More old photos of Newcastle.

The Newcastle Herald has continued its practice of running old photos of Newcastle from the University of Newcastle cultural collection with support from  the Vera Deacon Regional History Fund.Two recent examples include:

• 8 March 2018 THROWBACK: Hunter Street, Newcastle photos from the archives
• 29 March 2018 Throwback Thursday: Remembering Hunter's history, shops, arcades and malls | photos

I love old photos because of the things they reveal. I study them and look at the detail. Sometimes there is a more emotional response.

Back in 2008 I wrote a short nostalgic post Newcastle's poshest hotel - the Great Northern. So much has changed in Newcastle that I find it difficult to place things in my memory. These photos actually triggered real memories. On that visit, I can remember my brother and I escaping from the hotel and going down to the waterfront. It wasn't far. As country kids, the waterfront was exciting, a very different world. In two photos I suddenly saw where we must have walked. .

Do you know any stories or histories of the University of Newcastle?

Today’s post on my history blog, Alan Barcan, the Sydney Old Left and threads in New England’s history, looks at one thread in New England’s history. I know a fair bit about life and thought at the University of New England, almost nothing about Newcastle University.

I have been asking around for histories or memoirs, but with little luck. A New England New State Movement colleague said that there was a history of the Uni, but again I have not been able to find it via search.

Do you know of any books? I really would like to find some. Otherwise, the University of Newcastle vanishes from parts of my history.  

New England passings - death of Emeritus Professor Donald George

Emeritus Professor Donald George, the University of Newcastle's second Vice-Chancellor from 1975 until 1986, has died.

Professor George was a graduate in Science and Engineering at the University of Sydney, where he was also awarded his doctoral degree for research in the field of plasma physics.

Starting his academic career in 1949 as a lecturer in Electrical Engineering at the Newcastle Technical College, Professor George transferred to the NSW University of Technology in Broken Hill. Moving overseas, he joined the United Kingdom Atomic Energy Commission as a Research Officer working first at Harwell, before returning to Australia to work at Lucas Heights in NSW.

In 1959, academia called again and he took up the position of senior lecturer in Electrical Engineering at the University of Sydney. Still at Sydney, he was made Associate Professor in 1966 and appointed to the PN Russell Chair of Mechanical Engineering in 1968.

Professor George held strong national and international roles in the management and development of nuclear energy, and his research expertise also extended to the areas of direct energy conversion and solar energy. He was a member of the Institute of Defence Science and of the Academy of Science Committee on Solar Energy. He was a Fellow of the Institution of Engineers, Australia; the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, London; the Institution of Electrical Engineers, London; and he was an Associate of the Australian Institute of Physics.

Recognising his significant contributions to his field, Professor George was awarded an Officer of the Order of Australia in 1979 for services to the sciences and engineering, and a Centenary Medal in 2001 for services to Australian society in atomic energy.

As Newcastle's second Vice-Chancellor from 1975 to 1986, Professor George shaped the University during its important formative years. He is remembered for his instrumental role in establishing and supporting the University's flagship medical school, an innovation that was testing conventional boundaries for its time. With Professor David Maddison and others, he worked to set up administrative and academic structures that allowed for new approaches in education and clinical studies, and today Newcastle's program remains among the nation's leaders in health and medical education.

The University's Indigenous student support program - Wollotuka - started under the stewardship of Professor George. In 2013, the Wollotuka Institute celebrated its 30^th anniversary. Approximately half of the country's Indigenous medical doctors are graduates of the University and Newcastle's enrolment of Indigenous students, which spans all faculties, is almost double the sector average. The University's enabling programs were also strongly supported by Professor George. Newcastle was among Australia's first universities to introduce enabling programs and from a pilot program in 1974, is now the nation's largest provider.

In remembering Professor George, the University noted that Newcastle's reputation for innovation and excellence in research and education rested in large measure on Professor George's vision and passion to build the fledgling university in its early years. "As Vice-Chancellor, Professor George made a remarkable and lasting contribution to the University and to Newcastle, and he is warmly remembered as a leader with great integrity, energy and commitment."

