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The Faculty of Education is set to implement new ways of attracting funding and supporting research, according to dean Professor Sue Willis.
Professor Willis said the faculty needed to improve its financial base by developing local, national and international strategies to target group markets rather than individual students.
"We need to form partnerships to sell our programs to employers, such as a government body or an organisation that has employees who want to gain postgraduate qualifications," she said.
"For example, we already have an arrangement with the Indonesian government to provide training for teachers undertaking their Teaching English as a Second Language program."
She also wanted to boost interaction with industry to maximise the potential of the faculty's projects.
"We have to be much more creative about becoming involved in projects that provide not only the desired benefit for relevant organisations but also advantages for the faculty," she said.
This would involve having researchers work on projects that crossed into their areas of expertise. This could lead to finding extra data, resources and contacts for their own research.
In relation to the faculty's academic profile, Professor Willis said within three years, more than 80 per cent of research and teaching staff should be engaged in research.
"We have introduced a new teaching loads policy that will set the number of hours academics spend on teaching and give them more time to focus on research," she said.
"We're also moving towards establishing a stronger mentoring support process to help staff develop their research strengths."
Establishing quality control for the faculty's programs was also a priority, she said.
"We need to maintain and improve the quality of the courses themselves in terms of providing first-rate teaching and student support services from the moment a prospective student first calls to when he or she graduates."
Professor Willis outlined these strategies in the Faculty of Education Future Directions Report, tabled at a recent Council meeting.
Monash South Africa forging aheadThe first week at Monash South Africa has been a resounding success, with substantial local interest and media coverage of the university's newest international venture. Pro vice-chancellor Professor John Anderson was pleased with the smooth start to the campus's first year. He said the students were very impressed with the state-of-the-art facilities available at the campus. The IT and communications facilities, including the new computer lab, sophisticated electronic resources and dual internet access, particularly interested students and media. "Monash is committed long-term to participating in South Africa's national development and has invested accordingly," he said. Vice-chancellor Professor David Robinson said the opening was an excellent beginning for Monash South Africa, which was operating ahead of schedule. He said the development of the university-owned land had proceeded faster than anticipated, allowing Monash to accept enrolments this year. "Thus we have opened a year earlier than expected because the building was ready," Professor Robinson said. "We expect enrolments to grow steadily - as has been the case at Monash Malaysia, which has grown in three years to 1500 students."
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(From left) Monash graduate Mr Peter Lee, |
Two Japanese industrial design experts are the latest artists-in-residence in the Faculty of Art and Design.
Professor Takashi Nagata and Dr Toru Nagao, from Chiba University, will spend three weeks at Monash working on a special project with third-year industrial design students.
The project involves producing concept drawings for the user interface of personal digital assistants (PDA) such as Palm Pilots or the Windows CE.
Professor Nagata and Dr Nagao are leaders in the field of interface design, which involves making products more user-friendly.
The student who produces the best design will visit Japan on a three-month internship with project sponsors Panasonic.
The Japanese experts came to Australia after Monash industrial design graduate Mr Peter Lee took part in a student exchange between Monash and Chiba University in 1997.
"I wanted to act as bridge between the two universities to reinforce the existing relationship and establish some sort of official program for the benefit of not only the students but also the staff," he said.
Mr Lee, who completed his masters on interface design at Chiba, said the concept of the user interface would play a large part in industrial design in the future.
"No longer will industrial designers be looking at design from an artistic point of view - they will have to design with the user in mind," he said.
"We will need to think about universal design concepts that everyone can understand without depending on any language."
