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Excellence in journalism teaching recognised nationally
16 August 2008
The University was again recognised for teaching excellence with Associate Professor Stephen Lamble and Gillian Cowden winning a Citation for Outstanding Contribution to Student Learning from the Australian Learning and Teaching Council.
Together, Stephen and Gillian have designed and implemented Australia’s newest, and one of its most innovative, university journalism education programs. USC journalism students graduate ‘work ready’ after completing a blend of scholarly theory and practical courses, including a compulsory industry internship placement. The program also emphasises multi-skilling so that graduates are comfortable working across the broad spectrum of media platforms from print to radio, television, and the web.
Stephen and Gillian were cited for creating innovative curricula and developing research-informed teaching resources that enhance graduate employment opportunities in the profession of journalism.
Journalism students at USC have a truly ‘real world’ experience. Feature articles written by students have been published in the Sunshine Coast Daily, along with photographs taken by students. Student work has also appeared in The Courier-Mail, the ABC and Seven Queensland. High-achieving students can also obtain paid work as an assistant editor for Journalism Australia websites NeoVox Australia and the Sunshine Coast Bulletin.
Well-earned prizes, like this citation, seem to abound in Stephen and Gillian’s journalism program. Together, they judge an Australian Press Council award for the most ‘outstanding achievement in a subject related to the objects of the Council’. A Sunshine Coast Daily ‘Intern of the Year’ prize has recently been introduced, and students from the University of the Sunshine Coast have been consistently recognised in the Queensland Media Awards since 2006. More recently, Gillian and Stephen encouraged postgraduate journalism student Kylie Stephenson to enter an international competition in which the prize was a travel scholarship to visit a Fred Hollows Foundation eye camp in Cambodia to make a podcast documentary. Kylie subsequently won that prize from a field of over sixty finalists from nations around the world.
It’s little wonder, then, that graduates have continually shown their satisfaction with our journalism courses. The 2006 and 2007 Course Experience Questionnaires conducted by Graduate Careers Australia showed USC’s journalism undergraduates gave the University a 100 percent satisfaction rating for the overall quality of its journalism program. Stephen and Gillian receive sustained positive feedback from industry and from former graduates, as well as current students who consistently give them top marks on University Student Feedback Surveys.
On behalf of the University community, I congratulate Stephen and Gillian on achieving this national recognition and thank them for their outstanding contribution to student learning at the University of the Sunshine Coast.
Professor Paul Thomas AM is Vice-Chancellor at the University of the Sunshine Coast.