News briefs
One-stop
shop for ANU heritage information
An ANU heritage website, which includes self-guided heritage
walks around the campus, has been launched. >>
Chance
to take part in Aceh research centre
ANU staff and graduate students are being encouraged to apply
for temporary positions at the Aceh Research Training Institute
(ARTI), which was set up as a response to tsunami devastation
in the Indonesian territory. >>
Partnership
will combat emerging diseases
A new partnership between ANU and the Federal Government will
develop a database of specialists, deploy them in the region,
and synthesise their reports to inform strategies for infectious
disease control in Asia and the Pacific. >>
Thai
university looks to ANU for research growth
ANU will help one of Thailand’s top private universities
to build its research base and international strength through
a new partnership. >>
Hope
scholars gather to celebrate poet
The case to recognise A.D. Hope as one of the great writers
of the 20th century was made with vigour at a conference at
ANU last month. >>
Economic
incentive to encourage applied honours
Economics graduates will be encouraged to do an applied honours
project under a new $10,000 scholarship program set up by the
Economics Program at the Research School of Social Sciences
(RSSS). >>
The
future of rural communities considered
How globalisation was impacting on small local communities was
one of the big debates that ran into lunchtime on day one of
the Rural Futures in Developed Countries: Australia, America,
Europe conference at ANU last month. >>
^^
Awards
Climate
change-health expert granted $4 million
The Director of the National Centre for Epidemiology and Population
Health has been awarded four million dollars to research the
links between climate change, environmental factors and human
health. >>
ANU
stargazer wins respected international prize
The discovery that the expansion of the Universe is accelerating
has won an astronomer at The Australian National University
a prestigious and lucrative international prize, the Gruber
Prize for Cosmology. >>
VC made life member
Professor Ian Chubb, the University’s
Vice-Chancellor, has been made an Honorary Life Member of the
Australian Neuroscience Society (ANS). This honour is only granted
to distinguished neuroscientists who have rendered notable service
to the society. Professor Chubb, along with Prof Ian Hendry
(ANU), Professor John Furness (University of Melbourne) and
Professor Laurie Geffen (University of Qld) were instrumental
in establishing ANS in 1980.
One of a kind in southern hemisphere
Professor Peter Cane, Director of the John
Fleming Centre for Advancement of Legal Research at the ANU
College of Law, has been elected a Corresponding Fellow of the
British Academy – making him the only person to hold a
fellowship in law in the Southern Hemisphere. The title of Corresponding
Fellow recognises people living outside the UK who have attained
high international standing in a field of interest to the Academy.
Read more on the ANU
College of Law website
Asian expertise leads to Fellowship
The head of the Humanities Research Centre, Dr Debjani Ganguly,
has been elected a Fellow of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great
Britain and Ireland. The Society provides a forum for those
who are interested in the history, languages, cultures and religions
of Asia to meet and exchange ideas.
Alma mater honours Fenner
Professor Frank Fenner from the John Curtin
School of Medical Research has been awarded an honorary doctorate
for his outstanding contributions to science from the University
of Adelaide. He completed his undergraduate study in medicine
and science at that university in the early 1940s.
Sri Lanka links strengthened
PhD student Sean Perera from the Centre for
the Public Awareness of Science has been awarded the 2006 Edward
Gray Memorial Prize from the Australia Sri Lanka Council. This
annual prize for university students recognises projects that
strengthen relationships between Australia and Sri Lanka.
^^
Staff info
Time fast running out for staff award nominations
There is very little time left in which to nominate
people for the 2007 staff awards, as entries close on 14 August.
These annual prizes are given out by the Vice-Chancellor to
those people who’ve made distinguished contributions to
the university, outstanding service to the campus community,
career achievement, service quality, community outreach career
achievement, service quality, community outreach and IT innovations.
More information is available on the HR
website
Fact sheet on work conditions
Ron Watts, Human Resources Director, writes: A newly introduced
Government Workchoices legislative requirement is that we must
send all existing staff a copy of a Fact sheet. An email is
deemed to meet this requirement as opposed to mailing a hard
copy. All new staff must be given a copy when they start - we
now add this to the letter of offer information pack. The penalty
for not doing is a fine of $110 per person per offence.
The Fairness Test applies from 7 May 2007 and is administered
by the Workplace Authority to ensure staff receive fair compensation
when entering into an AWA. This only applies when staff trade
off protected award conditions. Protected award conditions are
limited to: overtime penalties, shift loadings, incentive payments,
bonuses, allowances, annual leave loadings, rest breaks and
public holidays. Its application is restricted to staff who
earn less than $75,000.00 per annum or a full time equivalent,
this excludes: bonuses, loadings, allowances, penalties and
superannuation.
The Fact Sheet is prepared by the Workplace Authority and explains
staff rights if they enter into an AWA. It must be provided
to all new staff by 20 July and existing staff by 20 October
2007. I am therefore formally conveying the Fact Sheet to you
in order to ensure that the ANU complies with the new legislation
and avoids fines for non-compliance.
The fact sheet may
be found here
Further information concerning agreement making may
be found here
Cervical cancer vaccine available
The new vaccine Gardasil, which helps prevent both
cervical cancer and pre-cancers, is now available free of charge
to all female ANU students and staff aged between 18 and 26
years who have a current Medicare Card. For more information,
follow the links on the Health
Service website.