Opening new doors in IndonesiaMore than 30 Monash students gained valuable experience during a recent study trip to Indonesia. The trip was part of the In-country Indonesian program, a collaboration between Monash and the University of Gadjah Mada. As part of the program, students spend five to eight weeks in Indonesia undertaking an intensive study of the Indonesian language and experiencing the local culture. Monash student Mr Dean Krieger said mixing with Indonesians helped improve his understanding of the language and the environment. "I was constantly drawing on things I had learned and saw a dramatic improvement in my language skills," he said. "It was great to see what life is like for the average person in Indonesia through experiencing the food, religion and culture." The highlight of the trip for Mr Krieger was meeting Sri Sultan Hamengkubuwono X, Governor of the Yjogyakarta province, home to the University of Gadjah Mada. Indonesian department assistant lecturer Ms Yacinta Kurniasih said the program was a good example of Monash's many international initiatives. "We are acting as mediators between Monash and universities in Indonesia with the aim of encouraging an exchange of students and research," she said. She said the program mostly comprised Monash students, although it also attracted other Australian and New Zealand students, as well as a group of Department of Education teachers. |
The chancellor briefed Council on the coming year, noting the need for continuity in managing existing activities and projects. These included forging stronger links between Council and the Academic Board, developing the Academic Plan for the Gippsland campus, lifting the university's research performance and profile, bringing Monash Commercial on stream and reviewing the university's international strategy. During 2001, quality would be an important focus in all dimensions of the university's activity. Financial management would continue to be central to Council's governing role.
Council received reports on:
the Governance Forum, held on 18 December 2000, endorsing both the role of the recently established International Advisory Group and a streamlined structure of committees operating on a university-wide basis;
Australia Day Honours;
Backing Australia's Ability, a major government initiative providing incentives for research and development and significant new education funding for universities;
Cooperative Research Centres, in which it was announced that in the latest funding round, Monash would participate in six CRCs, bringing the total number of CRCs with Monash involvement to 17;
Monash University Malaysia, as prepared by Professor Bob Bignall, pro vice-chancellor, Monash University Malaysia;
Monash Centre London, as presented by Professor Dick White, pro vice-chancellor, Monash University London;
Monash University Prato, as presented by Professor Bill Kent, director, Monash University Prato; and
Quality at Monash, as presented by Professor Graham Webb, director, Centre for Higher Education Quality (CHEQ).
Agendas and minutes for meetings of Council can be accessed at www.adm.monash.edu.au/unisec/com/cn/
Queries should be directed Mr Phillip Siggins on extn 52010 or email phillip.siggins@adm.monash.edu.au
Monash staff and prospective students will reap the benefits of an innovative credit assessment program developed by the Faculty of Information Technology.
The Credit Assessment System for Processing Applications (CASPA) determines academic credit transfers in six steps.
It is mainly aimed at students who have completed a diploma at another institution and want to start a Monash IT degree.
CASPA project manager Ms Cathy Nystazos said the interactive and user-friendly system calculated the amount of credit a student would receive towards an IT degree. It would then produce a course map outlining the credits granted and the subjects a student still needed to do.
She said the system would reduce staff workload and improve customer service.
"In the past, eligibility for credit was assessed on an individual basis, so the process could take up to a month."
CASPA contains detailed information about all the faculty's undergraduate courses and provides links to relevant sites, such as VTAC, for prospective students.
Award-winning journalist and author Mr Matthew Ricketson will speak about his latest biography, Paul Jennings: The Boy in the Story is Always Me, at a lunch hosted by alumni group Club 66 on 30 March.
Mr Ricketson will answer questions about his recently published biography of one of Australia's most popular children's writers, Paul Jennings, who is also a Monash alumnus. He will also sign copies of the book.
Since graduating from Monash in 1981 with a Bachelor of Arts, Mr Ricketson has worked for The Age, The Australian and Time magazine, and also won the 1994 George Munster Best Freelance Journalist Award.
He has been a journalism lecturer at RMIT since 1993 and is currently coordinator of RMITs journalism course.
The event will start at 12 noon at the West Wing Banquet Room, Campus Centre, Clayton. The cost is $27.50.
For more information or to book, contact Mr Gerard Healy, extn 52044, by Monday 26 March, or email gerard.healy@adm.monash.edu.au
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