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The Faculty of Information Technology is aiming to increase its international student intake by 20 per cent next year, by attracting students from countries outside its traditional Asian recruitment hub.
The faculty's international operations manager, Ms Sonja Smith, said this goal was not impossible given the faculty had this year seen a 42 per cent increase in international students. She said that out of a total of 6000 students in the faculty, almost 2300 were international students.
Ms Smith said the time was ripe to target countries such as India, Norway, Sri Lanka and the US as possible markets.
"We started focusing on India two or three years ago. As India is one of the world's leaders in software development, we believed recruiting students from that country would be a huge success."
As a result of this, she said, the intake of Indian students into the faculty since 1997 had tripled.
According to Ms Smith, countries with underdeveloped IT educational infrastructure were also strong recruitment possibilities.
"Often students in places such Norway or Sri Lanka can only study IT up to diploma level so it's a good opportunity for them to be able to undertake a Monash bachelors or masters degree."
She said that a number of Norwegian students on exchange to Monash had expressed interest in further study at the university.
Meanwhile, the Asia Pacific Institute of Information Technology (APIIT) in Malaysia, which already sends students to Monash to complete their studies, has opened branch offices in Sri Lanka and Pakistan.
"Since we already have a strong link with APIIT, it's likely that their students in Sri Lanka will also come to Monash to finish their degrees."
Ms Smith said the faculty would also like to tap into the postgraduate market in the US.
"Although the US is considered the Mecca for IT jobs, Australia actually offers a much more progressive range of IT courses."
She said although people were aware that IT education in Australia was cheaper than in the US, few realised Australia also had a quality advantage.
"In the States, they are very traditional in their teaching. They are basically computer science courses, and they don't have majors like multimedia computing or networking computing."
Ms Sonja Smith (second from left) with APIIT academic head Mr Pardeep Singh, and APIIT students Mr Eric Ngai and Mr George Yeoh.
Combining work, life and familyMore than 170 surveys relating to staff policies and practice at Monash have been returned as part of the Work Family Project. Work Family Project coordinator Ms Michelle Waters said the confidential survey sought to provide a snapshot of how Monash responds to staff work life issues, in order to develop the university's Work Life and Family Strategy. She said the purpose of the strategy was to promote flexible work policies which would enable staff to more effectively combine their work, life and family responsibilities. Survey results are now being analysed and a kit, brochure and website are being developed as part of the strategy. Equal Opportunity Commission sex discrimination commissioner Ms Susan Halliday will launch the Work Life and Family Strategy in November. Deputy vice-chancellor (Resources) Ms Alison Crook and Student and Staff Services director Mr Peter Marshall are also scheduled to attend the launch. For more information, see www.monash.edu/personnel/es_flexwork.htm |
Online learning and teaching expert visits MonashOpen University of the United Kingdom (OUUK) visitor Dr Fred Lockwood came to Monash recently to conduct seminars about online learning and teaching. Dr Lockwood ran seminars at the Gippsland and Clayton campuses, where Monash teaching staff were keen to share experiences of the challenges of online learning and teaching. The Law faculty invited him to discuss the practical issues of formative assessment involved in mediated forms of teaching and learning, based on his experience of the rapid development of the OUUK's College of Law. About 50 staff from a range of centres, departments and schools attended a HEPCIT-sponsored presentation, in which he spoke on 'Encouraging interactivity: from print-based self-instructional material to online learning'. Dr Lockwood, who is head of professional development in the Institute of Educational Technology at OUUK, came to Monash as the guest of the Centre for Learning and Teaching Support (CeLTS). "I was impressed by the industry of those I worked with while visiting Monash and how they placed student needs at the centre of their work," he said. " It was good to see the university investing in its major resource - its academic and support staff. The quality of learning and teaching in the university is at the very centre of its mission, and CeLTS is making a significant contribution to this mission." For more information about Dr Lockwood, go to http://iet.open.ac.uk/pp/F.G.Lockwood/Fred.html |
Electronic filter system wins prizeElectrical engineering student Mr Michael Newman has won first prize in the international Myron Zucker Student Design Contest for his work in power electronics. Mr Newman travelled to Rome to receive the award, which he won for his paper 'PCR-Based 3 Phase Active Filter Simulation, Design and Construction'. Electrical and computer systems engineering senior lecturer Dr Graham Holmes said Mr Newman has designed and constructed an active filter system that identifies and compensates for distortion in the electricity supply caused by non-linear electrical loads. This can reduce interference effects such as computer 'glitching', noise in audio amplifiers or even the risk of permanent equipment damage in extreme situations. "This contest in based primarily in the US, and this is the first time to my knowledge that it's been won outside of America," Dr Holmes said. |
Legal services moving onVictoria Legal Aid director Mr Tony Parsons spoke of the problems and challenges facing the organisation at the recent Springvale Monash Legal Service Annual General Meeting. Mr Parsons discussed the effects of possible changes and funding to community legal centres by both the State and Commonwealth governments. Springvale Monash Legal Service's new coordinator Mr Ross Hyams chaired the meeting, which also farewelled the previous coordinator, Monash law lecturer Mr Adrian Evans. Victoria's legal ombudsman Ms Kate Hamond also attended the meeting, which included representatives from the Aboriginal community, private practice, the City of Greater Dandenong and Victoria Legal Aid.
