Archived News

Hellos, Goodbyes and Thank you's!!

Professor Chris Robinson – New Head of School to commence in March

Professor Chris Robinson will commence as the new Head, School of Business on 20 March 2006. Professor Robinson has worked as an academic in Australia and overseas, holding senior executive positions at the University of Melbourne prior to joining AIM where he currently holds the position of Director of Education and Training.

Extract from Press Release - 1 February 2006:
"Professor Robinson is a fantastic addition to YourUB. He is a senior executive with extensive international experience in higher education and management consulting," Professor Kerry Cox, Vice-Chancellor, said.

"His role at the Australian Institute of Management includes responsibility for postgraduate management programs and international education alliances, so he is eminently qualified to head our School of Business."

"Professor Robinson has worked as an academic in Australia and overseas, and held senior executive positions at the University of Melbourne prior to joining AIM.

"As the inaugural Managing Director of Universitas 21, an international network of 16 universities in 10 countries, he was responsible for developing and implementing a joint venture to provide postgraduate e-learning programs in business and management."

Professor Robinson also has held senior executive roles with international management consulting companies and has international consulting experience from assignments in Singapore, Kazakhstan, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Japan, Sri Lanka, New Zealand, the United States and the United Kingdom.

Professor Robinson is a psychologist, with degrees from the Flinders University of South Australia and La Trobe University. He is a Member of the Australian Psychological Society and has written over 40 papers for international journals, books, and major conferences.

"In recent years under the leadership of Professor Julian Lowe, the impact of the School of Business has grown significantly locally, nationally and internationally. Professor Robinson's extensive international experience at senior levels will be a great asset to the further rapid development of the School, now increasingly recognised locally as well as in many other parts of the world," Professor Cox said.

"YourUB's growing international standing is exemplified by the recruitment of top academic staff such as Professor Robinson."

The School welcomes Professor Robinson and we look forward to working together to further enhance our ever expanding operations.

Professor Julian Lowe

The School would like to acknowledge and thank Professor Julian Lowe, who successfully led the School through a period of major change during his eight year term as Head of School. Julian's committment to research and fostering offshore programs has ensured that the School's reputation for excellence continues to grow nationally and internationally.

Although we say goodbye to Julian in his role as Head of School, we are not really saying goodbye at all, as he will remain with the School, focusing on teaching and research as Professor of Business and Director of CRIC.

We look forward to continuing to work with you Julian!

Associate Professor Ian Clark

Associate Professor Ian Clark, who has manned the fort since January will hand over his responsibilities to Professor Robinson upon his arrival. Although Ian's time as Acting HOS was short he has certainly made a positive impact - thank you Ian.

Professor Garry Carnegie

Extract from VC's Update 12/06
Garry Carnegie, a Professor of Accounting and Finance and Academic Head of the School of Enterprise at the University of Melbourne, will join the University of Ballarat in June. He has been appointed Professor of Accounting in the School of Business.

Prior to joining academe, Professor Carnegie worked in the IT industry, public accounting and in the financial services industry. He has been employed in institutions of higher education since 1985 when he commenced employment at UB's antecedent institution - the Ballarat College of Advanced Education. He joined Deakin University in 1988 and was appointed to a Chair in Accounting and Finance in 1994 and was the inaugural Head of School of Accounting and Finance between 1993 and 2001. In January 2004 he joined Melbourne University Private which merged with the University of Melbourne in June 2005.

Professor Carnegie's expertise embraces financial reporting, public sector accounting and accountability and accounting history. His published research appears in books and monographs as well as in articles in respected journals in the fields of accounting, accounting history, archaeology, economic history, companies and securities law, museum management and public administration. He has held visiting positions at the Australian Accounting Research Foundation, the University of Exeter, Cardiff University, the University of Edinburgh and at Osaka City University.

Professor Carnegie is the editor of Accounting History, an awarded international refereed journal published by SAGE Publications, and is a recipient of two ARC Large/Discovery Grants. The ARC Discovery Grant in progress, with Professor Brendan O'Connell of James Cook University, is on the topic "A Longitudinal Study of Recurrent Audit Failure in Australian Corporate Collapse from the Mid 1880s". He has for many years conducted collaborative research with Professor Brian West of the School of Business, who is also the assistant editor of Accounting History.

He has taught in a variety of accounting units at all three levels in undergraduate commerce/business programs as well as at honours level and has successfully supervised research higher degree students. He has extensive experience in teaching at the postgraduate level, particularly to MBA students, and for the past two years has taught extensively in executive development programs at PETRONAS in Kuala Lumpur. He has considerable experience in offshore education, including the development of innovative programs for productive partnerships.

Professor Carnegie is an advocate of case-based learning and is the author of Case Studies: Financial Accounting and Disclosure (2005). He has contributed a number of case studies on financial reporting and governance for the CPA Program of CPA Australia.

Welcome, Garry, to UB!

New staff member - Caroline Wilden

The School welcomes Caroline Wilden, who has commenced recently as a Lecturer in Law. Caroline will initially be working two days a week (Mondays and Tuesdays) in the School of Business, as she also holds a fractional appointment as Policy Officer with the University's Legal and Secretariat section. In March 2006, Caroline will become a full-time staff member in the School of Business.

Teaching and Learning Committee's Workshop on Issues relating to Group Work

On Wednesday 28th September, School of Business colleagues attended a workshop which was facilited by John Bartros of Swinburne University. The focus was on looking at issues relating to all aspects of group work, and discussion ranged from group formation through to student participation and enjoyment in group work, to assessment practices.

We kicked off with a great lunch, and then participate in three hours of discussions in various groups. The principles of Open Space Technology were employed, and all participants were free to stay as long as they wished in any one group, and then move to another where other issues were being discussed.

