25 october 2012 biggest sustainability challenge yet
TRANSCRIPT
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Four paws upMeet Lily, the pooch helping kids overcome their phobias.
Survey saysSegways, teleporters and other surprises from the transport survey.
Drumming up a brighter futureWarm reception for disadvantaged and refugee students.
25 October 2012
Biggest sustainability challenge yetNow in its fourth year, the Macquarie University Department Sustainability Challenge is a model copied by other organisations around the globe.With a focus on volunteering, forty one departments across the University competed in the 2012 challenge throughout July to October, jostling for the title of Most Sustainable Department or Most Sustainable Faculty.
“The new ‘bonus’ category has shown how innovative and engaged Macquarie University staff are with sustainability,” says Sustainability Officer Belinda Bean. “Many staff went over and above, doing this on top of their jobs just for the love of it all!”
Departments earn stars by undertaking activities that foster a sense of community on campus as well as benefiting the environment. The overall score total of 1,435 stars - the highest yet for the challenge - achieved almost double what was initially achieved through the first competition in 2010.
Some of the initiatives include:
• Risk Frontiers ‘Greening the Office’ project which involved the participation of all staff in the selection and potting of suitable office plants to create a healthier work environment with minimal negative and maximum positive impact on the planet.
• Faculty of Arts (Administration Office) conducted sustainability reviews to identify opportunities for sustainability improvements across the areas of paper consumption; refrigerator usage; and purchasing.
• Campus Life Administration have placed an eco-switch power board next to computer monitors so all appliances can be turned off at the flick of the ‘green switch’, saving standby energy and money.
• Faculty of Human Science (Administration Office) has implemented a Stationery Drive and Reuse System across the entire faculty.
For the official list of winners and more photos from initiatives across the campus, see page five.
Cindy Cunningham, Belinda Bean, Carlene Kirvan and John Simons
Carlos Dominguez, Karin Dutton, Cindy Cunningham, Belinda Bean, Gai Ramesh and Philippa Sutton
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white ribbon:
did you know?
will you take the oath?Macquarie University has become one of 12 partners – and the only Australian university – to join the White Ribbon workplace pilot scheme, accrediting workplaces across the nation that are taking effective steps to end violence against women.
Violence, wherever it occurs, impacts on health, wellbeing and safety, as well as workplace productivity, morale and reputation. The White Ribbon scheme recognises employers with practices and procedures to provide a supportive environment, change workplace culture and raise awareness of the effects of violence against women.
The Equity and Diversity Unit has been working hard on the rollout of the scheme across the University. For their most recent event, interns Zac Faizi and Ashleigh Hennessy coordinated a stall in the Central Courtyard to encourage staff to sign the oath and have their picture taken for a poster.
“Universities have a responsibility to lead social change through education and by example,” says Director of Human Resources Tim Sprague, “so I am delighted that Macquarie is taking part in the pilot program for White Ribbon Workplace Accreditation. Violence against women is unacceptable; as one of the leaders of a university community, I am committed to raising awareness of the pervasive nature of such violence and I encourage all men here to never commit, excuse or remain silent on this issue.”
The official launch of the White Ribbon campaign will coincide with International Women’s Day in March 2013, but you don’t need to wait that long to get involved. Contact the Equity and Diversity Unit for more information and to follow Tim’s lead:
“I have taken the Oath. Will you?”
•2/3ofAustralianwomenwhoreportviolencebyacurrentpartnerareinpaidemployment.
•1womaniskilledeveryweekbyacurrentorformerpartner.
•1/3ofwomenovertheageof15yearsreportphysicalorsexualviolenceatsometimeintheirlives.
•Domesticandfamilyviolenceisthemajorcauseofhomelessnessforwomenandtheirchildren,andarecognisedformofchildabuse.
•$13.6billionistheestimatedcosttotheAustralianeconomyofthisviolence(2008-09).
