The ARCH Magazine | Issue 10 | 2013 Summer

SUMMER | 2013

Vijay Patil Robert Stable Alumni Medal winner reveals a rich legacy that is forging new relationships with India

Breakthrough

Autism research in the classroom

Milestone

Bond's year of celebrations

Sporting ties

A new spirit of union

Cultures

Indigenous perspective

contents

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First class Bond awards the Robert Stable Alumni Medal

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Generosity Jack and Sharon Cowin make a priceless donation

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Campus & Careers 22 Overdiagnosis as disease thresholds expand 23 Bond reveals its Research Strategic Plan 26 Bond prepares to celebrate its quarter century 40 Finding opportunities in small business

Alumni 36 An alumnus shares her story of survival 38 Father and son share a special bond 46 Class notes from around the world

Helping hands Medical students get vital experience in the Solomon Islands

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Fever Pitch Bond partners with the Australian Rugby Union

Production

Editor: Camilla Jansen Journalists: Rebecca Masters, James Perkins, Colin Gilmore Design: Albrecht Gatchalian

Editorial enquiries Alumni and Development Office Bond University Gold Coast Queensland 4229, Australia Ph: +61 7 5595 4403 To join The ARCH mailing list please email: development@bond.edu.au To subscribe go to: www.arch.bond.edu.au/subscribe

Contributors: Laura Daquino, Felicity Simpson Photography: Fotoforce

Publisher: Connect Custom Publishing a division of Business News Publications. PO Box 2154, Surfers Paradise. QLD. 4217

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VICE-CHANCELLOR’S LETTER

Global ambition IN THIS ISSUE we explore a theme that has exemplified Bond University from its inception. As Australia’s first private non-profit university, Bond has always sought to be recognised internationally.

Encouraging a diverse student cohort and developing strong partnerships across the globe has now cemented Bond as an international brand.

Internationalisation is a core value of the University and a key pillar of our new Strategic Plan 2013-2017. We have established a dedicated International Office focussed on international student engagement and to develop strategies for unlocking new international markets. We will continue to build on our international partnerships, identify international benchmarks and collaborations and constantly strive to reach our international ambitions. Our capability for enhancing our global reach has recently received a boost from the generous support of the Balnaves Foundation.

Through this support, we have constructed a state-of-the-art facility that can link our students and staff on the Gold Coast with anywhere overseas 24 hours a day. Known as the Global Links Room, the facility allows Bond to conduct joint classes with universities on the other side of the globe and allows our students to connect globally and become part of an international network. As we grow and diversify our student enrolments we must ensure that all students continue to receive an outstanding university experience.

The strength of our global ties is particularly apparent in India, home to more than 500 Bond alumni who have become some of the University’s best ambassadors. None more so than devoted educator and cricketer Vijay Patil, who is this year’s winner of our highest alumni commendation, the Robert Stable Alumni Medal. Our Alumni Awards are an opportunity to recognise innovation, creativity and exceptional leadership as we distinguish those members of our alumni who continue to inspire us. Vijay’s successes are numerous and varied, many of which he attributes to the world class education he received at Bond.

Our Alumni Award for Exceptional Community Achievement and the Alumni Student Award further recognise those

who have brought distinction to themselves either in dedication to their community or to the University. This year’s winners astound us with their commitment, and embody the Bond philosophy with their ambition.

As a supplement to our Strategic Plan 2013-2017, we have recently celebrated the release of our Research Strategic Plan 2014-2018. The University will build its research capacity and seek collaborations in research that will real impact.

Research can elevate and enrich the learning experience.

Over the next five years, the University will be at the forefront of a $14 million Collaborative Research Network for Advancing Exercise and Sports Science. As we continue to build our research staff and invest in laboratory infrastructure, we send a clear message that we are committed to growing our capacity, capability and standing in the local and global research communities.

The impact our research has on local communities is on display at Burleigh Heads State School, where our Centre for Autism Spectrum Disorders is working hands-on with children with autism conditions and behavioural challenges and providing training and support to their families, caregivers and teachers. Our partner in Education Queensland means the research conducted there will be used by schools and teachers across the state on how to best work with children and adolescents with an autism spectrum disorder.

A recent trip by our medical students to the remote Kirakira Hospital in the Solomon Islands is a fine example of the social responsibility of our students and staff.

Delivering health care with minimal resources to a disadvantaged community provides our students with an invaluable experience.

Our link to Indigenous communities and support of our Indigenous students is an increasing area of focus for the University.

