Government funding recognises UNE’s achievements

December 14, 2006

The Commonwealth Government continues to recognise and reward The University of New England’s achievements in both teaching and learning, and workplace changes aimed at improvements in student services.

UNE has just been awarded $1.5 million from the Government’s Learning and Teaching Performance Fund, and a grant totalling $4.8 million through its Workplace Productivity Program (WPP).

The Minister for Education, Science and Training, the Hon. Julie Bishop MP, announced the Learning and Teaching Performance Fund award during a function at Parliament House, Canberra, last week. The Fund recognises excellence in learning and teaching for undergraduate students.

This award follows the announcement of the WPP grant. After an initial grant of more than $1.8 million in September, extra funding has been awarded, taking the total WPP funding for UNE to $4.8 million – the largest amount allocated to any individual university in Australia for 2006. The Vice-Chancellor of UNE, Professor Alan Pettigrew, said the money would enable the University “to establish the necessary business systems to support and sustain academic renewal, and to deliver high-quality administrative services to students”.

Late last year, UNE was one of only two regional universities to receive an initial award ($2.2 million) from the Commonwealth Government’s newly-formed Learning and Teaching Performance Fund. Professor Pettigrew pointed out that, in this latest round of awards, universities had been rewarded for their achievement in specific discipline groups: (1) Science, Computing, Engineering, Architecture and Agriculture; (2) Business, Law and Economics; (3) Humanities, Arts and Education; (4) Health. “UNE has been ranked among the top seven universities for achievement in teaching and learning in the first of these discipline groups,” Professor Pettigrew said. “This is an outstanding achievement that is testament to the hard work and dedication of all those in the Faculty of The Sciences. UNE’s success on this occasion adds to our reputation in the area of teaching and learning, where we have already gained a five-star rating for students’ ‘educational experience’ in the Good Universities Guide for 2007.”

Thanking all those involved in the achievement of both the Learning and Teaching Performance Fund award and the WWP grant, Professor Pettigrew said: “As we move through the organisational and course renewal process, I have no doubt that UNE will become even more successful in the vital areas of student satisfaction, with their learning experience and employment outcomes.”

THE PHOTOGRAPH displayed here shows the Minister for Education, Science and Training, Julie Bishop, presenting Professor Alan Pettigrew with a Learning and Teaching Performance Fund certificate during the recent function in Parliament House.

Posted by Jim Scanlan at December 14, 2006 03:52 PM