•29%ofvictimsstalkedbytheirpreviouspartnerreportedthattheperpetratorloiteredoutsidetheworkplace,thusbecominganOH&S risk.
• $1581inproductionrelatedcostscanbeavoidedforwomenwhoseexperienceofviolenceisprevented.
White Ribbon is a campaign driven by men who believe that most men are good and that good men abhor violence towards women. It started in 1989 when a student entered a Montreal University classroom and shot 14 of his female classmates. Men reeled in shock from this violent incident. What began as a small group of men raising money and awareness became a worldwide movement. In 1999 the United Nations officially declared 25 November an International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, with a white ribbon as its iconic symbol.
In Australia White Ribbon is led by male Ambassadors who are in key positions of influence in industry, or celebrities of media or sport. They agree to stand up publicly, to lead and promote the campaign. All people can take the White Ribbon Oath.
for the futureHigh school students from disadvantaged and refugee backgrounds got a warm welcome when they visited the campus last Friday. The students’ visit was part of the LEAP program, the mentoring outreach initiative that encourages students to aspire to a university education.The day’s program got off to a noisy start with music from mbayeafricandrumming, a Senegalese African drumming group. It didn’t take long for students and staff alike to be on their feet and dancing.
LEAPing
Equity and Diversity Interns Zac Faizi and Ashleigh Hennessy.
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BrEAkFAStride to uni
nominations were made for the longest ride to uni, including:
They came from far and wide in lycra, flouro vests and magpie-thwarting helmets, to celebrate their ride to uni with a breakfast in the Central Courtyard.
“Where have you ridden from?” was the line of the day, as riders recognised each other from the Uni’s cycle skills training courses and the two bike hubs on campus.
Prizes were given for the first to arrive, and to the winners of a slow bike race (see video) and endurance challenge.
For the more daring there was also a BMX bike trick demonstration in the courtyard. Photo: Iain Brew.
[L-R] Alan Henry, David Della and Jemima Morely. Photo: Jo Wheatley.
Alan Henry,(FacultyofBusinessandEconomics),whorode26kmfromGlenwood,includingtheinfamoushillsofNorthRocks
David Della,(Cochlear),whoseactualridetouniwouldbe4km,butheaddedanextra62kmbyridingdowntoGladesville,up to Bobbin Head and back again
Jemima Morely, (Coursework Studies) who is building up to ride to work - lots of hills - but rode home 22km to Granville - with new tips for the ride to work from David
Student tim Arvanitis was up there with 23km from Ashbury, and Phil White from Access Macquarie came from Hornsby, also about 23km.
From the Faculties:
From the Professional Offices:
Highly Commended - Ancient History
Winning Department (Faculty of Arts) - Administration Office
Winning Department (Faculty of Human Science) - Administration Office
Winning Department (Faculty of Science) - Risk Frontiers
Winning Faculty - Arts
Highly Commended - Vice-Chancellor’s Office
Highly Commended - Campus Experience Retail
Highly Commended - Office Financial Services Revenue Services
Winning Office - Centre for Open Education
our 2012 winners
Potting-up: Valentina Koschatzky and Emma Phillips from Risk Frontiers.Photo: Keping Chen
Faculty of Arts (Administration Office) community garden box
Ancient History box garden for community nursery
OFS Revenue Services shared lunch: Edwin Tamtomo, Rathy Sengar and Robyn Small. Photo: Zubeda Raihman
Centre for Open Education shared lunch
Risk Frontiers: Keping Chen, Emma Phillips, Lucinda Coates, Valentina Koschatzky, Foster Langbein, Christina Magill and Tetsuya Okada. Photo: Matthew Mason
Take a look at the Sustainability website for more pictures from the awards ceremony.
continued from page one
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Psychology researcher Simon Byrne was clearly not deterred by the famous WC Fields maxim about the perils of working with children and animals when he began his PhD. In fact, the success of his project depends on them.As part of his PhD studies, Simon began trialing a new treatment program to help anxious kids overcome their fear of dogs or spiders.
