Canterbury helps address shortage of psychologists

Mid-year report from the
Vice-Chancellor.
Top honour for Golden
Key Chapter.
U n i ve rs i t y o f Cant e rbur y • Chr istch u rch • New Z ealan d
Volume 38
•
No. 12
•
Thursday, August 14, 2003
NCRE releases survey
findings.
Rare books provide
valuable resource.
Canterbury helps address shortage of psychologists
Programme co-ordinator Karyn
France says the Masters in
Education in Child and Family
Psychology and the Postgraduate
Diploma in Child and Family
Psychology will respond to recent
professional training literature which
emphasises the need for
comprehensive, integrated training
preparing psychologists to work with
families within health, social welfare,
education, and justice settings.
The three year programme involves
two masters years — a foundation
year and a limited entry practicum
year — and a further internship
year for students who want to gain
the postgraduate diploma which
leads to registration as a psychologist various settings. These include the
with the New Zealand Psychologists’ Paediatrics Department at
Board.
Christchurch Hospital, Children,
Young Persons and their Families
Currently six students are in the
internship year, and if they complete Service (CYFS), Special Education
Services, the Family Court and other
the programme successfully, will be
agencies working with children and
the first in the country to graduate
with a PGDipChFamPsych. A further families considered to be “at risk”.
enter the internship year which is a
combination of academic study and
professional development while
working full-time as a psychology
intern.
p.2
seven students are in the practicum
year. The interns are working in
settings as varied as special
education, mental health, paediatrics,
a behaviour support team for families
of children with complex needs and
within the private sector. Interns are
working as far away as Greymouth
and Auckland.
The dissertation provides
opportunities for students to conduct
research within the child and family
area. Topics have included
interventions with families
concerned about sleep problems in
infants or children with anxiety or
developmental disorders, with highrisk parents, with parents struggling
In the foundation year students study with homework problems, and with
courses such as child and adolescent parents struggling to balance
university studies with good
disorders, evidence-based
interventions, paediatric psychology, parenting. Other topics have
included recording the experiences
and the theory and skills of
of Chinese parents of children with
psychology and counselling. The
special needs, the experience of
practicum year is a demanding year
teenage immigrants, and the
both academically and practically.
parenting of young fathers.
Students undertake professional
development, a research dissertation Students who have successfully
and work in practical placements in
completed the two masters years can
Photo by Duncan Shaw-Brown, C&D
wo new Canterbur y
University qualifications in
child and family psychology will
help answer market demand for
psychologists specifically
trained to work in the
increasingly demanding field of
children, youth and their
families and in a wide range of
settings.
Melissa Presnall (left), Cherin
Ubdelaal Selim and Louise Whyte are
taking part in the first internship
programme. Melissa and Cherin are
based at the Special Education Early
Intervention Centre and Louise is
working
in
the
Paediatrics
Department of Christchurch Hospital.
Maori welcome for new writer-in-residence
Canterbur y University’s new
writer-in-residence Gavin
Bishop (left) and the
Chairperson of Te Runanga o
Nga Maata Waka, Henare
Edwards, hongi following Mr
Bishop’s powhiri welcoming him
on to the campus.
Photo by Duncan Shaw-Brown, C&D
T
One is a “magic book” in conjunction
with the University’s Human Interface
Technology Laboratory (HIT Lab), the
other is a children’s book based on his
experiences growing up in the Central
Otago town of Kingston in the 1950s.
Mr Bishop, an award-winning
children’s author and illustrator, will
be based in the English Department
for six months as part of the Ursula
Bethell Residency in Creative
Writing.
During his residency Mr Bishop
hopes to work on two major projects.
1
Mid-year report from the Vice-Chancellor
generate a minimum annual surplus
of $5.1 million by December 2005.
Obviously we still have some way to
go but the June 2003 figures and
the Mid-Year Statement of Service
Performance show the University
has taken a good first step on the
road to recovery.
W
e recently presented two
related reports to the
University Council meeting. One
was the Mid-Year Statement of
Ser vice Performance, which
assesses our progress towards
achieving our strategic
objectives, and the other was
the monthly financial statements
until the end of June.
