doyenne of Australian higher education practitioners,” he said in a recent email announcing her retirement.

“After 20 years of dedicated service to the University, Liz will be greatly missed by her many friends and colleagues at the University. We are seeking ways to ensure that her association with the University continues.”  Ms Baré will have an honorary appointment in the Centre for the Study of Higher Education.

In 2006 Ms Baré became the University’s first Vice-Principal and Head of University Services with responsibility for coordinating administrative and management services. She has been responsible for overseeing the reshaping of the University’s administration under the principles of Responsible Division Management, one of the most significant and innovative programs of administrative reform undertaken at Melbourne - and indeed within Australian higher education.

She has been an active participant in many other aspects of University life, including service as a director of MUSUL and a longstanding member of the Ormond College Council.

Seeking to draw on her formidable expertise and experience in higher education human resource management and development, Ms Baré is proposing to establish her own consulting company and become a founding partner in HR Global Innovations, a group of former university HR directors from around the world, who want to make a contribution to the profession within universities, principally in developing countries. She will be providing  assistance to Academic Search International on specific recruitment projects and intends to spend more time with family, travelling and on other interests.

Vice-Principal Major Projects, Ms Lin Martin, will  take on the role of Head of University Services.

By nikakisz | Posted in News about you..., University News | Comments Off

University lawyers got SOUL

November 11, 2009 – 3:44 pm

University Lawyers Saveria Dimasi and Kylie Gould have been elected as the President and Secretary of Australia’s Society of University Lawyers.

They will hold their positions for two years, representing the interests of University lawyers throughout Australia and liaising with similar bodies in North America and the UK.

Despite their already heavy workloads, the new President and current University Director, Legal Services Ms Dimasi and Ms Gould, head of the Teaching and Learning portfolio and new SOUL Secretary will provide leadership to University lawyers throughout Australia.

“I’m delighted to be appointed as President of SOUL,” says Ms Dimasi.

“The University sector is unique and University lawyers face challenges and deal with issues which are uncommon in private legal practice and the corporate sector.

“We are also different from the government sector, yet our perspective and advice has to take into account social and public policy matters.”

SOUL is a society of lawyers advising Australia’s universities and their related organisations, and promotes exchange of information on legal matters affecting universities and tertiary education generally.

“I am very excited about being appointed as Secretary/Treasurer of SOUL, it’s a very important organisation in that it provides a relevant professional association for university in-house lawyers,” says Ms Gould.

“With Saveria and the rest of the executive, I am looking to build on the work of my colleagues and continue to enhance the existing professional networks.”

Saveria Dimasi oversees the provision of a wide range of legal services across key University portfolios including research, teaching and learning, commercialisation of intellectual property, property transactions, information technology and major infrastructure projects.

Kylie Gould heads up the Teaching and Learning portfolio, one of the practice areas in the general legal team, participates in the Legal Services Management Group and supervises the three other lawyers and law clerk who also work in the Teaching and Learning portfolio.

By nikakisz | Posted in Around Campuses, University News | Comments Off

New location for the ‘Mindful’ partnership

November 11, 2009 – 3:43 pm

 

Dr Neil Coventry (Austin CAMHS), Professor Louise Newman (Monash Uni),Professor John Tiller (Head, Psychiatry),Dr Sandra Radovini (Director, Mindful),Hon Lisa Neville (Minister for Mental Health), Dr Paul Robertson (President RANZCP)

Dr Neil Coventry (Austin CAMHS), Professor Louise Newman (Monash Uni),Professor John Tiller (Head, Psychiatry),Dr Sandra Radovini (Director, Mindful),Hon Lisa Neville (Minister for Mental Health), Dr Paul Robertson (President RANZCP)

 

The University is a key partner in the Mindful Centre for Training and Research in Developmental Health, recently opened on new premises in Flemington by the Honourable Lisa Neville, Minister for Mental Health, Senior Victorians and Community Services.

“Mindful” is a partnership between the University of Melbourne and Monash University and is funded by the Department of Health,  providing professional development courses through a Friday Forum series for workers in child and youth mental health.

So far this year, Mindful has focused two of its 10 forums on the impact of disaster following the bushfires and managing and understanding autism and depression in children.

“We are developing a new collaborative model as a key outcome of our new direction” says Professor John Tiller, Head of the Department of Psychiatry.

“Our model is designed to attract both research grant and philanthropic funding to provide resources for Mindful and partners to have adequate, ongoing resources for our planned activities over a number of years.”

