Brian Johns examines future of television
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QUT Central Administration 2 George Street Brisbane 4000 Telephone (07) 3864 2111 Registered by Australia Post – Publication No. QBF 4778
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IVF study brings hope
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Changed career focus leads to optometry
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Queensland University of Technology Newspaper • Issue ... • Month, 1999 Queensland University of Technology Newspaper • Issue 201 • April 11 – May 8, 2000
By Andrea Hammond
Q
UT will introduce Australia’s first accelerated degree focusing on the business of biotechnology from 2001.The three-year biotechnology honours degree is specifically designed for high-achieving students and will dovetail into either a Master of Business or a scientific PhD.
Biotechnology, research and legal partners in the program will provide three- to 12-month internships and
“real-world” lectures as part of the graduate studies.
Acting head of QUT’s School of Life Sciences Professor Adrian Herington said the program aimed to produce the next generation of business-focused biotechnologists.
“This program will give our graduates enhanced opportunities for employment in biotechnology – one of the fastest growing industries in the world,”
Professor Herington said.
“Graduates will combine a deep understanding of science and other business subjects like marketing, product commercialisation, communication, intellectual property and entrepreneurship.
“It will mean they will be able to walk into jobs with companies that are
QUT has broken with education convention by launching a simple new Web address, qut.com, shortening the existing http://www.qut.edu.au address.
QUT Vice-Chancellor Professor Dennis Gibson said the new Web address was easy to remember, international, and a good fit for the university’s “real world” image as it developed its e-business strategies.
“Our corporate image is more commercial than other universities and
looking for people who can do the science and can also take advantage of the commercial imperatives.”
Professor Herington said biotechnology provided “substantial opportunities” to build a technology- based, “smart” economy in Queensland with access to the global market.
His comments were supported by State Government figures released this month which estimated Brisbane is set for a boom in biotechnology over the next five years.
Queensland’s biotechnology industry employed about 1,040 people last year and has a 7.6 per cent growth rate.
The QUT program will accept 30 students from 2001.
It will be delivered with the help of a Federal Government grant of
$1.46million awarded to QUT under a Science Lectureship Program announced last month. The State Government has also contributed $200,000.
Industry partners in the QUT program include Genetic Solutions, Davies Collison Cave, CSIRO Plant Industry, CSIRO Tropical Agriculture, Queensland Institute of Medical Research, Mater Medical Research Institute, Bureau of Sugar Experiment Stations and CRC Diagnostic Technologies.
QUT leads in biotech teaching
By Margaret Lawson
A team in QUT’s School of Accountancy has developed a board game to help charities prepare for the GST.
Associate Professor Myles McGregor- Lowndes said the game, a “cross- between Monopoly and Payday”, was helping train hundreds of charity workers around the country.
“Figures released this week show that only 3,607 of around 250,000 eligible charities have registered for an Australian Business Number,” he said.
“This is concerning because those who don’t register before July 1 will have to pay income tax for the first time and donors will lose deductions for gifts.
Board game prepares charities for GST
GST challenge … School of Accountancy associate lecturer Carolyn Vincent, Associate Professor Myles McGregor-Lowndes and head of school Professor Peter Little try out the GST board game.
“We’re trying to use the game to raise awareness about the GST and prevent the grave threat to the delivery of many community services.”
Professor McGregor-Lowndes said the game worked by giving people the opportunity to use all the skills necessary to deal with typical GST transactions.
“People play in teams representing different types of organisations, like churches or sporting associations and move around the board by rolling a dice,” Professor McGregor-Lowndes said.
“Each time they land on a square the team is presented with a transaction to consider, discuss, solve and then record using GST techniques.
“The game works so well because people get practical experience of GST record-keeping in a range of situations.”
Professor McGregor-Lowndes said the team was already using the game in training sessions around Australia and planned to make it available to charities.
“At the moment we are using the game to supplement training, but we have also developed instructions so it can be used independently,” Professor McGregor- Lowndes said.
Professor McGregor-Lowndes is a member of the Charities Consultative Committee and is a legal expert in non- profit and charity law and taxation.
Charities can receive free copies of the game by calling 3864 5292.
we are seeking to emphasise this difference,” Professor Gibson said.
“There is no rule that says a university must have a heraldic logo or an edu.au address. The big plus is that QUT is our name and qut.com is very easy for people to remember.
“It can be used more effectively in electronic or print advertising and will be much easier to recall.
“Some 38 per cent of our local potential undergraduate students
navigate our Website and this figure will only grow. For international students, the figure is higher.”
He said .com addresses no longer signified a US location but were now seen as international addresses.
“Our new qut.com address has been used as the focus for a Singapore advertising campaign with excellent results measured by Website hits,” he said.
To match the Website, QUT’s email addresses are also abbreviated. For
New university Website address clicks naturally into cyberspace
example, A Smith’s email address will be [email protected]
Professor Gibson said existing Web and email addresses would work in parallel with the new addresses.
“Over time, as we reprint our business cards and brochures, qut.com will take over,” he said.
Professor Gibson said that qut.com;
www.qut.com; and http://www.qut.edu.au would all connect to the university Website.
Page 2 INSIDE QUT April 10 – May 8, 2000
From the Inside ... From the Inside ... From the Inside ... From the Inside ... by David Hawke by David Hawke by David Hawke by David Hawke
A word from the Vice-Chancellor G lobal focus sharpened
I
nternational marketing efforts have been stepped up at QUT with a renewed focus on Asian, and particularly South-East Asian, initiatives.International marketing director Kieran O’Brien and other senior staff recently returned from a tour of Malaysia, Singapore, Hong Kong and China to launch joint projects with the Queensland Ministry of Education and to cement relationships with a range of higher education institutions.
“QUT is now an international university based in Brisbane rather than a Brisbane university with international students,” Mr O’Brien said.
“We see our constituency as global rather than regional. QUT, with 3,000 international students, competes favourably with some major universities in the UK and the US,” he said.
Mr O’Brien said QUT’s international focus was of great benefit to local students who would be able to take advantage of international exchange agreements and other teaching and learning opportunities abroad.
He said QUT held graduation ceremonies in Kuala Lumpur, Singapore and Hong Kong, and staff arranged alumni events and participated in major education marketing fairs.
Queensland Minister for Education Dean Wells visited China and Malaysia with a delegation which included QUT representatives.
During his trip to Kuala Lumpur Mr Wells launched the Queensland Scholars Award which aims to bring top scholars to study in the State.
QUT and Macaquarie Bank are sponsoring the first scholarship winner who will come from Malaysia.
