Office of Marketing & Development   Edith Cowan University
14 October 2004
 


News

Free software

Worthy of mention - V-C

David Helfgott award

Digital camera winner

New direction for research

Work starts at Churchlands

ECU goods and services

Council technology upgrade

HESA

South West winners

Pride flag raising

South West forum

Professional development clicks

Cancer and palliative care workshop

ECU Artwork

Summer session 2004/5

Staff update

Classifieds

A market leader in education for the service professions, ECU is Western Australia's
second largest university with almost 23,000 students, three metropolitan
campuses and a regional campus in Bunbury.


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Hits

 

Free software for use at home

ECU staff and students now have access to a greater range of software titles for home use.

The University’s home-use licensing program was recently expanded to include the following applications:
EndNote
Macromedia Studio MX 2004 (includes Dreamweaver, Fireworks, Freehand, Flash)
QSR NVivo and Nudist
SPSS
Symantec Anti-virus

Staff and students can call into any ECU library and, upon presentation of their ECU identification cards, obtain any of the selected applications available to them under the new Consolidated Home Use Licensing program. Library staff will ask for a simple form to be completed.

For more information on the Consolidated Home Use Licensing program, click here.

Worthy of mention - the Vice-Chancellor's column

The ECU Advantage

Many ECU staff and students will soon enjoy enormous flexibility in the way they use technology to work and study. By the beginning of the 2005 academic year, the Mount Lawley and Joondalup campuses, plus much of Churchlands, will be wireless connected, both indoors and outdoors. Staff and students will be able to use a laptop or other mobile computing devices anywhere on campus, thanks to a new contract soon to be announced with Nortel Networks. This opens up a host of new possibilities for creating an effective and engaging learning environment – and provides an alternative to busy mega labs.

To facilitate the introduction of the new environment, students will be given the opportunity to purchase IBM laptops, configured to provide easy access to the ECU network. The new wireless network will equip ECU to more effectively pursue its mission of preparing students to live and work in a global society. They will have unparalleled high speed mobile access to ECU information systems and the Internet. I expect students and staff will soon develop innovative ways to make wireless computing part of their learning experience and a hallmark of ECU’s innovation.

The ECU Advantage IBM Thinkpad University project is both a strategic and an institutional academic initiative. The current pilot involving the schools of Management, Education, Communications and Multimedia will continue throughout Semester 1 2005. The School of Computer and Information Science will join the program in 2005. The ECU Advantage project will be supported by a series of professional development activities for academic staff wanting to find out more about the use of technology to improve the learning environment.


Focusing on research quality

ECU’s Research Activity Index (RAI) has played an important part in the development of the University’s research culture. The system has provided researchers with resources based on their research productivity. Since 1998, the number of ECU publications in RAI categories has more than doubled. However, almost all of this growth has been in refereed conference publications.

Although increases in the quantity of publications have a short-term benefit for the University, the quality of publications is much more important in the medium and longer term. For staff in teaching and research roles, high quality publications support applications for appointment and promotion. More broadly, institutional reputations are built on the quality of academics’ publications. For this reason, the University Research and Higher Degrees Committee has recently discussed proposals for changes to the RAI which are worthy of consideration. See the story below for further details on this change.

Honorary doctorate

At Monday night’s graduation ceremony, ECU conferred an honorary degree on classical pianist David Helfgott, for his contribution to the arts. Mr Helfgott’s story is one of awesome talent achieved by many years of practice and dedication, followed by dark years of decline, struggle and recovery from a personal breakdown. Mr Helfgott is a tireless performer for charity. His willingness to share his talents for no fee has raised considerable sums of money for a wide range of disadvantaged groups. He has also served as an inspiration and symbol of hope to others afflicted with mental illness. On behalf of all the ECU community, I congratulate him on his achievement and hope he takes great pride in his honorary doctorate.Millicent Poole

Congratulations

ECU students delivered their best sporting performance at the recent Australian University Games, staged in Perth. They attained a record number of medals, including 16 gold. Overall ECU earned sixth place in the competition. This was a big improvement on previous performances. I congratulate all the athletes and the ECU sports and recreation staff for the dedication to sporting competition and physical fitness. We all recognise the value of sport in developing well-rounded and adaptable citizens.