The story of higher education in New England 1 - introduction

In discussion with Greg on Charles Sturt University to open in Tamworth?, I realised that some of the things I write about New England's universities probably don't make a lot of sense in isolation.

To set the scene for the discussion that follows, this photo shows graduation at the Newcastle University College in March 1957 or 1958.

From left to right you have Sir Earle Page as Chancellor of the University of New England, Dr. Wallace Wurth, Chancellor, University of New South Wales (standing), then I think that on the far right in the front row is Robert Madgwick, then VC at UNE.

Why are there UNE people present? Well, at the time the photo was taken, Arts students at Newcastle University College were supervised from the University of New England in the same type of relationship that the New England University College had had with Sydney University. Indeed, this supervision was one of the two critical conditions under which New England gained its autonomy. The other was the introduction of external studies at UNE.

At the time, Newcastle was a college of the University of Technology in Sydney, now the University of NSW. However, the University of Technology did not teach arts. For that reason, the introduction of arts at NUC required support from another university. As had happened earlier with Sydney and NEUC and for the same reasons, the relationship between UNE and NUC was a sometimes troubled one.

Now the point of this little story is that this link between UNE and Newcastle is little known. Indeed, the whole history of higher education in New England is little known, fragmented. This affects the way that people judge stuff that I write, for while I write from a broader New England perspective, they look at the picture in terms of individual institutions or, sometimes, the higher education sector as a whole. The broad New England perspective is absent.

I have a further problem in that my own allegiances and family connections to UNE are well known. I write a lot about UNE because it is important to me. Just to take a very small example, at the NUC March 1959 graduation my father presented the Arts candidates!

Does this mean that I am UNE biased? At one level it does, but when I write from a broader New England perspective whether historical or policy I try to be balanced.

Does the absence of a broader New England perspective, of the entire historical background, matter? I would argue that it does. But then, I am clearly biased! 

Thinking about this, I have decided that I really need to consolidate my writing on New England higher education, adding some new material to fill gaps. I have now written hundreds of posts across blogs connected in some way with higher education. You will find a partial list here. In addition, there are the specifically New England posts.

Given my time constraints, I am going to focus on material already prepared. All I want to achieve is to provide information and analysis that people can use to make their own judgements.       

Is there a history of Newcastle Uni?

After the trauma of the move, I have the internet back and am trying to catch up. Lugging boxes made me very disinclined to do anything, even if I had the connection. My apologies to all!

In the meantime, does anyone know of a history of the University of Newcastle, or at least parts of the University? I have UNE material coming out of my ears, much of it very good, but I need material on Newcastle to be able to compare and contrast up to 2000.

Around New England's Universities July 2010

I suddenly realised that I haven't done a news round-up on New England's universities since February. It seems an opportune time to do so now, for as I wrote in Are the wheels starting to come off in Australian higher education?, all Australia's universities face a period of fundamental change.

Starting with Newcastle, on 25 June the University released details of 901 mid year offers of places broken up as follows:

• Callaghan campus: 663
• Central Coast campus (Ourimbah): 165
• Port Macquarie campus: 7
• Distance education: 66

I haven't been able to find equivalent numbers for UNE or SCU.

On 1 July, more than 2,000 students from high schools across the Hunter, Central Coast, mid-north Coast and Tablelands-North West regions visited the University of Newcastle's Callaghan campus for the annual Schools Visit Day. This type of visit is a major activity for all our universities as they seek to attract students.

On 10 July, Newcastle released details of a $100 million program including new on-campus accommodation of 750 beds, refurbishing and upgrading existing on-campus accommodation (960 beds), and 400 extra car parking spaces. The new accommodation facility will be located adjacent to the existing on-campus accommodation precinct.

One of the drivers here has been the high cost of rented accommodation for students within Newcastle. Sydney universities face similar if more intense problems; both the University of New South Wales and Sydney University are expanding student accommodation, increasing their competitive threat for New England students. 

One of the University of Newcastle's strengths lies in the engineering and technical arena. In this context, the University has appointed engineering heavy-weight Dr Alan Broadfoot as the director of the Newcastle Institute for Energy and Resources (NIER).

