Bega Banter
Spring Session 2019
Welcome to Spring 2019 at UOW Bega
Campus Update
Spring 2019!
Can you believe it there are only 6 uni session weeks left for Spring 2019!!!!! It’s been a really busy time at UOW Bega with the commencement of the 2nd cohort at the Bega Valley Innovation Hub, announcement of the new Youth Hack program and AIME back on campus.
Congratulations to all our staff who’ve been busy writing publications and a special shout out to Sharon James for her national scholarship win and Annie Werner who is heading to Sweden to present at a conference in October!
A big welcome of Amelia (Millie) Love who has joined the UOW Bega administration team whilst Brittany is on maternity leave. If you haven’t met Millie yet come up and say hi.
For those of you completing your studies this year, please make sure you apply to graduate via SOLS, and we look forward to celebrating with you at the Bega Graduation Celebration on 12 December as well as the Alumni event the evening before at the civic centre!
Samantha Avitaia
Campus Manager
What's On This Session!
Maths Support with Alison Sandwith
Maths Support for M Teach Students: Wednesdays 12:30-1:30 in G10 and 5:30pm-6:30pm in LCS
Maths Support for Nursing Students: Fridays 12:30pm-1:30pm in G12
Annie's Award for Outstanding Contributions to Teaching and Learning
'University award: Annie 'determined to make sure they do it right' written by Alasdair McDonald, Bega District News, 19th August 2019
"Dr Werner has received a Vice-Chancellor's Award for Outstanding Contributions to Teaching and Learning after being nominated by her University of Wollongong Bega campus students and fellow staff members.
"Ultimately I'm here for the students, so for them to go out of their way to nominate me is really nice. It means I'm having a positive influence on them," she said. "I think what the university values is the way I actively try to build bridges between regional campuses and Wollongong."
The 41-year-old Law, Humanities and the Arts lecturer is hoping to soon publish her findings, consisting of 12,000 pages of research, which are currently being developed into a training module by the university.
"Ultimately I wanted to improve the experience for regional students and staff," Dr Werner said. "I wanted to look at how university material is shared via video conferences, and look at what we could do to improve things. The driver behind it all has to come from a regional campus, because we are the ones using the technology."
Dr Werner said her research, which included surveying students who use video conferencing software, discovered a range of results.
"An overwhelming positive is that regional staff are very positive in what they do," she said. "The negative was that people feel they need to be supported."
She said guidelines around video conference learning need to be put in place to protect both students and teachers. She said due to the highly competitive nature of the faculty awards she was "kind of surprised" to be visiting Wollongong this week to accept one for herself.
"I love a bit of ceremony. It's nice to be acknowledged, and my colleagues from the Arts faculty will also be there. I usually only ever see them on Skype or online," Dr Werner said. "It's good for one of the regional campus staff members to be acknowledged at the main campus. All the tutors here want to do best by their students. Our regional staff are really excellent, and Wollongong know that."
After almost a decade at the Wollongong campus, Dr Werner understands university life on both sides of the divide.
"I actually prefer teaching here in Bega because the classes in Wollongong are so big."
END ARTICLE
Sharon James Awarded Joan Hardy Scholarship 2019
Sharon's research topic, exploring how General Practice Nurses (GPN)-patient communicate lifestyle risks and the experiences of lifestyle risk communication by GPNs in general practice, was highlighted by the assessors as an important area for nursing research.
This scholarship, established by NTEU in memory of Joan Hardy is available to a student currently enrolled in an academic award of an Australian public university and undertaking postgraduate study of nurses, nursing culture or practices, or historical aspects of nursing as a lay or professional practice and expects to submit the thesis within one year of being awarded the Scholarship.
Well done Sharon!
Students as Partners in Learning and Teaching: developing connectedness, community and collaboration on regional campuses through course design
Presenters: Sue Duchesne and Saskia Ebejer
Student engagement is essential to effective learning. In the higher education sector, student partnerships in teaching and learning have been established to facilitate such engagement (Cook-Sather, Bovill & Felten, 2014). In this project, students were invited to partner with academics to design teaching and learning activities for their subjects in the Master of Teaching course on regional campuses of a multi-campus university. The paper reports on ongoing evaluation of the approach, and in particular on how the approach has contributed to collaboration and community among the students on UOW’s regional campuses.