Millicent Poole


David Helfgott award

One of the most emotionally charged graduation ceremonies ever seen at ECU took place on Monday night, when classical pianist David Helfgott was awarded an honorary doctorate.

Graduands, academics and invited guests were mesmerised by the sheer brilliance of David’s musical talents as he played three of his favourite classical pieces in a performance not easily forgotten.

David was overjoyed to be receiving the award since he was never able to graduate from the Royal College of Music in his youth, when his career was interrupted by a personal breakdown.

He said the award was "wonderful" and he felt "very privileged".

After spending a decade away from the piano, David returned to the concert stage in 1984 to tour the world and receive the recognition he so richly deserved. This led to the internationally acclaimed film based on his life, Shine, starring Geoffrey Rush.

A tireless performer for charity David has served as an inspiration to all people and especially those afflicted with mental illness.

David’s wife Gillian said being awarded this kind of formal recognition was one of the most special moments in his life.

The occasion was attended by the entire Helfgott family, including his 84-year-old mother, Rachel.

David Helfgott stirs the graduation audience with the playing of three classical pieces.
David receives his honorary doctorate in music from Chancellor Justice Robert Nicholson.

David was thrilled by the ECU award, saying he felt "very privileged".

Digital camera winner

Over the past two weeks you will have seen ANZ representatives around campus launching the ECU Links package.

Forums were held at Joondalup, Churchlands, Mount Lawley and Bunbury, where staff had the opportunity to chat to ANZ representatives and learn more about the benefits and savings of the ECU Links package, such as accounts with virtually no transaction fees and reduced rate home loans.

Staff who opened a new ECU Links account during the promotional period went into the draw to win a Sony digital camera. Paul Midgley from IT Infrastructure at the Churchlands Campus was the lucky winner of this great prize.

The ECU Links website is now available. To check out the great benefits available to ECU Staff, visit www.ecu.edu.au/anzbanking or e-mail eculinks@anz.com.


Proposed 2005 changes to research activity index

In 2004 ECU’s Research Activity Index (RAI) distributed a pool of $800,000 to support research active staff.

Researchers received more than $500 for each sole-authored book chapter, journal article or conference presentation. In addition, more than $2000 was awarded for each scholarly book or PhD completion.

It is proposed that ECU researchers who publish their research in the most prestigious journals in 2005 will be eligible to receive an additional weighting when they make application for 2006 RAI funds.

The mechanism for deciding what counts as a high quality journal is currently under discussion. It seems likely that journals listed in the ISI Journal Citation Reports or Current Contents lists will form the basis of the ECU list (see: http://www.isinet.com/journals/).

In addition, Faculty Research and Higher Degrees Committee have been invited to propose an additional short list of journals that meet the same quality standards but are for some reason not included on the ISI lists. Typically, these will be substantial journals devoted to Australian topics, or journals in rapidly emerging fields. Publications not on either of these lists will still be eligible for RAI claims, but the weighting allocated to such publications is likely to be reduced.

The changes under discussion would not effect 2004 publications, to be submitted in March 2005 for RAI payment later next year, but would affect publications with a 2005 publication date.


Work to start at Churchlands

After much planning ECU is finally able to commence work on the redevelopment of Churchlands Campus for housing.

A small cluster of disused buildings is earmarked for demolition in the first stage of development. They are Buildings 1, 2, 3, 4, 21, 22 and 28 in the north-west corner of the campus, which will be transformed into public open space for the new estate.

Building 14E in the south-east corner will also be demolished to complete a link road. These buildings will be fenced from 25 October and stripped internally.

Demolition will start on 22 November and all work will be completed by 13 January 2005.

ECU has carefully planned the demolition to minimise the impact on staff and students. The work will be carried out under strict conditions with regard for issues like health and safety, noise and dust control. There will be no disruption to traffic movements on the campus as all internal roads will be accessible during the demolition period.

This is the only demolition planned at Churchlands while the campus is still in operation. All future demolition work is planned be carried out when the campus is vacated in several years’ time.