NIER will comprise laboratories, workshops, offices and five industrial-scale pilot plant workshops. The facility will encompass University Priority Research Centres and research groups that will explore energy production, distribution and efficiency. Research will also be carried out in the areas of mining, minerals and minerals processing. The $40 million NIER project is funded through $30 million from the Australian Government Education Investment Fund and $10 million from the University.

In another move, the University has announced that Researchers from the University of Newcastle will lead a new multi-million dollar Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence to pioneer new scientific approaches to geotechnical engineering design. With Australian Government funding of $14.4 million, the Centre of Excellence in Geotechnical Science and Engineering will focus on creating science-based tools for predicting the safety of offshore and onshore geostructures, including oil and gas platforms, roads, railways, tunnels, dams and port facilities.

Finally on Newcastle, congratulations to The University of Newcastle Chamber Choir for winning gold in two categories at the Sixth World Choir Games in Shaoxing China. Around 420 choirs with over 10,000 performers from some 80 countries participated in the Games.

Both Southern Cross and the University of New England featured NAIDOC (National Aboriginal and Islander Day Observance Committee) week activities. NAIDOC takes place across Australia during the first full week of July  and is a celebration of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures and an opportunity to recognise the contributions of Indigenous Australians in various fields.

At SCU, there were a variety of activities at the Lismore and Gold Coast campuses (and here), while at UNE the Oorala Aboriginal Centre organises a flag-raising ceremony every year as part of Armidale’s NAIDOC Week celebration.

This year’s NAIDOC Week theme focuses on “unsung heroes”. 

Speaking at the ceremony, student Kerrie-Anne Maunder celebrated the achievements of her grandmother, Vilma Ryan, as a political activist, community worker, lecturer, and campaigner on a wide range of Aboriginal issues including land rights, social equity, and the education and welfare of children.

Ms Lyn Walford, representing the local Aboriginal community, spoke about the highly successful, community-based Aboriginal Rugby League team based in Armidale - the Narwan Eels - as “unsung heroes”. She invited those at the ceremony to view an exhibition of photographs and memorabilia of the “Eels” on   display in the Oorala Aboriginal Centre while continuing their NAIDOC Week celebration over morning tea.

The photo shows from left the Acting Director of the Oorala Aboriginal Centre, Michael Brogan, Kerrie-Anne Maunder, Professor Jim Barber, and Lyn Walford.

New England has a very big Aboriginal community and especially in the North Coast and North West regions.

While I have always been interested in Aboriginal history, working with Aboriginal people over 2009 while also researching Aboriginal history as part of my broader history of New England has given me a much greater awareness of Aboriginal issues; see Return to country as an example.

Staying with Southern Cross, one feature of the University's press releases is an emphasis on the sea, not surprising given its location. Examples include:

• Southern Cross University to study Gold Coast and Tweed dolphins
• Capturing whale images is no fluke
• Art and science meet under the sea: art exhibition
• Innis Foundation scholarships presented to top surfing students

University press releases also feature outreach activities such as public lectures at main centres.

Finally with SCU, lobbying by the University has paid off with Coffs Harbour to be included in the 19 centres for the National Broadband second stage roll-out. The area including and around the University of New England was included in the first NBN pilot studies.

I sometimes not sure just how many New Englanders understand the importance of their universities to development across New England.

Turning to to UNE, the press releases again have a different feel. Monitoring the releases as I do, by the way, UNE actually has the best PR approach of all three.

If Newcastle is technical and industrial, Southern Cross sea, then UNE is agriculture. Of course, all three are more than this, but the rural side continues to come through strongly at UNE as it has from the University's early days. If we look at the media releases over July, we find:

• UNE experts develop model of disease spread in livestock
• Spotlight on new technology for monitoring livestock
• Students share summer scholarship experiences - a gathering of school students interested in agricultural science
• International perspectives on resprouting in plants
• Livestock researchers focus on a future full of change

However, looking at the pattern of press releases over time, UNE also has four distinctive features as compared to both Newcastle and SCU: the releases are more varied, while there is a greater emphasis on campus life, on international reach and on the humanities.