More than 200 local Indigenous high school students are now benefiting from Bond University student mentors as part of the Australian Indigenous Mentoring

Experience, and we have recently welcomed Aboriginal Bidjara and Kara Kara People respected leader Leann Wilson as a Fellow of Bond University.

Whether it is travelling to remote communities near Uluru to campaign for better education, or being the familiar face at the local coffee shop, our Bondies are inextricably linked to their communities - local, national and international.

We continue to foster a collegiate sporting atmosphere with the launch of the inaugural John Eales Rugby Excellence Scholarship, rewarding the country’s most outstanding young rugby players, with one-on-one mentoring from one of the great if not the greatest Wallaby captains, John Eales. This scholarship serves to strengthen our role as the Official Education Partner of the Australian Rugby Union. Indeed our sporting prowess was demonstrated recently when Bond won the coveted Cup at the national Australian University Games for the most medals per capita giving credence to our claim to be the number one Sports University in Australia. And it is now, as we inch closer to our 25th Anniversary in May 2014, that we must throw a spotlight on these communities that have supported the vision of the University and guided it throughout its short history. Their continued belief in this institution and its mission provides us with our inspiration.

PROFESSOR TIM BRAILSFORD Vice-Chancellor and President

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CAMPUS NEWS >

WHAT'S HAPPENING + WHAT'S NEWS + WHAT'S COMING Aaron Hopper and Kacey Patrick

Music series very Live MORE than 500 people enjoyed the second last of 2013’s Live at Bond music series at the ADCO Amphitheatre on September 29.

Guitarist Aaron Hopper and singer Kacey Patrick led the entertainment as Stringmansassy.

Community Engagement and Live at Bond Event Manager Sharon Solyma says that their style, while distinctive, was difficult to define.

“Stringmansassy, you can’t even put them into a genre – it was folk, world, jazz.”

Solyma says the program since its 2011 debut has strengthened with each performance.

“When we started the support performers were all Bond students.

“And we have no music program here, yet we were attracting quite talented composing musicians.

“Last year we also opened it up to high school students, which gave them the opportunity to work with professional musicians and sound engineers.”

She says the program retains a community appeal and focus on “investing in the potential of young people and the creative side of uni life”.

“Through Live at Bond we’re allowing that to be heard, to be experienced and to be felt.”

Planning for 2014’s program has begun with a March 23 performance featuring Nicky Bomba and his band Bustamento in conjunction with the Bleach* arts and music festival.

And on May 18 as part of Bond University’s 25th Anniversary celebrations another Live at Bond event will take place, with no act confirmed as yet.

“It’s built up a reputation for high quality performers,” says Solyma.

Art for Indigenous education AUSTRALIA'S largest private collection of Indigenous art on public display is attracting interest from its many Bond University locations.

The Corrigan Walk is comprised of more than 400 pieces, featuring some of Australia's most prestigious and emerging Indigenous artists.

Launched in August by ViceChancellor Professor Tim Brailsford and commemorated with an Aboriginal smoke

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and dance ceremony and special guest Dr Patrick Corrigan AM. “They are – quite literally – part of the scenery for our students," says Professor Brailsford.

"We are proud to be able to share this wealth of Indigenous art thanks to the generosity of major benefactor and friend of the University, Dr Patrick Corrigan AM." Dr Corrigan has, in addition to the guided tour, enabled the University to

raise money to fund scholarships for promising Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students.

"We currently have 43 indigenous students studying on campus, eight of whom are on scholarships,” says Dr Corrigan.

“Our efforts are already making a difference as Bond’s Indigenous student retention and completion rates are among the best in the country."

NEWS New BUSA president MELANIE Hayden is succeeding Matt McLean as Bond University Student Association President.

Hayden says she’s been privileged to serve as Secretary during the past year and has big shoes to fill. “[We] are looking to solidify some of the wonderful progress that has been made over the past few years and generate further growth for our student experience,” she says.

“Over the next year, we want to expand our Bond in Africa program to ensure it stays degree-relevant and mutually beneficial for our students and rural communities.

“We also aim to collaborate further with many of our cultural and sporting clubs and societies, particularly with many exciting events taking place on the Gold Coast in the next twelve months.

“Personally, one of the things I’m most looking forward to is Bond’s 25th birthday in May next year.”

Outgoing president McLean, says his term was full of challenge, excitement and progress.

“In 2012/2013 BUSA allocated more funds, authorised more events, supported more clubs and societies, influenced more policies, raised more sponsorship and expended more capital than ever before.

