TRIMESTERS are here to stay, but on-campus courses will be offered for the first time in the third semester, potentially boosting the town’s population between October and February.
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Incoming UNE vice-chancellor Annabelle Duncan gave the commitment yesterday after accepting the position to remain at the helm.
She decided to apply for the position after acting in the role for the past six months “because this is a fabulous institution and I love Armidale and I really enjoy the challenge of leading a university”.
Professor Duncan said her first big challenge was to develop a good brand for the University of New England in its niche.
“We are a relevant, affordable, regional university, renowned for our high teaching standards and cross-disciplinary research,” Professor Duncan said.
“I want to develop that brand.”
UNE also played a significant educational role in maintaing the region’s numeracy and literacy standards, a task which Professor Duncan said would be nurtured with schools and business.
Furthermore, its teaching in the health and allied health industries helped recruit and retain medical staff within the region.
With respect to trimesters, Professor Duncan said the system was here to stay because it had made the University of New England financially sustainable.
But there would be some “tweaking” of the system and for the first time since it was introduced, on-campus courses would be offered in the third trimester.
Distance, or online education, would also remain a feature of UNE, Professor Duncan said.
“UNE has been a leader in distance education since the early days. We once did it by sending out literature in the post; now we use latest technology to deliver our distance education and this will continue, although we are still committed to providing that collegiate experience to our on-campus students.”
She said the typical UNE student was a 31-year-old mother-of-two studying online.
Professor Duncan said she would be flying to Canberra within the next fortnight to hold talks with politicians regarding challenges faced by regional universities, including that of low populations. Acting chancellor Dr Geoffrey Fox said Professor Duncan’s appointment was the result of a competitive global recruitment process.
“It’s a testament to Professor Duncan’s knowledge and skills that she has been appointed vice-chancellor of UNE from among a very strong field of Australian and international candidates,” he said.
Professor Duncan joined UNE in 2010 as deputy vice-chancellor, research and has served as the university's interim vice-chancellor since March 2014.
She replaces Jim Barber, who resigned in February, just four years into the position.
