Enterprising students prove their worth

August 06, 2007

The University of New England's Students in Free Enterprise (SIFE) Team has returned from a national competition in Melbourne with a number of awards. These include an award for "best academic mentor" that will see UNE lecturer Peter McClenaghan (pictured here) travel to New York for the organisation's World Competition.

SIFE is a global organisation heavily supported by some of the world's leading corporations. It encourages students from all areas of study to engage in community-oriented projects in order to share the knowledge they have gained at university and learn more about "real-life" free enterprise. The 15 UNE students competed against teams from 24 other universities at the SIFE Australia National Competition in Melbourne.

The UNE team presented a financial literacy seminar to senior executives from HSBC Australia, which won them ongoing funding for a project assisting Sport UNE and student clubs and societies with marketing, promotions and financial literacy. Christian Martin, a member of the team, was recognised for his hard work and dedication by being one of 16 students selected to attend a "Top to the Future" seminar with a number of Australia's leading corporate executives.

The UNE team also won the award for "best team sustainability strategy" – attributable, Mr McClenaghan said, to the popularity of SIFE at UNE ever since the University joined the organisation in 2003. "They were a great team," he said. "I was blown away by the quality of the projects, and was really honoured and proud to be a member of the team. My award was really a reflection on the quality of the team members."

This is the second time that Mr McClenaghan has been judged SIFE Australia's "most outstanding mentor". This year’s award earned him the Woolworths Leadership Trophy and QANTAS Travel Award, which provides funding for him to travel to New York in October for the SIFE World Competition where he will represent SIFE Australia and UNE.

"The thing about SIFE is that it pushes students out of their comfort zone and into territory they wouldn't normally experience until well after they left university," Mr McClenaghan said. "It also gives high-powered corporate executives a chance to cherry-pick some of the most promising employees available."

He said that SIFE UNE's success owed a lot to the support of the Vice-Chancellor, Professor Alan Pettigrew, and the Pro Vice-Chancellor and Dean of the Faculty of the Professions, Professor Victor Minichiello.

SIFE UNE is open to students from any discipline. It costs nothing to be a member and interested students can join at any time.

Posted by Jim Scanlan at August 6, 2007 11:35 AM