“This was achieved by the 19-person team of hard-working and committed individuals that I was blessed to lead. It was made possible also by the productive and fruitful relationship we enjoy with University staff and management.

“I'll complete my Master of Laws with a Corporate and Commercial Law major at the end of December, and have accepted a position in the 2014 graduate program for the Department of Social Services. I"ll relocate to Canberra to take on this role in February.”

Dr Patrick Corrigan AM

International connection

Dr Neil Balnaves AO

CREATION of a Global Links Room (GLR) this year, thanks to the generous support of Dr Neil Balnaves AO and the Balnaves Foundation, is helping Bond further its international education ties.

The GLR is located in The Balnaves Foundation Multimedia Learning Centre and hosts equipment that allows students and staff to study, discuss and debate issues with other students and academics around the world in real time, 24-hours a day, seven days a week.

“The Global Links Room will enable lecturers to expand a class of twenty into a virtual forum of hundreds by linking

up with other classes or tutorials at universities around the world,” says ViceChancellor Professor Tim Brailsford.

The focal point of the Global Links Room is its leading-edge, dual-screen web and video conferencing facilities that enables Bond staff and students to learn, collaborate and share with students, academics and corporates worldwide, in class and at any other time they desire.

A partnership with the University of Southern California’s Annenberg School of Communication and Journalism (annenberg. usc.edu) has already been enabled by the creation of the Global Links Room.

Equestrian club leaps from starting line BOND University Equestrian Club (BUEC) founding president Michelle Black says the sport requires focus, partnership, leadership, patience, inner calm and precision.

All of which are also necessary qualities for successful tertiary students, employees and business people.

BUEC is only months old yet its president, who is also Bond’s Office of Marketing and Recruitment Domestic general manager, says she and the university’s executive and administration are already investigating including equestrian in the 2014 Queensland University Games.

“While there is much organising to occur, we have had such very positive feedback from competitors from other universities participating in the Bond University Young Adult Series, that an opportunity for equestrian events to be included in the university games will be welcomed and well attended,” says Black.

Club treasurer Elisha Hodgson says while helping found the club she used social media to promote it.

“Since the establishment of the Facebook

page we have received a great deal of interest in the club and the events that we hold.

In 2011 Hodgson was selected to represent Inter School Queensland in the highest level of show jumping – the 1 metre 20 centimetre height class, where she placed sixth.

Black says Bond supports the club’s monthly training days with a registered coach and special development days with highly regarded coaches.

“The university is also working with the club to help members participate in qualifying opportunities for the World University Games.

“The university has supported the formation of partnerships with local clubs and sponsors the Bond University Young Adult Series that allows 17 to 25-year-olds to compete against their peers.

“The partnerships enable our students be become part of a community outside of the university which enriches their experience and connects them with fellow competitors and equestrians.”

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Vijay Patil

First Devoted cricketer Vijay Dnyandeo Patil is just as enthusiastic about his education in Australia as he is about his country's favourite sport.

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FEATURE COVER STORY

VIJAY DNYANDEO PATIL first visited

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Australia during the 1980s.

At the time he says it was a thirdfavourite destination for Indians behind the United States and United Kingdom.

“I recollect a family friend invited my family to visit Australia for a wedding,” says Patil.

“During that trip I had the opportunity to visit the Bond University campus and I was impressed by the facility.”

So impressed, in fact, he studied a Master of Business Administration on the Gold Coast.

Bond has since become equally impressed with Patil awarding him the annual Robert Stable Alumni Medal, honouring the University’s longest serving former Vice-Chancellor, which is Bond’s highest commendation.

“I am extremely humbled at receiving this award,” he says.

“I dedicate it to my family who gave me the opportunity to study at this beautiful university, my faculty who invested their time and effort in educating me and all my colleagues, fellow students and friends who made it a wonderfully enriching experience for me.”

He describes his academic and recreational pursuits while in Australia as an “amazing experience”.

“I had the opportunity to explore the entire east coast of Australia.

“Some of those trips up to Port Douglas and Cairns along with visits to Sydney and other great places are memories I greatly treasure.”

Patil also credits Bond’s academic program, which he says is delivered by competent faculty in a world class environment.

“I could see up-close the functioning of a private not-for-profit university.

“And therefore my learning extended beyond acquiring a formal master’s degree.

“The warmth, frankness and forthrightness of my Australian friends was something that endeared me to your beautiful country.

“And it made me feel at home,” he says.

Reasons political, practical and most importantly educational, for Patil's prestigious reception of the award are numerous.

