1,300 prospective students visit UNE on Open Day

September 06, 2007

An estimated 1,300 prospective students, including a number from Sydney and inter-State, visited the University of New England today for the University's annual Open Day. The Open Day visitors also included more than 300 parents.

The day began with breakfast in the residential colleges, where, according to Dr Alan McKenzie, the Master of Austin College, the visitors were grateful for the warm refreshment of coffee and bacon and eggs.

Later, during the welcome ceremony in Lazenby Hall, a large crowd of visitors listened as several current students – representing college residents, international students and equity groups – spoke about their UNE experience and their reasons for choosing to come to this university. Those reasons, confirmed by their experience, included UNE's reputation for excellence in teaching and research, its rural setting ideal for study, and its strong student community within which (as one student said) "you make friendships that last for a lifetime".

The Vice-Chancellor of UNE, Professor Alan Pettigrew, in welcoming the visitors, highlighted the accessibility of UNE's teaching staff and the strong social bonds developed among the University's students

Professor Pettigrew urged visitors to make the most of their day on the campus, and added that UNE was "very pleased to be able to offer 20 new courses next year".

The visitors took full advantage of all the information available to them in Lazenby Hall on courses, careers, scholarships, overseas exchange opportunities, postgraduate study, student support services, and living on campus, and attended lectures, information sessions and tours. They also visited displays illustrating fields of study such as physics, chemistry, geology, biology, zoology, botany, agronomy and soil science, animal science, mathematics and computer science, marine science, and ecosystem management. Interactive displays of Chinese calligraphy and the instrumental monitoring of the body/mind relationship (an initiative of Psychology) were popular new features of this year's Open Day.

There was a free barbecue lunch and live entertainment from the University's student radio station TUNE! FM, local DJ Chocho, and the UNE Big Band. Free snacks were provided by Spotless and Scolarest caterers. A highlight of the day was an inter-college tug-o'-war competition, won by a team from Robb College.

Prospective students entered a prize draw to win a portable MP3 player, and the lucky winner was Jessica Davis of Bellingen.

Posted by Jim Scanlan at September 6, 2007 06:14 PM