This partially reflects the University's history, but also its strategic positioning, for in some ways UNE is caught between a rock and a hard place.

Australian university students are far more stay at home than, say, their US equivalents. Lacking the bigger immediate local catchment areas available to Newcastle (Newcastle, Lower Hunter and Central Coast) or Southern Cross (Gold Coast, Northern Rivers, Coffs Harbour), UNE has to attract students and especially on-campus students from other places in the face of fierce competition. While UNE does compete with SCU and NU for New England students, it actually has to attract students from other places who would otherwise go to their local university or universities. This affects every element of the University's competitive strategy.

Around New England's Universities February 2010

From time to time I do a round-up of news at New England's various universities. This seems to the right time to do another one with the new academic year just getting underway. It's very interesting, in fact, for the three institutions are very different because of location and history.

At Southern Cross University, the big news has revolved around the University's Gold Coast campus. Orientation kicked off at the new campus on 15 February, with the building officially opened by Deputy PM Julia Gillard on 17 February.

In welcoming Ms Gillard, the Chancellor Mr Dowd, said Southern Cross University had a very clear mission to deliver on the federal government’s education revolution.

“We have more than 16,000 students studying with us, and that number will grow exponentially with this new facility,” Mr Dowd said.

“Only 18 per cent of people at the Gold Coast aged between 25-34 years possess a Bachelor degree or above. This is around half the national average. Fifty-three per cent of all young people in this region are not pursuing any form of education beyond year 12.

“These stark realities stand in contrast to the sun and surf image of the region. We therefore need to add another ‘S’ to this image – that of scholarship."

Other SCU stories included:

• the launch of a carpool, 39 new scholarships under the rising stars program
• orientation week activities for around 3000 newly enrolled students for on-campus study and around 900 students who will be studying by distance education
• Southern Cross University and ChildFund lead cutting edge research on Vietnamese children. The  project involves interviews with 50 children from the rural province of Bac Kan, north of Hanoi. In a culture where children are traditionally ‘seen but not heard’, engaging children in having a say is both important and challenging.

Moving south, the University of Newcastle celebrates the graduation of more than 1,100 students the Central Coast campus. This is an integrated program involving the University, TAFE and the Central Coast Community College. Of the 1,162 students graduating, 931 have completed University of Newcastle programs, 210 have completed TAFE qualifications and a further 21 are graduating from the Central Coast Community College.

On 3 February, the University of signed an agreement with global education provider, Navitas, who are establishing the Newcastle International College on the Callaghan (Newcastle) campus.

Vice-Chancellor, Professor Nicholas Saunders, said the college would be pivotal in the University's growth.

"The University has been working to grow its student numbers. However, in an increasingly competitive market, it is vital that we increase the number of international students coming to Newcastle."

International student numbers at Newcastle have grown over the past five years by almost 30 per cent. Onshore international enrolments now comprise approximately 15 per cent of total enrolments, but this remains below the sector average, which stands at about 20 per cent.

"Working with Navitas as it establishes Newcastle International College will expand the base of international students to the University across a broad range of our programs," Professor Saunders said.

The college will provide programs to international students across a number of disciplines. Successful completion will enable graduates to progress directly to the second year of a university level program.

Other University of Newcastle stories included:

• Recognition for the work of forensic dentist Dr Jane Taylor in the award of an Australian Federal Police Operations Medal for her work identifying victims of the Bali bombing in 2002 and the Boxing Day Tsunami in Thailand in 2004.
• Formalisation of the The Making Educational Goals Sustainable (MEGS) program between the University, Hunter TAFE and NSW DET (Department of Education and Training). This aims to promote education amongst students from targeted equity groups. The new MoU will formalise the partnership and will significantly expand the program with over 650 Year 6 students and their parents visiting the University of Newcastle this year. For many, this will be the first time that they have been in contact with a university.
• The launch (photo) of a new data base intended provide schizophrenia researchers across Australia with access to new information to help them treat the condition. This automates data collected by the Schizophrenia Research Institute's University of Newcastle group and collects genetic, clinical and neurological information from up to 4,000 volunteers across Australia.

