20 April 2005
20 April 2005
Monash University is to undergo an academic audit in 2006 by the Australian Universities Quality Agency (AUQA). AUQA is an independent national body established by the Ministerial Council on Education, Training and Youth Affairs in 2000. It operates independently under a board of directors and receives funding from the Commonwealth and states.
AUQA is charged, among other responsibilities, with conducting academic quality audits of self-accrediting higher education institutions on a five-year cycle and providing public reports on these audits. The auditors come from a panel of experts with substantial senior academic and administrative experience in higher education in Australia or overseas. The audit is based on the university's self-review and assesses the university against its own missions and objectives. AUQA seeks to support diversity in the higher education system rather than requiring all universities to conform to the same set of objectives.
Clearly, this audit will be an important event for Monash just as it has been for the 24 universities audited to date. The audit process is extensive and demanding, but it is essential that we use it as a constructive method of ensuring that we have our quality assurance and improvement processes in place in the way that we find most useful.
Everything we do to prepare for the audit should be directed towards ensuring we achieve our objectives in education and research. Monash has set itself an ambitious agenda in Monash Directions 2025, and if we are really to become one of the best universities in the world and if we are to thrive in a highly competitive environment as an international, research-led and campus-based university, we will have to ensure that our education and research is of the highest quality.
We must constantly seek to set meaningful processes in place to improve our performance and evaluate how we are progressing against international best practice. We do not want to do things just to satisfy an AUQA audit, nor do we want to become ritualistic and formulaic – we want to do things that will result in improvement and really make a difference.
I believe that we will be well-placed to receive the audit. Under the leadership of our pro vice-chancellor (Quality) Professor Graham Webb who, along with the senior deputy vice-chancellor, Professor Stephen Parker, has extensive experience in AUQA audits, we are making sure that we prepare ourselves meticulously for the audit. Ms Robyn Harris has recently been recruited from AUQA to the position of quality adviser in the Centre for Higher Education Quality and will have a primary role in preparing for the audit. Details of the audit are available at www.adm.monash.edu/cheq/audit/index.html and there will be opportunities for staff and students to be involved in preparing for the audit.
We regard the audit as a positive exercise and one we will use as an important staging post in ensuring that everything we do is of the highest quality.
-- Professor Richard Larkins AO vice-chancellor
20 April 2005
Improved stormwater filtration, the regeneration of new body parts, the early diagnosis of heart disease and stroke and other new developments are the focus of Monash researchers who last week received funding under the Victorian Government's Science, Technology and Innovation Infrastructure grant scheme.
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| Dr Valery Davydov is part of the $1.6 million Centre for Power Transformer Monitoring, Diagnostics and Life Management. |
Monash was a partner in eight of the 17 winning consortia that were announced by Victoria 's Minister for Innovation, Mr John Brumby.
The Monash-partnered grants will be used to build world-class facilities that will enhance Victoria 's involvement in advanced materials manufacturing, healthcare innovation, small-scale technologies, automation, retinal vascular imaging, power transformer monitoring and diagnostics, tissue engineering, and stormwater biofilter technologies.
Monash shares in $24.2 million of the $57 million the state government made available for round three of the infrastructure grants.
The university will lead three of the consortia: the Centre for Power Transformer Monitoring, Diagnostics and Life Management, which received $1.59 million; the Australasian Facility for Stormwater Biofilter Technologies, which received $1.46 million; and the Gippsland Regional Automation Centre, which received $500,000.
The deputy vice-chancellor of research, Professor Edwina Cornish, said the grants showcased the diversity of research at Monash and the strength of its industry collaborations.
"It is becoming increasingly important that universities collaborate with industry in bringing new technologies and research to the marketplace," she said. "These grants can only help in making this process a success."
The Centre for Power Transformer Monitoring, Diagnostics and Life Management will address the challenge of maintaining and upgrading the infrastructure needed to meet worldwide demand for power.
The Australasian Facility for Stormwater Biofilter Technologies will investigate second-generation biofilters for the treatment of stormwater in residential estates, roadsides and water supply catchments.
And the Gippsland Regional Automation Centre will apply advanced engineering automation to industries in Gippsland.
Monash University researchers are also partners in:
20 April 2005
Victoria's top police officer has been awarded an honorary Doctor of Laws from Monash.
