In Principio v14 no3 (2003)

AUQA recognises Notre Dame's strengths THE University of Notre Dame Australia Vice Chancellor Peter Tannock has welcomed the Australian Universities Quality Agency audit report released last month. "As the first private Australian university to be the subject of a mandatory government audit, I would like to say that we're delighted with the outcome of the report," Dr Tannock said. "It doesn't contain any surprises and, in fact, shows that the audit team had special regard to the character of Notre Dame and its stage of development. "One of the pleasing aspects of AUQA's audit report has been its commendations in areas which we believe give us a distinctive place in the Australian higher education sector. "For example, we're proud of the acknowledgement of our excel lent teaching and pastoral care and of the exceptionally high level of student satisfaction with the quality of our courses. "We're also pleased with the commen– dations about Notre Dame's social justice arm, the Edmund Rice Centre, which has a strong history in community service projects with many students from the Fremantle Campus involved as volunteers. "Acknowledgment of our good work in the Kimberley region with our campus in Broome was also pleasing. The decision taken in 1993 to establish a campus there with the aim of meeting the needs of local people and promoting reconciliation has been shown to have great merit. "The Broome campus has already achieved much, such as the recent graduation of the first nurses to under– take our Broome nursing course. " Dr Tannock said he was delighted with the recognition the audit had made of Notre Dame's strong emphasis on training students for their chosen professions. "We pride ourselves on the fact that we liaise with the professions and the ir representative bodies to ensure we are producing students of the highest possible standard that are 'industry ready'," he said. AUQA is an independent, not-for-profit body that promotes, aids and reports on quality assurance in the Australian higher education sector. The AUQA audit team visited Notre Dame's Fremantle and Broome campuses in May. They spoke with a range of groups including staff, students, graduates, local government representatives and members of the local community. "I would like to congratulate Notre Dame staff on their professional manner during this process," Dr Tannock said. Dr Tannock said the recommendations made by AUQA were mostly consistent with Notre Dame's development plans, and would be treated seriously as part of the Uni– versity's working brief over coming years. "We see the response to the AUQA audit as part of our public accountability for what we do, and we're pleased to have had such a positive response and an implicit stamp of approval," he said. Fr Brennan receives warm welcome THE University of Notre Dame Australia has strengthened its focus on social justice with the appointment of Aust-ralian lawyer, social justice campaigner and Jesuit priest Father Frank Brennan SJ AO as a visiting professor. He joins Notre Dame's College of law on a part-time basis from January 2004 and will lecture in human rights and ethics. Professor Mary Mccomish, Notre Dame's incoming Dean of the College of law, said Father Brennan's appointment would emphasise the University's commitment to producing lawyers with a social conscience. "We're encouraging students to see their participation in the law as contributing to the community," she said. "And Frank Brennan, probably one of the most wel I-known Catholic lawyers in Australia, is a role model who uses his legal skills in service to the community with his involvement in issues such as Aboriginal land rights, refugees and his work in East Timor." ~ Fr Frank Brennan signs copies of his new book Tampering with Asylum after a lecture attended by more than 100 people at Notre Dame last month. Father Brennan was on campus last month to launch his new book Tampering with Asylum which offers a blueprint for countries wanting to humanely protect asylum seekers. He said he was delighted to be taking up a position at Notre Dame. "As a priest and human rights activist, I am delighted to have the opportunity to 3 engage with some of the liveliest young minds in the country, seeking a better way of justice for all, especially in light of the robust tradition of Catholic social teaching," he said. "I am pleased to have the opportunity to participate in the life of a growing university where we can engage in free discussion, generating new ideas about law, morality and social policy." His other appointments are Associate Director of Uniya, the Jesu it Social Justice Centre in Sydney, adjunct fellow at the Research School of Asian and Pacific Studies at the Australian National University and Chair of the Visiting Committee in the Faculty of law at Griffith University. Father Brennan, who is based in Sydney, has just returned to Australia after a two month overseas study trip to England, Canada, United States, Switzerland and Italy exploring refugee and asylum seeker issues.