AnnRpt2000. book

 
The Australian National University Annual Report 2000
 
8
named the recipient of the 2001 IEEE James H Mulligan
Jr Education medal for his work in electrical engineering
education.
•
ANU graduate Alex Cook will examine the changing
role of academics in society during his PhD at Cambridge
University after winning a Cambridge Australia Trust
scholarship.
A new centre for Archaeological Research opened in April.
The Centre brings together scientists from the Research
School of Pacific and Asian Studies, the Research School
of Earth Sciences and the Faculty of Arts. It will create
greater cooperation across faculty boundaries and help
make facilities more accessible to staff and research stu-
dents.
Three new centres, both virtual and physical, were estab-
lished in 2000: the Poverty Research Centre in the Divi-
sion of Economics, Research School of Pacific and Asian
Studies; Medical Genome Centre in the John Curtin
School of Medical Research; and the Centre for Restora-
tive Justice in the Research School of Social Sciences.
The Canberra School of Music and the Faculty of Asian
Studies acquired a Javanese gamelan orchestra, which will
be used to teach classes in World Music and Asian Per-
forming Arts. The ANU gamelan is named "Nyai Widya
Laras" (The Venerable Lady Melody of Knowledge), com-
bining the essence of ANU and Canberra School of Music
both as institutions to pursue excellence in knowledge and
musical/artistic creativity.
A Small Enrolment Languages Project to deliver low-en-
rolment language courses at Australian universities was
introduced. Funding was provided under the Common-
wealth Government's "Maintaining Student Choice"
scheme, an element of the Higher Education Innovation
Program (HEIP) and started the Small Enrolment Lan-
guages Project in July 1999. Course content is being
determined collaboratively and will be delivered through
CD-ROMs and an innovative use of multi-media includ-
ing the World Wide Web, audiotapes and printed
material. It will soon be possible for school students (or
any interested people) to access interactive language exer-
cises through the WWW in Hindi and Vietnamese. It is
hoped Arabic, Urdu, Thai, Lao, Korean and Russian will
soon be added to the interactive program.
In August, 80 people from a large number of universities
from all around Australia participated in a highly success-
ful Thai Update conference. The Update also included
participants from government, the media, business,
TAFEs, schools and others interested in the promotion
and coordination of Thai Studies in Australia. The Am-
bassador of Thailand, His Excellency Sawanit Kongsiri,
opened the conference.
Nine ANU students were awarded prizes by the Swiss
Government and the ANU for essays in German, French
and Italian — three of Switzerland’s four national lan-
guages. The annual “Swiss Prize” aims to strengthen the
interest in, and the study of, modern European languages
and promote plurilinguism and cultural diversity. ANU’s
winners were Anna de Puit, Samantha Canulli and Ange-
line Baker for German essays; Felicity Abbott, Kelisiana
Thynne and Justine Garrett (French) and Rosalin Maw-
lanzada, Bronwyn Blue and Valeria Alfonzi (Italian).
In September, the Papua New Guinea High Commission
and ANU hosted a seminar to mark the 25th anniversary
of the independence of Papua New Guinea.
The Canberra School of Art (CSA) and Alliance Française
jointly hosted a group of New Caledonian artists in the
School's Sculpture Workshop in March.
One of the world’s leading experts on health risks from
global change, Professor Tony McMichael, is to return to
Australia next year to head the ANU’s National Centre for
Epidemiology and Population Health (NCEPH). Profes-
sor McMichael is currently Professor of Epidemiology at
the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine in
the UK.
The Graduate Program in Public Policy introduced two
short courses on diplomacy, “Economics of Diplomacy,
Security and International Policy” and “Case Studies in
Diplomacy”, to meet demand for professional training
from Canberra’s diplomatic community.
The Chancellor, Emeritus Professor Peter Baume,
launched an initiative by former University staff members
who wish to continue their association with the ANU to
serve its interests and those of the wider community.
Known as the Emeritus Faculty the group aims to foster a
sense of collegiality among its members and to enable
them to join in the academic and cultural life of the Uni-
versity.
The first ANUTECH Foundations Studies students grad-
uated in 2000. The intensive study skills and academic
language course aims to give international students a head
start when they commence degrees at Australian universi-
ties.
In November, the “Group of Eight” (Go8) universities, of
which the ANU is a member, sponsored the inaugural
Asia-Pacific Round Table at Georgetown University in
Washington DC. Organised with support of the World
Bank and the Asia Society, the event brought about 50
senior government officials, executives from the private
sector and non-government organisations, representatives
of the media, and experts from academia and from global
and regional organisations. Georgetown University was
chosen because its Centre for Australian and New Zealand
Studies provided logistical support.
 
Enrolments
 
The University maintained its first year undergraduate en-
trance standards for the sixth year while recording an in-
crease in the number of offers it made to prospective
students in 2000. ANU made 2,396 offers through the
University Admissions Centre (UAC), plus 195 through
the Victorian Tertiary Admissions Centre. During the
year, 200 students transferred internally through the UAC.

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