These positive developments would
not have been achieved without the
dedicated hard work of all staff, and
The Statement was welcomed by
particularly those with budget
Council as a clear and concise
management responsibilities in
summary of the University’s
academic and service departments.
performance against the eight
I realise that the measures taken to
strategic objectives in our 2003-5
control costs, particularly in the
Statement of Objectives. Members
staffing area, have been tough to
praised the content and format,
implement and that they have made
which lists the targets, gives a
everyone’s job more difficult. I have
discursive mid-year report and
details the performance indicators. with the Minister of Education, the appreciated the commitment shown
A further section outlines the future Tertiary Advisory Monitoring Unit by staff and would like to take this
opportunity to thank you all for
risks and the funding and budget
and our bank.
that.
implications.
As at 30 June, our operating
The Statement uses verifiable data
surplus was $1.74 million ahead of We are not out of the woods yet but
from a variety of sources and shows budget, giving a forecast year-end I am confident that if we continue to
face and deal with our problems as
we are doing well against many of
surplus of $2.7 million which is
we have recently then we will be
our key objectives by increasing
ahead of our financial recovery
able to achieve our targets and
domestic and international EFTS,
plan requirement of a surplus of
increasing income, holding costs,
$2.1 million. Our cash position was financial goals and restore the
University of Canterbury to
implementing restructuring, and
also much improved, a welcome
sustainable financial health.
cooperating with other local
turn-around from previous years,
institutions. It also highlighted
due partly to a substantial
some gaps which we expect to have reduction in our capital
Professor Roy Sharp
addressed by December. It was a
expenditure. We are now
Vice-Chancellor
pleasing result for our first half-year forecasting a cash surplus of $9
report and a good basis for our
million at year-end, removing the
• The Mid-Year Statement of
regular reporting regime.
need to borrow in January.
Service Performance and
The Council was also pleased – as I The financial viability measures in
Financial Report for June 2003
am – with the financial statements
the recovery plan require us to
can be viewed under Reports at
for the first six months of the year.
have a sustainable operating
www.newsroom.canterbury.ac.nz
surplus of between 3% and 5% by
These confirmed that we are
meeting our targets in terms of the the end of 2005, settling at 5% from
Financial Recovery Plan negotiated then on. That means we need to
p.1
– continued
Dr France said that during training all
students gained input and orientation
to bicultural practices and were
encouraged to work in a culturally safe
manner with cultural advisers
whenever available.
A team from the University’s
Department of Education teaches at all
levels of the programme. This team
comprises clinical, educational and
developmental psychologists and
specialists in counselling, disabilities,
applied behaviour analysis and
psychometrics. Considerable work has
been done in establishing liaisons with
agencies and organisations involved in
providing placements opportunities
and internships.
“There has been a very welcoming and
enthusiastic response from agencies
and individuals beyond the University
who are involved with the programme,”
Dr France said.
Student supervision during practical
placements and internships placed
extra demands on psychologists
already in the field, “and it has been
extremely heartening to witness the
willingness of those in the field to take
on the extra responsibilities involved in
training the child and family
psychologists of the future”.
“This programme is answering the
market demand for psychologists
specifically trained to work in the very
complex area of children, youth and
their families.”
• The Child and Family Psychology
Programme is being officially
launched with a function at the
University Staff Club on 21 August.
New scholarships target doctoral research
The Targeted Doctoral Scholarships
were established this year to support
specific research programmes.
per annum, plus tuition fees at
the domestic rate for three years.
Two Categor y 2 scholarships will
also be of fered which cover
payment of international
postgraduate tuition fees for
three years.
A joint subcommittee of the
Research and International
committees has selected the
programmes to be supported and
the programme leaders will now
advertise the availability of the
scholarships.
Three of the scholarships will be
offered through the School of
Biological Sciences for research
into tissue preser vation
technologies, biomedical
engineering, and molecular
ecology and evolution.
Five Category 1 scholarships are to
be awarded. These will pay $15,000
The Depar tment of Mechanical
Engineering is offering two
The University is offering seven
new doctoral scholarships
valued at more than $400,000
in total.
University of Canterbury Chronicle
scholarships, one for research
into the theoretical treatment
and technological development
of pulsed-chemical vapour
deposition and the other for
imaging technology for the
Biomedical Research Group.
