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The Victorian premier, Mr Jeff Kennett, announced last week that the South-Eastern Freeway will be renamed the Monash Freeway after distinguished Victorian Sir John Monash.
As part of the City Link, the freeway serves as the main route to Melbourne's south-eastern suburbs and to Gippsland.
Commenting on the decision, Monash vice-chancellor Professor David Robinson said the association of the name Sir John Monash with the South-Eastern Freeway was highly appropriate.
"Both Monash University and The City of Monash have already been named in his honour," Professor Robinson said. "But there are further connections with Sir John Monash along the route of the freeway, from its beginnings right through to Gippsland."
In a letter to the premier earlier this year recommending that the freeway be named after Monash, Professor Robinson noted Sir John's association as an engineer with the construction of the beautiful Morell Bridge over the Yarra, his academic achievement as dux of Scotch College and his appointment by the State Government to the post in Gippsland of general manager of the State Electricity Scheme and subsequently chairman of the State Electricity Commission.
"By tracing the Sir John Monash connections along the route, the name Monash Freeway marks entirely appropriately this great man's achievements," Professor Robinson said.
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Left to right: Second-year Arts student Ms Anthea Gellie gets a helping hand from deputy university librarian Mr Hans Groenewegen and loans assistant Ms Amy Nelson. |
The new Monash library system Voyager is now well on the way. While the first stage was up and running in time to meet the hectic demands of Orientation week in February, the system is expected to be fully on-line by mid-1999.
Voyager was developed with strong support from the university's Information Technology Advisory Committee and its chair, Professor Peter Darvall, to replace the old system, Sesame.
Voyager is produced by US-based company Endeavor Information Systems, and has been sold to 160 libraries worldwide, including the Library of Congress in Washington, the National Library of New Zealand and CSIRO. Feedback from these major libraries will be used by the developers to further refine the Voyager system.
Deputy university librarian Mr Hans Groenewegen said the system offered many advanced features which would help improve delivery of the library's services to the university community. "These features include customisation for Monash users and comprehensive help facilities," he said.
According to Mr Groenewegen, the transition for staff and students to the new system was being aided via a range of targeted support strategies such as on-line tutorials, written handouts, ongoing educational initiatives and staff on hand to provide personal assistance.
He said the advice of IT Facilities director Mr Peter Annal had been greatly appreciated in the implementation of Voyager, and he paid tribute to the efforts of all library staff, especially systems librarian Ms Sue Steele.
"We have been delighted by the positive response of users so far to the Voyager system," he said. "It has encouraged us to get on with the job and finish it!"
Academic women lead the wayThree senior Monash academics recently attended the Australian Vice-Chancellors' Committee's national Women in Leadership program in Sydney. They were Professor Christina Mitchell, head of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology; Associate Professor Sandra Lancaster, director of Psychology in the Department of Psychological Medicine; and Professor Barbara Caine from the Arts faculty, who also facilitated the program. Highlights of the three-day program included the approaches to leadership described by Professor Judy Wajcman in her recent book Women and Management, and by Professor Fay Gale, one of Australia's first female vice-chancellors. Ms Leigh Tabrett of the Queensland Office of Higher Education also led a discussion about the issues for universities at the national level. Associate Professor Lancaster said the women were particularly interested in how to maximise opportunities for career development. "The chance to share experiences with women from around Australia with high academic achievements was inspirational." According to Professor Caine, the AV-CC workshop was enormously useful, particularly in terms of suggesting strategies for career planning and advancement. "One of the points made forcefully by many speakers was the impossibility of advancing the status of women in universities without the commitment and support of senior men," she said. Professor Caine's role as program facilitator continues a sustained period of leadership within and on behalf of Monash, where she is head of the new School of Historical and Gender Studies, and chair of the Women's Leadership and Advancement Scheme. |
Thirty administrative staff at Monash have enrolled in a 12-month Certificate IV in Business (Administration) program offered jointly by Staff Development and Communications and a private provider, Career Brokers and Trainers.
The program, launched last week by deputy vice-chancellor (Academic and Planning) Professor Alan Lindsay, follows a successful pilot project involving four indigenous and four non-indigenous staff.
Developed for the Monash environment under the Indigenous Career Development and Employment Program, the certificate is recognised under the Australian Qualifications Framework.
Learning is self-paced and closely related to work performed on the job. The assessment tasks are prepared and completed under the supervision of training provider Ms Una O'Reilly.
Speaking at the launch, Professor Lindsay said the take-up of the program among administrative staff was "a clear demonstration of how flexible, work-related courses enable life-long learning".
"By providing an opportunity for skills recognition and further development, both the staff and the university stand to gain from the experience," he said.
The launch concluded with the new 'students' receiving their course materials from Ms O'Reilly.
If the buzz in the room was any indication, the program is off to a flying start.
Students in
the program Mrs Rosemary Bowen (left) and Ms Jenny Culverwell (right)
join Ms Una O'Reilly and deputy vice-chancellor Professor Alan Lindsay at
the launch.
Items of interest from Academic BoardFollowing each meeting of Academic Board, a short outline of issues considered by the Board will be published in Monash Memo. Where possible, web addresses or contact details will be supplied so that further details can be obtained. Academic Board - 24 February 1999Special Consideration Principles and Procedures for immediate university-wide implementation were approved. Students and staff can access these and the standard application form at http://www.adm.monash.edu.au/unisec/pol/acad16.htm Discipline and Grievance Policies - Open Learning for students not enrolled in a Monash University award course yet undertaking Monash Open Leaning subjects were approved. These largely mirror the Discipline Procedures and Student Academic Grievance Policy for enrolled students. These can be accessed at http://www.adm.monash.edu.au/unisec/pol/acad17.htm and http://www.adm.monash.edu.au/unisec/pol/acad18.htm respectively. Other matters:
Academic Board - 21 April 1999LTOP Working Parties: The Academic Board approved the reports and recommendations on:
Undergraduate Guaranteed Entry Scheme: The Admissions Committee, after a review of the scheme and in consultation with faculties, made the following recommendations to Academic Board which were approved: That the Guaranteed Entry Scheme for HECS-liable places be discontinued but retained for fee-liable places (with levels continuing to be set in conformity with DETYA and Academic Board policy). In addition, the usefulness of guaranteed subject/study standards for fee-liable students is to be reviewed in 12 months. Other matters:
Agendas and minutes for meetings of Academic Board can be accessed at http://www.adm.monash.edu.au/unisec/com/comind.htm Queries should be directed to Mr Tony Calder on extn 59004 or anthony.calder@adm.monash.edu.au |
Work is currently under way to prepare the Monash Plan for the years 2000-2004.
This document will be in a more succinct style, with a sharper strategic focus. It will highlight only the major themes and directions for the university, with details of strategies provided in related functional and operational plans.
The process began in February and has already involved consultations with faculties, campuses, administrative units, students and other key stakeholders.
These 'sounding board' forums and meetings identified a range of key issues and provided many with the opportunity to make valuable contributions to the discussions about the university's future. The Corporate Planning Committee of Council, the Committee of Deans and administrative heads have also given their input.
A special meeting of the Committee of Deans and a VCG planning day are being held this week. As the plan takes shape, an exposure draft web version will be available for comment, and will be considered further by the Committee of Deans, Academic Board, the Resources and Finance Committee and the Corporate Planning Committee of Council.
The Monash Plan 2000-2004 is scheduled to be presented to Council at its meeting on 28 June.
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