“Dog and Spider Phobias are two of the most common fears
for kids. They can cause considerable distress to a child and can also cause problems for their parents, who have to constantly reassure their upset child,” Simon said.
Effective treatment for these phobias involves helping the child gradually face what they are frightened of in a process called exposure therapy, he said. A new medication called D-Cycloserine (DCS) is also being trialed in conjunction with the exposure therapy. A single dose of DCS can help reinforce the new non-fearful learning.
Simon’s work takes place in the Emotional Health Clinic, which is
part of the Centre for Emotional Health. For the arachnophobic, an unnamed spider courtesy of the Department of Biological
Sciences provides assistance to Simon. For kids who are scared of dogs, Simon’s canine assistants have a
range of temperaments. There’s a shy Hungarian Vishla named Lilly
PUttINg
who belongs to Simon’s boss, Professor Ron Rapee and his wife Wendy. Other canine volunteers include Harry, who is an outgoing Schnoodle. Simon also sometimes uses a more rambunctious chocolate Labrador named Rocky.
The most important part of the treatment is getting the child used to being around the dogs or spiders, Simon said. After a couple of hours of exposure therapy on their first visit, the child becomes familiar and comfortable with the dog being used. The next session involves exposure to a different dog in different settings, so the child gradually learns to generalise their non-fearful learning.
Since the treatment is the focus of Simon’s PhD, he’s always interested in attracting additional children to join the study. At the moment, he’s focusing on kids who are afraid of spiders.
To find out more, Simon can be contacted via email at [email protected].
P WStheir on childhood phobia
Volunteering can be a great way to try something new, but it can also be a great way to give up your time for a cause that means something to you personally. For Sondra Wibberley and Dave Rorke, the University’s volunteering leave allows them to take time off work to make a real contribution to communities close to their hearts.
Sondra works as a Disability Support Officer in Campus Wellbeing, but last year she used her volunteering leave to help her carry out duties in her voluntary role as president of the Association ofBlindCitizensofNewSouthWales.
“Their role is basically to provide peer support to people with vision impairments, relief of social isolation through arranging particular activities and a facility for people to meet and get some important confidence-building and advice as to how to deal with everyday problems in being a vision-impaired person,” she explains.
As president, Sondra had to interview candidates for a coordinator role when their longstanding coordinator resigned last year. Volunteering leave allowed her to take the time needed without losing pay or annual leave.
“Working in the not-for-profit sector you do give a lot of yourself and you don’t get paid for it,” she says. “I thought, for once in my life I’m going to be doing something and I’m not going to lose pay over it. I’m going to get some recognition. Yes, it’s not from the organisation itself but I’m going to get something in the way of a financial reward and at least, to some extent, that pegs back a little of the difficulty. I mean, it wasn’t the primary motivation, but it certainly helped.”
The association doesn’t just benefit from Sondra’s increased availability thanks to volunteering leave. She brings professional skills developed through her career at the University to her role, meaning she has even more to offer.
“It enabled me to put into pratice a lot of skills that I’d acquired through other aspects of my job,” she says. “I’ve served on interview panels before; I did have some interview training. I’m also involved with one of the old campus unions here, the CPSU. I could exercise some skills I developed through those processes.
“Some of the people that are involved don’t have the luxury of having acquired those skills through paid work themselves, and so it was useful to bring that information and skill set to what I was doing. So that was rewarding for me personally
and professionally and it benefitted the organisation as well.”
For Dave, volunteering leave allows him to take time to work on events for The Pinnacle Foundation: an organisation he has been involved with since its inception four years ago.
“I’m on a couple of committees for the foundation and we do scholarships and mentoring for GLBTI youth, so they can get into or stay in education,” he says. “So, if someone came out to their parents and they were kicked out of home because of it and they’ve had to work to survive rather than be able to go to university, that’s where Pinnacle comes in.”