Evaluation took place during the course of the 2018 and 2019 academic years, through interviews with staff and students, surveys of students, and reflections by campus coordinators drawing on their anecdotal notes of student engagement in teaching and learning activities in the program. Ethics approval for the research was granted through the university's HREC unit.
Support was seen as the main benefit of the approach, from the students’ perspective, as they collaborated together to discuss assignments and subject activities. Staff identified strong student engagement, in keeping with broader ‘students as partners’ research, as well as strong communities developed among the students on each campus. Implications are drawn for the consideration of course and curriculum design in building community collaboration and connectedness, as well as engagement.
Sue will be presenting at the Society for the Provision of Eductaion in Rural Asutralia Conference in October.
Tabletop University: Supporting higher education transition & success
In November, Campus Manager Sam will be presenting at the Equity Practitioners in Higher Education Australia (EPHEA) Conference.
The presenters will showcase the research-led development of a unique board and mobile gaming application that support students’ development of ‘college knowledge’, facilitating their access to and success in higher education. Collaborating across rural USA, Australia and South Africa, the speakers will reflect on the applicability and value of this approach in diverse settings.
Presenters
Dr Tricia Seifert, Montana State University USA
Dr Constance Khupe, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa
Samantha Avitaia, University of Wollongong Australia
Planning on Graduating in 2019?
Please make sure that you Apply To Graduate via SOLS before 20 October 2019.
Please say No to attending the (Wollongong) Ceremony - (unless you intend to go to both).
The Bega celebration will be held on Thursday 12th December at the Bega Civic Centre and graduands will be invited via your uow email in early November.
If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to contact UOW Bega Administration.
UOW Bega Careers Support
Hello Everyone!
It’s been lovely to meet many of you already, in individual appointments and events earlier this year. For those of you wanting to engage with careers services or get careers support, there are a range of subjects, online resources and upcoming workshops. You can also always drop by and have a chat (Mondays and Tuesdays)!
This Spring Semester we have 4 students completing the CRL100 subject and in the coming weeks they will start to conduct interviews with local employers in their field of interest as part of their ‘Project Employability’ team assessment. This project allows students to build up their awareness of skills and qualities required in different industries and develop connections with people working in their field of interest.
In Autumn Semester 2020 students will have the opportunity to complete an internship as part of CRLP200 If you are approaching your second or final year, and are interested in gaining relevant work experience as part of the CRLP200 subject, please get in touch with me on smorris@uow.edu.au
Upcoming LinkedIn and Resume Workshop:
Date: Tuesday 1st October
Time & Place: 12.30am in G17
Email smorris@uow.edu.au to register your attendance.
Student Appointments
If you would like some guidance around your career direction, job searching or updating your resume, you can book in a time to see me via the link below or by emailing me directly (Work days: Mondays & Tuesdays)
Book an Appointment: https://careerhub.uow.edu.au/students/appointments/app/
UOWx
UOWx Employability Workshop
Receiving feedback can be challenging for many of us, and giving feedback can be even more daunting, but what if there was a simple set of steps and principles we could use in order to master our feedback skills?
This Employability Workshop is co-delivered by UOWx and UOW Careers, and will provide students with the fundamental skills to master their ability to give and receive feedback in various scenarios.
Date: Wednesday 18th of September
Time & Place: 12:30pm in G11
This activity is recognised by UOWx upon completion of two workshops (either UOWx or Carers).
Register here or for more information, contact Jade Andrews, UOWx Project Officer – andrewsj@uow.edu.au
UOWx Lunch
Thank you to all Bega students who attended the UOWx Lunch. It was great to chat with you about all things UOWx! If you have any questions at all, please contact Jade.
Your questions may include things such as;
- How do I get involved in co-curricilar activities?
- What co-curricular activity is most suited to me?
- How do I achieve Learning Stream Awards or the UOWx Award?
- How do I access my UOWx Record?
Kids In2Uni Mentors Needed!
The program engages with Year 6 students from Primary Schools that span from Mallacoota to Tilba and aims to start the conversation with students about higher education. It gives students the opportunity to experience university, interact with university students and staff and think about why they might like to consider study beyond school.
