Issue 44 - 30 November 1999

About Monash

What's on

Employment

Briefs

ARCHIVES

Courses

People

Sports shorts

Staff development

Hotlinks

Milestones

Getting the best out of the bug

With 31 days to go to the next century, staff around Monash are doing the final checks to ensure the protection of the university's research, systems and resources when the clock ticks over to the year 2000.

Medical representative on the Y2K Steering Committee Ms Janet Kemp and physiology research assistant Ms Vanessa Fox checking contingency arrangements for biological samples.

Assessing the potential of the Y2K problem in all areas of Monash over the past two years has been time-consuming but in the end will deliver long-term benefit to the university, according to chair of the Y2K Steering Committee Professor Peter Darvall.

"It's easy to see all the work as preparing for a one-off event which may or may not impact greatly on us, but it's actually about developing business continuity plans which all organisations should have in place," he said.

"We've learned from the gas explosion in Victoria last year and the long-term power failure which affected the University of Auckland that contingency plans can suddenly become critical to the maintenance of core activity.

"As well as satisfying our insurers that we have done what we can to minimise the risks for Y2K, we're grateful for the work that many staff have done to ensure that our research and other assets are protected in future."

One of the many areas with a revised contingency plan is the Department of Physiology in the Faculty of Medicine where, according to business manager Mr Bob Phillips, irreplaceable biological samples are kept at -80 degrees centigrade.

"In the event of power failure, it would only take about two to three hours for the freezers to heat up to -30 degrees or higher, which would certainly result in destruction of the samples," Mr Phillips said.

"We hope there won't be a problem in early January, but because we have some unique material here, we can't afford to take the risk. Our new generator back-up will be available to the campus-based Medical faculty at any time if needed."

With actions like this now incorporated into the university-wide contingency plans covering research, information technology, facilities and services, student selection and payroll, the preparation work for Y2K is nearing completion.

Congratulating staff on the work to date, Professor Darvall said that the level of cooperation among staff involved in the risk minimisation and contingency planning had been outstanding.

"It's in our longer term interests to make the most of what we've gained through the whole exercise," he said.

Further information on the Y2K bug and how to prepare home computers is at www.adm.monash.edu.au/y2k/aware

Monash portal receives national recognition Monash has received national recognition for its portals project as the only finalist from the higher education sector in the Australian Information Industry Association National Awards for Excellence through Information Technology. Monash received the award for its innovative intranet, my.monash - a student and staff intranet using portal technology to provide easy and personalised access to flexible learning programs and resources. According to the project director, Ms Di James, the portal development has been undertaken by a creative team in the university's Information Technology Services Division, led by Mr Nathan Bailey with the guidance of Flexible Learning and Teaching project manager Mr Ron Sawyer and in conjuction with many other members of the university community. "The whole project came about as a result of the need to meet objectives set out in the university's Teaching and Learning Operational Plan. It was initiated by and has had a great deal of support from deputy vice-chancellor (Academic and Planning) Professor Alan Lindsay and Information Technology Services executive director Mr Alan McMeekin," she said. The portal provides innovative and flexible approaches to accessing essential student and staff information, online documentation and functional processes. It delivers learning resources and administrative and support services which are accessible anywhere at anytime. Social and interest group interaction between student and staff peer groups and individuals is also promoted using the portal. my.monash has been trialled since July, when just over 1000 students from 30 subjects and 30 academics were invited to use the technology. An evaluation of the trial is being undertaken by the Centre for Higher Education Development (CHED) and is nearing completion. Once this is finalised, the project will be expanded in stages to service all students and staff. Staff can use their AuthCate (MMS) user name to log into the my.monash site at http://my.monash.edu.au and can provide feedback to extn 53914 or flt-enquiries@its.monash.edu.au

Following last month's graduation ceremony are, from left, Ms Fiona Clark, Dr Malcolm Clark and Ms Laurel Clarke.

Graduation a family affair

A graduation ceremony held on the Clayton campus last month served to highlight the links the Clark family has to Monash.

Ms Laurel Clark, who has worked in the Caulfield campus library for the past 15 years, was awarded an MA, while her daughter Fiona Clark was awarded a BA (Hons) at the same ceremony.