Mr Wells said the scheme was a joint project of the Queensland corporate sector, the Queensland Government and State universities which aimed to build friendship and business in the region.
He described QUT as one of Australia’s largest universities and a leading provider of innovative and relevant professional education.
“The high level of financial support, the opportunity to gain professional experience in a major Queensland organisation, and the quality and diversity of our universities combine to make this a world-class scholarship program,” Mr Wells said.
“Malaysia is the most important market for both Australian and Queensland education providers, with more than15,660 students studying in Australia in 1998, of whom 2,354 were in Queensland.”
In Shanghai, Mr Wells signed a planning agreement on education co- operation between Shanghai and Queensland for 2000.
QUT academics have been engaged in ground-breaking research into improving quality in the workplace.
The research was conducted over nearly two years in collaboration with Queensland’s Department of Main Roads and the Office of the Public Service Commissioner.
Australian Centre in Strategic Management researchers Dr Mark Griffin and PhD student Alannah Rafferty say in a paper that
“interventions” aimed at improving leadership within work groups are particularly powerful ways of making workplace improvements.
Their award-winning paper will be presented at the prestigious Academy of Management’s annual conference in Toronto later this year.
Dr Griffin said examples of interventions – or improvement activities – could include simple
Research looks at workplace change
activities such as clarifying employees’
job requirements or conducting work unit meetings in a more open fashion.
“Improvement activities can also be more complex, such as formal training programs,” Dr Griffin said.
“The important thing is that work units have information about improvement activities, that they are supported when conducting improvement activities and that these activities are monitored and evaluated.”
Dr Griffin said an important finding was that work units which reported poor quality-of-work-life perceptions were less likely to adopt successful change activities.
“They were less likely to adopt the best type of improvement activities and were also less likely to direct them broadly enough,” he explained.
– Trina McLellan Two Australian journalism researchers
have called on the media to spend more time understanding how traumatic incidents impact on individuals, communities and themselves – or face the prospect of litigation and regulation.
Trina McLellan and Philip Castle – both Master of Arts research students in the School of Media and Journalism – have been examining the impact of news reporting on the victims and survivors of major incidents as well as the impact of reporting such news on journalists themselves.
The former journalists presented some of their findings at the Third World Conference for the International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies in Melbourne last month.
Ms McLellan’s two-year study has included interviews with a range of victims and survivors of the 1996 Port
Spotlight on trauma reporting
Arthur massacre as well as several experts who responded to this tragic event.
"Sadly, Australia’s recent history is littered with instances of media malpractice, where the most vulnerable people – who themselves have been innocent of any wrongdoing – have been appallingly treated," Ms McLellan said.
“Most people in complex and brutal situations like Port Arthur admit they simply did not have the skills nor, quite frankly, the immediate mental strength or emotional energy to cope with intrusive and provocative questions from the media.
“They praised the actions of media who were respectful and sensitive, but were highly critical of those who were not.”
Mr Castle said, ironically, covering such stark and shocking crimes – especially continuously – caused problems for journalists themselves.
So far Mr Castle’s two-year study of journalists has examined the impact on a number of people who covered the PNG tsunami in 1998, the Thredbo landslide and the Port Arthur massacre.
He has also visited media outlets in the United Kindgom and in North America.
“I also spoke at length to one of the world’s leading experts on post- traumatic stress disorder, Dr Frank Ochberg, who is encouraging researchers to work in this area through the DART Foundation,” Mr Castle said.
Dr Ochberg – who led a special half- day workshop on trauma in the newsroom at QUT’s School of Media and Journalism late last month – is the leading proponent of an international journalism support group called Coverage Unlimited, of which Mr Castle is a board member.
Learning maths and statistics can be fun when the Internet becomes part of the school program, a QUT study has found.
A two-year study by QUT maths, science and technology researchers Associate Professor Lyn English and Dr Kathryn Charles found that using the Internet could improve students’ maths learning skills, increase their motivation and overcome boredom.
Compared to simply learning from textbooks, students developed a deeper understanding of statistics, developed more critical thinking skills and learnt faster by using the Internet, said Professor English.
In the study involving Brisbane and Canadian schools, the students created
Study finds Internet makes statistics fun
their own survey questions about teenage life, analysed the data and then created maths problems based on their findings.
The Australian and Canadian students worked together on the project and posted the survey questions, results and problems on their own Website, said Professor English. They then solved one another’s problems and provided constructive feedback via the Internet.
“Statistics can be very boring for students, but using the Internet in an interactive way can motivate and interest the students in the topic,” Professor English said.
She said working with overseas classmates also boosted students’ interest in tackling maths problems and taught them to appreciate cultural differences.
Education Minister Dean Wells (centre) witnesses an agreement signed by Nanjing Polytechnic College president Professor Min Guangtai and QUT’s IT Dean, Professor John Gough.
The university’s move to the simplified Web and email address, qut.com, is one of many steps we are taking to respond to the reality of an increasingly electronic world.
QUT has been among the most creative of Australian universities in realising the potential of information and communication technology to improve the way we perform our core business.
QUT Virtual is acknowledged as one of the most advanced university
“intranets” in the range of services and information that it offers to students and staff. It sits within a university Website that caters for everyone from prospective students to final-year students looking for work, and from alumni seeking to keep in touch with their former classmates to visitors browsing for information.
The QUT online teaching system provides a framework to harness electronic resources in teaching, from a core group of electronic services offered in all units up to complete online delivery of some units.
A challenge for the immediate future is to expand the use of the
The electronic university
electronic medium in administration, converting, for example, our document delivery systems to a totally electronic basis. We also need to develop curriculum to prepare students for work in an electronic world, for example, by building on our existing programs in e-commerce.
As a university with a history of embracing technology, and with a particularly strong Faculty of Information Technology, I believe QUT is well placed to flourish in the electronic world. The qut.com address is one more step towards the electronic university.
– Professor Dennis Gibson
By Andrea Hammond
D
igital television offered significant opportunities to take Australian content to regional areas, former ABC managing director Brian Johns told a QUT Leaders Forum recently.Changes offered by digital television were “more profound” than the Industrial Revolution, Mr Johns told the Business Faculty’s Forum in March.
Mr Johns joined QUT’s School of Media and Journalism as an adjunct professor this month.
He addressed business leaders before fielding questions from a panel that included The Courier-Mail Perspectives Page editor and former ABC Radio journalist Anna Reynolds.
“History shows us that there were spectacular winners and losers in the 17th and 18th centuries as mechanisation accelerated the rate of production,” he said.
