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Edition 1, 2010
Download Edition 1, 2010 (PDF 463KB) of USC Foundation News or refer to the accessible text version below.
Here’s to your health, Sunshine Coast
Hundreds of donors gave to the University’s Building Excellence Campaign.
As a result, new opportunities abound for future health and sport professionals.
Just over a year after USC’s $5 million fundraising campaign hit its goal, students, academics and the Sunshine Coast community are already benefiting from the new donor supported health and Sport Centre on campus.
The Centre’s world class facilities, in tandem with new student scholarships, have accommodated—and further sparked—a major surge in student interest in health-related fields.
Professor Rod Simpson, Dean, Science, health and education, said “with a shortage of health professionals long afflicting the Sunshine Coast, USC’s injection of well-trained health workers into the region will be welcome assistance.”
The Health and Sport Centre, which opened its doors in 2008, supports a range of degree programs including biomedical science, paramedic science, occupational therapy, nursing science, sport science, nutrition and dietetics, psychology and public health.
“If anyone doubts that donations make a difference, they should come talk to our staff and students who benefit from the great facilities every day. Our future is here—and it’s very bright.”
Professor John Lowe, head of School, health and Sport Sciences
Community minded
The USC Psychology Clinic housed in the health and Sport Centre provides the community with free access to mental health services, while also functioning as a teaching and training facility for postgraduate students in the Master of Psychology (Clinical) program.
“The Clinic receives referrals from GPs and medical specialists as well as school principals, guidance officers and teachers” said Professor Joanne Scott, head of School, Social Sciences.
Some key benefits of the new Centre include:
- Staff from health, sport and psychology disciplines being housed under one roof, facilitating inter-disciplinary collaborations and a more holistic approach to human health.
- A state-of-the-art simulation laboratory provides Occupational Therapy and Paramedic Science students with hands-on training in a real world environment—and makes the programs two of USC’s most popular.
- Expanded office space for staff allows an intake of adjunct professorships—practicing health professionals with campus offices who help teach USC students and provide invaluable contributions to research projects.
Scholarships draw top talent to USC
AT age 15, Chelsea Wallis is officially a genius. This year she began university at USC, thanks in part to a $6,000 Heller Merit Scholarship.
“I come from a single-parent family and have two younger sisters, so this financial assistance will be fantastic,” Chelsea said of her donor-supported award.
That single parent, by the way, will be one of Chelsea’s classmates this year.
Her mother Sam is continuing her USC degree in Business.
Chelsea is just one of 55 inspiring stories of first-year students who were awarded USC scholarships in February.
With the help of record-breaking donor support, over $360,000 in scholarships were awarded to deserving students.
USC Foundation Executive Officer Andrew Pentland said the scholarship program at USC had come about largely through community support, and it was having a remarkable effect.
“We receive support every year from individuals like the Neuendorf family, and also from businesses and organizations such as ANZ Bank, Westpac, Caloundra RSL, and many others,” he said.
One special new student award was set up this year by the Sunshine Coast Local Medical Association.
The bursary was established in memory of Dr June Canavan, a much-loved sports medicine doctor who was herself a generous scholarship donor to USC.
She was tragically killed in an airplane crash last year.
Chancellor John Dobson OAM, who steps in this year as Chair of the Foundation Board, remarked that “scholarships have a remarkable capacity to add financial and moral support to people’s lives. It’s an incredibly rewarding program—for both the student and the donor.”
Bequests go Beyond Today
When the late Mrs Marjorie Harrold left a bequest in her will to USC, she had no idea it would launch the University’s new bequest society.
But it was right in character for her to be at the forefront of a worthwhile cause.
Mrs Harrold was an active leader in both the Noosa Parks Association and the Noosa Heads Planned Progress Committee from the 1960s to the1980s.
Appropriately, her bequest to USC has been designated to help establish a Wildlife Endowment Fund, supporting the study of campus kangaroos and other wildlife.
A ceremony took place late last year to honour the gift, as USC’s first-ever realised bequest.
The occasion also marked the launch of USC’s “Beyond Today Society”—a new circle of friends who have included USC in their respective wills.
Membership is granted upon request when an individual notifies the USC Foundation of his or her planned bequest.
Beyond Today Society members will be invited to various campus events, including an exclusive reception before the Australian String Quartet performance on campus on 16 November.