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| Police commissioner Ms Christine Nixon with Monash chancellor Mr Jerry Ellis. |
Victoria Police chief commissioner Ms Christine Nixon last week accepted the degree, and gave the occasional address, at the Faculty of Education graduation ceremony at Clayton campus.
Ms Nixon said she was honoured to be among the recipients of Monash honorary doctorates, a group that includes Mt Everest conqueror Sir Edmund Hilary, the Prince of Wales, and the former Chief Justice of the High Court, Sir Anthony Mason.
She told the graduands they should be proud of what they had achieved and prepared for the challenges they would face.
"Make the most of what comes your way and be prepared for it to be different from what you expect," Ms Nixon said. "It is only by embracing challenges and experiences that we can grow and develop.
"I recently read an excellent biography on Sir John Monash by Roland Perry. As a soldier, engineer and administrator, Monash displayed great military skills, a powerful intellect and inspiring leadership qualities. His fighting spirit is, I am sure, what he would expect graduates to take with them from this university," Ms Nixon said.
The graduation ceremony also included 20 police officers -- the first cohort from Victoria Police to undertake masters degrees in education at Monash. Most received a Master of Education (Leadership, Policy and Change) and two received a Master in Organisational Leadership.
20 April 2005
Monash has announced three new staff appointments in support of its Advancing Indigenous Employment Policy, which aims to identify and provide ongoing employment opportunities for Indigenous Australians at the university.
The office of International Development has appointed Ms Kelly Drayton as its new administrative officer, and the Centre for Australian Indigenous Studies now has two new Indigenous staff -- library assistant Ms Iris Windmar and schools recruitment officer Mr Michael Harding.
The coordinator of Advancing Indigenous Employment at Monash, Ms Lynda Nicholson, said the policy was designed to support steady growth in the number of Indigenous employees across the university, maximise retention rates by ensuring the formation of a culturally sensitive and rewarding working environment for Indigenous employees and provide support and encouragement for Indigenous employees to establish careers at Monash.
Specifically, the policy aims for 10 new Indigenous employees a year to be placed in ongoing positions between 2005 and 2008.
Ms Nicholson said the latest appointments showed Monash's Indigenous advancement strategy was already working, and more appointments were expected soon.
"Next month, the Equity and Diversity Centre at the Gippsland campus hopes to employ an Indigenous person to work as part of a pilot program investigating Indigenous and non-Indigenous beliefs and ideas on reconciliation," Ms Nicholson said. "There will also be a mentoring program very soon that will include a careers pathways counselling service."
For more information about Indigenous employment at Monash University, visit http://adm.monash.edu/sss/equity-diversity/indigenous-employment/ or email lynda.nicholson@adm.monash.edu.au.
20 April 2005
Monash academic, clinical psychologist and pioneer of internet-based therapies Professor Jeffrey Richards died suddenly earlier this month of a heart attack.
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Professor Richards (pictured) was 55 and at the peak of his professional career when he died after returning home from a run on 5 April.
Professor Richards joined Monash as professor of primary care research in February 2003. In that same year, he received the Distinguished Career Award from the Australian Association for Cognitive and Behavioural Therapy in recognition of his contribution to behaviour research and therapy.
The head of the Department of General Practice, Professor Leon Piterman, said Professor Richards had learned early in his professional career to combine his dual passions of clinical practice and research.
He said Professor Richards was a tireless advocate for quality research into mental health care, particularly in areas relating to innovative new treatments and modes of delivery.
In 1998, Professor Richards and his then student who later became his colleague, Dr Britt Klein, began developing an internet-based treatment for panic disorder. The project evolved into the development of internet-based treatments for several psychological disorders.
Professor Richards maintained an active interest and involvement in health psychology and was involved in research into erectile dysfunction, cardiovascular disease, stress, depression and tinnitus.
He was a fellow or member of 12 professional associations including the Fellowship of the Australian Psychological Society, the Australian Association of Academic General Practitioners and the European and American Psychological Associations.
At the time of his death, Professor Richards was actively involved in three NHMRC grants, two ARC grants and three Beyondblue Centre of Excellence grants. He was an author of more than 50 refereed publications, five book chapters and numerous conference papers nationally and internationally.
Professor Piterman said as well as his professional achievements, Professor Richards was a gentle, kind, considerate and humble man.