At the University of New England, new VC Professor Jim Barber has also been welcoming new students at the first day of orientation activities. 

More than 1,000  new students attended the official welcome, during which Alicia Zikan, the undergraduate student representative on the UNE Council, also spoke to them about the unique opportunities at UNE for meeting people - both students and staff members - and making friends.

“In your colleges you’re already part of a strong social network,” Ms Zikan said, adding that there were also social networks for students living in the town.

“You’ll have opportunities that students at other universities - sitting in a lecture theatre with 900 other students - can only dream of,” she said.

Professor Barber followed the same theme:

“Our mission at UNE is to change your life,” he told the new students who, together with parents and friends, gathered yesterday on the lawns of “Booloominbah” - the picturesque heart of the University’s campus.

Professor Barber predicted that, as well as acquiring “skills that will make your career” and “a passport to travel the world”, they would make life-long friendships - many even finding their life partner.

“I’m more confident of making these predictions about UNE than I would be about any other university,” he said, explaining that the strong and lasting friendships formed at UNE were something he had been aware of throughout his career.

“I hope you’ll be proud of being UNE alumni,” he concluded. “Welcome, good luck, and let your new life begin!”

The University also reported the results of an unexpected finding in a new research report on science education commissioned by the National Centre of Science, ICT and Mathematics Education for Rural and Regional Australia (SiMERR) at the University that involved around 590 teachers and 3,800 students throughout the country.

Despite the current serious decline in the proportion of senior high-school students taking science subjects, there has been no corresponding decline in students’ enjoyment of science, their appreciation of its importance to society, or their interest in science careers.

If I understand the results correctly, the crux of the problem lies not in lack of interest, but rather in a widening of school choices that has reduced the role of traditional science core subjects.

Other February stories included:

• The opening of a new state of the art $A6.3 million greenhouse complex for plant research. In outlining the structure and function of the greenhouse complex, Professor Gross said it included 25 separate rooms, in each of which temperature and watering could be controlled independently.
• Scientists and research students from five continents participated in the ninth annual Armidale Animal Breeding Summer Course, becoming familiar with the latest genetic technologies for predicting the performance of individual farm animals.
• Industry Placement Scholarships were awarded to 21 school leavers this summer giving them an insight into the career opportunities available to science graduates in primary industries. Each student attended a five-day “Science to Industry Camp” based at the University, extending to agriculture-related businesses and laboratories throughout the region. They also completed a five-day “industry placement” working with professional scientists.
• Andreas Mehl , a distinguished Professor of Ancient History from Germany, is to give a public lecture at the University of New England on 5 March entitled “How the Romans recorded, remembered, thought about, and used their past”. This will be the first lecture for 2010 in UNE’s “Aspects of Antiquity” lecture series, now in its 17^th year.

Three universities, three very different stories. Each reflects the different pasts of three very different institutions. In a later post, I will put this in historical context.  

Student offers out at New England's universities

University offers from New England universities came out during the week. You can find a full list of the UAI cut offs here. I don't have on-line access to the full list. These offers are on top of previous early admission offers.

Down in Newcastle, the Newcastle Herald reports that University of Newcastle has offered more places for undergraduates in 2010, although the extra spots have pushed down entrance scores across the board. At the release of the main round of university offers yesterday, about two-thirds of entrance scores had gone down by between 0.15 and 11.05 points. This was largely due to an extra 630 main-round offers made by the university in what was the first year of the Australian Tertiary Admissions Rank (ATAR).

In all, the University of Newcastle made 7712 main round offers, one of its largest offers to date. It included 1369 places in teaching degrees, 630 nursing places and more than 500 spots in engineering.

Moving north, I know that the University of New England has also increased its offers but, to my frustration, I have been unable to find the story giving details. That will teach me not to bookmark!

Moving east, the Northern Star reports that Southern Cross University is offering another 1,000 places in this round.