Dave spends a lot of his spare time working for the foundation, but the volunteering leave allows him to work on and go to things that he might otherwise struggle to attend.
“I obviously do a lot of work after hours at night, but it makes it so much easier to go to the events which have to be during the week to make sure most people can get to them. It’s great to have that kind of support there so we can do that sort of thing.”
Dave became involved in the Pinnacle Foundation after serving on the univeristy Equity and Diversity Advisory Committee as the GLBTI student rep, and running the Queerspace on campus. When Gail Whiteford (Pro-Vice Chancellor for Social Inclusion) was approached by the Executive Director of the foundationin2008tohelpfindastudentliaison,shedidn’t have to look very far for a suitable candidate. Since then, Dave has never looked back.
“I currently manage all of the social media, so Facebook, Twitter, and I’ve started a blog which the scholars write for. I’m also the university liaison, so I do all of the writing to universities in the lead up to our application deadline,” he says. “And then there’s the event side of things, so we had a launch for the So
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for salepeugot 307 xse
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for sale2009 Hyundai getz s
What: Black, 1.4litre, manual hatch. Garaged, serviced and well looked after. One owner and still under warranty. Recently fully detailed. Aside from standard features, car comes with bluetooth, ipod\iphone connectivity, tinted power windows, alloys, weather shields, dash and floor mats. Very fuel-efficient, compact and ideal for a first car owner.
Price:$9,000negotiable
Contact: Ed for more information or to arrange an inspection at ext. 7345 or at [email protected].
Submit your entry by emailing [email protected]
Meet the Vice-chancellor in the new Macquarie theatre
tuesday 30 october (5.30pm)You’re invited to a public interview with our new Vice-Chancellor, Professor S Bruce Dowton.
In the interview, well-known television presenter and host Richard Morecroft will explore the personal and professional history of Macquarie’s fifth Vice-Chancellor, and find out what makes him tick.
Afterwards join in a toast to celebrate the re-opening of our signature teaching and entertainment space, the Macquarie Theatre, following its refurbishment, which was partially funded by the Australian Government.
location: Macquarie Theatre
Tickets: Free but registration is essentialbyFriday26October.
bruce allen MeMorial lecture: connecting attitudes, aspirations and Values - australia’s Media engageMent in the asia pacific and apprenticeship in soft power
Wednesday 31 october (6pm)In this lecture Murray Green provides a road map for Australia’s media engagement in the Asia Pacific in the light of current thinking about public diplomacy and the potential of Soft Power.
location: Level 3 Function Rooms (C10A)
Tickets: Free but registration is essential.
australian launch of google earth outreach
Monday 5 november (6pm)Macquarie University is partnering with Google to launch Google Earth Outreach, a program designed to help non-profit organisations,NGOsandIndigenouspeoplesinAustraliaandNewZealand.Seesomeoftheenterprisingprojectsfirsthandand be inspired by keynote addresses from Professor Tim Flannery, Engineering Director Google Earth Outreach, Rebecca MooreandEngineeringDirectorGoogleAustralia,AlanNoble.
location: Macquarie Theatre
Tickets: Free but registration is essential.
celebrate the Melbourne cup
tuesday 6 november (2.45pm)You’re invited to the race that stops the nation, broadcast live in the Atrium, with a bite to eat and a drink for you to enjoy. This is an opportunity for us to take a little time out from our busy schedules to come together as a community and enjoy an iconic Australian event. For the University it’s a chance to
acknowledge the contribution of staff across the entire campus.Some staff may already have made other arrangements for Melbourne Cup day, however if you are free, please come along.
location: The Atrium (C10A)
rsVp: Please register online by Wednesday 31 October. Special dietary requirements will be catered for.
draMac presents: ruby Moon, by Matt caMeron
Wednesday 7 - saturday 10 november (8pm) A tale of parents Ray and Sylvie Moon, who struggle to come to terms with the disappearance of their six-year-old daughter Ruby by playing out their agony in a series of fantastical role plays. This wonderfully macabre and surprisingly humorous tale, told with a consistently stylised non naturalism questions the role of guilt, loss and human capacity for truth in a story lined with a shadowy reflection of Australia’s identity.
location: The Lighthouse Theatre (W11A)
Tickets: Available at the door. To reserve your seat please email [email protected]. Staff($12),adults($15)
SALt Festive Appeal
thank you for your support - every dollar counts!
