2011 winners

• Excellence in Teaching
• Excellence in Professional Service
• Excellence in Postgraduate Research, Training and Supervision
• Excellence in University Engagement
• Excellence in University Sustainability
• Excellence in Leadership
• UWSCollege Award for Excellence

Excellence in Teaching  

Winner - Team

Rabbit Hole 

Mrs Samantha Edwards-Vandenhoek, Lecturer/Course Advisor, Bachelor of Design (Visual Communication), School of Communication Arts 
Ms Katrina Sandbach, Associate Lecturer, School of Communication Arts
Ms Michelle Catanzaro, Associate Lecturer, School of Communication Arts

The ‘Rabbit Hole’ is the University of Western Sydney’s professional student design studio. It is recognised for its innovative practice and problem-based pedagogy.  Specifically created for fourth year coursework students in the Bachelor of Design (Visual Communication) degree, the studio-based curriculum is based on a work integrated learning teaching model where students are given the opportunity to work on real life design projects with internal and external clients.

Working closely with the client and tutor, and as a ‘junior designer’, the students gain an understanding of the demands, scope and limitations of professional design work. The live briefs aim to bridge the gap between design thinking and practice, and academic and industry expectations.

Leadership in HDR Teaching Excellence: a multi-level, institutional approach

Dr Claire Aitchison, Senior Lecturer, Student Learning Unit
Ms Mary Krone, Senior Policy Officer (Research Training), Office of Research Services
Associate Professor Janne Malfroy, Director, Teaching Development Unit

Since 2001, each of the individual team members, working on behalf of three different University units, have demonstrated leadership by combining talents and pooling resources to create a broad-ranging suite of programs supporting HDR students and supervisors. The team has worked collaboratively to improve HDR training and to change the culture of research supervision and support. Their success in initiating, administering and delivering online resources, face-to-face workshop programs and learning-rich events for students and supervisors has resulted in improved student outcomes.

Highly Commended – Individual

Dr Catherine Attard, Lecturer, School of Education

Excellence in Professional Service

Winner – Individual

Mrs Lauren Marsh, Office Manager, HR Strategy and Services

Lauren is recognised for her outstanding excellence in managing the Academia: A Scholarly Life Conference. The conference for early career researchers and PhD students included high profile keynote speakers, as well as Vice-Chancellors and Deputy Vice-Chancellors from universities across Australia. The Conference was attended by over 300 delegates and was a resounding success; full recognition for the successful coordination of the conference is due to Lauren who took on this responsibility over and above her substantive workload.

Winner – Team

Mental Health and Well Being Strategy Group

Ms Jenny Baines, Head of Counselling Services, Student Support Services
Ms Debbie Brown, Injury Management Coordinator, Office of People and Culture
Debra Steen, Injury Management Coordinator, Office of People and Culture
Mrs Gill Murphy, Mental Health Coordinator, Student Support Services
Ms Leanne Kent, Senior Staff Disability Advisor, Equity and Diversity
Mr Trevor Allan, Head of Student Equity, Welfare and Disability Services, Student Support Services
Mr Craig Hinley, Disability Action Plan Project Manager, Equity and Diversity
Ms Rita Boustani, HR Advisor, Organisational Development, UWSCollege Pty Ltd
Mr Richard Martino, Manager, Student Representation and Participation, Student Support Services
Mr Ashwin Bhutani, General Manager, UWS Residential Colleges
Mrs Linda Wilkes, Project Assistant, Student Support Services
The significant and dedicated contributions of Ms Rowena Saheb, Population Health Program Officer, are acknowledged.
 
This team is recognised for being innovative and engaged both internally and externally. The Mental Health and Well Being Strategy Group is undertaking work that puts UWS at the forefront of the mental health and wellbeing sector. The Mental Health and Well Being Strategy Group has been operational for one year and consists of like-minded motivated individuals who are seeking to promote individual capacity and to limit distress for UWS staff, students and their families.
 