This year's student intake takes place against a background of fundamental change in the funding of Australia's universities that has led many to expand student offers in advance of funding. How New England's Universities will respond to this is a key issue for the future of higher education within New England.

The University of Newcastle has already indicated its intent to grow to a mega 40,000 strong student institution by 2020. Watch this space!      

SCU, Charles Sturt University consider merger

The announcement that Southern Cross and Charles Sturt Universities are joining forces to undertake a feasibility study into establishing a new Commonwealth University left me with very mixed feelings.

I have long argued that New England's universities should cooperate more in the delivery of services within New England as well as the achievement of national and international reach. I am not sure that this message has really got across, perhaps it cannot be got across, in part because of the damage brought about by the creation and subsequent failure of the networked University of New England.

The problem with the new proposed merger is that it cuts directly across New England cooperation, creating new competitive pressures. On the other hand, as someone interested in a professional sense in competitive dynamics within the university sector, I find the proposal quite interesting.

Charles Sturt has always been aggressive and I think astute in a marketing sense. It has grown into a major institution by looking to broaden its base within regional Australia. At the same time, the University of New England badly damaged by the network experiment has tended to narrow its focus.

If we cut through the hype of the initial press release, the proposed new institution involves SCU, Charles Sturt plus a third as yet un-identified interstate university. The entire tenor of the deal is designed to play to current Federal Government pre-occupations - scale, addressing regional skills shortages, national yet regional, the need for Commonwealth control.

We can see this in the words of the press release.The proposal is, and I quote:

designed "to ensure the sustainable provision of quality higher education and research of particular relevance to regional communities in Australia."

“The new institution’s mission would be to expand high quality University educational opportunity in regional Australia, and nationally, through its dispersed campuses, using digital technology and by conducting research of particular relevance to regional Australia.

“It would provide access to the combined discipline strengths of each institution and an enhanced comprehensive course profile.

“Importantly, the integration of our institutions, while maintaining our existing regional campuses, would enhance opportunities across a number of disciplines for all regional students, including in national priority areas such as health.

“It would also contribute to a sustainable and professional labour force, networked knowledge communities, TAFE pathways and international engagement."

“Having the new University established under Commonwealth law would enable it to invite other interstate regional institutions with complementary capabilities to integrate and build on their strengths to ensure continuing access to high quality education for rural and regional students around Australia.

“Commonwealth Government support is essential to provide the national legislative framework for the new institution and to negotiate with state governments.”

I have rarely seen so many current buzz words in a single announcement. This is a cleverly designed ploy to attract Federal Government support, and indeed it is very likely to, with the Feds funding the feasibility study.

The selection of the third institution will be very interesting indeed, because that will set the competitive dynamics of the merged body. My instinctive reaction was to think of the University of Southern Queensland, because this would then give a broad broadly geographically integrated sweep with potential reach into high population growth areas.

All very fascinating, if also a bit depressing.

Postscript

Len Palmer, President of the NSW Branch of the National Tertiary Education Union, came in with a very interesting comment providing further information on the merger.

I have been meaning for a while to do an update on my various posts on change within the higher education sector, linking together the various things I have written. This may now be an appropriate time to attempt the task.

National infrastructure spend - New England universities' share

In The Rudd Government's $A4.7 billion nation building package - New England Projects I reported on the New England infrastructure projects that had received funding under the Commonwealth Government's new infrastructure package. At that stage I had no details of funding under the education component of the package.

NSW universities received $245 million in funding for special identified higher education projects. Of this, $210 million went to the Sydney universities, $35 million to the University of Wollongong.

New England universities did not receive any funding, although in an un-related announcement on the same day, the Commonwealth Government announced that the University of New England would receive $3.544 million as a result of its successful application for funding through the Government’s Diversity and Structural Adjustment Fund.

New England universities will receive funding from the $500 million in general capital funding to be made available from 1 July 2009 to promote teaching and learning. $153.1 million of this will flow to NSW universities in proportion to their student numbers. Of this, New England universities will receive $29.5 million broken up as follows:

University	$ million
Newcastle	15
University of New England	7.9
Southern Cross University	6.6

$500 million has also been made available to fund TAFE and community college capital spending. However, this money will be allocated on a competitive basis based upon applications by individual TAFEs or colleges.