Please help us to raise money this festive
season to purchase presents for local families
in need.
SALt is a student-driven food bank initiative. the aim of SALt is to provide a better place to live for residents of the Ivanhoe Place Estate through the
delivery of food from our associated businesses on campus.
Foundation way back when, and each year we kind of launch
the scholars that are selected. So I’ve been involved in all sides
of marketing.”
Despite their very different communities, Sondra and Dave
agree that volunteering leave has made a real difference not
only to them, but to the organisations they work for and both
would encourage you to take full advantage of it.
As Sondra would say: “Don’t underestimate your potential
for giving.”
You can find more information about the Pinnacle Foundation and
the Association of Blind Citizens of New South Wales online.
Take a two-minute volunteering leave survey to let us know how we can promote and support you in finding volunteering opportunities that interest you.
continued from page seven
Dave rorke
For your diary
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the University transport survey results are in, and with them a few surprises. Compared to the last survey, the results are telling of the changing face of transportation.“Wehaveseenabigchangesince2008.Lesspeoplearedriving in alone and more are opting to take other modes of transport such as the train and bus. This is good news for local infrastructure, traffic, and the environment, and of course the fitness and wellbeing of staff and students,” says sustainability manager Hilary Bekmann.
The survey also reveals that we are spending more time on campus, which means less travel is required during the day.
It was no surprise that the vast majority of staff and students who drive said they do so for reasons of convenience. Many of those not driving pointed to reasons such as the environment, less stress and to have time to themselves.
“Many are finding the opportunity within their transport choices to be more thoughtful about how they travel, so that getting here is a part of the day that they enjoy rather than a part that’s lost,” says Hilary.
One of the surprises from the survey were the answers to the question ‘what could Macquarie University do to make transport better?’
“A few people touched on the need for carpooling websites, which was a surprise because we already have one powered by Jayride. There is a link from our transport page, but it would be good to spread the word if people aren’t aware of it already,” says Hilary.
Some chose to have a bit of fun with their responses. Segways, canals, waterslides, teleporters and aeroplanes were some of
the more creative suggestions on how to improve transport on campus. Another perhaps more ambitious suggestion was building a private underground railway, which connects directly to your front door.
People were also keen to improve access to Y3A with ideas including a private station and a monorail. One person who obviously knew who was behind the survey gave the honest response - “Ha ha! I wish I had the answers Hilary!!”
NowthatalltheinformationhasbeencollectedHilaryandherteam are working hard to make sure that data is considered for future planning and managing transport.
“It is a community effort to better transport and we are committed to doing the best we can to improve it for staff, students and the wider public. The survey is an important part of how we address transport issues on campus. The better the data we have, the better we can direct our efforts, both providing services within the campus and working with Local and State Government to improve services to and from it” says Hilary.
“To all of you who took the time to fill out the transport survey – thank you for your efforts.”
All those who took part in the survey went in the running to win a prize and congratulations go to staff member Matthew Louie from Campus Wellbeing and student Madeline Greenberg. Each receivedaRedBalloonvouchervaluedat$200.
SUrvEY
•Almost3500responsestothesurvey•Anincreaseof12%studentsand6%staffarriving to the University by means other than drivingalonefrom2010andawhopping18.5%studentsand12.3%stafffrom2008levels•ThemajorityofpeoplegettotheCampusinunder 40mins•Mostspendunder$100amonthontravel.
transport surveySNAP SHot
S SA Y
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We welcome your comments and suggestions. For all enquiries please contact the Communications team by calling [email protected] more information about how to submit content, please visit staffnews.mq.edu.au.
