Issue 13, Friday 17 December 2004

The year in review

A message from Phill Steele, Pro Vice-Chancellor Melbourne, Academic Director Peninsula, and Jill McLachlan, Campus Manager and Facilities and Services Manager

Dear Colleagues,

2004 has been a year of many positive developments for Peninsula campus. This year we have managed to achieve:

• The development of a Peninsula campus Academic Plan and a Peninsula campus Urban Plan to guide the development of the campus over the coming years.

• New courses and additional DEST funded places for Health Sciences programs in Physiotherapy, Occupational Therapy and Health Sciences/ Social Work to start at Peninsula in 2005. There will be 150 new students starting in these courses next year and this will bring 600 additional students to the campus by 2008.

• New diplomas in Business and IT at Peninsula in 2005 will be offered by Monash College. This will provide pathways into degree programs at the campus for both local and international students whose previous academic studies would not normally have gained them admission.

• Conducive negotiations with Frankston City Council, local politicians and the university with a view to establish a Frankston Health and Wellness Centre at Peninsula. It is envisaged that this centre would incorporate an aquatic centre, gymnasium, education facilities, multidisciplinary clinic, café etc. A grant of $85 000 was received from the Federal Government to undertake a full feasibility study into the proposal and the outcomes of this are expected in the first-half of 2005.

• A Schools Access Monash Program has been approved for Peninsula campus whereby in 2005 and 2006, the university will be working intensively with two local schools on projects and programs to help improve tertiary transition rates in the region.

• The formation of a research committee to promote research at the campus, including a section in Peninsula On-Line on campus research in each issue.

• Successful research outcomes across the campus including ARC Discovery Grants being awarded to Marilyn Fleer in Education and Mike Ewing in Business, the Centre for Health Operations Research receiving an ARC Linkage Grant and the School of Network Computing receiving a significant grant from Sun Microsystems.

• The establishment at Peninsula of the National Centre for Australian Studies, an active research centre which will also be offering two new subjects to Peninsula students in 2005 in Contemporary Australia and Sport and Society in Australia.

• The development by the Faculty of Business and Economics of a Sports Management major to be introduced into the Business and Commerce degree in 2005. It also partners with other faculties to offer three-year degrees with double majors in business and psychology, and internet systems and commerce next year.

• The start-up of a Pilot Peninsula Education Precinct involving Monash University, Chisholm TAFE, Frankston High School and Monterey Secondary College. The group has worked collaboratively to improve pathways and educational outcomes for young people in the region, including the running of a very successful VCE revision class program for local students at Monash Peninsula in October 2004.

• Successful negotiations with Frankston City Council on the possibility of Frankston becoming a Learning City where the value of education is promoted across the community and all education providers are encouraged to collaborate to provide better pathways and opportunities.

• Building works including renovations to the A plaza and Library forecourt area, renovations to B building to accommodate the new Health Sciences programs, and the construction of new facilities on level 4 of D building for Business and Wine Science .

We would like to thank you all for your support and enthusiasm during the year in helping to achieve the above outcomes for the campus.

We have even more exciting projects lined up for 2005 including the Health Sciences and Monash College programs, moving forward on the Health and Wellness Centre proposal, trying to improve local transport arrangements, and developing better pathways for students to move between the different education sectors in the Frankston/Mornington Peninsula region.

We look forward to working with you again next year.

Phillip Steele and Jill McLachlan

Bachelor of Psychology and Business

In 2005, the Bachelor of Psychology and Business* will be offered at Monash Peninsula campus. It is a three-year course designed for students who wish to apply psychological training within a business environment.

Students will study the 10-unit psychology undergraduate major which is accredited by the Australian Psychological Society. This is studied over the three years of the course. They will also study core business and economics units in the first year, and a major in EITHER human resource management, OR marketing, OR management in second and third year.

Career opportunities for graduates of psychology and business include: Organisational psychologist, human resources manager, industrial relations consultant, market researcher, public policy advisor, training and development coordinator, international business manager.

For more information including the application form, visit the Department of Psychology's web site: www.med.monash.edu.au/psych

* Subject to final university approval.

Monash College at Peninsula

Monash College was established in 1998 to provide a pathway into Monash University for students of high potential who just missed out on obtaining an undergraduate place.

Monash College diplomas are the equivalent of first year university, intensively taught in smaller classes and a caring environment. Satisfactory completion of a Monash College diploma provides entry into second year of selected Monash degrees, depending on students' results. In 2004 more than 85 percent of Monash College graduates qualified for entry to Monash University .

Currently Monash College is located at Monash's Clayton and Caulfield campuses. In 2005, Monash College will also have a presence at Monash Peninsula campus, where diplomas will be offered in Business and Economics, and IT.