“My message today is that we need – more than ever – to value the quality, the richness, the diversity of the information and entertainment which is the commodity of this revolution.
“Technology is merely a means of distribution. For there to be substance to this revolution the content must be relevant to Australians, it must add to their lives and expand their horizons.
“The content must bind us as a nation, as well as feed our individual tastes. It must be a means of education, as well as entertainment, and help us do our business more intelligently.”
Mr Johns said Australia needed to avoid repeating the “mistakes of the past” when Australia’s pioneering film industry lost its edge to Hollywood.
“Suffice to say that in this new information era, Australia has an opportunity to be on the ground floor in creating content that is ours.”
New TV era promising – Brian Johns
On Queensland being left without a State-based ABC 7.30 Report:
“I do in fact regret that we have not been sufficiently successful in generating that (State-based) current affairs on television. We do it well on radio, we’re doing it online, but we’ve failed to do it strongly enough on television. I believe that will be remedied when we move to digital broadcasting.”
On what he will talk to students about as a QUT adjunct professor:
“I reckon there are about 20 lectures to develop, discuss, explore and examine. I just gave the headlines today. I don’t think there’s going to be any shortage of topics.
Brian Johns’ responses to some questions from the panel
Former ABC managing director Brian Johns (far right) with (from left) panel members, School of Communication Associate Professor Greg Hearn, The Courier-Mail’s Anna Reynolds and CEO of the Australian Institute of Marketing in Queensland Carolyn Barker.
On federal funding and the proposed ABC/Telstra Internet arrangement:
“The nature of public broadcasting, just as the nature of the media, is a daily battle.
“I can’t guarantee that any government won’t say ‘well if you’ve earned
$67.5million from Telstra – that’s $67.5 million you’re going to get less from us’, I can’t guarantee that, but if it was done by any government it would be just beyond the pale.
“And, to be fair, the ABC has been earning quite good money for itself – about $10 or $12million mainly out of enterprises – for some years now and that hasn’t been held against us.”
Mentoring pays dividends in the bush
QUT and a Brisbane-based software company are collaborating to develop software to take advantage of investment opportunities on the Internet.
The joint research project between QUT’s School of Information Systems and Global Banking and Securities Transactions (GBST) will be funded by an Australian Research Council SPIRT grant and equal funding from GBST.
The total grant is worth about
$800,000 over three years.
Research will be led by lecturers David Edmond and Arthur ter Hofstede who will develop and test software.
Mr Edmond said a new computer program would be designed to continuously scan the Internet, tracking investment opportunities and matching investors with entrepreneurs.
Market software developed
The researchers expect to develop the software using a “reflection technique”, whereby the software automatically adapts to meet changing conditions in the financial or investment markets.
“The tricky part of the research will be to test the software off the Web,” Mr Edmond said.
“We will have to try to mimic the Internet in a simulated environment so that we can experiment with developmental software,” he said.
The study will involve two PhD students and a post-doctoral fellow.
Mr Edmond said that GBST had a long-standing relationship with QUT’s IT Faculty.
GBST is Australia’s leading provider of front and back-office trading technology.
A power failure that caused the cancellation of classes in Z block on March 31 was a “one in 15-year event”, according to campus manager Paul Abernethy.
Mr Abernethy said the disruption was caused when a connection in the building’s power system failed and reduced the supply of available electricity.
“It was one of those unpredictable events that happens vary rarely,” he said.
Power failure ‘a one-off event ’
By Colleen Ryan Clur
A QUT-led project which aims to improve teaching and learning at schools in remote areas has come to an end after three successful years.
School of Professional Studies academic Dr Allan Yarrow led the project which has seen 60 teacher interns work in rural and remote areas of Queensland over the past three years.
Dr Yarrow said the mentor/intern model adopted for the scheme had been well received by students, teachers and schools.
The project was funded by an ARC partnership grant of $250,000 and was conducted in collaboration with Education Queensland, the Priority Country Area Program (PCAP), the Queensland Teachers’ Union (QTU) and the Board of Teacher Registration (BTR).
Interns, fourth-year teaching students who had completed their academic and practical training, chose to participate in the scheme as an elective subject.
As associate teachers they were matched with mentors in rural and remote schools, including some one- teacher schools, where they shared the teaching load for six weeks.
“The pay-off for mentors is they had 50 per cent of their teaching time off which left them free to do other things like professional development work, marking and preparing classwork,” Dr Yarrow said.
Project team member Dr Jan Millwater said mentors and associate teachers were not paid (except for assistance with accommodation and travelling expenses) but both sides had benefitted.
Associate teachers gained valuable practical experience and teachers learned from their younger colleagues within a collegial context, she said.
“The exciting spinoff from the project is that it helped to interest people about teaching in the bush,” Dr Millwater said.
Several intern teachers were offered permanent positions at the schools in which they worked and some were still working at these locations.
“Rural and remote schools are crying out for better prepared teachers. The
scheme was not just about working for oneself, but working with and for the community,” she said.
A mentor/intern program was first tested in Brisbane in 1994 and, since 1997, the scheme has been extended to regional and remote areas, including Roma, Charleville, Quilpie, Cape York, Thursday Island, Cooktown, Longreach, Winton and Mt Isa.
Other QUT team members were Professor Brian Hansford, Associate Professor Roy Ballantyne, Paul Herschell and John Short.
Promomting teaching and learning in the bush … Dr Jan Millwater and Dr Allan Yarrow from the School of Professional Education.
“There were disruptions to lifts and air-conditioning in Z, C and S Blocks over three days while the power supply was low.
“We minimised class disruptions by shutting down Z Block for repairs on a Friday afternoon and we tried to give staff and students some notice this was going to happen.”
Mr Abernethy said there had been no further problems since a new switch was installed in the building.
The Division of Information and Academic Services will recognise good teaching in its first presentation for the year later this month.
A Recognising good teaching showcase will take place on in room 310, S Block, Gardens Point, on April 13 between 9.30 and 11.30am.
Showcase features good teaching
Page 4 INSIDE QUT April 10 – May 8, 2000
QUT has a change of address. It’s a big job moving a whole university but now you’ll find it impossible to forget where we are.
It’s a real no-nonsense, information-rich website with helpful features like Coursefinder which lets you match careers and courses. qut.com Visit us real soon.
A university for the real world
w h e r e a r e y o u g o i n g ?