UniSuper seminars announced
UniSuper will conduct some free seminars at ANU in
the coming weeks. ‘Transition to retirement’ will
cover retirement options and provide alternatives to changed
work arrangements. It will be held in Manning Clarke Theatre
3 at 12.30pm on Thursday 16 August. ‘Your benefits when
you leave’ will cover what decisions to make and what
to do with superannuation benefits when leaving a job or retiring.
It will be held in the Robertson Theatre, RSBS at 12.20pm on
Tuesday, 16 October 2007. Members are requested to register
for these seminars at the UniSuper
webpage
Equity process working
The first meeting of the University Community Equity
Committee was held on 17 July, 2007. Outcomes included the expansion
of the committee membership, with staff representatives to be
appointed. The committee also established several working parties,
which will work on Indigenous education, a community framework
and internal communication, gender issues, evaluation of the
Disability Action Plan, and international postgraduate women's
issues. For more information on the meeting, refer
to the minutes
AUQA visits ANU
A team of auditors from the AUQA visited ANU from 22
– 26 July to carry out a quality audit of the University,
the last of the Australian universities to be audited in its
first five-year cycle of audits. AUQA was established in 2000
by the Ministers of Education in Australia acting jointly through
the Ministerial Council on Education Employment Training and
Youth Affairs (MCEETYA). Its function is to audit institutions
against their stated aims and objectives, which are set out
in a Performance Portfolio. During the visit, AUQA auditors
interviewed over 350 staff, students, and community stakeholders
of the University, and examined a wide range of written documentation,
aimed at verifying the information in the Portfolio. A written
public report is likely to be released about two months after
the audit visit.
Staff benefit
from development scholarships
Eighteen ANU staff members will be able to advance
their careers after being granted Staff Development Scholarships.
This new scheme was announced last semester to encourage academic
and general staff to develop their skills and knowledge.
The current batch of scholarship recipients – which accounts
for four EFTLS – have begun their study this semester,
concentrating on postgraduate qualifications in management,
business administration and higher education. For more information
on the scheme, go
here
Division of Registrar & Student Services review
The report on the recent review of the Division of
Registrar and Student Services is now available for download
as a PDF online on the Student
Recruitment website
Prospective Rhodes scholars alert
Applications are now invited for the Rhodes Australia-At-Large
Scholarships to Oxford for 2008. Candidates must be Australian
citizens, be under 25 years on 1 October and have completed
(or expect to complete this year) their degree with first class
honours. Rhodes applications are due 3 September. For more information,
go
here
Chance to donate
blood
The Australian Red Cross Blood Service will be taking
donations of blood on campus between 9am and 2.30pm on 9 August,
and between 9am and 2pm on 10 August in the University House
car park. Call 13 14 95 to make a booking.
^^
Movements
Professor Nic Peterson has taken on the position
of Dean of the College of Arts and Social Sciences until the
end of the year. He was previously the Head of the School of
Archaeology and Anthropology.
Paul Kirwan has joined the Centre for New
Media Arts as a lecturer in Digital Video and as a PhD candidate.
Paul is an ANU graduate, and during his professional career
has worked on visual effects for films such as The Fellowship
of the Ring, Titanic, Pirates of the Caribbean and Transformers.
Dr Roslyn Woodward, the Head of the University
Health and Counselling Centre, is leaving ANU to take up a role
as Senior Staff Counsellor at the Department of Foreign Affairs
and Trade. A replacement is yet to de decided.
^^
Research
People injured on ACT roads assist with Australian-first medical
study
An Australian-first medical study is under way within the ACT
to explore whether receiving specialist medical attention within
days of a crash will improve the recovery outcome for patients.
>>
^^
Education
VC’s
Teaching Award winner profile: The accidental educator
Cris Brack didn’t set out to be an educator. The Senior
Lecturer in Forestry at the Fenner School of Environment and
Society took a position at ANU in 1994 to advance his research,
which he said had stalled somewhat in his previous government
job. >>
^^
Books
Fall
of the Indigo Jackal: The discourse of division and Purnabhadra's
Pancatantra by McComas Taylor, SUNY Press.
Transition
and Challenge: China's population at the beginning of the 21st
century, edited by Zhongwei Zhao and Fei Guo, Oxford
University Press.
Indonesia:
Democracy and the promise of good governance, edited
by Ross McLeod and Andrew MacIntyre, Co-published by Institute
of Southeast Asian Studies and the Indonesia Project of the
Research School of Pacific and Asian Studies, ANU.
Re-Visioning
Arts and Cultural Policy: Current Impasses and Future Directions,
by Jennifer Craik, ANU E Press.
The
Nature of Northern Australia: Its natural values, ecological
processes and future prospects, by John Woinarski,
Brendan Mackey, Henry Nix and Barry Traill, ANU E Press.
John
Winston Howard, by Wayne Errington and Peter van Onselen,
Melbourne University Press.
^^
If it's flat, green, and has goals at either end, chances are
that Frank Filardo won't be far away. >>
^^
Q&A
ANU is home to experts on all manner of subjects. Why not put
your question out there? Or if you know the answer, tell the
campus. Email on.campus@anu.edu.au
with your queries and responses.
Q. Why is it that Canberra sometimes experiences thick
winter fogs that don’t clear until lunchtime? What factors
have to be in place for such a fog to occur? And why can the
next day be perfectly fine? – Jane McIntyre, ANU College
of Business & Economics
^^
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