"He was selfless and generous with his time. He did not discriminate and gave of himself to both junior and senior staff alike. He was committed, devoted to his staff and his work and constantly strived for excellence in research and patient care," Professor Piterman said.
Professor Richards is survived by his mother Jean, his brother Andy, his partner Marita (McCabe), his daughters Sasha, Erica, Hayley and Imi, his four grandchildren, two stepsons Matt and Mark and an extended family.
20 April 2005
A transport research network has been established at Monash following a workshop that showcased the vast range of transport research being conducted at the university.
About 40 staff from the Accident Research Centre and the faculties of Art and Design, Arts, Law, Engineering and Information Technology took part in the workshop earlier this month.
It was opened by vice-chancellor Professor Richard Larkins and featured presentations from Monash staff as well as representatives from the Victorian Department of Infrastructure, the federal Department of Transport and Regional Services and the Royal Automobile Club of Victoria.
The presentations included a discussion on competition and entry on the US--Australia air route, vehicle and infrastructure crashworthiness and road traffic monitoring systems.
The workshop convenor, Associate Professor Geoff Rose, who is also the director of the Institute of Transport Studies, said the presentations demonstrated the diversity and depth of transport-related research being undertaken at Monash.
"The workshop identified a number of immediate opportunities for multidisciplinary research projects that will be progressed over the coming months, with more ambitious projects to be developed in the medium term," Dr Rose said.
The cross-faculty research network will develop a plan to build transport into a key research area at Monash.
Workshop presentations will be made available on the Institute of Transport Studies website at http://civil.eng.monash.edu.au/its/confsworkshops/tram/trampresentations.
20 April 2005
An exhibition exploring the shape and form of the English alphabet is on show at Monash's Switchback Gallery at the Gippsland campus.
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| Tim Craker, 'Nobe' 2004, oil and acrylic on canvas, 122 cm x 183 cm. |
Transcript by Melbourne artist Tim Craker is on display until 12 May.
Some 20 works are featured, including 10 large paintings on canvas and a long concertina work on paper. The abstract and free-form works are based on text from newspapers and advertising material.
Mr Craker, who works part-time as a veterinarian, has had a lifelong fascination for language. He discovered the beauty of text when studying fine art at RMIT in the early 1990s.
"My current work is more about the shape and visual look of letters, rather than the meaning of words," Mr Craker said. "I also like focusing on the negative shapes around and between the letter, discovering new forms and bringing new shapes to light.
"Transcript also raises the possibility of another message -- in an unknown language -- emerging from reading between the lines."
Switchback Gallery exhibition coordinator Mr Mark McDean, a lecturer in sculpture at Monash's Gippsland Centre for Art and Design, said the works reflected 'the space between'.
"The works are about observing and understanding, language and pattern -- a studied observation of text at a fast pace," he said.
"This exhibition gives the viewer time to reflect on the fluency of language, often missed in our contemporary media-laden world."
20 April 2005
Monash has joined the Computer Human Interaction Special Interest Group (CHISIG) as a corporate member.
CHISIG is a special interest group of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society of Australia. The society's purpose is to promote the principles and practice of ergonomics throughout the community.
The group is specifically concerned with human aspects of interacting with technology, generally known as human computer interaction.
It provides a forum for people working on all aspects of interactive technology, from analysis and design to evaluation and implementation.
The user interface designer with Monash's Web Resources and Development team, Mr Scott Rippon, said the membership displayed Monash's commitment to useful and usable systems and technologies.
"Monash's involvement with CHISIG represents an organisational commitment to improving the student and staff experience of using Monash's online information systems, through the adoption of techniques such as user-centred design," he said.
"There have already been a number of high-profile projects at Monash where user-centred design techniques have delivered real benefits of improved usability to students and staff. One example of this was the redesign of the Monash website."
The Web Resources and Development team is currently conducting a usability study and redesign of the library catalogue system and is developing a new prospective students' website.
20 April 2005
Three accounting and finance students have scored top places in a national share-trading contest.
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| Students share the glory. From left, Mr Covi Lac, Mr Lin Ge, Professor Gill Palmer, Ms Cheryl Chan and Mr Adrian Chan at the BRW National Student Share Investment awards. |
The Monash students were ranked second, third and fourth out of 3800 contestants in the BRW National Student Share Investment Awards. The students each 'invested' $200,000 in portfolios they selected from Australia's leading publicly listed companies. Some students compiled several share parcels, bringing the total number of portfolios to 4201.