Real new web address
Real simplicity
Real help finding the right course
Real website for the real world By Margaret Lawson
R
esearchers at QUT and the Wesley IVF Service are engaged in a world- first study to improve in vitro fertilisation (IVF) success rates by investigating bacteria that attach to sperm.Postdoctoral research fellow Dr Christine Knox is leading the research which may give hope to thousands of couples using IVF procedures. The current success rate in IVF procedures in Australia and New Zealand is 16 per cent.
Dr Knox said her study aimed to identify cases in which IVF failure was caused by the bacterium Ureaplasma urealyticum (ureaplasma).
“Ureaplasmas are commonly present in both male and female genital tracts without causing any problems,” Dr Knox said.
“But when a pregnancy occurs this bacterium sometimes infects the placenta and leads to pregnancy failure or pre-term delivery.
“If we can identify when and why this happens it might be possible to develop ways to recognise and treat the problem before patients enter IVF programs.”
IVF research
brings hope to infertile couples
Dr Knox said 30 per cent of couples on IVF programs were infected with ureaplasmas and were likely to have problems conceiving.
“We suspect bacteria attached to sperm are the source of infection and have shown that standard sperm- washing does not remove these bacteria in 50 per cent of cases,” she said.
“This increases the risk of infection of the embryo and placenta and decreases the couple’s chances of conception.”
Dr Knox has received funding from the Wesley Research Institute to screen infertile couples.
“Over the next two years all couples using the Wesley IVF Service will be asked to participate in the research project,” Dr Knox said.
“That will involve testing semen for this organism before and after washing as well as examining a swab from the female partner.”
Dr Knox said researchers would then monitor the progress of the couple in the program and identify whether the presence of the organism in either partner hindered their success.
A QUT occupational health and safety study has found many chiropractors may be at risk of serious back injury because of their work.
QUT Faculty of Health master’s student Ken Lorme, himself a chiropractor, revealed his findings after 15 months of investigation and experiments involving seven chiropractors working on chiropractic tables at three heights.
The results found chiropractors working on the lowest tables had the greatest chance of injuring themselves and that those who switched to adjustable height tables reduced the risk of back strain by 25 per cent.
“The study showed that different people had different ideal heights, and that is why it’s essential to have adjustable tables,” Dr Lorme said.
“When you’re looking at a 40-year career, reducing the risk of back strain by 25 per cent every day will decrease your chance of long-term problems.”
His research tested chiropractors who use the “diversified technique” – the most common clinical method – and found the height of chiropractic tables was a factor in back pain risk.
“The number one recommendation from my research is that height- adjustable tables need to become the norm in the profession.”
Chiropractors risk back
pain – study
Crime on the rise, warns Security Office
Researchers at QUT are working to ensure communities are prepared for floods, cyclones and bushfires – by training school children to be disaster management experts.
A QUT team has released a CD- Rom designed to ensure primary and high school children throughout the nation understand the basics of fire drills, cyclone preparation and sandbagging.
School of Professional Studies Associate Professor John Lidstone said the best way to ensure community readiness was often via the youngest members of the household.
“School children are never too young to learn about disaster management,” Dr Lidstone said.
“First of all, kids talk to their parents and, in particular, they love to talk about what they learn at school.
“Secondly, children at school are in ‘learning mode’ and it is relatively easy to integrate learning about potential hazards and safety drills into the existing curriculum.
“Finally, the kids of today are the adults of tomorrow and at this stage we can get at them with our safety messages.”
Dr Lidstone said he realised the value of teaching very young children disaster management the day his seven-year old daughter came home
from primary school and instructed him in fire drill basics.
Dr Lidstone has persuaded Emergency Management Australia, the federal body that co-ordinates the various State Emergency Services in Australia, that their disaster training programs should start in primary and high schools.
The new CD-Rom called Hazards Happen, has been designed particularly to be included in school geography lessons.
It includes information about Australia’s biggest air, fire, earth and
water disasters such as Cyclone Tracey, the Brisbane floods, Ash Wednesday, the Newcastle earthquake and the Thredbo landslide.
Each of the four sections contains photographs, scientific explanations as well as activities, games and quizzes based on the preparations that households need to consider.
Margot Duncan, who is currently doing her PhD on design theory for education hypermedia programs, did the programming and design work on the CD-Rom.
– Andrea Hammond
CD-Rom teaches disaster basics
PhD student Margot Duncan and School of Professional Studies Associate Professor John Lidstone try out a new disaster- management CD-Rom designed for school children.
It seems there is no end to the lengths to which some people will go to get a park on campus. Parking Office staff report that “one or two” unscrupulous individuals have found an alternative way to obtain parking at Gardens Point campus.
They discovered one exit gate that will spring open if a car approaches from the wrong way. They activated the boom and then sneaked their car in through the exit.
Campus parking officer Veronica O’Sullivan warns that patrols have been stepped up and “$30 fines apply to all people entering regulated parking areas without a permit”.
Petty crime and theft of computer components has increased significantly at Gardens Point campus this year and, in most cases, property was not adequately secured, said security manager Fergus Ross.
He said last month nearly two incidents a day had been reported to the Security Office.
“In 80 per cent of cases property was left unsecured, unlocked and unattended,”
he said.
“The message is we need to get people
to take better care of their belongings.
“There have been a number of cases where staff have left their office or working area unattended in the blind belief that their possessions would still be there when they returned.
“In three cases staff have returned to confront would-be thieves,” he said.
Mr Ross said “villains” appeared to have discovered Gardens Point and would regard the campus as an easy target
unless staff improved their security habits.
He urged people to lock unattended working areas and to report suspicious people to the Security Office.
“QUT has 24-hour security coverage on all campuses, but security officers are being stretched by the increase in demand because some staff and students are not taking care of their own or university property.”
The Security Office number is 3864 5585 while the emergency number is 3864 5555.
Dr Christine Knox’s IVF research brings hope to infertile couples.
By Margaret Lawson
F
eng Shui-designed offices and super- smart lecture theatres feature in the Brisbane Graduate School of Business’new, $1.4million facility, recently unveiled in B Block at QUT’s Gardens Point campus.
The facility – which includes desks in the school’s ultra-modern theatres equipped with power and data adaptors for laptops – is one of the most sophisticated in an Australian business school.
Graduate School of Business head Professor Evan Douglas said the new facility – which also features a student common room and 24-hour computer lab – was designed to suit the needs of the school’s 900 MBA, graduate diploma and graduate certificate students.
“Most of our students are part-time and work full-time in business or management roles,” Professor Douglas said.
“We needed a learning environment that is like an extension of their office, somewhere they can be productive and have immediate access to all the services they need.