His family is from Kohapur, a district in the state of Maharashtra with Mumbai as

its capital, that is known for its scholars and eminent persons in the fields of medicine, education and law.

His father Dr D Y Patil is the current Governor of the north-eastern Indian state of Bihar and founded Maharashtra educational institutions, such as the D Y Patil College of Engineering and Technology in Kolhapur, College of Engineering in Pune and Navi Mumbaibased Ramrao Adik Institute of Technology.

The junior Patil is President of Mumbai’s Padmashree D Y Patil University and President of its Sports Academy.

Sport, and particularly cricket, was central to his formative years.

“Like most children pursuing sports I aspired to play for my state as well as national side,” he says.

“My father – himself a wrestler in his younger days at the wrestling rings in Kolhapur – had always encouraged me to take up sports and had been inclined towards good physical fitness.”

As a middle-order batsman, Patil was part of a successful engineering college cricket team but concedes he needed more talent to reach the sport’s higher echelons.

“Studies took priority and I engaged myself wholeheartedly in academics.

“However, I am a reasonably fair club or office cricketer, and I still continue to play at the club level.”

While playing professional cricket for his country may not be his destiny, he is still a powerful force for India’s most popular and almost religiously held game.

Patil has been Vice President of the Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA) for two consecutive terms.

He says that the MCA has been central to national administration of the sport for decades.

“It is the premier state association in the country and has had a rich legacy and tradition of having been home to some of the world’s finest cricket players like Sachin Tendulkar, Sunil Gavaskar and many others who have represented India at the international level.

“MCA keeps me motivated to contribute on a larger canvas my experience in the cricketing environment and passion for the game.”

His father’s eponymous sports academy strives to the twin aims of incorporating sports as an integral component of academia, and providing facilities for

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"I strongly feel India and Australia can work together on different fronts in the field of business, education and sports (in the form of cricket)... " training exceptionally able athletes regardless of their colour, creed, religion or nationality.

Patil has been Academy President since the year 2000.

Its curriculum includes a Bachelor of Exercise Science, postgraduate Sports Management program and Bachelor and Master of Physiotherapy modules.

“Our University, of which the sports academy is a wing, has eminent sports personalities as members of its Academic Council – the apex body designing the curriculum,” says Patil.

“The University also has a practice of honouring persons of international repute for their service to sports by awarding a Doctor Honoris Causa (honorary doctorate).

“Eminent cricketers like Allan Border and Sir Vivian Richards have visited our academy and interacted with young graduates to motivate them.”

He says that although India is known for games such as hockey, football, tennis and cricket, it is obviously the latter which draws maximum attention and is followed

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“across the length and breadth of our country”.

“Even a corporate executive will lower his car window to inquire about the score when a cricket match is on.”

All of the senior Dr Patil’s myriad educational, sport and healthcare interests fall under the control of the D Y Patil Group – of which his son is listed as a promoter.

“My father is a visionary in the field of education and health care.

“He believes that a proper amalgamation of education, health care and sports create an all round individual with a well-groomed personality and that economic and social transformation can be achieved in the world through education and health care.

“While private entrepreneurship has contributed positively to the growth of education and health care, I strongly believe that one should not lose sight of the larger goals in life and have been working steadfastly through the inspiration of my father in meeting those challenges.”

Patil is optimistic about India’s emergence from the third world as being beneficial to

his own interests, the country itself and its ongoing relationship with Australia.

Bond has more than 500 Indian alumni and its own international regional manager, who also covers Africa, based there.

“The infrastructure in India over the past decade has improved rapidly,” says Patil.

“India today has the potential to be one of the leading super powers in the world in all fields of development, and this potential has been recognised by experts and economists all across the globe.

“Today’s youth are well equipped for modern trends in the field of information technology, health care, agriculture, infrastructure development and their ability to pursue higher education across a diverse spectrum.

“I strongly feel India and Australia can work together on different fronts in the field of business, education and sports (in the form of cricket) which will result in an emotional connect between the two countries.

“Sir Don Bradman is adored in India with fervour and passion as much as Sachin Tendulkar is admired in Australia,” he says.

Patil’s post-graduation activities whether in his esteemed father’s footsteps or his own have surely benefitted from his Bond education, and he stands as a model alumni for the institution.

FEATURE

Legal aid

EAGLE This Bond alumni award winner has travelled the world using her education in humanitarian and human rights work.

DEBATING a law professor over whether the UN should be reformed or entirely renewed: it’s not the argument most might have during their interview for a Bachelor of Laws/Bachelor of International Relations scholarship at Bond University.