For more information about the redevelopment of Churchlands Campus click here.

ECU is committed to retaining the parkland features of the Churchlands Campus.

Above: view of the campus today.


View of the new public open space, after campus demolition.

Find out about obtaining ECU goods and services

Meet about 20 suppliers of the University's goods and services at the Preferred Supplier’s Expo on 21 October at Joondalup Campus.

View samples of goods supplied to the University community, discuss the services available and enjoy free samples and giveaways.

Plus, you could win a door prize. Previous expos have given away wine, car hire and overnights stays at local hotels.

When: 10.00am to 2.00pm, Thursday 21 October 2004
Where: Building 1, Rooms 2107 and 2108 (East Wing), Joondalup Campus.

For information contact Mike Smith at extension 2465 or Steve Pelham at 2216.


Technology upgrade for Council

The Joondalup Council room is receiving a technology upgrade to make meetings even more efficient.

At the tap of a button from a menu-driven touch screen, meeting participants will be able to activate video conferencing, electronic voting and data projection of computer-based presentations.

Overseeing the upgrade program has been Senior Video Communications Officer, Charlie King, who says step-by-step guides will be available to assist users of the upgraded system.

"The system also includes off-air digital TV reception with other video and audio recording and playback facilities to be instigated with the fine tuning of the system," says Charlie.

Staff from IT Infrastructure and Advanced Visual Design are responsible for supply and implementation of the improved facilities.


Higher education administrative changes

Big changes are under way in university enrolments, student data and administrative procedures following recent government reforms. ECU is working hard to finalise new processes for admitting, tracking and financially supporting students.

The changes flow from the Higher Education Support Act 2003 which is abbreviated as HESA.

A large bank of information and instructions on implementing the changes is now available on-line. ECU’s dedicated HESA web site at http://hesa.ecu.edu.au is set up in sections for 2005 commencing students, current students and staff.

The staff section is accessible by using your employee number as your user name and your date of birth (expressed in double-digits for the day, double-digits for the month and four-digits for the year) as your password.

There is a discussion board to promote interchange among ECU staff. You are encouraged to read the Staff information on the website and in particular, the summary and FAQs section. New questions and answers will be added regularly. Training information will be added shortly.

Staff are reminded that the HESA changes are quite complicated. It is therefore important that they use ECU’s HESA web site and the Federal Government’s HESA student website (http://www.goingtouni.gov.au) as the authoritative sources of information if they need to pass on advice to students.

The Callista system is getting an upgrade to accommodate the HESA rules. It will include new functionality in Callista SMS and SIMO. You can find out more about the types of changes, how they will affect you, when they will be implemented and system closure periods by clicking here.


South West winners

Teaching award
Nursing Lecturer Sue Tencer has won the Faculty of Regional Professional Studies $1000 teaching award.

Students nominated staff for the 2004 awards.

Both staff and students voted on a five-minute presentation delivered by each nominee on the topic of Why I do what I do.

Sue said she loves working in the undergraduate nursing program. “Every lecture I give is very enjoyable for me and I just have great fun,” she said.

Other nominees for the teaching award were Creative Industries Lecturer Terry Hahn and Social Work Lecturers Marilyn Palmer and Dyann Ross.

Customer service award
To recognise general (non-academic) staff in the faculty, the Faculty of Regional Professional Studies has instituted a customer service award.

Joint winners of the 2004 customer service award were Campus Services Administrator Gail Johnston and the ECU South West Information Technology Support Team: Mike Groom, Gareth Braid and Tony Lockhart.

Each received an ECU jacket.

Other nominees for the award were Administrative Assistants Narelle Mattaboni, Gail Johnston and Tracy Depiazzi, Cleaner/Security Officer Kaye Rendell and Marketing and Prospective Students Nathalie Collins.

Teaching award winner Sue Tencer.
L-R Gail, Tony, Mike and Gareth in their new ECU jackets.

Pride flag raising ceremony

Students, staff and friends of ECU are invited to observe the raising of the Rainbow Flag, a symbol of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transsexual community, to demonstrate ECU's commitment to the provision of a safe and inclusive organisational culture.