“To achieve this, staff offices on the fourth floor are on the same level as the lecture theatres, as are the computer labs, student work rooms and common room.
“On the ground floor, Graduate School students can access a service centre to check or change their enrolment and sort out administration issues.”
Professor Douglas said the school’s layout was designed to make students feel comfortable and maximise their productivity.
School unveils super-smart facility
“We enlisted the help of a Feng Shui consultant to make sure all the different elements in the school work well together,” Professor Douglas said.
“I think the end result is one of the best business school facilities in Australia.”
QUT Chancellor Dr Cherrell Hirst, who officially opened the new facility last month, said the BGSB development represented a step forward in the way universities thought about their students.
Final semester MBA student Robin Mack clicks into the latest marketing Internet sites during his lecture in a new super-smart Brisbane Graduate School of Business lecture theatre.
The Faculty of Business is creating a student precinct for current and potential students with undergraduate, postgraduate and international enquiry counters now based together on level 4 of Z Block.
Faculty Academic Services Manager Kathleen O’Hare said the faculty was trying to create a “one-stop” student information centre. A separate enquiries facility is available for Graduate School of Business students in B Block.
“Our front-line customer service staff will undergo training to broaden their knowledge of the Faculty’s programs so they can answer queries from undergraduate, postgraduate and research students,” Ms O’Hare said.
Previously, postgraduate students had to visit the Research and Graduate Studies Offices in B Block, while students interested in the international exchange program had to find the exchange officer on Level 11 of Z Block.
“By putting our front-line staff together in one place, we are conserving our staff resources, offering a better service to our students and echoing the university’s student centre concept of one point of referral only,” she said.
Ms O’Hare said the relocation of the faculty’s international programs and External Relations office to level 4 made for a more accessible and welcoming environment for international students and for local students who were interested in studying abroad.
Service
stepped up for students
“Fundamental to the concept developed by the BGSB is the idea of service to students,” Dr Hirst said.
“This new facility is a tremendous model for every university in the country.”
Sashes highlight achievements
Maureen Ah Sam models an Aboriginal sash which has been designed to be worn at graduations as a “discreet recognition of indigenous students’ identity”.
Speedy new book delivery
By Noel Gentner
Th i s y e a r , f o r t h e f i r s t t i m e , indigenous students at QUT can wear special sashes at graduation ceremonies.
The striking sashes were worn for the first time at February graduation ceremonies.
T h e y w i l l b e w o r n b y m o r e g r a d u a t e s a t c e r e m o n i e s t a k i n g place later this month and next month.
The sashes come in two types.
On e i s i n t h e c o l o u r s o f t h e Aboriginal flag (black, red and yellow). A second is in the colours of the Torres Strait Islands’ flag (blue, green, black and white).
Indigenous students called for the introduction of sashes in 1997 and approval was sought for the plan by Oodgeroo Unit manager Penny Tripcony.
Ms Tripcony said her unit provided the sashes “which were a discreet recognition of their (indigenous students) identity”.
Wearing the sashes is optional for indigenous students.
“ S t u d e n t s a r e p r o u d o f h a v i n g m a d e i t , a s a l o t o f t h e m s t a r t (their studies) f r o m w e l l b e h i n d , ” M s T r i p c o n y s a i d .
“The student is often the first person in their family to go to a tertiary institution.
“There are some from far-flung communities, urban centres and country towns where they have broken the cycle by coming to a university and, hopefully, starting something by being a model for their own community.
“ W e f e e l i t i s a w o n d e r f u l a c h i e v e m e n t a n d n e e d s t o b e celebrated.”
A quiet revolution in service has taken place at the QUT Library through the re-engineering of ordering, receiving and cataloguing of book selections.
In a partnership with a major supplier of books and journals, Blackwells, the QUT Library has speeded up the process of getting new books onto the shelves.
It now takes a third of the time that it did two years ago to get books and journals onto the library shelves – with less staff involved.
Information Resources associate director Carolyn Young said the re- engineering process was a development of on-line interfaces between Blackwells and the library.
“Liaison librarians now order most books directly on the Blackwell’s system and loop back to load the order on the library’s catalogue,” she said.
“Each week, books are airfreighted from overseas and road-freighted from Sydney.”
The future of education and training in Brisbane’s north will be the subject of a Flexible Futures symposium at QUT’s Carseldine campus next month.
Hosted jointly by QUT and the North Point Institute of TAFE, the Flexible Futures in Education and Training symposium will run from 8.30am to 4pm on April 14.
Around 80 guests representing local, state and Federal Government, university and TAFE sectors, and local industry and secondary schools will attend.
The event aims to develop strategies to ensure education and training meet the future social and economic needs of northern Brisbane communities.
QUT Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Northern Corridor Development) Associate Professor Adam Shoemaker said the symposium would provide an opportunity to plan and share information and ideas.
“It is critically important to develop innovative, integrated strategies for education in Brisbane’s north or this region risks being left behind in the new knowledge-based economy,” he said.
Carseldine explores some flexible futures
“This conference will consider issues such as education and regional development, partnerships with local industry and community organisations, and technology and flexible options for learning.”
Managing director and CEO of Brisbane Airport Corporation Koen Rooijmans said there was great potential for collaboration between business, industry, education and Government.
“We are currently working to turn Brisbane’s city airport into an airport city. This will mean jobs in new industries in the north and will change education and training needed and the methods for delivering it,” Mr Rooijmans said.
Mr Rooijmans will lead a workshop at the symposium titled Creative Partnerships with Industry and Regional Government.
•QUT will also host a Mature-Age and Alternative Entry Information Seminar at Carseldine in the new Cybercafe on Sunday, May 7.
QTAC and QUT staff will talk about courses and university admissions from 1 to 4pm.
Page 6 INSIDE QUT March 28 – April 10, 2000
AUDIT OFFICE
By Amanda O’Chee
F
eminists have largely failed women on the issue of prostitution, letting men escape responsibility and blame, according to a QUT academic and author.Male clients were “invisible” in the prostitution debate and should be put under the spotlight of prostitution policy makers, legislators and feminists, according to QUT justice studies lecturer Dr Belinda Carpenter.
I n h e r n e w b o o k R e t h i n k i n g prostitution: Feminism, sex and the self – released by Peter Lange publishing company – Dr Carpenter criticised f e m i n i s t s f o r s e t t i n g d o u b l e s t a n d a r d s f o r w o m e n o n t h e prostitution issue.
“I challenge feminists, particularly feminist policy makers, to rethink their position on prostitution,” Dr Carpenter said.