Computer Science is seeking a
doctoral student to research
distributed network computing
for discrete-event simulation and
the Department of Physics and
Astronomy has funding for a
project on cluster-based nanoelectronic devices.
Next Issue:
August 28, 2003
Deadline:
August 22, 2003
Editor:
Jeanette Colman
Ext 6260 or 364 2260
Sub-editor:
Col Pearson
Artwork:
Marcus Thomas
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Top honour for Golden Key chapter
Council news
I
t was a case of third time
lucky for the Canterbury
chapter of the Golden Key
International Honour Society.
At the 30 July meeting of the
University Council:
• It was agreed that a portrait of
former
Vice-Chancellor
Professor Dar yl Le Grew
would be commissioned at a
cost of between $7000 and
$10,000. Authority was
delegated to Chancellor Dr
Robin Mann and Judge
Stephen Erber to oversee the
project, with specialist help
from the Head of the School of
Fine Arts, Dr Ian Lochhead.
For the last two years the chapter
received an honourable mention at
the society’s international
conference but this year walked
away with top honours. The
chapter was one of 10 from around
the world to receive a 2003 Key
Chapter Award. The award was
presented to Canterbury third-year
students Jennifer Molina and
Nancy Milik at the annual
conference in Chicago.
Canterbury President Tracy
Murdoch said last year’s honorary
mention was the inspiration the
chapter needed to “go all out” for
the top award. “We decided
honorary mention was no longer
enough.”
Founded in 1977 in Atlanta, Golden
Key is a global non-profit, studentrun society that provides academic
recognition to high achieving
students as well as leadership
opportunities, community service,
career networking and
scholarships.
There are now 356 chapters around
the world including two in New
Zealand – at Canterbury and
Waikato universities.
The Key Chapter award recognises
excellence in communication,
publicity, meeting protocols,
chapter activities, community
service and participation in
• Council finalised its submission
on the “Review of New Zealand
Tertiary Education Institute
Governance” undertaken by Dr
Meredith Edwards.
Nancy Milik and Jennifer Molina with the 2003 Key Chapter Award.
regional and international
programmes.
Jennifer and Nancy to attend the
conference.
“Not only did Canterbury win one
of the top awards but it was also the
highest scoring chapter in the Asia
Pacific region,” Tracy said.
In keeping with the conference
theme, “Passport to the World”, the
two students mounted a display on
New Zealand and were kept busy
handing out kiwifruit chocolates
and “loyal NZ” tattoos to many of
the 1100 delegates.
Over the past year the chapter has
been heavily involved in local
community projects including a
mentoring programme, cooking for
the City Mission, helping recruit
volunteers for the New Zealand
Blood Service, raising funds to buy
equipment for Nurse Maude and
building up a children’s video
collection for Ronald McDonald
House.
Financial assistance from the
University and Golden Key’s AsiaPacific headquarters allowed
• Council congratulated Dr Bob
Hall, Director of Planning and
Institutional Research, on
being added to the Tertiar y
Education
Commission’s
Sector Reference Group on
Charters and Profiles. Dr Hall
has been involved extensively
with the development of UC’s
Char ter and Profile. His
membership brings University
representation
on
the
Reference Group to three of
the total of 14.
“There was a lot of interest in New
Zealand with many asking about
study opportunities for international
students,” Jennifer said.
• The Mid-year Statement of
Ser vice Per formance was
welcomed
by
Council
members as a clear and
concise summar y of the
University’s progress against
its strategic objectives. Copies
are available from the
Registrar’s secretar y Kathy
Watkins.
The two students also presented a
display on the two highly successful
colloquiums run by the Canterbury
chapter for local high school
students including one held last
month on genetic engineering.
Visiting high school students savour University and art
The students were invited to the city
to experience a sample of the
Christchurch Arts Festival. During
their two-day visit the students toured
the University campus, visited the
Christchurch Art Gallery and the
University Theatre and attended a
jazz concert in the TV One Pavilion.
They also visited the Centre of
Contemporary Art to see the My
Place exhibition and listen to a talk by
Fine Arts lecturer Glenn Busch.