Highly Commended – Individual

Mr Scott Christensen, Manager, Internal Communications and Employer Brand, Office of Partnerships and Public Affairs

Highly Commended – Team

School of Psychology Professional Team

Mrs Melissa Maucort,School Manager, School of Psychology
Ms Jule Forti, Senior School Administrative Officer (Academic Programs), School of Psychology
Ms Ashley Gentle, Executive Assistant, Project Officer to the Head of School, School of Psychology
Mr Brett Marriage, Audio Visual Officer, School of Psychology
Ms Zoe Apostolatos, Senior School Administrative Officer (Placements), School of Psychology
Ms Reannen Baker, School Administrative Officer, School of Psychology
Ms Dallas Ryan, School Administrative Officer, School of Psychology
Ms Vicki Fox, Senior School Administrative Officer (Research), School of Psychology
Ms Danielle Hudson, Student Liaison Officer, School of Psychology
Ms Cynthia Bailey, School Administrative Officer (UWS Psychology Clinic), School of Psychology
Ms Leigh Bambury, Senior School Administrative Officer, School of Psychology
Mr Troy Priestland, Technical Officer, School of Psychology
Ms Jackie Trost, Administrative Assistant, School of Psychology
Dr Martin Daly, Associate Lecturer, SharePoint Designer, School of Psychology
 

Programs Unit, Student Support Services

Mrs Elizabeth Dlugon, Programs Coordinator, Student Support Services
Mrs Sue Bell, Programs Coordinator, Student Support Services
Miss Lisa Linford, Project Assistant, Student Support Services
Ms Ha Nguyen, Project Assistant, Student Support Services
Mrs Linda Wilkes, Project Assistant, Student Support Services
Ms Jenn Vrana, Project Assistant, Student Support Services

Excellence in Postgraduate Research, Training and Supervision

Winner

Associate Professor Paul Holford, Associate Professor, School of Natural Sciences

For more than 15 years, Paul has been instrumental in developing and directing higher degree postgraduate programs for the Centre for Plants and the Environment. Paul has demonstrated a sustained commitment to supporting HDR students to develop their skills as scientists and scholars. Paul was responsible for introducing and implementing various processes to enhance the student experience and to improve monitoring of student performance and progress, including the Annual Assessment process, which has been responsible for high completion rates in the Centre for Plants and the Environment, as well as being adopted by other groups at UWS. In his role as HDR Coordinator, Paul has fostered a supportive atmosphere promoting student welfare and has established specialised training courses for HDR students to enhance their skills.

Highly Commended

Associate Professor Hart Cohen, Associate Head of School, Research, School of Communication Arts
Professor Yan Zhang, Professor, School of Computing and Mathematics

Excellence in University Engagement

Winner – Staff Team

Classrooms without Borders

Dr Tania Ferfolja, Associate Head of School, School of Education
Mrs Michelle Milham, Professional Experience Administrative Officer, School of Education
Dr Diana Whitton, Associate Professor, School of Education

Classrooms without Borders (CWB) was implemented in 2010. It is a unique university-community engagement unit that is compulsory within the Master of Teaching (Primary). Classrooms without Borders supports diverse and disadvantaged communities, including refugee, migrant, Indigenous and low socio-economic backgrounds in the Greater Western Sydney region. The key focus is to embed engaged learning into the everyday education of UWS students. This program is recognised for its engagement and commitment to the community.

Winner – Student Team

Seeing it Differently

Miss Clare Wilmott, Student, Master of Teaching (Primary)
Mr Michael Shipley, Student, Master of Teaching (Primary)
Ms Sarah Rush, Student, Master of Teaching (Primary)
Miss Amelia Lamond, Student, Master of Teaching (Primary)
Miss Jacqueline Bilton, Student, Master of Teaching (Primary)
Mrs Dahlia Hijazi, Student, Master of Teaching (Primary)
Mrs Karen Stevenson, Student, Bachelor of Arts (Pathways to Teaching Primary)
Miss Elise Turton, Student, Bachelor of Arts (Pathways to Teaching Primary)

Under the Classrooms without Borders program, and in conjunction with Ruse Public School, the Seeing it Differently student group won funding through the National Australia Bank Schools Seeding Grant, which allowed them to produce resources for visually impaired young people. The students worked with the Support Teacher at Ruse Public School to create a range of tactile and digital books for children in South Western Sydney. The student group is recognised for their ground-breaking work and their engagement with the community.
 

