Issue 562 (March 2007) - Office of Marketing and Communications

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8U Q N E W S , M A R C H 2 0 0 7Queensland Academy students Rob Murdock, Pree Jeewandara and Eliza Chew with tutor Annie Chen (second left).SMART KIDS GETTING HEAD STARTTHE NEWEST STUDENTS TO STUDY AT UQ MAY BE YOUNG, BUT THEY SURE ARE BRAINY.For their first five weeks of school,students of the new QueenslandAcademy for Science, Mathematicsand Technology at Toowong are spendingone day a week working with top UQacademics at the University’s researchinstitutes.As part of their UQ practical experience,the students are taking part in workshopsand tutorials in biology, biomedical science,chemistry, mathematics and physics.But their UQ experience will not endthere – the “Smart State” Academy willmaintain an ongoing and close link withthe University, allowing its high-achievingstudents to develop their skills through aleading-edge curriculum.Vice-Chancellor Professor John Hay, AC,said the arrangement would provide academystudents with an enhanced learning experienceand the opportunity to develop research andinvestigation skills in a world-class environment.“The University has cultivated a traditionof research and teaching excellence that willafford students every opportunity to fulfil theirpotential,” Professor Hay said.“As well as being provided with access tocutting-edge technologies in innovative fieldssuch as robotics, biomedical science, forensicscience and gene technology, students are beingexposed to a groundbreaking researchenvironment that has produced researchsuccesses of the likes of our scramjetproject and life-saving cervical cancerresearch.”The 242 inaugural academy students aretaking on the International BaccalaureateDiploma program, a two-year curriculumthat prepares 16-to-19-year-olds foruniversity.As well as being able to fast track theirlearning by combining their schooling withtertiary studies, students are presentedwith opportunities to gain valuable workexperience.RewardingexcellenceNominations are being invited forThe University of Queensland’s 2007Awards for Excellence in Teaching andAwards for the Enhancement of StudentLearning.AWARDS FOR EXCELLENCE IN TEACHINGThese awards were established in 1988 torecognise, encourage and reward sustainedexcellence in teaching at the University.Academic staff with teaching or teaching/research appointments who have a minimum oftwo years academic teaching-related employmentwithin the University are eligible for nomination.Candidates must be nominated by at leastfive members of the University’s academic staffor current or former students (those who havebeen taught by the nominee within the last fiveyears). Of the five people who nominate, at leastone must be an academic staff member and onea current or former student. Self-nominations willnot be accepted.Information, including posters, guidelinesand nomination forms, is available in faculty,school and centre offices, Student Centres andat: http://www.uq.edu.au/teaching-learning(Select Teaching Excellence) or by contactingJenny Bjarnesen on (07) 3365 3206 or emailingj.bjarnesen@admin.uq.edu.au.Nominations, completed on the appropriateform, should be submitted by Friday May 4, 2007to the Director of Studies of the nominee’s faculty.AWARDS FOR THE ENHANCEMENT OFSTUDENT LEARNINGThese awards were established in 2001 bythe University’s Academic Board. They recogniselearning and teaching support programs andservices that make an outstanding contributionto the quality of student learning and the studentexperience of higher education.Self-nominations are being invited for theseawards, which are open to innovative teachingand learning related projects or services initiatedby curriculum teams, groups or units withinsupport services, administrative units, centres,schools, or programs of study. They can also beUniversity-wide initiatives.Information packages, including posters,guidelines and application forms, are available indivisions and central services and school officesand at http://www.uq.edu.au/teaching-learning(Select Teaching Excellence) or by contactingJenny Bjarnesen on (07) 3365 3206 or emailingj.bjarnesen@admin.uq.edu.au.Applicants should submit their completedapplication form with appropriate endorsementand a two-page synopsis of the nominatedproject by Friday May 4, to Jenny Bjarnesen,Room 629, Level 6, J D Story Building.
IT’S NO JOKE…FUNNY BUSINESS IS SERIOUS WORK FOR A UQ LECTURERWHO’S RESEARCHING HUMOUR IN THE WORKPLACE.Dr Westwood9U Q N E W S , M A R C H 2 0 0 7UQ Business School academic Dr BobWestwood believes the TV program BigBrother can tell us something profoundabout humour at work.Dr Westwood said the Big Brother OfficeOlympics episode broadcast last year was funnyprecisely because it was subversive.“Most research on humour at work to datehas come out of a functionalist framework with,ultimately, the idea of capturing the benefits ofhumour as a way of improving productivity,” hesaid.“But the Office Olympics episode, with itsmockery of the “boss” figure, showed humour atwork at its most subversive and dangerous.”Dr Westwood has recently co-edited (with CarlRhodes, University of Technology, Sydney) a booklooking at humour in the workplace.Humour, Work and Organisation is publishedby Routledge and brings together academics fromAustralia, New Zealand, England, Ireland, and theUS to provide an alternative to the managerialistperspective that Dr Westwood believes continuesto drive much of the research.With examinations of gender, humour, andorganisations; humour in workplace meetings; anin-depth look at TV’s The Simpsons; a chapterentitled “The comedy of ethics”; and a finalsection examining the organisation of humour,the book is a surprise package.Dr Westwood said it was a scholarlyacademic book, produced from withinthe academy, by an established andestablishment publishing house.Contributors include Sam Warrenand Stephen Fineman, who examinethe intriguing idea of “prescribed fun”at work, while Martin Parker studiesthe interplay of organisational cultureand popular culture by providing along list of satirical books, televisionshows and websites, all predicatedon the stereotype of work as thelast place you’d want to be and “theboss” as a tyrant.“It constitutes a location [for hischapter [Theory as Joke] within theextant power structures that largelymilitate against the possibility ofsubversion and transformation,” hesaid.In other words it’s no joke.Join NTEU at UQWe know higher education.We have a full-time office at UQ.We are a democratic union.The National Tertiary EducationUnion (NTEU) is open to all Generaland Academic Staff at UQ. Werepresent all staff in negotiationsabout your pay and conditions. Weassist individual members with issuesranging from performance appraisalto probation.Our recent achievements include:• 4% pay rise on 1 Jan 2007.• 26 weeks paid maternity leave.• Short-term contract roll-over.• Guidelines limiting academicworkloads.• Raising research staff issues.• Improved casual loading.We want to do more but we need your help. Join NTEUtoday! It’s an essential investment in your future.To find out more or join online visit www.nteu.org.auContact the UQ Branch office on 336 52538,or email m.mcnally@qld.nteu.org.auThere has never been a moreimportant time to join a union.
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Issue 562 (March 2007) - Office of Marketing and Communications

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