Photo by Duncan Shaw-Brown, C&D
The University provided the
backdrop for a smorgasbord of
art last month when it played
host to 27 senior drama
students and teachers from
nine Blenheim, Nelson and
Timaru high schools.
A highlight of the visit was a sneak
preview of the sell-out show, Dick
Does Dinner. The out-of-town
students were joined by almost 100
Christchurch school students and
teachers at a special preview session
of the show, written and performed by
Richard Till, Technical Director and
Resident Designer for Theatre and
Film Studies.
• T wo proposals for course
changes
have
been
for warded to the NZVCC
Committee on University
Academic Programmes for
approval. One raises the
number of points required at
300 level in the MusB degree
from 18 to 24 with the aim of
providing a more balanced and
well-rounded degree. The
other introduces Biological
Sciences as a subject major
at undergraduate level,
combining and replacing the
existing majors of Zoology
and Plant and Microbial
Sciences.
3
Commissioner for the Environment appointed adjunct professor
T
he Parliamentar y
Commissioner for the
Environment, Dr Morgan
Williams, is looking forward to
strengthening his long-standing
ties with Canterbur y University
when he takes up the position
of adjunct professor in the
Geography Department.
Professor Williams’ links to the
University go back a long way. He
met his wife, Pam, while at
Canterbury doing a BSc in Zoology.
He went on to do a Masters at
Canterbury (completed in 1969)
looking at nesting skuas in the
Antarctic.
Throughout his career, which
included working in countries such
as Fiji, Kiribati, Tonga, the Solomon
Islands, and Australia, Professor
Williams said he kept in touch with
friends and visited family in
Canterbury regularly.
He spent more than 20 years with
the MAF, mostly in the South
Island, before being appointed
Parliamentary Commissioner for
the Environment in 1997. “I’m just
on an overseas sabbatical here in
Wellington,” he said. “When we
have finished we’ll move back
somewhere in the South Island.”
The role of the Parliamentary
Commissioner for the Environment
independent of the executive
government and Professor
Williams said his team was able
to research a wide range of
environmental and sustainability
matters.
planners and decision-makers of
the future, regardless of their area,
needed a solid understanding of
how science and the environment
operated in order to make good
decisions, he said.
The position provided a ver y rich
canvas on which to work, he said.
Recent studies had included
urban and marine environments,
indigenous forests, hazardous
waste, urban water management,
energy management, biocontrols,
the role of native plants on
private land and a Treaty-based
environmental audit framework.
Professor Williams said the
challenge for New Zealand in the
future would be to move beyond
“environmentalism” which had
been the common way of
thinking about environmental
issues over the last 40 years to
“sustainability”. Environmentalism
was a response to the need to
protect nature and people from the
ravages of human activities but
sustainability was a way to move
forward. Sustainability meant
redesigning the way society’s
needs were met within the
environment’s capacity to provide.
is to ensure New Zealand’s
environmental management
systems and processes contribute
to the maintenance of, or
improvement in, New Zealand’s
environmental qualities. The
commissioner provides
independent scrutiny, advocacy and
advice to government.
Professor Williams said, in his
role as commissioner, he spoke
to 50-60 groups a year on a wide
range of topics and he was
looking forward to talking at
Canterbur y on environmental
sustainability. He said he found
discussions with post graduate
students particularly rewarding
because of the different
perspectives they brought to an
issue.
Professor Williams said the
commissioner’s position was the
best job he had ever had because
he was in a position to look ahead
and plan an ecologically
sustainable future for New
Zealand. The position was
Contact with politicians and
planners in Wellington had
reinforced Professor Williams’
belief that it was important for
scientists to interact with
students from a wide range of
disciplines. The strategic
Dr Morgan Williams
“New Zealand has the potential to
make the transition to a sustainable
development pathway. I believe
that we have many of the necessary
ingredients: innovative people, a
robust democracy, a developed
economy, abundant environmental
resources and a love of team play
as well as a growing sense of who
we are,” he said.
Professor Eric Pawson, Head of
Geography, said the appointment
of Morgan Williams to an adjunct
professorship in the department
was a wonderful opportunity.
