Postgrad students take a leap of faith
Instead of being subjected to ‘death by PowerPoint’, Business and Law students were spirited away to the Bickley Recreation Camp in the foothills of Perth to climb, jump and swing their way through orientation.
The program, an initiative of the Director of Graduate Studies, Associate Professor Gary Chittick, is designed to test leadership, ingenuity and teamwork. Activities included building towers of milk crates to reach a stuffed chicken and climbing ten metres to the top of a swaying pole only to jump into space to a trapeze.
Check out the YouTube video of Master of Human Resource Management student Daniel Barros taking the leap of faith.
The aim, says Professor Chittick, is to offer something unique that adds value to a student's university experience.
“Very few of these students know each other and it's a great opportunity to get everyone together and have some fun,” he says. “And the early collaboration pays dividends in the classroom as well.”
Also see the photos of the orientation day.
Associate Professor Susan Stoney wins national recognition for her outstanding contribution to student learning
August saw Associate Professor Susan Stoney, Business and Law's Director of Undergraduate Studies, recognised in the 2007 Carrick Citations for Outstanding Contributions to Student Learning Awards.
The Carrick Citations, now in their second year, are part of the Australian Government's commitment to recognising and rewarding excellence in university teaching in the higher education sector. They are given to people who have made a significant long-term contribution to their institution.
Candidates for the awards need to have received strong institutional endorsement and to be widely recognised for their achievements within the nominating institution.
Professor Stoney was nominated after receiving the Vice-Chancellor's Citation acknowledging ‘27 years of inspirational sustained leadership and mentoring in the adoption of innovative technique and workplace relevant curricula.’
She hopes to use the $10,000 prize money in further developing her skills in academic leadership.
“I am interested in exploring the whole area of leadership for staff and students,” explained Dr Stoney. “Finding the time for extra research will be my only problem.”
ECU — First in the field
Students from ECU's Media and Justice unit, attending a field trip to the West Australian Police Media Section, were delighted to find that topping the impressive list of speakers was the Police Commissioner himself, Dr Karl O'Callaghan.
Dr O'Callaghan stressed how important it was for Law and Justice Students to understand the relationship between the media and criminal justice system and complimented ECU on its innovation in running this unit, the first of its type in Australia.
The visit, an initiative of Lecturer Natalie Gately and Police Special Projects Coordinator Rex Haw, gave students a chance to convert what they had been learning into reality. Insights from the Police Commissioner and media experts such as Director Media and Public Affairs, Neil Stanbury, shattered many of the student preconceived ideas about the relationship between the police and the media.
“I had wonderful preconceived ideas of the media being an interference to police investigations and negative to their role in the community and hadn't considered the many ways they can in fact help and improve certain investigations and keep police accountable,” said student Brooke Harvey.
To get a different perspective the class visited Channel 7. They meet Senior News Line-Up Producer, Mr Howard Gretton, a seasoned crime reporter and Mr Shaun Menegola, the News Director. They discussed the unique and interdependent relationship the police and media share and different aspects of when their common goals unite and when they clash.
They also discussed the legal aspects of news making and how they keep within the legal protocol to avoid distressing victims of crime and their families.
The students, such as Kristinea Keay, believed it was a valuable experience to see both perspectives.
“It was good to be able to contrast them against one another and I feel I gained a better idea of how each perceive their roles in ‘informing the public’,” she said.
Nicola Bowen and Chrissie Hayter win the prestigious Tottle Partners Cup
The School of Law and Justice is committed to giving its students opportunities to develop advocacy skills and does so by mounting a number of mooting and negotiation competitions throughout the year.
The premier event is The Tottle Partners Cup and is open to all year levels within the Bachelor of Laws program. The competition, now in its third year, is sponsored by Tottle Partners; a Perth based firm specialising in dispute resolution, corporate, commercial and property law. It is a prime example of the synergy ECU Business and Law are forming with industry partners.
The moot problem alternates between Criminal Law and non-Criminal law issues. This year the problem was a Torts (medical negligence) question written by Rupert Johnson.
To enter, the students are required to form and register a team of two. The number of rounds run depends on the number of teams registered. This year there were six teams and three rounds. The two preliminary rounds were judged by Michael Crowley (Competitions Coordinator) and the final round was judged by Rupert Johnson (Law Course Coordinator) and two Senior Associates from Tottle Partners, Eibhlin McCloskey and Lee Panotidis. The final was held as part of the ECU Open Day at Joondalup Campus.
The 2007 winning team of Nicola Bowen and Chrissie Hayter were presented with the ‘Tottle Partners Cup’ by the firm's founder, Paul Tottle, during a function at the Tottle Partners St Georges Terrace offices.
Student competition coordinator, Brenda Banister-Jones, believes the competition and subsequent host function is an invaluable networking opportunity.
“The competition is a forum for students to try out their skills,” says Brenda. “The function adds an extra element to the competition as it is not only a wonderful experience, but is an excellent way for students to meet with experienced lawyers and find out more about the industry we are hoping to enter.”
Nicola and Chrissie went on to represent ECU in the General Moot competition at the annual Australian Law Students Association Conference in Canberra.
Hone your legal writing skills
Following the success of the Writing Skills Workshops in first semester the program has been enhanced and extended for semester two.
Originally developed by Dr Jo MacFarlane for first year students studying Legal Process, the workshops have been opened up to all law students and one-on-one consultations will be also be available.
September workshops
Date: Friday 7 and 14 September
Time: 12:30pm–1:30pm
Where: Building 2, Room 2.126, Joondalup Campus.
Topics: Tone and style, when to reference, critical thinking skills, and linking the introduction and conclusion.
Dr MacFarlane will be available for individual consultation between 11.00am and 2.00pm on each teaching Friday of the semester (except for the hour of the workshop). Consultations are in Building 2, Room 2.305, Joondalup Campus.
For more information on the Legal Writing Skills program contact:
Michael Crowley at m.crowley@ecu.edu.au or +61 (0)8 6304 2117
Joseph Indaimo at j.indaimo@ecu.edu.au or +61 (0)8 6304 5293
To book a private consultation contact Dr Jo MacFarlane at j.mcfarlane@ecu.edu.au.