The day is always lots of fun for the kids and the mentors! If you are interested in lending a hand, please see administration or email bega@uow.edu.au
2019 University Achievers and Scholarship Presentation
Eighteen community scholarships and four academic awards were presented to students of the University of Wollongong Bega Campus. UOW Bega held a celebration morning tea to not only recognise the awardees, but to thank the many community sponsors of the University.
“We are very lucky to have so many supportive community organisations in the Bega Valley,” said Samantha Avitaia, Manager of UOW Bega. “Our students are very grateful to have the support of their community in undertaking their studies. Our students also perform very highly academically”
Academic awards included Deans Merit List placements for students who achieved grades in the Top 10% of their degree, and 1st in subject awards for achievement of 1st place within subjects across the entire University. Bega campus had 102 students place in the top 10 of their subjects at the end of last year.
“Bega students are thriving in subjects of up to 400 students from several campuses. That we have so many students achieving at such a high level is a testament to our students, our academic and support staff and our community,” said Sam.
Ms Erin Halloran who received the Mumbulla Foundation Postgraduate scholarship is undertaking a Master of Teaching Secondary. She gave thanks on behalf of all the students “we are incredibly grateful for the support of the Bega Campus staff and tutors and the community organisations who sponsor us. I grew up in the Bega Valley and it’s a very special place to me”.
Scholarships this year were awarded by the Mumbulla Foundation, Rotary Club of Bega, Bega Chamber of Commerce and Industry, UOW Bega Alumni, Bega Cheese, Bendigo Bank, the Collins Family, Tarra Motors, Bega Lions and the Bega RSL Sub Branch.
Bega Indigenous Health Day
The Indigenous Health Careers Day on August 7 at UOW Bega introduced Indigenous students from Eden Marine High School and Bega High School who are interested in Health careers to Indigenous Health service providers and workers to learn about their career journeys and day to day working life.
The students also undertook a Clinical lab in the University Clinical Learning Facility with current Indigenous Nursing students and academics.
Local staff from Katungul Aboriginal Corporation Regional Health and Community Services, NSW Health Indigenous Traineeships, Tulgeen Disability Services and TAFE NSW all shared their experience and knowledge. Many thanks to all involved!
Innovation Hub Update
'Seven diverse and dynamic businesses take up residents in round two of the Bega Valley Innovation Hub'- Ian Campbell About Regional 28th August 2019
"Another diverse and dynamic group of business people and ideas are stepping forward for round two of the Bega Valley Innovation Hub.
Home base for the second cohort of seven local businesses is the Bega Valley Regional Learning Centre in Merimbula.
Settling in for their first week in the 12-week accelerator program are enterprises that take in yoga, event management, surfboard manufacturing, tiny homes and seaweed farming.
Festival Director is a software business run by Karolina Russell.
Freedom Yoga and it’s Back Pain Recovery Kit belongs to Dinah Facius.
Made in Eden is aiming at building tiny houses to address homelessness in regional areas, founded by Leanne Atkinson.
Sea Health Products is all about building Australia’s first Golden Sea Kelp farm for the production of kelp health products.
Future Farms is a vertical hydroponic solar farming system founded by Sandy Della Rocca and James Gibbs.
Ginger the Frog and Sarah Campbell-Lambert are offering an emotional intelligence program for children.
Switchfoot Boardstore is run by Jed Done in the centre of Pambula. With partner Patricia Mills, the pair are making high-performance surfboards.
Bega Valley Innovation Hub boasts a three-month education program, part of the successful iAccelerate Innovation Network based at the University of Wollongong.
Start-up and existing businesses receive mentoring in marketing, leadership, finance, tax, accounting, customer relationships, networking, business structure, and more. With seed funding and advertising packages available at the end to help build on the ambitions.
Learning Co-Op Live Chat Service
Are you off Campus and have a study question? Jump onto the new Learning Co-Op Live Chat instant messaging service and chat with a Peer Academic Coach. Located on the Learning Co-Op website, just click on the red tab at the top right hand corner to start a conversation. The Live Chat service operates from Monday to Friday, 10am to 4pm. http://bit.ly/UOW_LC
UOW Bega
Email: bega@uow.edu.au
Website: https://www.uow.edu.au/about/locations/bega/
Location: 176 Auckland Street, Bega NSW, Australia
Phone: 02 6492 7035