The Centre offers six postgraduate courses in child and adolescent mental health and child psychotherapy and has a successful research program which includes Tuning in to Kids, a parenting program aimed at preventing behavioural problems and teaching children emotional competence.

Mindful looks forward to successful teaching, research and knowledge transfer from its new location in Flemington.  For more information about Mindful  visit www.mindful.org.au

By nikakisz | Posted in Teaching and Learning, University News | Comments Off

Women through history at the University.

November 11, 2009 – 3:43 pm

To celebrate the University’s 150th anniversary in 2003, Juliet Flesch and Peter McPhee of the Department of History, assisted by members of the University community, created the 150 years: 150 stories, brief biographies of one hundred and fifty remarkable people associated with the University of Melbourne book and column series.

In their introduction, Flesch and McPhee wrote that one of the publication’s aims is to “highlight the accomplishment of women of the University” and the following is a selection of the featured women.

Ada Mary à Beckett (1872 – 1948)  was the University’s first female lecturer, appointed in 1902. She had already occupied various part time positions in biology and returned to the University as a biology demonstrator during the first world war.

À Beckett was also a member of the National Council of Women and the Victoria League, founder of the Women’s Graduates association and chair of the Janet Clarke Hall Committee.

Florence Austral (1894-1968) entered the University conservatorium in 1917 and just two years later having achieved outstanding results in her Diploma and Bachelor of Music, left to study opera in New York.

Making her professional debut in London in 1921, less that a year later she was called on to play Brunnhilde in Die Walküre (The Valkyrie, second Opera of Wagner’s Ring Cycle) which made her career. For fifteen years she and her husband travelled Europe for singing engagements, before ill health forced her retirement in 1960.

Margaret Loch Kiddle (914-1958) and her colleague Kathleen Fitzpatrick were the earliest scholars to publish Australian Histories in which the Australian experience was central.

In her book, Men Of Yesterday: a social History of the Western District of Victoria, Kiddle wrote of  women’s lives and work in the Western District. Dying of Kidney disease, Kiddle continued to make final revisions of the manuscript, and bequeathed her royalties to the University’s history Department, where it funds an essay prize which bears her name.

Rose Mushin (1905-2002) was born in Poland and was a personal friend of Marie Curie. After moving to Australia in 1927, she worked in the department of Bacteriology  and was awarded a PhD in 1950, which focussed on “Bacteriological Aspects of Gastroenteritis.”  Her groundbreaking work on E. Coli, her high number of research publications and her devotion to teaching were remembered long after she retired on 1970.

Jennifer Anketell Slade (1943 – 1990) transformed community services in Springvale through her social work. With a graduate diploma of social work and an MBA awarded in 1977, Slade went on to work as Manager of Community Services in Springvale. When she started in 1984, there were just  three community programs – Meals on Wheels, Infant Care and Home Help.  By the time she left in 1990, she was responsible for over thirty programs that employed seven  full-time staff and had a budget of over $7 million to support an array of different activities, from child care programs to emergency housing and visiting teacher arrangements.

By nikakisz | Posted in Did you know? | Comments Off

Guest Column with Mark Scott

November 11, 2009 – 3:42 pm

markscott_word

Mark Scott is Managing Director of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Prior to his appointment as ABC Managing Director, he was employed by John Fairfax Publications – publishers of the Sydney Morning Herald and The Age, among others – where he worked in a variety of editorial, editorial management and organisation development positions over 12 years. At the University’s AN Smith lecture in journalism, he examined where the future of media might be headed after the fall of the great media empires. Read the rest of Marl Scott’s speech at http://newsroom.melbourne.edu/news/n-164

Or watch the video:

http://live.unimelb.edu.au/episode/smith-lecture-journalism

The Fall of Rome: Media after Empire.

Tonight I want to talk about media empires. They have been giants in our lives.And in these early days of a new millennium, shockwaves are being felt all around them. They now seem less like agents of their destinies than helpless witnesses to the unravelling of all they once stood for.

Desperate days.  Some will fall, others may renew and endure.

Let’s look at some of those things within empires that have changed. Look at the stresses the new forces are bringing. Look at the behaviours of the media Caesars under this pressure.

And let’s think about what might happen now.

We have reached a point that we should perhaps have seen was coming, yet largely we did not. And nothing has prepared us for it. Many who once were visionary media leaders failed – at the time of great success – to see the reality of the business. The inherent weaknesses. To see how real the risks were.

The emerging threats.