The ceremony will include an address by Pro Vice-Chancellor (Equity and Indigenous) Robert Harvey and will be followed by morning tea.

Enquiries to Audrey Barton at (08) 6304 2204 or a.barton@ecu.edu.au

8.50am to 10.00am
Wednesday 20 October
Mount Lawley Campus

Please RSVP your attendance by visiting:
http://www.ecu.edu.au/ssa/graduation/pride/

South West forum

At the end of September, ECU's senior executive team held a community forum on campus discussing the outlook for the South-West operations.

The forum discussed the outlook for the South-West operations.

L-R: Professor Robert Harvey, Bunbury Advisory Board Chair Carol Devitt and Professor Patrick Garnett.

Discussions were held on the growth capacity of the South West Campus to meet the region’s significant population segment aged 15 years and under.
Professor Poole emphasised ECU’s strong commitment to the region.

Professional development at a mouse click

Sharpening your professional skills just got a little easier with professional development’s new website.

The new Online Registration, Information and Administration Network (ORIAN) lets staff register online for courses and receive regular electronic reminders about their enrolments.

The site also gives a quick overview of all courses on offer as well as an option to access comprehensive course details.

Professional Development Team Manager, Linda McLain says ECU encourages its staff to hone their knowledge and skills: “It is important to the University that staff constantly polish their skills and keep informed of the latest trends.”

The new website will provide better reporting to both professional development and University management.

Linda says staff who have attended a Professional Development activity this year will receive a letter summarising their enrolments to help them with their Management for Performance meetings.

An added bonus of professional development at ECU is faculties or centres are not charged for staff who attend courses.

Visit http://orian.ecu.edu.au

Send any feedback on the website to pd@ecu.edu.au

Cancer and palliative care workshop

The WA Centre for Cancer and Palliative Care is presenting a one-day workshop for health professionals.

ECU psycho-oncologist, bereavement counsellor and palliative care researcher Dr Elizabeth Lobb will look at the many aspects of loss . Participants will be provided with a general understanding of the issues involved in supporting people through loss, grief and bereavement and the basic skills required for providing such support.

For further information contact Jo Hale at (08) 9273 8567 or j.hale@ecu.edu.au

When:
9:30 am - 4:30 pm, 19 November 2004
Where:
Building 19, Room NL109, Churchlands Campus
Cost:
$100 (includes lunch, morning and afternoon tea and a parking voucher).

Elizabeth Lobb


ECU Artwork

Yvette Watt
Keeping the Devil Down (St Michael) 1999
Oil on canvas
On display in ML Building 3.

Earlier this year, artist Yvette Watt held a sell-out solo show in Perth, where ECU purchased a set of paintings. She offered two gifts to the art collection; Keeping the Devil Down and a charming screen print incorporating a sleeping cat.

The ECU Art Collection is a dynamic, constantly evolving reflection of the best in Australian and Western Australian art. It is built on a strong philosophical commitment to integrating art into the everyday experience of students, staff and the wider community and fostering and promoting local art practice.

Click here to view ECU's virtual art gallery.


Summer session 2004/5

The 2004/5 summer session flier can now be viewed at http://www.ecu.edu.au/apps/SIMO/ or at http://www.ecu.edu.au/SSC/Enrolments/Summer/

The ECU summer session will open for enrolments from Monday 18 October 2004 through to Friday 17 December 2004.

Due to government legislation requirements (HESA) being introduced from January 2005, SIMO will not be available for online enrolments. Students will need to complete and submit a unit selection form to:
1. Student Central (on any campus) or RPS Student Administration, Bunbury
2. Shelley Middleton, Summer Coordinator, Faculty of Business and Public Management
3. Alison Cheetham, Summer Coordinator, Faculty of Community Services, Education & Social Sciences.

The key issues in relation to the summer program are:
1. Unit Selection forms cannot be processed on Callista until the Callista User Representative team give approval to do so. This might mean that students are not showing as enrolled in the summer program until closer to the ECU shutdown period or even on our return in early January 2005. However all students will be handed a photocopy of their form as ‘confirmation of enrolment’.
2. All units offered by BPM require up-front payment – there is no provision to defer the tuition fee.
3. Some units offered by CSESS do require an up-front payment, and others are HECS/PELS eligible.
4. All payments must be paid by 31 December 2004.
5. The fees office will send out invoices on Monday 20 December 2004.

