Winter graduation ceremonies to draw 6,000 to UOW
17 Jul 2007 | Renee Criddle
The University of Wollongong will play host to about 6,000 people this week (18 to 20 July) when it conducts its mid-year graduation ceremonies.
Six ceremonies will be held over the three days. The expected attendance of 6,000 comprises more than 1,500 graduands along with their families and friends. A sample of some graduating stories are:
* Internationally renowned journalist and photojournalist, Ben Bohane, will graduate on Friday 20 July at the morning ceremony with a Master of Arts Research (Journalism). Ben is an expert on trouble spots throughout the Pacific. He produces, and is involved in, a range of current affairs programs including ABC TV’s Lateline and BBC TV. His thesis has significant relevance to international relations, religion, anthropology and history for the Asia Pacific region.
* Kelly Newell will graduate at the afternoon ceremony on Friday 20 July with a PhD for her research work with UOW’s Neurobiology Research Centre for Metabolic and Psychiatric Disorders. She has been working on the Beta Imager schizophrenia research project. About four years ago, the Lord Mayor of Wollongong fronted a schizophrenia awareness campaign that raised money to buy the $200,000 machine. Kelly’s father, former General Manager of the Illawarra Mercury Peter Newell, will be attending her ceremony.
* Internationalisation Coordinator in the Faculty of Arts, June Aspley, has been an employee of UOW for 22 years. During this time she has completed a Bachelor of Arts (Honours) in Sociology and at the morning ceremony on Wednesday 18 July she will graduate with a Master of Arts in Applied Ethics (with Distinction). June wrote her 18,000-word thesis on investigating the history and ethics of xenotransplantation – the transplantation of living cells, tissues or organs from various non-human animal species to the human species.
* Indian national, Vinathe Sharma-Brymer, will be awarded a PhD in Education at the morning ceremony on Wednesday 18 July. Vinathe came to UOW from Mysore University in India in 2001. During her time here she has also achieved a Master degree in Education, a job as a teacher in the faculty, met her husband (fellow international Education PhD graduate Eric Brymer from the UK) and had two children. The family will move back to India in August.
* Commerce PhD graduate, Bubaker Shareia, will graduate at the afternoon ceremony on Thursday 19 July. He is one of the first ever Libyan students to undertake a PhD degree in Australia. His thesis researched the role of accounting systems in developing countries with a focus on Libya. Bubaker has been living in Australia with his wife and three young daughters who attend local primary school.
* Master student, Sheng Chen, will be the first higher degree student to graduate from the newly-established School of Information Systems and Technology (SISAT) in the Faculty of Informatics on Friday 20 July at the morning ceremony. He will receive a Master of Information and Communication Technology (Research).
* Narelle Beehag will graduate with a Master of Science (Nutrition and Dietetics) at the afternoon ceremony on Friday 20 July. In 1998, Narelle sustained a crippling lower back injury but has managed to complete her two UOW degrees despite regular hospitalisation for nerve block injections and a variety of treatments. Despite her disability, Narelle maintained a credit average in her Bachelor of Science (Nutrition) and a distinction average in her Master degree. She also managed to complete a work placement while studying.
* Wollongong UniAdvice casual employee, Tim Nicholls, will graduate with a Bachelor of Mathematics (Advanced) and Bachelor of Computer Science at the morning ceremony on Friday 20 July. Tim is the only person who has studied this degree because it is not a double degree for which UOW makes offers. As part of his study, Tim completed an innovative computer science project that resulted in a paper being published and presented at a national conference in Canberra.
* Manager of the Loftus Education Centre, Ravi Daga, will be graduating with a Master of Business Administration (MBA) at the morning ceremony on Thursday 19 July – his third postgraduate qualification from UOW.
* Manager of Innovation and Commercialisation at UOW, Scott Needham, is graduating with a PhD from the Faculty of Engineering at the morning ceremony on Thursday 19 July. His research investigated the development of new materials for application in rechargeable lithium batteries.
* Indigenous graduates: Indigenous Employment Officer Cadet at UOW, Jade Kennedy, will graduate on Wednesday 18 July at the afternoon ceremony with a Bachelor of Commerce. It is hoped he will be joined by a number of staff from the Woolyungah Indigenous Centre to celebrate his achievement. Indigenous student, Ernie Blackmore, will graduate on Wednesday morning with a PhD from the School of English Literatures, Philosophy and Languages. His thesis presented an ‘Urban’ Indigenous ‘Voice’ to contemporary Australian through the medium of theatre. Vanessa Cavanagh will graduate on the afternoon of Friday 20 July with a Bachelor of Science (Land and Heritage Management) with First Class Honours (94%). Her thesis, titled, ‘The Threatened Species Act in Bundjalung Country’, analysed responses from Aboriginal community members, and the NSW Department of Environment and Climate Change staff (where she works), on the involvement of Aboriginal people in Threatened Species Recovery.
Venue: All the ceremonies will be held at the University Hall, UniCentre
Best photo/filming opportunity times: The morning ceremonies all begin at 9.45am and the afternoon ceremonies begin at 2.30pm. Photos/filming/interviews can best be done between 9am and 9.30am for the morning ceremonies and 1.45pm to 2.15pm for the afternoon ceremonies. Media opportunities also exist after the ceremonies (the ceremonies generally take about one and half hours to two hours).
Ceremonies note: Arts/Education/Law will be held Wednesday morning; Commerce will be held on Wednesday afternoon; Engineering/Graduate School of Business/Informatics on Thursday morning; Commerce #2 on Thursday afternoon; Creative Arts/Informatics on Friday morning and Science/Health and Behavioural Sciences on Friday afternoon.
For further information: Contact Renée Criddle on 0438 544 655 or Bernie Goldie on 0412 454 124 (and on Friday, Nick Hartgerink can also be contacted on 0418 424 085)
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