In addition, Monash College is offering access and equity bursaries which reduce tuition fees for these diplomas at Peninsula campus. Known as Access Monash, the university recognises and supports students who find it difficult to take up an offer, continue their enrolment, or make time for their studies because of their current circumstances.

The access and equity bursaries assist students in financing the cost of studying by reducing the tuition for their course from full-fee level to the same as a Commonwealth-supported place (CSP).

For example, the Diploma of Business fee is reduced from $19,000 to $6849 per annum. Students can then apply to access the government's FEE-HELP loan facility which will assist them in the payment of their tuition fees.

The Monash College access and equity bursaries are open to Australian citizens only. Students must meet the selection criteria in order to be awarded a bursary. Students are eligible to apply if they:

• are of Aboriginal Australian or Torres Strait Islander descent,
• have a permanent home address in a rural or isolated area,
• are of low socio-economic status, or
• have experienced long-term difficult family circumstances.

Bursaries are valid for one year. On completion of the Monash College diploma, students apply for a place in their chosen Monash University course. Commonwealth-supported places are available to students who meet the minimum entry requirements for their destination degree and who achieve the required average, which ranges from 50 percent - 60 percent, depending on the destination degree.

More information is available from the Monash College website, or telephone 9905 5088.

Monash collaboration wins hi-tech grant

The Faculty of Information Technology and the Information Technology Services (ITS) Division have won a joint grant comprising computing equipment from Sun Microsystems worth more than $150,000.

The award would be a valuable addition to Monash's already significant investment in eResearch, by providing high-performance computing equipment, which would offer a range of opportunities for leading-edge research.

The successful grant application was a collaborative submission by Dr Asad Khan of the Faculty of Information Technology and ITS.

Projects that will benefit from the grant include work by Dr Khan which transforms simple wireless sensor networks into a new form of computer. Such computers can be embedded in physical objects and interact with their surroundings without human intervention and with a level of awareness not possible with conventional computers.

IT faculty dean Professor Ron Weber said the grant could open opportunities for developing new technologies that addressed critical areas such as aged-care and water resource conservation.

"For example, embedded networks of cubic millimetre-sized computers and limited radio-frequency devices could make possible an irrigation system that releases water according to plant needs and soil moisture conditions," he said.

2005 Orientation at Peninsula  

Plans for the Orientation festival in February 2005 are well under way. The dates of the festival are:

• Official opening ceremony: Wednesday, 23 February  
• Faculty activities, library tours and computer training sessions: Wednesday, 23 and Thursday 24, February  
• Beach day: Friday, 25 February  
• Monsu clubs day: Tuesday, 1 March

Academic Procession

Academic and general staff who would like to participate in the Academic procession at the Orientation opening ceremony are asked to email Thanh Ngo with the following details:

• Your qualification,
• The university you attended, and
• Your height and head size.

Please note, unfortunately we are unable to provide gowns for interstate and overseas universities.

Peninsula notes

Pool vehicles: Any vehicle booked on Wednesday 22 December must be returned by 11 am on that day.  

Security: All buildings will be secured from 5 pm on Wednesday 22 December until the usual opening times on Tuesday 4 January 2005.   Security should be advised if staff have any difficulties with this by Tuesday 21 December.

Schools/departments are asked to secure all cash and keys in a proper safe, ensure windows and offices are secured, and turn off all lights and appliances.

The MPA photo comp is here!

Back by popular demand, the theme of this year's MPA photo competition is ‘my postgrad community', interpreted as literally or creatively as you wish.

Black and white or colour photos, images of people, things, or places are all welcome. Hard copy or digital photos will be accepted and entry is open to all Monash postgrads.

The winning photos will be judged via the web by your postgraduate peers and some of the entries will feature in our annual magazine, Compass 2005.

Full details on the MPA website. Entries close 5pm, 22 December 2004.

Over $50,000 raised for Cancer Council

The annual Relay For Life event was held again at Ballam Park over the weekend of November 12 -13. Despite the horribly cold and wet weather, members of the general community, Monash University and Monyx came together to support the Cancer Council in its fight against cancer. The event, now in its fifth year, has raised over $380 000 since its inception. This year, more than $50 000 was raised for the Cancer Council.

Relay For Life has been continually admired for its ability to harness the fun spirit of the community whilst still raising much needed funds for a very serious and worthy cause.

This year's event also featured a paper chain competition to see which team could build the longest paper chain. Each team's paper chain was then linked up at the end of the event to symbolise “the chain of hope” which came to approximately 280 metres.

The 2004 committee is now looking for expressions of interest for 2005 committee members, team captains and event roles. Expressions of interest should be forwarded to 2004 chair manager, Colin Armitt.

For more information on the Relay For Life website.

Authorised by the Office of the Academic Director - Peninsula