“We launched the Society because bequests play such an important role in funding education,” said Foundation Executive Officer Andrew Pentland.
“It’s a great way to leave a legacy, and also be involved in a community of people who really care about USC.”
Pioneering partner
This year Professor Paul Thomas AM, USC’s founding Vice-Chancellor and President, will be stepping down from his leadership role of 16 years.
He was interviewed for this newsletter with respect to his widely-recognised success fostering strong relationships with the University’s alumni, donors and broader community.
Q: “Community partnership” has been a consistent theme throughout your time at USC. How has this priority impacted USC and made it unique from other universities in Australia?
A: Sunshine Coast community activism initially led to a government response and when planning was announced in late 1993, a huge range of community groups were consulted about the University’s name, mission and priorities.
From those beginnings, the community has been involved directly in so many ways.
The University for its part, has tried to respond to the requests for community infrastructure and facilities, with over $20M toward the innovation Centre, an art gallery, athletics track, fields, gymnasium and stadium, which are 80% used by community groups for cultural, economic and sporting pursuits.
One consequence is that USC, as one of Australia’s fastest growing universities, has moved from a $1 million impact on the region in 1994, to a $200 million impact on the region in 2009.
No other regional business can match that trajectory—and that doesn’t fully encompass the social, cultural and intellectual benefits.
Q: You have been the leader and visionary of this University for 16 years. If you could look ahead another 16 years into the future, what do you hope USC will have achieved?
A: The early years have provided the platform but the most powerful developments are still to come.
As the Sippy downs technology hub within the new university town develops, the Coast will see emerge its first Science and Technology Park.
Over the decades ahead, thousands of new jobs will be created in concert with the University.
It is a similar story with the delayed but inevitable University hospital.
The University is already geared to providing many more health professionals to address the crisis in health globally, but once the University hospital is in place, the pace of job generation will accelerate and with all the attendant benefits for the Coast.
Q: You have been involved with a number of generous donors who have supported USC. Is there a particular donation that stands out in your mind?
A: The generosity of individuals, the early initiatives of local organisations, and the huge differences in the value of donations from a widely different range of people with different financial capabilities, makes it impossible to weigh the importance of any particular gift.
I have found each and every gift inspiring.
Financial donations, large and small, have had an enormous impact over the years, particularly in the opportunities they have opened up for students.
All of our donors have set an example for others to follow.
These gifts have been of value beyond measure, and are in part what has made our university so dynamic and strong.
USC Art Gallery
Volunteer spotlight
Marni Foote of Maleny is among the most active of the Art Gallery’s volunteers.
She helps install exhibits, guides campus tours of indigenous artwork, and greets gallery visitors at the front desk.
“I’m a selfish volunteer really,” Marni says.
“it’s just such a lovely, contemplative atmosphere to work in, and I learn so much about the art.”
Alumni paying it forward
Natasha Read, MBA 2009
Portfolio Manager, Office of the CEO Unitywater
“I decided to make a donation to USC because I gained so much from my education, both personally and professionally. I wanted the University to leverage my gift for the next student’s experience too. Rather than giving back, it felt more like paying it forward.”
Get involved
If you would like to make a gift or learn more about USC Foundation activities and opportunities, please contact us.
Tel: +61 7 5430 1104
Email: foundation@usc.edu.au
Web: www.usc.edu.au/giving
Do you know an outstanding USC graduate?
Each year the Outstanding Alumni of the Year Awards recognise USC alumni (graduates) for
significant achievements since Graduation in their field of endeavour, including professional,
research or contribution to the community.
For more information or to submit a nomination form visit www.usc.edu.au/alumni or contact the Alumni relations office via email alumni@usc.edu.au or tel: +61 7 5459 4564.
Nominations close: 1 June 2010.
Upcoming events
8 April–1 May
Art Gallery Exhibition
Building Milestones: Sunshine Coast Architecture Awards
9 April
Graduation
6 May–5 June
Art Gallery Exhibition
Missionaries encounter the Other: historical photograph exhibition and The Fiji Project
10 June–10 July
Art Gallery Exhibition
Mid-year design student exhibition
14 September
Outstanding Alumni Awards Ceremony
October (TBD)
Annual Foundation Event
30 October
Class of 2000 10-year reunion
16 November
String Quartet | Beyond Today Society Reception