Mr Lin Ge, an accounting and computing student, came second for having grown his $200,000 stake by 86 per cent to reach a value of $386,000 in one year.
Third was Mr Covi Lac, who has just completed his Bachelor of Banking and Finance and is about to start studying for his Master of Applied Finance. Mr Lac turned his stake into $369,432 -- a value increase of 84.72 per cent.
Fourth was Ms Cheryl Chan, who has just completed a business accounting/banking and finance double degree. Ms Chan saw her main portfolio grow by 83.1 per cent to $366,205. Her other two portfolios were ranked ninth and twenty-seventh respectively.
Business and Economics faculty dean Professor Gill Palmer described Ms Chan's performance as "absolutely extraordinary".
"Cheryl selected 24 companies in total across all her portfolios, and the value of the shares in 21 of those companies rose by over 30 per cent," Professor Palmer said.
The performances by the three students -- all from the Caulfield campus -- were so impressive that the competition organisers also awarded a prize to the campus, which was accepted by Professor Palmer. Coordinator of the Monash student team was accounting and finance double-degree student Mr Adrian Chan who also received an award. The awards were presented in Sydney last week.
"Monash strives to provide its students with the highest level of theoretical understanding and the real skills to excel in the business world," Professor Palmer said. "This outstanding result pays tribute to Monash's strength in the accounting and finance disciplines."
20 April 2005
A towering, inflatable, lounge-like structure developed by staff and postgraduate students from Monash's Art and Design faculty is a major highlight at this year's DesignEX exhibition in Melbourne.
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| 'Solivoid' is designed to be a major drawcard at DesignEX. |
The seven-metre high, 10-metre long and seven-metre-wide exhibit, titled 'Solivoid', has taken 18 months to create and is valued at more than $113,000.
'Solivoid' design coordinator and Monash interior architecture lecturer Mr Darragh O'Brien said the project was an experiment that tried to reconcile the ideal with the real.
"It is a deliberate exercise in vagueness, reflecting the ambiguous nature of an evolving design process," Mr O'Brien said.
"Visitors to the lounge space will experience a break from the hustle and bustle of DesignEX," Mr O'Brien said. "The interior of the structure will provide visitors with a multimedia experience that explores the effects of patterns, movement and colour projected onto the surface of the structure."
The structure involved the Faculty of Art and Design, Inflatable Image Technologies, Sakimoto Furniture and Design, and BG Architecture.
DesignEX is Australasia's biggest building, architectural and construction exhibition. The annual event is on at the Melbourne Exhibition and Convention Centre from 21 to 23 April. Some 350 industry-related exhibitors and 16,500 visitors are expected.
The public can view 'Solivoid' at stand Q2 tomorrow (21 April) from 5 pm to 8 pm.
20 April 2005
Two first-year Monash Malaysia engineering students were stars of the pool last month at a swimming tournament organised by the Malaysian Association of Private Colleges and Universities.
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| Monash Malaysia swimmers Alvin Ng (left) with Cheng Shu-Fenn. |
Ms Cheng Shu-Fenn took home a medal haul of one gold, five silver and one bronze, while Mr Alvin Ng won one gold, one silver and one bronze.
Ms Shu-Fenn, who won the 50m freestyle, with the rest of her medals coming in breaststroke and backstroke events, said she was surprised to have outperformed her stronger opponents despite a lack of practice.
"I did not really practise for the tournament except while coaching the Selangor state synchronised swimming team," she said.
She plans to retire from representing the state in competitive swimming but will continue to represent the university.
Mr Ng, who won gold in the 50m breaststroke and silver and bronze in the 100m and 200m breaststroke events respectively, said he would continue representing Monash in swimming competitions if they did not clash with his study schedule.
Monash University Malaysia pro vice-chancellor Professor Merilyn Liddell said it was important for students to strike a balance between university study and co-curricular activities.
"We want our students to excel not only in their studies but also in whatever sporting or community engagements they choose to be involved in," she said.
"The university is fully supportive of our students who take part in activities that bring positive benefits to themselves, the campus, the community and the nation."