Professor Williams would visit
campus on a regular basis to give
lectures and seminars on
environmental issues facing the
countr y and how policy to
address such issues was
formulated and scrutinised.
New fountain keeps engineers cool
Studying can be thirsty work
but ENSOC Chairman Chris
Cable finds cool water is just
the answer.
Thanks to ENSOC and the Institute
of Professional Engineers New
Zealand (IPENZ), the Engineering
Library now has a new drinking
fountain.
After a visit to a number of
Australian engineering libraries,
the now retired engineering head
librarian, Heather McCarrigan,
realised something was missing at
Canterbury and she asked ENSOC
for assistance in sourcing a water
cooler.
University of Canterbury Chronicle
Lynette Hartley
Photo by Duncan Shaw-Brown, C&D
ENSOC sought and received
sponsorship from the local branch
and head office of IPENZ of which
ENSOC is the Student Chapter. A
trial was run using a hired cooler at
the end of last year with students
consuming up to nine 20-litre tanks
Professor Williams will be
presenting his first seminar in
the Geography Department in
September.
a day. A permanent fountain based
on the ones used at the Sydney
Olympic Games has now been
installed. The original design has
been modified to include a bottle-
filler. A cooler and filter will be
added as ENSOC finances allow.
ENSOC would like to thank Doug
Lloyd and his team at Works and
Services for the expert installation.
Chronicle
archives online
Chronicle archives dating back to
January 2000 are now available
online. Back issues can be
accessed from the Newsroom site
on the University web page. Go to
www.newsroom.canterbury.ac.nz/
ChronArchive. Back issues from
the 1990s will be progressively
added to the site.
Research shows limited understanding of EU
T
he University’s National
Centre for Research on
Europe (NCRE) has
successfully carried out a
quantitative study of the
perceptions of the EU among
New Zealanders – the first of its
kind on public opinion on the
EU within New Zealand.
“A series of surveys taken
regularly is needed so that
changes in New Zealanders’
perceptions can be traced and
analysed over time. Therefore, we
hope to conduct this survey
annually to establish a
comprehensive and informative
data-base on EU-NZ perceptions.
NCRE director Professor Martin
Holland says the survey results
show that while the European
Union is recognised as an
important partner for New Zealand,
knowledge and understanding of
the EU remain limited.
“The NCRE is committed to raising
New Zealand’s awareness and
knowledge of the EU and the
enlargement process through
outreach activities, and it is clear
that since the news media is the
main source of EU information, we
need to work on ways to encourage
better and wider news coverage of
EU developments.”
The survey sample totalled 1000
New Zealand residents from
throughout the country aged over
18 who were interviewed over the
telephone during February and
March this year.
Results showed that the most
important overseas partners for
New Zealand were considered to be
(in order of significance) Australia,
the US, the UK, Asia, Europe/EU,
Japan and China. When thinking
about the EU, respondents listed
trade, the Euro and economics as
the main images and issues that
Professor Martin Holland and Dr Natalia Chaban hope changes in
came to mind.
However, knowledge of the EU
and current EU developments,
such as the enlargement process,
was limited, with 78% of
respondents being unable to
name any accession or candidate
countr y.
perceptions will be tracked by future surveys.
The survey also showed that New
Zealanders get most of their
information on the EU through the
news media, with TV news and
newspapers the most popular
sources of information.
Professor Holland said that
while a single sur vey was
interesting and valuable in its
own right, the conclusions that
could be drawn lacked context,
as yet.
Photo by Duncan Shaw-Brown, C&D
The survey project was made
possible by a grant of ¤ 20,000
(NZ$40,000)
from the European Commission,
Directorate-General for Education
and Culture.
The results and concluding
comments of the survey are
presented in the brochure External
Perceptions of The European Union:
A Survey of New Zealanders’
Perceptions and Attitudes towards
the European Union written by
Professor Holland, NCRE PostDoctoral Fellow Dr. Natalia
Chaban, and NCRE Advisory
Board Member M. Maureen
Benson-Rea from the University of
Auckland.
Gregg elected to ATEM position
The Director of Business and
Finance, Tom Gregg, has been
elected President of the
Association for Tertiary
Education Management (ATEM)
for Australasia.