Today they seem largely out of solutions – and instead challenge reality by seeking to deny a revolution that’s already taken place by attempting to use a power that no longer exists, by trying to impose on the world a law that is impossible to enforce.

We will surely look back on the 19th and 20th century and say that media was a great business to be in.Audiences hungry for news and entertainment. Powerful media organisations, with deep pockets – fighting hard to keep competitors out and profits in. A steady rationalisation. And with competitors being swallowed up or steamrollered – those who survived never had it so good.

The names are legendary: the Hearsts and the Grahams in the States. Beaverbrook and Rothermere in Britain. The Murdochs and the Packers here. Even the fictional names were legendary: Citizen Kane.

For staff working in media organisations, the proprietors were often people they had learned to hate. Always wealthy, often remote and cavalier. Occasionally cruel, brutal, hard-hearted. They had money, yes. But they also had the power of belief. They believed in the product: its importance, its influence. They were competitive, they would back themselves in a fight, spend money now to make money later.

They were after a reward beyond money. They wanted the influence and power that came with ownership of a media empire. So when people remember the barons, they remember them with respect for that passion and love they had for the product.

Murdoch arriving in the newsroom, a bundle of papers under his arm, sleeves rolled up, critiquing edition after edition in front of a tremulous editor. Packer. Barking down the phone to some programmer about last night’s numbers. The Fairfaxs – letting the editors spend what it took so could cover the stories as they needed.

There are fewer barons now. Fewer individuals who can make bold and at times financially irrational calls. To spend, to expand, to grow. To wait, to be patient.

Now the metrics are simpler. Shareholder value. ROI. And most owners are not barons. They are funds. They are investors. They are banks. And they are rational in terms of the returns they require. It’s just a business, like any other business. It could just as easily be a shoe store or a grocery.

For the barons it was more than a business, it was a life. And a passion. Many would try and protect most that which they loved. Today, when that protection is most needed, most of the barons have gone.

The Packers have largely sold out of traditional media. The Bancrofts took the cash, the Sultzbergers lost much of theirs. The Fairfaxs own less than 10 per cent. Tony O’Reilly’s in trouble, Conrad Black is in jail. And Rupert? Rupert is in a category of all his own. We had better come to Rupert later on…

By nikakisz | Posted in Guest Column | Comments Off

Melbourne graduate wins Victorian Rhodes Scholarship

November 11, 2009 – 3:41 pm

The prestigious Victorian Rhodes Scholarship for further study at Oxford University in 2010 has been won by University of Melbourne science, arts and land and environment graduate Jack Fuller, 24.

Mr Fuller, who is currently a Project Leader with the progressive public policy think tank Per Capita, is hoping to study a Master of Philosophy degree in International Relations at Oxford.

Mr Fuller’s particular interest is the intersection between environmental politics and international relations.  Having majored in Neuroscience, he is also fascinated by the way in which institutions shape cultures of behaviour, as part of understanding their role in governing human-environment interactions.

“My interest in environmental politics grew out of my love of nature, which I owe to my parents,” he says.  “I spent most of my childhood outdoors in Brisbane, camping and sailing, and visiting forests in Malaysia.”

After his mother also taught him to garden, his interest developed into a passion for biology and evolution.  “My later studies in neuroscience were partly motivated by developing a worldview in which humans were part of the natural environment.”

Motivated by an interest in German politics and the Greens movement, Mr Fuller spent a year on exchange in Germany in 2003, where he became fluent in German.

He also lived in East Timor during 2006, where he worked with a local NGO building sustainable gardens, and becoming fluent in Tetum.

“I lived in the districts, without newspapers, where politics occupied people on a very different scale.”

Mr Fuller joined a local soccer team, which was a uniting force in the community, playing in the rain dodging chickens and buffalo.  By mid year however, East Timor was in crisis.  Mr Fuller was initially caught up in the fighting but was saved by the Australian Defence Force.

“This gave me a new respect for the military and after a month I returned to Timor where I helped kids in an orphanage building a community garden.”

Mr Fuller says his experiences in East Timor gave him an “acute appreciation of the value of our inheritance in Australia and a sense of custodianship of our legal, political and military institutions, as well as our natural systems.

“I would hope to bring back from Oxford an improved political judgement, a familiarity with the axes of debate in international politics, and an understanding of environmental politics connected with more established concerns in International Relations like security, economics, and justice,” he says.

The Rhodes Scholarship is awarded annually to young people between the age of 18 and 25 who show high intellectual and academic ability as well as an interest and involvement in the community. They also demonstrate leadership qualities and sporting achievement.