“While I believe prostitution should be decriminalised, it is simply unfair that prostitutes are punished for their profession.
“Male clients are rarely brought before the courts.
“Generally, it is not illegal for a man to visit a prostitute but, even in Queensland where visiting a prostitute is illegal, the client is usually given immunity if he agrees to give evidence against the prostitute.
“The belief that men need sex has imbued the way police interpret the laws.”
‘Feminists have failed women on prostitution issue’
Dr Carpenter’s book stems from her PhD research, which explored the attitudes towards prostitution in parliamentary debates, legislation, policy documents and in the media in Australia, the US and the UK.
“It is widely assumed men visit prostitutes because they have natural sexual urges which they cannot control,” Dr Carpenter said.
“However several studies have found men do not frequent prostitutes on a sudden urge and that their visits to prostitutes are planned in advance.”
She also debunked the myth that men visit prostitutes because they can’t get sex, citing studies showing the majority of clients were married men.
Dr Carpenter said prostitution should be decriminalised, treated like a cottage industry business and regulated by a board.
“A regulatory board must include sex workers, interested community members, lawyers, health workers and maybe religious figures.
“ M e m b e r s s h o u l d a l s o b e required to disclose whether or not they are clients.”
Dr Carpenter said in some US and UK cities, sexual vigilante groups had been formed to “out” men to their wives.
The groups either mail photos of the men’s licence plates to their wives or even broadcast mugshots of male clients on cable TV.
Dr Carpenter’s book is available from the Amazon Books website Amazon.com.
A QUT researcher is developing a solar- powered salt-water pool chlorinator that will be cheaper to run, and more environmentally-friendly to use.
The solar-powered chlorinator, which will be demonstrated on Earth Day on June 5, is 40 per cent more efficient than mains-powered chlorinators.
It also cuts pollution by 1,000 kg of carbon dioxide and other pollutants every year for the average pool.
The new solar chlorinator is being developed by QUT Electrical Engineering lecturer Dr Kame Khouzam, thanks to a
$75,000 grant under the Queensland Sustainable Energy Innovation Fund and QUT’s School of Electrical and Electronic Systems Engineering.
“Using solar power for pool chlorinators offers enormous technical, economical and environmental advantages compared with mains electricity,” Dr Khouzam said.
“Solar electricity can be well matched to the chlorination of water. Also, pools need more chlorine during sunny summer days, which is when solar panels produce the maximum electricity. Theoretical modelling has been completed and we are in the experimentation phase.”
Director of the Office of Sustainable Energy Jack Taylor said the solar-powered chlorinator offered business opportunities in Australian and overseas markets.
“In the future, I would imagine people won’t have mains-powered pool chlorinators,” Mr Taylor said.
“The modern technology is cheaper, hardier and easier to use, making it a better energy source for households and businesses.
“This is the perfect opportunity for savvy investors in the Sunshine State to develop solar power for commercial uses.”
Cleaner pools with solar power
The manager of the Energy Innovation Unit in the Queensland Office of Sustainable Energy, Dr Martin Gellender, said it was hoped the chlorinator could be made in Queensland.
“It is a practical, innovative product and is a win-win for Queensland business and for consumers,” he added.
Dr Khouzam said savings in electricity costs would pay for the initial set-up costs of the solar-powered chlorinator in less
than five years.
Salt-water pools remain clean and clear by passing electricity through a cell that produces chlorine. The chlorine kills bacteria and prevents algae from growing in the pool water.
The Fund is managed by the Office of Sustainable Energy – Queensland’s leading agency for promoting energy efficiency, renewable power and initiatives that reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
The research team (from left) Jack Taylor, Kame Khouzam and Martin Gellender work on latest plans for a new solar chlorinator.
Technology uptake scrutinised
University researchers are trying to pinpoint exactly what makes it easier for young people to embrace new technologies and work practices in a rapidly changing workplace.
Researchers at QUT and Central Queensland University, in the first study of its kind in Australia,will track young and older workers in large organisations for three years.
They will investigate how workers use technology, how they learn to use it and how they conceptualise new work practices.
Project co-ordinator and QUT senior lecturer Dr Hitendra Pillay said the study aimed to step outside the rhetoric and conjecture of using new technology and work practices, and provide some hard facts.
“The study will target two groups:
the ‘immigrants’ and ‘ natives’ of the new work cultures,” Dr Pillay said.
“The ‘natives’ to the new work cultures (of part-time work and increasing use of information technology) are the younger generation, aged 20 to 30 years old, who are born within the system – they know exactly what the environment is.
“People aged over 40 are
‘immigrants’ who are moving from the industrial age to the information age.”
The study will also look at white and blue-collar jobs to test theories that the more educated a person is, the easier they find it to operate in today’s computer age, Dr Pillay said.
“What we are saying is that you need a different mindset to operate in this information age,” he said.
“And we are trying to look at older people to see if, with all the training and all the opportunities provided, they are developing this mindset.
“If not, then (we will look at) what is hindering them from moving on and what is in the younger people’s mindset that allows them to excel.”
Dr Pillay said he believed people were still uncertain in the new information age, particularly in industries where the whole notion of work had changed.
Results from the study, which will track the “mindset” of 65 younger and older workers, would be invaluable for future industry training programs, he said.
The project is a collaborative one between Dr Pillay, QUT Professor Gillian Boulton-Lewis and Professor Colin Lankshear from Central Queensland University.
It has attracted a three-year $94,500 Australian Research Council large grant.
– Andrea Hammond QUT senior lecturer Dr Hitendra Pillay ... researching what makes it easier for young people to embrace new technologies.
Teaching software ‘needs to be more interactive’
University teaching software needed to be adapted to the Australian context to more effectively capture students’ attention, a new study has found.
The findings come from a three-year study into the effectiveness of computers for learning by Megan Hargreaves, an associate lecturer in QUT’s School of Life Sciences.
Ms Hargreaves has developed a method to evaluate the effectiveness of computer-aided learning programs or Web-based packages used for university teaching.
She said some of the key factors determining computer programs’ effectiveness include how
well the program was integrated into the subject, whether the program could be adapted to include local examples, whether the program motivated and interested students, and how interactive the program was.
“The focus of the research was to ensure that the software used in universities was suitable for the requirements of the learner,”
Ms Hargreaves said.
“The ability of a computer program to engage students depended on local content, challenging problems and increasing the level of interaction.”
– Amanda O’Chee
CARTRIDGE WORLD
By Amanda O’Chee
Q
UT and Boston researchers have developed a world-first study to investigate how elderly drivers react to road and driving conditions.Using a high-tech car equipped by Nissan, Japan, the team will track drivers’ eye movements, hand movements, acceleration, concentration and attention while driving.
