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Rotary backs USC students and staff
A business graduate working on Hamilton Island, a PhD student testing triathlon performance and a creative writer doing a thesis on fictional narration will get a boost to their studies at the University of the Sunshine Coast this Wednesday 27 May.
The top USC postgraduate students each will receive a $2,500 Rotary scholarship.
The trio of awards is one of two ways that Rotary is supporting the University this week.
On Thursday 28 May the inaugural Nambour Rotary Club Teaching Fellow will be presented to a respected British professor and author on her first visit to Australia.
Professor of Higher Education Glynis Cousin, of the University of Wolverhampton, will visit the Sippy Downs campus on Thursday and Friday to conduct workshops and liaise with staff about best practice in learning and teaching.
She will receive the fellowship from Nambour Rotary Club president Lionel Ash.
USC Office of Learning and Teaching Manager Tilly Hinton said Rotary’s generous initiative would give academic staff an international perspective on their work, leading ultimately to stronger student outcomes.
She said Professor Cousin would discuss her recent book and outline her research on theories such as a "less is more" approach to curriculum design.
The awarding of Rotary scholarships to a student from each Faculty is an annual event.
The three scholarship recipients are Felicity Templeman (who is studying a Master of Management), Kate Fitzgerald (whose PhD thesis is "The Fictional Self: The subjectivity of the first-person narrator in fiction") and Katie Sutter (whose PhD thesis is "The relationship between intensity and technique in swimming, cycling and running: the effect on triathlon performance").
USC Foundation Executive Officer Andrew Pentland said scholarships provided essential financial support to students, and also gave recognition of outstanding achievement and encouragement.
“In 2009, USC will support about 200 students with scholarships and bursaries,” he said.
– Julie Gatehouse