His two-year term as President of
ATEM Inc begins on 1 October.
The University’s Scholarship
Administrator, Toni Hodge, has also
been elected one of two Councillors
at Large for ATEM.
Founded in 1976, ATEM is an
incorporated company in Australia
and an incorporated society in NZ. It
is the professional association for all
those who manage or administer
tertiary education institutions in the
two countries. ATEM has around
2000 individual members and 31
corporate members, organised in
branches based in each Australian
state and in New Zealand.
The organisation has a governing
council and the ATEM Secretariat is
based in Canberra. ATEM also has
formal links with the equivalent
professional associations in the UK,
USA, and the Caribbean.
Canterbury University is also well
represented on the New Zealand
Branch Executive Committee.
Organisational Development
Manager Ginny Ferguson is
President of ATEM NZ Inc, Toni
Hodge is the Regional
Representative for Canterbury,
Marlborough, Nelson and Westland,
and Financial Services Manager Jeff
Long is the NZ Branch Treasurer.
Academy Motor Lodge
( o p p o s i t e C a n t e r b u r y U n i v e r s i t y)
Licensed Restaurant
Now open to the public
• Breakfast 7–10am 7 days
•␣ Lunch 11.30–2pm Wednesday,
Thursday, Friday (or by arrangement)
• Dinner 6–9pm (or closing) 7 days
Complimentary glass of wine or beer upon
presentation of this advertisment.
Phone 0800 18 47 18
62 Creyke Road —opposite Engineering Rd
5
T
he lessons learned from the
World Trade Centre disaster
will be the focus of this year’s
annual Hopkins Lecture at the
Christchurch Town Hall next
week.
numerous earthquake
reconnaissance missions, and has
chaired consulting boards for
projects involving highway, rapid
transit, water supply, and energy
distribution systems.
The free public lecture on Tuesday
19 August will be presented by
Professor Tom O’Rourke, Professor
of Civil and Environmental
Engineering at Cornell University
in the US.
The Hopkins Lecture is given
annually by a distinguished speaker
from overseas or New Zealand on a
subject that will encourage
discussion of engineering matters
within the engineering profession
and promote public understanding
of engineering issues.
His lecture is titled “Lessons
learned from the World Trade
Centre disaster: Critical
Engineering Systems”.
The event, to be held in the Limes
Room, is jointly hosted by the
University of Canterbury and the
Canterbury Branch of the Institute
of Professional Engineers and
funded by the Hopkins Trust.
Professor O’Rourke has written
more than 280 publications on
geotechnical and earthquake
engineering, has served on
The Hopkins Trust Fund was set
up in recognition of the
distinguished contribution to
Canterbury University and the
engineering profession by the late
Professor H J Hopkins, who retired
from the University in 1978 after 27
years as head of civil engineering.
For more information contact
Catherine Price at the Department
of Civil Engineering on 364 6250.
Tupperware car a winner
Photo by Duncan Shaw-Brown, C&D
World Trade Centre focus of lecture
(left to right) Brent Dingle, Jock Brown, Quinn Worth, Hsiao Fei Ngu and Kelly
Channon proudly display their winning car.
What do you get when you
combine Tupperware, compact
discs and a lead-acid battery?
The answer is the winning entry
in the 2003 Chem-E-Car
Contest held at the University
last week.
Five teams of second professional
year students from Chemical and
Process Engineering competed for
top honours in this year’s event.
Their mission was to design and
construct a chemically propelled
model car that would carry a load a
set distance and then stop. The
event tests students on their
abilities to harness and control a
chemical reaction.
Senior lecturer Ian Gilmour said
safety of the designs was a major
requirement and all cars had to
meet strict standards during their
construction and testing. Luckily
there was no repeat of last year’s
incident which saw one car explode
on the starting line projecting a
component 22 metres to the
finishing line.
While none of the cars managed to
go the whole distance (21.1metres)
the winning car, aptly named
“Tupperware Party”, was just a few
centimetres short of the finishing
line and took the chequered flag.
The race is now on to defend
Canterbury’s championship title at
this year’s CHEMECA Conference
in Adelaide. Last year Canterbury
beat off stiff competition from
Adelaide and Nagoya universities
to finish first in the Chem-E-Car
Grand Final at the CHEMECA
Conference in Christchurch.