The research team from QUT’s Centre for Eye Research and the Cambridge Basic Research Centre, Boston within Nissan Research &
Development began four months of experiments this month.
QUT Centre for Eye Research Associate Professor Joanne Wood, who has conducted several studies with elderly drivers, said the researchers would gather a large body of data on how the elderly drive and link this with vision tests that measured drivers’ motion sensitivity and peripheral awareness.
“This is a unique project because there has never been a study done using a fully instrument-fitted car with eye trackers, driven on the road and conducted with a team that has experience with elderly drivers.”
Research scientist Dr Erwin Boer, from Cambridge Basic Research Centre, said the instrument-fitted car was equipped with a series of miniature cameras as well as sensors attached to
Study collects data to explain driving habits
the steering wheel, foot pedals, wheels and car body.
Information would be collated to create a second-by-second picture of what elderly drivers saw and did under different driving and road conditions, he said.
“It’s important to know exactly where and how a driver’s performance is impaired,” Dr Boer said.
“For instance, when a driver checks their instruments or fiddles with the radio, we check whether they look back up and have to correct their driving position on the road or, when taking a corner, do they have to overcorrect their steering and speed?”
Dr Boer said the study would determine whether elderly drivers had difficulty processing information at speed, whether they struggled to integrate information from different sources, or whether age had reduced their attentional capacity.
A group of 20 elderly drivers and 10 younger drivers will undergo a series of tests during which their driving performance will be measured in a range of conditions, Dr Boer said .
While driving they will be asked to recognise signs, do mental calculations and frequently check the in-car displays.
“We’re trying to understand the reasons why elderly drivers are involved in accidents and why elderly people adopt driving strategies such as driving slowly or avoiding rush hours,” he said.
QUT Centre for Eye Research Associate Professor Joanne Wood adjusting student Simon Groth’s monitoring equipment that will be used in research into elderly drivers.
Indigenous students frequently relied on rote learning during their first year of university before embracing more critical study techniques, a QUT study has found.
A three-year study of indigenous students across three universities found study skills assistance, supportive tutors and peer support helped students embrace more effective learning techniques by their second and third year.
School of Learning and Development head Professor Gillian Boulton-Lewis said other research indicated some non- indigenous students also frequently relied on “surface learning” techniques.
“What this study has pinpointed is a very positive phenomenon in the shape of
Research focuses on development of indigenous students’ study techniques
improvements in study and learning skills for almost all indigenous participants,”
Professor Boulton-Lewis said.
“What we found was that simply being at university and taking part in day-to- day university activities and learning was a key factor for many indigenous students when it came to widening their learning experience .
“By their second year, indigenous students began to evidence the most important form of learning: being able to see something differently from the way it was seen before.
“They developed an awareness that alternatives exist in how they can go about learning, and the way they connected
formal and informal learning. They realised they could question sources of authority and how they thought about the world generally.”
Professor Boulton-Lewis said interviews with students in their first year of university study revealed many of them relied on strategies such as reading work over and over again, writing it out and reading it again.
In their second year, however, many students described far more structured study activity that included reading their study materials, arguing through key concepts and critical thinking.
“We found the shift was from a strong focus on getting what is on the pages into
one’s head to the experience of studying that includes weighing up interpretations and critical thinking,” she said.
“The difference can also be described as a difference between the learner focusing on the text, on the one hand, and what the text is about, on the other.”
Professor Boulton-Lewis said some of the study’s 22 students described the transition from their first year to their second as “painful”.
“Some students found some of the things they were learning conflicted with what they had been taught to believe and that university led to great changes within themselves,” Professor Boulton-Lewis said.
– Andrea Hammond
A QUT researcher has found fathers who participate in activities with their children experience greater personal development.
The study, conducted by School of Public Health PhD student Helen McKeering, aimed to identify factors that impact on fathers’ personal development and their ability to care for others.
Ms McKeering said fathers benefited from simple childcare activities such as doing household jobs together, going on excursions to a library or museum, or even preparing food.
“One of the best things fathers can do with their young children is take them about on routine jobs.
“With adolescents, activities such as supervising their children’s social activities are beneficial,” Ms McKeering said.
Time with kids good for dads
A bridging course in high school physics put award-winning student Catherine Nimmo on track to study optometry at QUT.
Catherine will graduate this year with a Bachelor of Applied Science (Optometry) after seven years as a part-time student, five of which involved juggling study and raising two small daughters.
Determination, a supportive husband and family, and understanding QUT lecturers helped Catherine make the switch from high school teacher to optometry student.
“I was certain that I didn’t want to teach for the rest of my life and I knew I wanted to do something in science and something ‘applied’ that would qualify me for a job at the end of it,” she said.
“To be eligible to enrol I needed to study physics at night school for a year before I could enrol in the QUT Bachelor of Applied Science.”
Catherine said motivation was the key to her academic success. Late last year she won a $2,000 Binocular Indirect Ophthalmoscope – an essential part of her clinical equipment – when she was named winner of the OPSM Equipment Prize for Clinical Excellence.
She also won the Allergan Optical Prize for her academic achievements in 1999 which entitles her to a $300 QUT Bookshop voucher.
Determination helps put new career in focus
Optometry student Catherine Nimmo ... bridging course in physics put her on track for a new career and a host of academic prizes.
Page 8 INSIDE QUT March 28 – April 10, 2000 .
Check out What’s On and post your entries at http://www.whatson.qut.edu.au/
STUDENT GUILD
Apr 12 - Five-week golf course. Learn putting, chipping, bunker shots and lots more. 2 - 3pm, Saint Lucia Golf Club, $45 QUT students,
$50 non QUT students. Registration forms are available at fitness centres on all campuses.
Apr 15 Women’s self-defence and empowerment seminar.
10.30am - 4.30pm, Kelvin Grove campus, free to female QUT students. Registration forms are available at fitness centres on all campuses.
FROM THE ACADEMY
Apr 25–29 Vacation acting course for young people. Junior and senior acting courses for high school students (Years 8 to 12).
9am - 5pm each day, Kelvin Grove campus, $235. Contact Anne Fulton at [email protected] or call 3864 4422.
Jul 3 - 7 Tertiary music preparation course. This course prepares prospective tertiary music students for the aural and written musicianship skills demanded by most tertiary music programs.