Congratulating Mr Fuller on the scholarship announcement Honorary Secretary of the Victorian Rhodes Scholarship Selection Committee Professor James Angus, who is Dean of the Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry and Health Sciences at the University of Melbourne, says Mr Fuller is an outstanding young Australian who is sure to make his mark on the world.

“All of the young people the Committee interviewed had a wonderful sense of the privileged life we lead here in Australia and the responsibility to make a contribution locally, nationally and globally,” he said.  “It is really encouraging to see young people with such a balanced, mature attitude to work, scholarship, the arts, community and their own physical well-being.

“Jack Fuller’s interests and ambitions are certainly appropriate to the times, and the challenges of climate change mitigation and adaptation in the future will need the attention of our best young minds.  I wish him well as he travels to Oxford next year.”

More information about the Rhodes Trust, Scholarships and notable Scholars is at: http://www.rhodeshouse.ox.ac.uk/

By nikakisz | Posted in Students, Teaching and Learning, University News | Comments Off

Fresh writing from University graduates at the MTC Lawler Studio

November 11, 2009 – 3:40 pm

Lawler Logo-word

Melbourne Theatre Company’s Lawler Studio will host three play readings this week; tonight, tomorrow night and Friday, featuring the work of six University graduate creative writers.

The play readings mark a vital point in the development of each new work, giving writers a chance to hear their words spoken and see the audience respond before honing their scripts further.

This series of play readings is the culmination of collaborations between emerging writers Elise Hearst, Amelia Roper and Declan Greene, and directors Sam Strong, Naomi Edwards and David Mence respectively.

The readings include The Sea Project by Elise Hearst, tonight at 7:00pm; Hong Kong Dinosaur, written by Amelia Roper, tomorrow night at 7:00pm; and  Pretty Baby by Declan Greene on Friday. To win double passes to readings of Pretty Baby on Friday 13 November, be one of the first five people to email nikakisz@unimelb.edu.au

MTC Theatre, Lawler Studio – 140 Southbank Blvd, Southbank.
Tickets are $10 full price or $5 for concession holders and under 30s. Book in person at the MTC Theatre Box Office, call 03 8688 0800 or at the door.

Take up MTC’s special offer – purchase tickets for all three readings for just $24 dollars.

These works were developed with assistance from the Australia Council for the Arts, part of their Young and Emerging Artists Program.

By nikakisz | Posted in Teaching and Learning, University News | Comments Off

Great Scot! The evolution of devolution

October 28, 2009 – 1:32 pm
Presiding Officer Alex Fergusson outlines the History of the Scottish Parliament

Presiding Officer Alex Fergusson outlines the history of the Scottish Parliament

The University’s School of Social and Political Sciences (SSPS) recently hosted key members of the first-ever Scottish parliamentary delegation to visit Australia at a roundtable discussion.

The visit marks the 10th anniversary of the Scottish Parliament and members were keen to share their experiences with students and academics from SSPS and to explore some of the issues that concern both countries.

The delegation was led by the Presiding Officer of the Scottish Parliament, Mr Alex Fergusson MSP (the equivalent of the Australian Parliament Speaker).
The other members of the delegation were Ted Brocklebank MSP, Ross Finnie MSP, Rhoda Grant MSP, and Sandra White MSP.

University academics quizzed the parliamentary delegation about everything from their Gaelic language and domestic violence prevention policies through to the place of the Scottish Diaspora in today’s Scotland – an issue close to the heart of staff member Derek McDougall, who asked the panel what they were doing to develop relations with the Scottish Diaspora.

Established under the Scotland Act in 1999, an act of the Westminster Parliament, the Scottish Parliament has legislative power over almost all domestic issues. Scotland always has had its own separate legal and education systems, but now the Parliament impacts on Scottish people’s daily lives.

The Scottish Parliament was founded on four principles – accountability, equal opportunity, accessibility and the sharing of power, and the Parliament takes this every seriously, creating an innovative engagement program that includes events such as their ‘festival of politics’ which runs concurrently with the Edinburgh Festivals and takes in lectures, song, debate, theatre and has seen over 4000 people visit the Parliament for the event each year.

In its 10 years of operation, over 2.4 million visitors – more that half the population, and 80 000 school children have come through the Parliament’s doors, and engagement with modern technology means that online petitions system means any member of the community can petition the parliament about anything, with over 1200 petitions received so far.

By nikakisz | Posted in Teaching and Learning, University News | Comments Off
FireStats icon Powered by FireStats