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Award for man who linked UNE to the world

November 16, 2004

TruswellAward.thumb.jpgIan Truswell’s resourcefulness has been a significant factor in the successful adoption of new audio-visual technology at the University of New England over the past 30 years.

Now the Manager of UNELink, the University’s videoconferencing unit, Mr Truswell has received the 2004 Vice-Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Service.

Mr Truswell started work at UNE in 1972 as a Technical Officer in the Rural Science laboratories, and after two years moved to the fledgling Audio-Visual Unit. Since then he has played a leading role in the acquisition and deployment of audio-visual resources at UNE, culminating in the establishment of UNELink in 2003.

Along the way he installed the University’s sound-recording studios in their former as well as their current location. In the early days of his UNE career, he recalled, such assignments were a matter of “buying the parts and building it yourself”. Now that this “do-it-yourself” approach has been largely superseded, he can turn his resourcefulness to solving problems and exploiting opportunities related to UNE’s regional location. (“It’s not like a capital city, where everything’s laid on at your fingertips,” he explained.) Because of the expertise he has developed in this way, his colleagues at other universities often ask for his advice.

The Vice-Chancellor of UNE, Professor Ingrid Moses (pictured here, left, with Mr Truswell and Dr Robyn Smyth of UNE's Teaching and Learning Centre), referred to this in the citation she read at the presentation ceremony. “Ian is regularly sought out by colleagues in the tertiary sector, beyond UNE, for advice about technical, administrative and management issues associated with videoconferencing,” Professor Moses said. “He was instrumental in setting up a collegial network for videoconferencing managers working in tertiary institutions to support each other in their work, in problem-solving and with advice.”

2004 has been a big year for UNELink, with the opening of seven UNE Access Centres throughout north-west NSW, all with broadband telecommunications links to the Armidale campus and to each other. “In preparation for the opening of the seven UNE Access Centres this year,” Professor Moses said, “Ian made himself available day and night to assist with the testing of equipment across multiple sites. His cooperation and dedication ensured the successful and smooth running of each opening.”

Professor Moses paid tribute to Mr Truswell’s “reliable, efficient and knowledgeable” service to the University over many years. She continued: “Ian’s commitment to service in the university sector is mirrored by his commitment to service in the community at large, as he is a long-term member of Lions International. He has been active as a member and an office-bearer, and his level of service was recognised by one of the organisation’s supreme service awards.”

Mr Truswell said he felt privileged to have been involved in the development of videoconferencing at UNE, a development that had brought this university in northern NSW “much, much closer to other universities around the world”. As an example, he said, he was setting up a broadband Internet connection to the United States that very night so that UNE’s Pro Vice-Chancellor (Teaching and Learning), Professor David Rich, could address an international conference on educational technology in San Antonio, Texas.

Media contact: Ian Truswell, UNELink, UNE (02) 6773 3703 or Jim Scanlan, Public Relations, UNE (02) 6773 3049. A photograph is available; please contact Jim Scanlan on (02) 6773 3049.

Posted by Jim Scanlan at November 16, 2004 12:11 PM