Mr Gilmour said the students were
hoping to secure funding so they
could attend the Adelaide event
next month.
Students leave for indigenous summit
Two Canterbury students,
Trina Taupo, a masters student
in Sociology, and Solomon
Rahui, a third year Maori and
Political Science student, have
been invited to attend the
World Summit for Indigenous
Entrepreneurs in Toronto,
Canada, from 18 to 20
August.
They have both been awarded a
2003 Global Indigenous
Entrepreneur Fellowship Award
which covers their registration
fee, materials, accommodation
and meals during the summit,
valued at $6220 each. The
remainder of their costs are
University of Canterbury Chronicle
being met by a variety of
sources from the Maori
community, the University, and
Te Akatoki.
Trina and Solomon are two of
only four university students
from New Zealand invited to
attend the Summit.
The event is designed to
provide a global forum for
discussion and exchange of
ideas between indigenous
entrepreneurs from a variety of
industries and sectors, as well
as other entrepreneurs who
want to do business with
indigenous people.
Retiring Director pleased with ERAU’s progress
When teaching was successful, a
mutual synergy developed with
teachers providing a setting in
which students enjoyed learning,
and the teachers themselves
finding it rewarding because they
could see their students achieving
results.
T
he retiring Director of the
Educational Research and
Advisor y Unit (ERAU), says the
quality of teaching has
improved in the past 31 years
at the University of Canterbury
but what society expects from
students has also increased
over that time.
Learning was also unique for each
student, Mr McKay said. Many
students learnt in spurts and the
regimental structure of institutions
did not always suit this type of
learning. The challenge for
teachers was to provide
opportunities for students when
they needed them.
In 1969 Canterbury was the first
university in New Zealand to set up
a unit specifically to support
teaching and learning. Rod McKay
joined the unit in 1972 as its
Educational Advisory Officer.
ERAU’s goal is to affirm teaching
throughout the University
community as a scholarly and
professional activity that enhances
student learning. It provides
support for teaching staff and
opportunities for improving the
way they teach.
Mr McKay said the quality of
teaching had improved over the
years but much more was expected
of students now.
His interest in teaching quality led
him back to Canterbury and he
continued to lecture part-time in
physics until the Education
Advisory position became full-time.
In 1992 he was made Director of
the unit which now has seven fulltime staff.
Mr McKay said establishing
ERAU from its small beginnings
was hard work as contacts
needed to be established across
the whole campus. One of the
great rewards of the job,
however, was the long-term and
supportive friendships he
Photo by Duncan Shaw-Brown, C&D
Mr McKay did a MSc in physics at
Canterbury and completed a BA in
education and philosophy part-time
while lecturing at Massey
University.
Rod McKay toasts 31 years at the University.
developed over the years with
colleagues within the University
and in similar organisations in
other institutions.
“My enthusiasm is for helping
enhance the interface between
students, academics and teaching.
It is about finding ways of getting
pleasure and engagement out of
these interactions,” he said.
Teaching was a ver y individual
thing and each teacher needed to
find an approach that worked for
them, Mr McKay said.
The challenge for the future would
be finding ways of making the
learning experience more
accessible to students who were
preparing for an unknown future.
Leaving university with a welldeveloped set of skills would not be
as important for graduates as
leaving with a set of attitudes that
would let them try new things, he
said.
Mr McKay’s last day was August 1.
He said be would be pursuing a
variety of outdoor activities in his
retirement including sea kayaking,
skiing and cycling. Any spare time
would be devoted to his continuing
interest in education. He departed
the University with a mountain of
papers and studies he was looking
forward to finding time to read.
Lynette Hartley
On your marks, get set, go
The r ush is on to get to obey the road rules and must find a A similar race run earlier in the
University next Tuesday.
legitimate park before crossing the year to Cathedral Square for city
The UCSA, in conjunction with finishing line at the Librar y steps. workers showed cyclists were
the Christchurch Environment Canterbury University Environmental usually the fastest.
