News Release:
Federal Member opens UNE Tamworth Centre
|
Date 13/6/01 No 074/01 Mr Stuart St Clair, the Federal Member for New England, officially
opened the city of Tamworth’s new centre for university education
today on behalf of the Minister for Education, Training and Youth
Affairs. The University of New England Tamworth Centre, in Peel House, Fitzroy
Street, links Tamworth with the University’s Armidale campus.
It provides UNE students in Tamworth with access to the Internet
and to course material delivered online, and contains rooms for
lectures, seminars and workshops conducted by UNE lecturers and
support staff. Students can communicate with their lecturers and
tutors from the Centre by e-mail. The Centre is also an integral part of the Tamworth community:
it is a venue for public lectures, and business, government and
community groups can hire rooms for meetings and workshops during
the day. "It is essential that all Australians have equal access to
university education opportunities, and the opportunity to improve
their skills through continuing and adult education courses,"
Mr St Clair said. "This centre will make a marked difference
to the region, and even out the playing field between educational
opportunities available in rural and regional, and in metropolitan
areas." UNE’s Vice-Chancellor, Professor Ingrid Moses, said: "We are grateful to the Federal Government for its grant of $1 million which has enabled us to establish a university support centre for the Tamworth community. We have done this also with the help of Tamworth City Council, which has provided an ideal space and location." |
Professor Moses said the Tamworth Centre is an expression of UNE’s
commitment to the region. "With modern communication technology,
the University can address the educational needs of the region through
flexible delivery of its programs," she said. "Distance
education students, particularly school-leavers and people returning
to study after many years, need supplementary support. The Tamworth
Centre is designed to provide that support in the form of face-to-face
lectures and tutorials, and workshops on study skills and career
options. It is also designed to help all students have access to
the Internet and to the online facilities they need." Around 80 invited guests, representing the Tamworth and UNE communities,
attended the official opening today. The program was very much a
community affair, including entertainment by street theatre performers
from Oxley High School, music from Tamworth’s Duo North-West,
and a dance performance by Duncan Berry of the Kamilaroi Aboriginal
Community. Tamworth artist Emma-Lee Weis, who won the competition to design
a banner for the Centre, saw her banners flying at the front of
the building, and was presented with a cheque for $500. After the
ceremony the Centre is open to the public from about 1.30 pm to
4 pm for a Discovery Afternoon, when people can look through the
building for themselves, gather information about courses and careers,
and talk to UNE staff members about the various kinds of support
the University offers its students. Media contact: Frances Kelly, Manager, UNE Tamworth Centre, Tamworth (02) 6766 3860 or Jim Scanlan, Public Relations, UNE, Armidale (02) 6773 3049. |