Mr Tony Parsons and Mr Ross Hyams. |
Seeking information about postgraduate studies.
More than 400 people attended the Monash Postgraduate Information Evening, held recently at the Hotel Sofitel in Melbourne.
Eight out of Monash's 10 faculties participated in the event: Arts, Business and Economics, Education, Information Technology, Law, Medicine, Pharmacy and Science.
Monash staff were on hand provide advice and information about postgraduate research and professional programs.
Election of one member of university council by the professors of the university to fill a casual vacancyIn accordance with the provisions of Statutes 9.1 and 9.2, notice is hereby given of the election of one member of the Council from among their number by the professors of the university. The member elected will hold office until 31 December 2001. The qualification of both voters and candidates are that they are a member of the professorial staff of the university other than a non-teaching professor, an associate professor, a clinical associate professor, an emeritus professor, a visiting professor, an honorary professor or an adjunct professor. NominationsNominations of candidates for the election are hereby called for and must be lodged with the returning officer/assistant returning officers no later than 12 noon on Monday, 23 October 2000. Nominations must be made by two persons qualified to vote, specify the election for which the candidate is nominated, set out the qualifications respectively of the candidate and nominators, and contain the written consent of the candidate. Nomination forms may be obtained from and returned to the returning officer or assistant returning officers. Returning officerClayton campus - Mr Phillip Siggins Assistant returning officersBerwick campus - Ms Jill McLachlan, extn 47006 Caulfield campus - Ms Annette Leftis, extn 32601 Gippsland campus - Ms Christine Body, extn 26542 Malaysia campus - Dr Cheong Siew Yoong, Administration College of Pharmacy - Ms Margaret Duncan, extn 39509 Peninsula campus - Mr Steven Lind, extn 44250 Please direct inquiries to Mr Phillip Siggins on extn 52007. Candidates may supply with their nomination, a statement containing not more than 250 words and figures giving any information which the candidate considers relevant to their nomination. The returning officer may edit any such statement for publication so far as he thinks necessary. Candidates may withdraw their nomination by notice in writing, signed by the candidate and each of the nominators and lodged with the returning officer/assistant returning officers no later than 5 pm on Wednesday, 25 October 2000. Voting arrangementsIf there is more than one nomination, a postal ballot will be held at 12 noon on Thursday, 9 November 2000. Voting papers will be posted to each elector on or before Monday, 6 November 2000. The roll of electors shall be that existing on Monday, 9 October 2000. - P. Siggins, Returning Officer |
In a funding breakthrough for research at Monash, investors from Australia and Singapore are providing $17 million to back leading international research into embryonic stem cells.
The investors have initially committed $17 million to newly formed company ES Cell International Pty Ltd.
The company was established to commercialise the intellectual property exclusively licensed to it by three research organisations, including the Monash Institute of Reproduction and Development.
Earlier this year, the research team announced that nerve cells had been grown for the first time in the laboratory from human embryonic stem cells, opening the door for new regenerative treatments for diseases such as Alzheimers and Parkinsons.
Funds will be provided over a period of two to three years, and investors will receive an initial equity stake in the company.
Staff members from four Victorian universities gathered recently at the Clayton campus to learn more about using the QuickTime video and audio package for enhancing student learning and other educational purposes.
Mr Luke Oliver, from Apple Computers, presented an overview of QuickTime, in which he discussed the ease of authoring and deploying video for CD-ROM and the web.
He also talked about "cross-platform applicability" of both the server and client software, and the ability of the QuickTime format to recognise and play more than 30 different media types.
Australian University Consortium (AUC) chair Mr Stephen Young, and Mr David Kennedy from CeLTS, demonstrated an innovative use of QuickTime.
The demonstration involved creating a panorama of a radiograph, to constrain file size, and allow radiography students to zoom in on fine details for clinical diagnosis.
The technique would be applicable to any similar application with a need to display large images and allow students to enlarge certain sections.
The session was supported by AUC, of which Monash is a member, and HEPCIT.
AUC intends to hold forums on QuickTime four times a year. Speakers will be invited to share applications of QuickTime in developing interactive learning environments and practical techniques involved in creating such resources.
Anyone interested in more information should contact Mr David Kennedy on extn 55247 or email David.Kennedy@CeLTS.monash.edu.au
An information technology award will be named after a Monash senior lecturer, in recognition of his contribution to technical research on the Perl programming language.
Next year, the Best Technical Paper award at the annual Perl Conference will be renamed the Damian Conway Award, in honour of Dr Damian Conway from Computer Science and Software Engineering.
Dr Conway this year won the Larry Wall Award for Practical Utility at the Perl Conference in California for his technical paper describing a software module that helps tidy up mail messages.
This is the third time Dr Conway has won the Larry Wall Award, and he has disqualified himself as a candidate in the future.
He has been lecturing at Monash since 1991 and is now course leader for the Bachelor of Computer Science.
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