Further information on the university funding allocations can be found here, TAFE allocation processes here.

$6m funding boost for medical education in Taree

The University of Newcastle has welcomed the Australian Government's commitment of more than $6 million dollars for a new multi-purpose education centre in Taree for medical and allied health students to complete clinical training.

The Taree Medical Education Centre, to be located on the grounds of Manning Base Hospital, will be home to the University Department of Rural Health (UDRH) and the Rural Clinical School (RCS).

The funding was announced by the Minister for Health and Ageing, the Hon. Nicola Roxon MP, during a visit to Taree today.

Professor Mike Calford, Pro Vice-Chancellor of the University's Faculty of Health, said the new Centre was a significant win for the Taree region.

"The Centre will provide students with access to first class facilities in a non-metropolitan setting when they undertake their clinical placements," Professor Calford said.

"Students from medicine, nursing, physiotherapy, nutrition and dietetics, radiography, pharmacy and occupational therapy will use the facility.

"The University, and its partners, warmly welcomes the commitment of funding by the Australian Government. Efforts are also underway to attract additional funding to support the Government's contribution."

The Taree Medical Education Centre will feature clinical laboratories, tutorial rooms, office for senior staff and video conferencing facilities. When complete, it will be home to up to 20 academic and support staff.

The Centre will be modelled on the Tamworth Medical Education Centre and is expected to be completed by late 2010.

Acting Director of the UDRH/RCS, Associate Professor Steve Doherty, said there was a strong commitment to training students in regional, rural and remote locations.

"There is a chronic shortage of health care workers outside major metropolitan areas. It is important that we expose undergraduate students to career and lifestyle opportunities outside the big cities," Associate Professor Doherty said.

"We are pleased to have considerable support from the local community which will ensure that this purpose-built education and training facility fulfils our needs and contributes significantly to local infrastructure."

The UDRS and RSC are a partnership between the University of Newcastle, the University of New England, Hunter New England Health and Commonwealth Department of Health and Ageing.

University of Newcastle releases its mid year offers

The University of Newcastle has released a record 1106 offers for mid-year enrolment.

Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Services), Dr Sue Gould, said the University of Newcastle was releasing the second largest number of offers in NSW.

According to Dr Gold, data from the Australian Graduate Survey shows that 82 per cent of the University's bachelor degree graduates under 25 find jobs within four months of finishing their degree. This is above the national average.

"Students are increasingly turning to the University of Newcastle's mid-year enrolments to start their studies. Mid-year entry means they do not have to wait until next year to commence studying and kick start their career."

The most popular degree programs are the Bachelor of Nursing and Bachelor of Teaching/Bachelor of Arts.

University wide:

• Total number of offers: 1106
• Total number of commonwealth supported offers: 1043
• Total number of domestic full fee paying offers: 63

By individual campus:

Callaghan campus

• Number of offers: 836
• Number of commonwealth supported offers: 784
• Number of domestic full fee paying offers: 52

Ourimbah campus

• Number of offers: 236
• Number of commonwealth supported offers: 227
• Number of domestic full fee paying offers: 9

Port Macquarie campus

• Number of offers: 34
• Number of commonwealth supported offers: 32
• Number of domestic full fee paying offers: 2

Joint University of Newcastle, University of New England medical program starts

Photo: the first intake of medical students at UNE in the joint program with the University of Newcastle.

The first students ever to embark on a medical degree program at the University of New England have begun their studies, Monday 18 February 2008.

The 62 students, including three from New Zealand, nine from inter-State, and many from rural areas, comprise the "pioneer" cohort in UNE's School of Rural Medicine. The new School is the UNE component of the Joint Medical Program, run in collaboration with the University of Newcastle (UN) and Hunter New England Health (HNEH). This is the program's first year of teaching, with 100 students enrolled at Newcastle as well as the 62 at UNE.