All ECU students are now being sent a global email including links to the Summer Session website. If you have any further queries, please contact the areas listed above.


Staff update

ECU extends a warm welcome to the following new staff members:

CCI
Tutor Leanne Cole
Marketing Officer Georgina Groves
Graduate Research Assistants Caroline Martin, Ernest Koh

CSESS
Psychology Lecturers Laura Smith, Linda Hayward
Research Assistant Kate Minto
Administrative Officer Natalie Fribbens
Marketing Officer Toye Nordstrom

CHS
Senior Lecturer Keng Tiong Tan
Event Ambassadors Wendy Turner, Carmen Jones
Tutor Bronwen Williams
Administrative Officer Christianne White

BPM
Associate Professor MBA Director Gary Chittick
Garry MacDonald

RPS
Campus Services Officer Glenn Trigg
Library Assistant Tina Pantlin

Research
Finance Administration Nerissa Eaton

Management Services Centre
Team Leader, Personnel and Payroll Kim Raymond

Knowledge & Information Technology Services Centre
Analyst Programmer Olivier Alcide
Database Administrator Alan Thomas
Library Assistant Audrey Chew

Student Services Centre
Student Administration Officer Shannon Laidler
System Support Officer Annemarie Pankhurst

Facilities and Services
Aerobics Instructor Julie Sermons

Click here to view ECU's current job vacancies

Fifth annual Young Inventors Awards 2004
The awards recognise, honor and encourage the achievements of students in Asia Pacific who see novel ways in doing things that enhance quality of life in a significant or meaningful way.
The top three winners will receive computer equipment and an all expenses paid trip to visit Hewlett-Packard's labs in Palo Alto California. Representative universities of the winners will receive cash prizes of between US$2,500 to US$7,500 and will be profiled in Far Eastern Economic Review magazine.
Deadline is 22 October 2004. For more information, visit www.young-inventors.feer.com

2004 NAGCAS Conference - Perth
The National Association of Graduate Careers Advisory Service is holding a conference in Perth from 28 November to 1 December 2004. Keynote Speakers are Val Butcher (UK) and Mary McMahon (Australia). For further information visit http://www.nagcas.ecu.edu.au or contact Lee Miles at l.miles@ecu.edu.au or (08) 6304 5641.

Second international bio-logging science symposium
The sea mammal research unit at the University of St Andrews is pleased to announce the second international bio-logging science symposium. The symposium will be held in beautiful St Andrews, Scotland from 13 to 16 June 2005, and will follow on from the successful first bio-logging science symposium held in Tokyo in 2003. For information visit http://www.smru.st-and.ac.uk

ACSPRI Summer Program 2005
The Australian Consortium for Social and Political Research’s summer program in social research methods and research technology, will be held at the Australian National University in Canberra from 18 to 29 January 2005. The program comprises a number of five-day courses (Tuesday to Saturday) over two separate weeks. For more information, visit http://acspri.anu.edu.au/courses/summer/sp2005/

Travel grant awards for young researchers
The Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation Australia invites applications from young researchers for grants of up to $2000 to allow travel to research institutions or scientific meetings, for the purpose of furthering the researcher’s expertise in the study of type 1 (insulin-dependent) diabetes mellitus. For more information, contact the Foundation's WA Officer, Vanessa Wilson at (08) 9481-1411.


Classifieds

WANTED
Any furniture or household items for a son moving into his first unit. Northern suburbs, reasonable prices paid and will collect. Please contact Sally at 9301 0011.

FOR RENT
Jurien Bay house
Three-bedroom house, Q-size bed and double bunks. Fully equipped (supply your own linen). Huge outdoor entertainment area with BBQ. Short stroll to beach. Close to shopping area. $110 per night or $600 weekly. Contact 9275 9248 or mobile 041 983 7403.

Email feedback and classifieds to pr@ecu.edu.au.

This newsletter is produced fortnightly. Next edition 28 October 2004.