Mentoring - staff surVeyYou are invited to participate in a research project investigating yourexperiencesandunderstandingsofMENTORING.
Findings from this research will be used to further develop approaches to mentoring designed to support staff in the university context.
If you decide to participate, you will be asked to complete an anonymous online questionnaire that will take about 10 minutes to finish.
take the survey now.
If you have any questions about the research you can contact
Dr Trudy Ambler [email protected]
social judgMent studyHealthy adults (i.e. no brain injury, neurological or psychiatric illness) wanted for a study of social judgment at Macquarie University.
Youwillbereimbursed$15/hourforaround4hoursofyourtime.Mustbeaged18-60yrswithEnglishasyournativelanguage.
Please contact Jonathan McGuire for more information on ext. 4433 or [email protected].
aluMni office updateAfter much anticipation Alumni Relations is pleased to announce the launch of Alumni in the Spotlight, a great new feature of the Alumni Web Community. Alumni in the Spotlight has three main areas;
1. Outstanding Alumni showcases some of Macquarie University’s outstanding alumni including; Hugh Riminton - NationalPoliticalEditorandBureauChiefinCanberra,NetworkTen; Dr Catherine Livingstone AO - Company Director of Telsta CorporationLtd;NapoleonPerdis-Owner/Director/CEOofNapoleonPerdisCosmeticCompany;DrCathyFoley-ChiefofMaterials Science and Engineering, CSIRO.
2.AlumniintheNewsoffersaccesstoaselectionofcurrentnews articles featuring alumni who are making headlines.
3. Alumni Experiences enables all alumni - whether they have landed an exciting international opportunity, become a parent or travelled the globe - the opportunity to share their greatest achievement since Macquarie, or their fondest memory of their university days.
We will also highlight a member of the Macquarie Alumni Linkedin Group in this space and invite alumni and other stakeholders to “join the conversation”, via our social media platforms.
If you have any questions or comments, please direct them to:
bulletinb ardSubmit your notice by emailing [email protected]
Kristy White [email protected], Manager, Alumni Relations or Shannon Tricklebank [email protected] Alumni Relations Coordinator.
2ser fundraiser2ser is an indepedent radio station broadcasting on 107.3FM to the greater Sydney area, and worldwide via online streaming right here on campus. 2ser is not for profit and relies on support to help remain local, independent and real.
Foraslittleas$35youcanhelp2serbycalling95149500oronline at 2ser.com to pledge your support.
Share the love and support 2ser before 27 October and you go into the major prize draw to win a whole year’s worth of entertainment with Belvoir theatre tickets, CDs from Inertia, gigs at The Basement, Hopscotch DVD’s, Palace cinema tickets and an Oxx digital radio.
There’s also brand new 2ser t-shirts, Sony headphones and Peats Ridge Festival tickets up for grabs and you go into the daily prize draw to win a Chez Dee Fresh Food Hamper.
staff café christMas MenuFrom6Novemberto21December,getanyfestivemainmealanddessertforonly$18.
ForbookingspleasecontactSarahGrahamonext.7646oremail [email protected].
Visit campuslife.mq.edu.au/staffcafe to view the Christmas menu.
blackboard decoMMission reMinderTheWebct/BlackboardCE8instanceatlearn.mq.edu.au will cease to exist from 31 December 2012. Staff and students will loseaccesson30November2012.
Most units have been migrated to iLearn, however it appears that there are still some users using Blackboard. Please make sure that you have logged in to Blackboard and copied all material that you wish to retain. You can reset your blackboard password from the “Have you forgotten your password?” link.
We will still be able to access backups of content after this date. However this is a costly and lengthy process and the costs will be passed on to the Departments seeking access.
More information and key milestones for the project can be accessed from the iLearn website.
If you have any questions please contact Mr James Hamilton ([email protected]) or the project manager Shirley Li ([email protected]).