Highly Commended – Staff Individual

Professor Shelley Burgin, Professor, School of Natural Sciences, Provost Hawkesbury Campus

Excellence in University Sustainability

Winner – Student Individual

Mr John Wright, Student, Bachelor of Science (Honours)

John is recognised for his outstanding achievement in the field of sustainability. His work has lasting economic and social benefits as well as raising the profile of the environmental impacts of climate change on marine ecosystems. John is a UWS Honours student in the School of Natural Sciences studying the impacts of climate change on oysters. The findings of John’s research will result in recommendations to aquaculture industries on which species of oysters will be more resilient to climate change stressors and inform the NSW Oyster Industry Sustainable Aquaculture Strategy.
 

Winner – Staff Team

UniStep – SLU UniStep Sustainability Group

Ms Erst Carmichael, Lecturer, Student Learning Unit
Ms Clare Power, Lecturer, Student Learning Unit
Dr Marie Fellbaum Korpi, Lecturer, Student Learning Unit

The Student Learning Unit’s UniStep program is a unique interdisciplinary program tailored to facilitate the transition of students commencing their first year at UWS. A distinctive characteristic of the UniStep program is the utilisation of the theme of sustainability which is woven throughout their learning experience to assist students in developing critical thinking skills and increasing awareness of important issues around sustainability and climate change.

Highly Commended – Individual

Dr Emma Power, Lecturer, Geography and Urban Studies, School of Social Sciences

Highly Commended – Staff Team

Hawkesbury-Nepean Waterkeeper’s Project

Professor Michael Jeffery, Professor in Environmental Law, School of Law
Professor Shelley Burgin, Professor, School of Natural Sciences, Provost Hawkesbury Campus
Professor Donna Craig, Professor in Environmental Law, School of Law

Excellence in Leadership

Winner – Academic Staff

Dr Amanda Johnson, Senior Lecturer, Director of Undergraduate Studies and HOPBN, School of Nursing and Midwifery

As Chair of the Inherent Requirements of Nursing Education (IRONE) project, Amanda took on a very challenging and complex role that has significant implications for the University and Nursing education across Australia. The IRONE project was developed to respond to significant challenges in supporting students with disabilities in their academic progression in the Bachelor of Nursing Program, as well as to respond to amendments to the Disability Discrimination Act (2009). Amanda led this project without the benefit of previous research or frameworks to achieve and establish innovative and important outcomes that are beneficial to the School of Nursing and Midwifery and UWS overall. IRONE established UWS as a sector leader with a commitment to ensuring appropriate adjustments to teaching, assessment and clinical practice to address effects of students’ disabilities so that they are able to participate in their studies without any unnecessary disadvantage.
 

Winner – Professional Staff 

Melissa has extensive experience in administration and management. Melissa has been instrumental in establishing a cohesive, engaged and empowered School of Psychology professional team. Melissa has encouraged her team to further their learning by raising awareness of the importance of high-quality professional development, and has worked collaboratively with each staff member to ensure successful long-term outcomes for the wider School community.

Highly Commended – Professional Staff

Ms Yuen Yuen Yip, Manager, Project Planning Services, Capital Works and Facilities

UWSCollege Award for Excellence

Highly Commended – Individual

Ms Marilyn McDonald, Associate Director – Academic Pathway Programs, UWSCollege Pty Ltd

Marilyn is recognised for exceptional leadership of academic pathways programs through a period of significant growth and change. Marilyn has instigated many measures to the program to ensure quality including introduction of SFU’s and SFT’s and through leading the introduction of six new diploma programs between 2009 and 2011.
 
Ms Julie McAlpin, Executive Manager, Business Development and Public Affairs, UWSCollege Pty Ltd

Julie is recognised for her exceptional leadership and professionalism. Julie managed the closure of the AMEP operations at Liverpool and Campbelltown, which involved not only the finalisation of services but the management of staff morale in a very sensitive and complex environment.
 

Highly Commended – Team

English Communication and Literacy for Arabic Speakers (ECLAS)

Mrs Janice Hayes, Acting Head of Program, English Programs, UWSCollege Pty Ltd
Mrs Katrina Marsden, English Teacher, UWSCollege Pty Ltd
Mr Majdi Al Zaghal, English Teacher, UWSCollege Pty Ltd

The development and planned delivery of the English Communication and Literacy for Arabic Speakers curriculum has been undertaken with the UWS College quality framework at the forefront of all work. The program has developed the ECLAS curriculum to a highly professional level.