Early on the first day before teaching began, the students were welcomed to the program by Professor John Fraser (Head of the School of Rural Medicine at UNE), Professor Alan Pettigrew (Vice-Chancellor of UNE), Professor Victor Minichiello (Pro Vice-Chancellor and Dean of the Faculty of the Professions at UNE), Professor Michael Hensley from the University of Newcastle (Dean of Medicine – Joint Medical Program), and Dr Nigel Lyons (Chief Executive of HNEH).

All the speakers emphasised the importance of the Joint Medical Program for the future recruitment and retention of medical practitioners in northern NSW (as well as other non-metropolitan regions), and its significance as the first collaborative venture of its kind in Australia.

"It's been very much a team effort," Professor Fraser said.

They also emphasised the scale of the achievement in turning what was a mere concept only two years ago into a reality, and thanked everyone involved. Professor Pettigrew remarked on the prevailing "sense of achievement" among the staff and "sense of excitement" among the students.

Professor Hensley thanked the students for "embarking on this career from which the community expects such a lot", and encouraged them to go on and "graduate at the end of 2012 as outstanding doctors".

He pointed out that, under the system of "problem-based learning" that UN had developed for its medical degree course more than three decades ago and now shared with UNE, students were required "to be doctors from day one". This teaching method requires students, working in teams of eight, to analyse and solve problems presented to them by a tutor. Dr Lyons, who was among the fourth intake of medical students at UN, told the students that "problem-based learning" would give them "skills that will last for life".

The students themselves were unanimous in their enthusiasm for the program. Daniel Tilley from Foster in Victoria and Emily Lewis from Adelaide were typical of many in welcoming this opportunity to train for medical practice in a rural area. They were also excited about what lay before them over the next five years. "We've got this brand new, amazing anatomy lab," Emily said, "and I'm excited about going there later today."

Sources:

• From Newcastle University
• From UNE

New England's Universities - Academic Standards, Admission Marks and Competitive Strategies

I see from the Newcastle Herald (21 December) that the University of Newcastle's academic senate has expressed concern about the impact of lowering 2007 academic entrance requirements.

By way of background, at the start of 2007 the University reduced the UAI entry point cut-offs for entry by an average of 5.78 per cent in order to increase student numbers. This led to an 22.8 per cent increase in the number of offers made to students.

Without being fully aware of all the dynamics, I am inclined to share the senate's concern.

Each of New England's universities faces a different market problem. In my view, each has to aim for quality rather than quantity.

History of the University of Newcastle - a few notes

I have been browsing round trying to find material on the history of the University of Newcastle. While I found things of interest about people that I did not know or had forgotten with Newcastle connections, it proved remarkably difficult to find consolidated historical material about the University itself. I also could not find a decent photo to go with this story.

A few notes follow just to get some chronology down. With one exception that I will give in a moment, I am not giving links. The material is just too fragmentary.

The one exception? The Hunter Valley Research Foundation has a useful page setting out a chronology of some Hunter Valley historical events.

I have actually been intending to do a story on the Foundation. Founded in 1956 under the direction of Cyril Renwick, Professor of Economics at Newcastle University College, the Foundation has made a significant contribution to the Hunter, as has Professor Renwick himself.

A few dates follow.

1949 - Newcastle Teachers' College established as, I think, the third teachers' college in NSW. Griffith H Duncan became Principal of the College, a position he was to hold until 1975.

1951 -Newcastle University College established as a college of the NSW University of Technology (now University of New South Wales) on the Tighes Hill Newcastle Technical College campus.

As an aside, the NSW University of Technology itself was created in 1949 from the Sydney Technical College. 1958 the University changed its name to The University of New South Wales, and broadened its areas of study starting with a Faculty of Arts.

In Newcastle, Ralph Barsden who was Principal of the Newcastle Technical College from 1940 to 1959, also became Warden of the new University College, a position he was also to hold until 1959.

1965 - University of Newcastle gained autonomy - Shortland campus construction commenced.

1973 - Newcastle Teachers' College becomes College of Advanced Education.

November 1989 - College of Advanced Education and University of Newcastle amalgamated under the University of Newcastle name.