Headlines for August 2010
Professor Alan Gilbert
It is with sadness that we report the death of the founder and inaugural chair of Universitas 21, Professor Alan Gilbert, on Tuesday, 27 July. Professor Gilbert was for many years Vice-Chancellor of the University of Melbourne, and recently retired from his position as the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Manchester in the UK.
Universitas 21 was founded in 1997 at a meeting at Melbourne convened by Professor Gilbert who saw opportunities for like-minded universities to collaborate globally in new and enterprising ways. As in many things, his views stimulated others to action and our network owes him a debt of thanks for his energy and vision.
Professor Gilbert is fondly remembered at the University of Melbourne for having established the Melbourne Scholarships Programme, an initiative designed both to attract outstanding, high-achieving students and also support students from less fortunate circumstances in their studies. The Student Union Theatre is a recipient of his personal benefaction, a gift of A$100,000 towards its refurbishment and upkeep.
Regarded by colleagues as a very decent and intensely focused man, Professor Alan Gilbert enjoyed enormous respect from those he worked with around the world.
We extend our sympathies to his family, friends and former colleagues.
UN Consultative Status Update
The United Nations Committee on Non-Governmental Organizations confirmed in July 2010 its conferment on Universitas 21 of consultative status with the Economic and Social Council. We will send our first representatives to a meeting to be held in Melbourne later this month on Advance Global Health: Achieve the MDGs. Our representatives from Tecnológico de Monterrey and the University of Melbourne include three students and come from health sciences and from law.
U21 Internationalisation Group Meeting (12 October 2010, Shanghai, PR China)
The former U21 International Directors Group has been reorganised as a U21 Internationalisation Group. This group is being run on a regional basis, with the Europe and North America group being co-ordinated by Erik Lithander at University College Dublin and Edward Harcourt at the University of Birmingham and the Asia-Pacific group being co-ordinated by Jennie Lang at the University of New South Wales and Andrew Everett at the University of Queensland.
Because so many members of this group will be attending the U21 Managers' Meeting at Fudan University on 13-15 October, the opportunity is being taken to organise a meeting of the Internationalisation Group on the day before – 12th October 2010. Those intending to attend this meeting should book their hotel accommodation immediately, to ensure a space. Full details are on http://www.universitas21.com/event/101012InternationalisationGroup.html .
FINE: Forum for International Networking in Education
FINE is a student group that seeks to provide education doctoral students with opportunities for social and professional networking globally. All education doctoral students and recent graduates from Universitas 21 universities are welcome as members of the group. The July edition of the FINE newsletter is now online at http://www.universitas21.com/Education/FINE-newsletter201007.pdf .
The next FINE networking event is at the European Conference on Educational Research (ECER) in Helsinki (23-37 August 2010). There will be the chance for U21/FINE students to share their conference experience at two breakfasts on the 24th and 26th of August. There is no cost to students from U21 members who are members of FINE. Every student at a U21 University is automatically a member of the FINE network and is more than welcome to join the events.
The breakfast is primarily aimed at providing opportunities for students to network professionally and socially, and to promote collaborative research and enhanced academic/career prospects. To assist in organizing the events, the FINE network needs to know the number of potential attendees. Also, they would be delighted to have any academic staff in U21 Faculties/Departments of Education, at these events.
Contact Ulrike Woitsch (u.woitsch.1@research.gla.ac.uk ) or Radhika Gorur (r.gorur@pgrad.unimelb.edu.au ).
Learning Environments Design Forum (4 – 8 October, Dublin) Reminder
The fourth U21 Learning Environments Design Forum will be hosted by the University College Dublin. The objective of the Forum is to further develop the skills of U21 colleagues who are involved in the design and enhancement of formal and informal learning/ teaching spaces. The event will take the form of an intensive five day workshop and aims to create an atmosphere in which colleagues actively participate in the development of new generation learning spaces. This event is likely to be of particular interest to those who face the challenges of creating new or remodelling existing teaching and learning spaces. For more information, visit http://www.universitas21.com/event/101004LearnEnvir.html .
U21 Digital Humanities Conference: Cultural Heritage and Technology (13 – 17 September, Birmingham) Update
The University of Birmingham is hosting the U21 Digital Humanities Conference: Cultural Heritage and Technology from 15 - 17 September 2010. The event has been organised to coincide with the British Science Festival also being hosted in Birmingham from 13 - 17 September 2010. Colleagues are invited to Birmingham to present papers or to attend the conference as a delegate and explore the opportunities for collaboration with U21 partners. The conference will have a full social itinerary including field trips to sites of interest in the region. There is no fee for attending this conference, which is open to all academic staff of Universitas 21 partner universities.
The UK Arts and Humanities Research Council and the US Council of Library and Information Resources have confirmed that they will be in attendance at the conference to discuss heritage initiatives and development with delegates.
For more information about the conference go to http://www.international.bham.ac.uk/partnerships/u21/Heritage_Conference.shtml.
U21 Health Sciences Annual Meeting (29 September – 1 October, Monterrey, Mexico) Closing Date Reminder
The closing date for registration for this event, hosted by Tecnológico de Monterrey, is 27 August 2010. The annual meeting will be preceded by the U21 United Nations Millenium Development Goals workshop on 27-28 September and also includes the U21 Medical Deans’ meeting on 1st October. Full information can be obtained via the events page of the U21 website at: http://www.universitas21.com/events.html .
Change of U21 Secretariat Administrator
Sheila Raby will be leaving the Secretariat on 11th August to move on to pastures new. Her replacement, Dr Gemma Marakas, has already started work, and Sheila and Gemma are working hard to ensure a seamless handover. Gemma is a U21 alumna with a PhD from the University of Birmingham in the archaeology of ritual practices in prehistoric Greece. Her email address is g.marakas@bham.ac.uk.
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