Laurel's thesis, undertaken in the Centre for Bibliographical and Textual Studies, dealt with aspects of the Melbourne book trade and in particular the activities of 19th-century bookseller and publisher F. F. Bailliere.

Fiona is contributing to The Encyclopedia of British Film being compiled by her supervisor from the English department, Associate Professor Brian McFarlane. She hopes to complete her Diploma of Education at Monash next year.

In the academic procession at the same ceremony was Laurel's husband, Mathematics department senior lecturer Dr Malcolm Clark, who has taught at Monash for the past 25 years.

Agreement with Indonesian university

At the recent signing of a memorandum of understanding between Monash and Sanata Dharma University in Indonesia are, from left, head of the Indonesian Section at Gippsland, Mr Paul Thomas, vice-chancellor Professor David Robinson and visiting academic from Sanata Dharma University Mr Setya Tri Nugraha.

The memorandum of understanding provides an opportunity for staff from Sanata Dharma to teach on Monash's Indonesian Language Program in the School of Humanities, Communications and Social Sciences.

The agreement is seen not only in terms of exchange of personnel but also as a unique opportunity to examine different language teaching methodologies and course design currently in use at Monash. It also explores ways through which the ideals of the two universities, particularly in terms of internationalisation, can be met by mutual cooperation.

Art & Design building officially opened Monash University's new $9 million Art & Design building at Caulfield campus was officially opened recently by the chancellor Mr Jerry Ellis. The eye-catching structure won the Royal Australian Institute of Architects' award for architects Denton Corker Marshall in June. As well as the new gallery, the building houses state-of-the-art workshops, tutorial rooms, design studios and offices. According to dean of Art & Design Professor John Redmond, the opening marks a coming of age for the faculty, which dates back to art and design studies at Caulfield in the 1930s. "The building is an important new addition to art and design, both locally and nationally," he said. Distinguished alumni as well as art and design deans from across Australia joined Monash staff in celebrating the building's official opening. In conjunction with the opening celebrations, the faculty is holding an exhibition of the work of some of the faculty's alumni, many of whom have contributed significantly to the development of Australia's visual culture. Space and Time is on at the Faculty Gallery, which is housed in the new building. It is open between 11 am and 5 pm Mondays to Fridays, and from 2 pm to 5 pm on Saturdays. The exhibition runs until 11 December. At the official celebration to mark the opening of the Art & Design building at Caulfield are, from left, dean of Art & Design Professor John Redmond, Public Affairs executive director Mr Stephen Dee and Victorian Minister for Education and the Arts The Honourable Ms Mary Delahunty.

High-profile electronic arts conference

A range of national and international speakers will feature in a three-day conference on generative systems in the electronic arts, organised by School of Computer Science and Software Engineering lecturers Dr Alan Dorin and Mr Jon McCormack and with the support of the Faculty of Art & Design.

The conference, entitled 'First Iteration', is open to the public and will also include an extensive exhibition and performance program featuring some of the world's leading practitioners in generative electronic art.

The aim of the conference, believed to be the first of its type, is to investigate, expose and challenge the way art is made by humans and their machines.

High-profile international guests will include Mr Kurt Fleischer, a senior researcher and software developer at Pixar Animation Studios in the US. Pixar was responsible for producing Toy Story, the world's first computer-generated feature film which they followed up with A Bug's Life and Toy Story 2.

Mr James McCartney, who wrote the software for NASA's Hubble Space Telescope and developed the studio programming language Supercollider, will also be participating in the conference.

Music performances by Australia's Mr Alistair Riddell and Mr Steve Law, French composer Ms Claire Laronde, installation works by Mr David Chesworth, Mr John Tonkin, Mr Troy Innocent and Austria's Mr Karlheinz Essl, and video works by American artist Mr Karl Sims and Austrian performance group Granular Synthesis will also feature.

'First Iteration' will be held at the Caulfield campus from 1 to 3 December. For further information, contact Dr Alan Dorin on extn 53576 or iterate@cs.monash.edu.au or see http://www.cs.monash.edu.au/iterate

	Contact Monash Memo	Return to Monash University Publications
Copyright © Monash University - All rights reserved - Disclaimer		Maintained by webmaster@adm