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UNE a highlight as U.S. academics tour Australia

June 15, 2006

UNE a highlight as U.S. academics tour Australia
A delegation of touring academics from Kentucky, USA visited The University of New England (UNE) as part of an educational Australian tour. The group of academics were drawn to UNE because of its international reputation in distance education and their background with somewhat similar regional universities in the USA. Their visit to UNE proved to be rewardingly educational, according to President of the Association of Independent Kentucky Colleges, Gary Cox.

The two week educational tour has been organised by specialist group consultant with New England Travel, Glenys Williams. “The group arrived in Melbourne on the 6th June. They visited the University of Melbourne before heading north, into the outback. They visited Alice Springs, Uluru, Cairns, and even Byron Bay, where marine biology was the focus. Wednesday 14th and Thursday 15th June, saw the American delegation staying in Armidale and experiencing UNE,” she said.

“We were asked to provide an educational experience of Australia. UNE was featured in the tour due to the expertise it houses and because it is a well established regional university with a distinct identity. It was also due to the connections I have at the University, the willingness of its staff to accommodate and communicate with international guests and the strong global reputation UNE has developed in many areas of expertise, such as distance education. For these reasons, I am seeing an increasing number of international education tours incorporating UNE,” she said.

There are 20 scholars from The Association of Independent Kentucky Colleges and Universities. They come from a range of academic fields and differing institutions. There are eight public universities in the State of Kentucky, six regional and two research universities. With 20 non-profit, independent institutions in the State, the visitors represent a significant portion of the tertiary education sector. The independent universities and colleges collectively account for 12,000 jobs across Kentucky.

During a seminar in UNE’s Dixon Library, Michael Brogan from the University’s Oorala Centre spoke to the group about Indigenous artists and their relation to Australian history in recording historic and social realities of their time.

“We experienced a great deal of Indigenous Australian culture in central Australia. What we learnt at UNE gave us a greater understanding and appreciation of the Aboriginal art and culture that we had seen,” said Mr. Cox.

“We have found the campus here and the surrounding region to be absolutely beautiful, if a little cold, given that we’ve come from the middle of summer."

“We were presented with the opportunity to meet and talk with academic staff at UNE, some of whom shared areas of expertise with members of our group,” he said.

“We were particularly interested in the resources that the University of New England has developed for facilitating distance education. That is not yet an area of strength for us and we have seen that we could learn a lot from what UNE has achieved in this area.”

The President of the New England Branch of the Australian College of Educators, Dr David Patterson from UNE, was the guest speaker at a special dinner in Armidale.

After leaving Armidale, the International Faculty Development Trip to Australia heads to Sydney, and flies out on 19th June.

Pictured in the above-right photograph are (left to right): Specialist group consultant with New England Travel, Glenys Williams, President of the Association of Independent Kentucky Colleges, Gary Cox and Head Librarian at UNE’s Dixson Library, Evelyn Woodberry.

For more information please contact Glenys Williams on 0417 838 493 or UNE Public Relations Manager John Kauter on (02) 6773 2779 or 0407 062 023.

Posted by Gary Fry at June 15, 2006 04:12 PM