Centre, is holding a Commuter Projects Co-ordinator Kate Hewson The event is open to individuals or
Challenge on 19 August to settle, said the idea of the race was to get teams of six. Teams must enter a
once and for all, the big question people to think about transportation star ter at each location and the
as to which is the quickest way options. “The main idea is to winning team will be the one with the
to get to work.
compare and promote transpor t lowest aggregate time. The starting
Commuters travelling by car, bus alternatives to sole-occupant car locations are: Dux de Lux, Riccarton
or bicycle will leave from six use and to show how easy these roundabout, Bar rington Mall,
star ting locations and travel to other transpor t modes can be to Avonhead Mall, Northlands Mall and
University. All participants must use,” she said.
the Christchurch College of
Education.
Confir med star ters to date
include MPs Rod Donald and
Gerr y Brownlee, the University’s
electric car, a car-pooling team
from Facilities Management and
at least one roller blader. All staff
are welcome to enter. For details
phone Dr Hewson on 364 2017.
7
Rare books provide valuable resource
other qualities,” said Mr Stevens.
“Some items are inscribed or
signed by their authors, for
example Walt Whitman, Aldous
Huxley, W.B. Yeats and Karl
Popper. Fine quality facsimile
The Book of Kells is an eighth
editions are also included, such as
century manuscript book of the
four gospels in Latin, decorated and the medieval manuscript books
bequeathed by Bill Sutton.”
illuminated in the so-called
A
rt histor y students have a
better appreciation of the
beauty of the Book of Kells thanks
to a facsimile copy housed in the
Canterbury University Librar y.
Canterbury’s facsimile copy is one
of 1480 copies produced by the
specialist publisher Faksimile
Verlag in Switzerland in 1990.
“The book has been reproduced at
great pains and cost to present a
completely faithful version of the
original, down to the holes in the
parchment, and the stitched
repairs,” Special Collections
Librarian Robin Stevens said.
“It was bequeathed to the Library
by Bill Sutton, along with his other
books, which is very fortunate,
because we would hardly have
been able to afford it ourselves in
the current financial situation.”
The book is one of 6500 volumes
which make up the University
Library’s Rare Books Collection.
Books published before 1821 are
automatically placed in the
collection.
“Later works, of which there are
many, qualify because of their
rarity, value, fragility, illustration or
As the University Library does not
have a separate fund for the
purchase of rare books the
collection relies heavily on
donations from individuals and
institutions. Many of the books
were originally from the Christ’s
College Library which in turn had
received donations from the
Library of Christ Church College,
Oxford, the alma mater of Godley
and other founders of the
Canterbury settlement.
Mr Stevens said the most valuable
items are probably the Nuremberg
Chronicle printed by Anton
Koberger in 1493 and a rare
Lubecke Bible of 1494.
The collection’s strength is in Latin
classics, theology and religion from
the 17th to 19th century and French
literature of the 17th and 18th
century. While not particularly
strong in English literature the
collection does include many 19th
century first editions and a number
of works by Walter Scott and
Robert Bridges.
The collection also includes books
on architecture, natural history, 18th
century political thought and the
complete Transaction of the Royal
Society of London, from the first
volume dating back to 1665.
“The rare books collection is not
simply an accumulation of
individual research items, but
should also be considered as a
Photo by Duncan Shaw-Brown, C&D
“insular” style of northern England
and Ireland. Considered a
masterpiece of Celtic-Saxon art, its
early history is not known but it is
believed to have been written by
the monks of the Abbey of Kells,
near Dublin. At present it is
displayed in secure conditions in
the Library of Trinity College
Dublin, where one page is turned
each day. The book was given to
the college by Charles II in 1661.
Julia van Luijk and Marcus Wilson examine a facsimile copy of the Book of Kells
during a tutorial for Art History 209.
potential teaching resource in
several subject areas,” said Mr
Stevens.
Tutorials using selected items are
already held by teaching staff from
Art History, Classics, Music and
English. If academic staff from
other departments think the
collection may yield material which
could be used in a tutorial they
should contact Mr Stevens on
extension 8734. The Library
Committee Room in the Central
Library can accommodate up to 12
people but a larger room is also
available for tutorials.
UC MEMORABILIA
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University of Canterbury Chronicle
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Ph: +64 3 364 2344
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