The feedback received has been very positive, with all participants commenting that they feel they got something of value from the session.

The T & L committee plan to run another workshop in November. Stay tuned for further updates!

Dr Glenice Wood

Graduations in China a Great Success

"At three graduation celebrations - two in Hong Kong on Thursday, 1 September, and one in Shenzhen on Saturday, 3 September - 400 new graduates were honoured. These included some 80 from the School of Nursing in Hong Kong, while in the School of Business, 180 graduated in Shenzhen and 140 in Hong Kong.

In Hong Kong on the evening of Thursday, 1 September, a very successful alumni gathering was held at which Simon Chan MBA intake one), Managing Director of Asia-Pacific Apparel, was the guest speaker. Mr Chan was complimentary of the University's MBA program in preparing him for the rapid changes occurring in the business world.

The alumni gathering was attended by Murray Cobban, the Australian Consul General in Hong Kong. The graduation celebration in Shenzhen also involved a speech from Robert Kevin Magee, the Australian Consul General in Guangzhou.

Colleagues from YourUB who helped organise the event, as well as colleagues in Hong Kong and Shenzhen, made an excellent contribution to the success of these events. I congratulate everyone involved."
- Professor Kerry Cox, Vice-Chancellor

Professorial Appointment - Dr Brian West

On 15 June 2005, the University of Ballarat Council confirmed the recommendation for appointment of Dr Brian West as Professor of Accounting. Professor West's appointment was recommended by a professorial appointment committee comprised, as per UB statute, of external professors and internal professors and staff members.

The committee considered Professor West's research record to be distinguished as evidenced by his strong publication record and the far reaching impact that his work has had on the accounting discipline. Additionally, reviews of Professor West's book, Professionalism and Accounting Rules, have highly commended his work. His teaching was considered to be highly meritorious, and he has consistently attained high ratings from both student evaluation of teaching and student evaluation of unit scores. Professor West has held the position of Deputy Head, School of Business, since November 2001, and he has made significant contributions to the School's strategic direction and development. He also contributes significantly to professional accounting associations.

We congratulate Professor Brian West on his professorial appointment.

CRIC Cluster Conference

The Centre for Regional Innovation & Competitiveness (CRIC) at The School of Business hosted a two-day cluster conference on June 30 & July 1. The two-day conference "Beyond Clusters: Current Practices & Future Strategies" featured international cluster experts Dr Stuart Rosenfeld and Ifor Ffowcs-Williams. This conference was the first of its kind in Australia and made a significant contribution to the discussion and debate surrounding clusters and clustering processes, regional development and growth. The conference attracted international conference attendees, representing academics, policy makers, practitioners and cluster facilitators. Please visit the cluster conference website at http://www.cric.com.au/cric_cluster for further information or contact Joanne Benyon (Conference Secretary) Email: j.benyon@ballarat.edu.au

Women Workplace Culture Survey

Dr Glenice Wood, Senior Lecturer in Management has recently completed a report - 'Women Workplace Culture survey' based on a survey conducted late last year. Dr Wood's research was supported by the University's EO for Women activity, so that UB could be provided with contemporary information on how the culture of the workplace was perceived by our female staff. Click here to view an abstract of the report.

Please email glen.wood@ballarat.edu.au for further information.

2005 Graduations

Another large cohort of School of Business students graduated from their courses at a Graduation Ceremony held on 11 May. Awards conferred included: Bachelor of Business, Bachelor of Commerce, Bachelor of Management, Graduate Certificate of Management, and Master of Business Administration. A highlight of the evening was presence of a large number of students who undertook their MBA studies in China and travelled with family and friends to Ballarat for the Graduation Ceremony. Ms Tian Feng, who graduated with an MBA, addressed the ceremony on behalf of the Graduates and gave an informative and entertaining perspective on the experience of international students at the University.

Awards for Excellence

The School of Business presented its annual Awards for Academic Excellence on 11 May, at the Greenhill Enterprise Centre.  This function celebrates the achievements of outstanding students, with prizes awarded for achievements ranging from highest ranking in individual units through to overall performance in courses. Representatives of the many sponsor organisations were in attendance to present their awards.

School of Business Alumni Community

The School of Business has recently developed a new website for its Alumni Community. Joining the Alumni community is easy. If you are a previous student of the School of Business then you are entitled to join. All you need to do is complete one of the registration options. The easiest option is the Online Registration which you can complete in minutes and have immediate access.

Visit the School of Business Alumni Community

Outstanding Results in CPA Program

Bronwyn Wakeling, one of the School's Bachelor of Commerce graduates, has been recognised for achieving outstanding results in the CPA Program during 2004.

In semester one she out performed 1,772 other candidates to be the highest ranked student in the Taxation segment.  In semester two Bronwyn was ranked equal fifth in the Strategic Management segment, which was undertaken by over 2,000 candidates.

The CPA Program is a rigorous course of postgraduate study administered by CPA Australia. Successful completion of the program is a prerequisite to achieving the "CPA" designation.

The School of Business extends its congratulations to Bronwyn, whose achievements were announced in the official journal of CPA Australia.

Curriculum Committee Chair

Congratulations to Dr Bernard O'Meara - Undergraduate Programs Coordinator, and Lecturer in Management - for his recent nomination to Chair of the University's Curriculum Committee.

School's 'CA Achievers'

Each year The Institute of Chartered Accountants in Australia recognises outstanding first year students in accounting programs at Victoria's Universities through its 'CA Achiever' program. The winners are allocated paid work placements over the summer.

The following three School of Business students have been nominated as CA Achievers for the current year (with work placement as indicated):

Future Search Training Workshops

Two interactive Future Search workshops will present a unique opportunity for business and community leaders in January/February 2005. For further information please visit the website http://www.cric.com.au/futuresearch/