Enhance your chances of a successful tertiary audition or improve your skills in university music units. 9am - 4.30pm each day, Kelvin Grove campus, $478.50. Contact Anne Fulton at [email protected] or call 3864 4422.
Free lunch-time music daily at Beadles Café at Kelvin Grove.
SEMINARS, WORKSHOPS, EVENTS
DIVISION OF INFORMATION AND ACADEMIC SERVICES
Apr 13 Recognising good teaching showcase. In this first showcase for 2000, presenters will demonstrate how to incorporate flexibility while enhancing teaching and learning. 9.30 - 11.30am, Room S310, Gardens Point campus. Contact Catherine Haritonoff at [email protected] or call 3864 2697.
FACULTY OF EDUCATION
Apr 15 Gonna take a sentimental journey. A nostalgic return to the good old days, recalling people and events which made our school days the best years. 3-5pm, The One Teacher School Museum and Theatre, KG. Contact Carol Partridge at [email protected] or call 3864 3424.
HUMAN RESOURCES DEPARTMENT
Apr 18 Endnote training. Helps QUT staff and postgraduate students maximise their use of the bibliographic management software to support their research processes. 2pm, Library Level 7 (Room V720), Gardens Point campus. Contact Chris Davies at [email protected] or call 3864 1821.
SCHOOL OF MEDIA AND JOURNALISM
May 5 Benefit screening of “Feeling Sexy”. Proceeds will go towards news production equipment for the independent newspaper “Timor Post” in Dili. Writer-director Davida Allen will be present to talk about her work. 7pm and 8.30pm, The Gardens Theatre, Gardens Point campus, $10. Contact Kirsten Duncliff at [email protected] or call 3864 1720.
STAFF WELLNESS PROGRAM
Weekly Walking for Wellness. Carseldine campus – L Block, Monday, 5-6pm; Kelvin Grove campus – Wellness Centre (P102A), Tuesday and Thursday, 7-8am. For further information email Sheree Richmond at [email protected] or call 3864 9704.
Inside QUT is published by QUT’s Corporate Communication Department.
Readership includes staff, students and members of the QUT community.
It is also circulated to business, industry, government and the media. Each story has been checked with the source prior to publication.
Letters to the editor are welcome via mail or email [email protected]. The Corporate Communication address: Level 5, M Block, Room 514, Gardens Point or GPO Box 2434 Brisbane 4001.
Opinions expressed in Inside QUT do not necessarily represent those of the university or the editorial team.
Colleen Ryan Clur (editor) 3864 1150.
Andrea Hammond 3864 4494.
Margaret Lawson 3864 2130.
Noel Gentner (part-time) 3864 1841.
Fax 3210 0474.
Photography: Tony Phillips, Suzie Prestwidge
Advertising: David Lloyd-Jones 3864 1840.
Our Web address: http://www.corpcomm.qut.edu.au/releases/
About your newspaper
May 17
When Human Movement Studies student Simon Van Der Maat completed a practical assignment for the Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) last year he had no idea it would land him a job at the Sydney Olympics.
Simon’s work was noticed by AIS recruiters who recently selected him to be part of a team conducting biomechanical analyses of top swimmers at the Olympic games in September.
A fourth-year student, Simon said one of his career goals was to work with elite athletes and the job would be a good chance for him to gain experience in the area.
Work experience lands Simon an Olympic job
“I am going to analyse footage of races for things like kick and stroke frequency and my work will be used to identify strengths and weaknesses in each swimmer’s race,” Simon said.
“I will be working with the top 16 swimmers in Australia, which will be a great experience.”
Simon is also a keen sportsperson, regularly competing in triathalons and playing AFL, as well as working at his local gym.
He will travel to the Olympic trials in May, the Olympic Games in September and the Paralympic Games in October.
QUT’s School of Media and Journalism will host a movie on Friday, May 5 to help raise $5,000 to keep the presses of the East Timor newspaper The Timor Post printing.
Money raised from the screening of the Brisbane-based movie Feeling Sexy will buy an uninterrupted power supply device for the war-torn Dili’s only independent weekly newspaper.
Feeling Sexy will screen at the The Gardens Theatre, QUT Gardens Point campus at 7pm and again at 8.30pm.
Food and drinks will be available in the theatre foyer from 6pm to 10pm.
Hit movie to raise funds for E Timor paper
University students from across Queensland will attend an annual student conference this month focusing on careers and leadership.
QUT, the University of Queensland and Griffith University chapters of the Golden Key Honor Society, a national student group, have collaborated to hold
Student conference focuses on careers
a one-day conference at UQ’s Saint Lucia campus.
Golden Key vice-president and QUT student Michael Carey said the conference would feature career development workshops and a leadership forum relevant to many undergraduate students.
“The conference will allow students to hear expert speakers at greatly discounted rates in fields including law, IT, business, human services and recruitment,” Mr Carey said.
Each conference session costs around
$10 and students can register by calling 3030 3559.
Q
UT will offer Queensland’s first university courses specialising in road safety.The new Graduate Certificate and Graduate Diploma in Road Safety will be offered for the first time this year, through the Centre for Accident Research and Road Safety - Qld (CARRS-Q), a joint initiative of QUT and the Queensland Motor Accident Insurance Commission.
The course is designed for people involved in making our roads safer, said course co-ordinator Barry Watson, a lecturer in the School of Psychology and Counselling.
“Road safety covers three main areas,”
Mr Watson said.
QUT offers Queensland’s first road safety courses
“Firstly, it involves trying to improve the behaviour of all road users, including drivers, passengers, pedestrians and cyclists. This involves targeting problem areas such as drink-driving, speeding, fatigue and failure to wear seatbelts.
“The second area looks at improving the safety of the road system through traffic engineering.
“Lastly, road safety involves improving the safety of motor vehicles, which includes the use of seat belts, child restraints and air bags.”
The Graduate Certificate in Road Safety can be completed part-time over two semesters, while the Graduate Diploma involves four semesters of part- time study. In the future, it is planned
to make both courses available in full- time mode.
Mr Watson said QUT’s road safety program was one of only three in Australia.
“Many people are involved in road safety and may benefit from the courses, including those working in state and local government, the insurance industry, fleet management and driver training,” Mr Watson said.
“People can enter the courses based on either their qualifications or experience in road safety.”
The course includes units delivered by QUT’s School of Psychology and Counselling and its School of Civil Engineering.
QUT Grounds and Maintenance staff John Morphett (left) and Kurt Andrae were on hand last month to capture a carpet python at the Gardens Point campus. The snake, which was relocated to a wildlife reserve, was a suspect in the recent disappearance of several ducklings.
