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Five-star record of excellence for UNE

August 09, 2004

The University of New England has achieved top rating (five stars) for "educational experience" in The Good Universities Guide for the sixth consecutive year.

UNE is the only university in Australia to have maintained this rating throughout the period 2000-2005.

In the newly-published Guide for 2005, only six of Australia's 39 universities get five stars for "educational experience". The rating is based on information from the national Course Experience Questionnaire, which comprises feedback from graduates on teaching quality, their acquisition of generic skills, and their overall satisfaction with the course.

The Guide supplements the feedback on teaching quality by noting that "UNE rates consistently well in awards for university teaching". (For example, two lecturers from UNE were among eight from universities around the State to win NSW Quality Teaching Awards in 2003.)

The Guide also shows that UNE's teaching excellence has been maintained at the same time as the University has increased its research activity, moving up to a four-star rating in the category of "research intensivity" (alongside universities such as Sydney, Monash and Newcastle). This reflects, among other things, a steady increase in external research funding to UNE over the past several years. At the beginning of this year UNE appointed a Pro Vice-Chancellor dedicated to Research, and recently decided that he would hold the position on a full-time basis from October 1.

UNE's four-star rating for "Graduate Starting Salary" in the Guide puts it among the top 15 universities in Australia in this category.

The Guide comments favourably on UNE's provision for double degrees, mentioning in particular the unique new double degree of Bachelor of Agriculture / Bachelor of Laws. It also mentions UNE's "attractive scholarships, including some reserved for students from country schools".

UNE "has a number of special entry routes including a long-established schools/colleges recommendation scheme", the Guide says. This is reflected in the ratings by UNE's five stars for "Entry Flexibility".

Media contact: Jim Scanlan, Public Relations, UNE, Armidale (02) 6773 3049.

Posted by lcreedy at August 9, 2004 01:12 PM