But Exceptional Community Achievement Alumni Award winner Kirsten Hagon is not most graduates.

About one month ago she moved to Palestine where most of her grass roots work now takes place.

“I do give workshops, lectures and training on a voluntary basis to students, community groups and sometimes aid workers,” says Hagon.

“I recently taught a course in Gaza for aid workers from legal, human rights and humanitarian non-governmental organisations (NGOs) on advocacy and

how to ensure the impact of their daily programmatic work was maximised by engaging the policy level issues at the same time.”

Much of her work since graduating from Bond in the year 2000 and gaining a Masters from Cambridge has been both lofty and diverse.

Hagon volunteered with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), then with a refugee legal aid NGO in Cairo before joining the UNHCR ín the same city.

She has since worked in conflict and post-conflict settings, with NGOs and UN agencies in Darfur, Uganda, Chad, Democratic Republic of the Congo, South Sudan, Afghanistan, Cote D’lvoire and Haiti.

She says that, just like her colleagues,

she constantly feels her work is “just a drop in the ocean".

"But mostly I feel it’s worth doing and appreciate the very small successes."

Hagon also does training and public speaking, and has taken on an unoffocial mentoring role to colleagues and students, which "is really important for me.”

Hagon says Bond is working well toward helping students resist pressure to “fit a traditional model of success of working for a top law firm, earning as much as possible, [by] becoming a partner, etc.”

“Students need to know that it’s an equally valid choice to be a legal aid lawyer as much as [it is] to work for a big corporate firm.

“Success is not just about how much money you make, but should be about the people’s lives you change for the better."

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Student Award WINNER

Valedictorian James Graham giving his address

An exhaustive raft of academic and non-academic awards and titles speckled this alumni award winner’s time at Bond.

JAMES Graham’s list of extra-curricular achievements while studying at the Gold Coast university is, quite simply outstanding.

Accordingly he has been awarded the 2013 Alumni Student Award.

He graduated from a Bachelor of Laws with first class honours and a Bachelor of Commerce in 2012.

Graham says he decided to study at Bond because of its small community environment and close-knit culture.

“For me, Bond was an interstate university, with a truly non-local culture and international culture.”

The alumnus is currently working in investment banking in Sydney and has long-term aspirations to work in green technology, financing and commercial development.

A deep intake of breath is required before reading out his positions at Bond as a student: Bond University Student Association President 2010 to 2011; Bond Investment Group President from March to December 2012; Resident Fellow of Bond University Residences Council from 2010 to 2012; Bond University Student Philanthropy Council Deputy Chair

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February to October 2010; Kununurra Youth Development Program team member from July to October 2012; and participant in the Oxfam Trail-Walker Challenge, April to August 2012.

Bond’s culture was the main motivating factor for such depth of participation, says Graham.

“The culture at Bond University motivates you to get much more out of the academic process and your time at university, particularly outside of the lecture theatre.

“This experience taught me a great deal, more than could be seen on a CV or transcript.”

Most important to the Alumni Student Award winner were the lasting relationships his leadership and involvement helped solidify.

“If I had to pick the most rewarding aspect of my time there it would have to be my term as President of the Bond University Student Association (BUSA).

“For me, it was the exceptional people I had the opportunity to work with, and learn from, that made this time particularly rewarding.

“I worked with a very talented and

committed group, and we had a good time along the way.

“I learned lessons from the experience of being a leader and being part of a team, and I am sure that these lessons will stay with me for some time to come,” he says.

His academic trophy cabinet features the 2013 Bond University Minter Ellison Medal recognising all-round and academic performance, Graduating Class Valedictorian which recognises leadership and academic excellence and the Goldsworthy Prize, awarded to an undergraduate student graduating with the highest GPA in a major of any business discipline, among many others.

Graham’s non-academic awards, such as the John Lessing Memorial Medal recognising spirit and collegiality within the Faculty of Law and the Kritin Bothra Award of academic achievement, involvement in university life and participation in student representation, equally impress.

He is truly a model student whose lasting legacy and future career achievements will reflect impeccably on his alma mater for years to come.

FEATURE

THE WORLD SHRINKS,

BOND GROWS

Gold Coast Mayor Tom Tate and and ViceChancellor Professor Tim Brailsford awarding Karen Mistry with the Vice-Chancellor’s India Scholarship during their trip to India

SIMPLY by walking through Bond University’s spacious grounds you get a feel for its multicultural atmosphere.

During late-spring, as purple jacaranda flowers rain onto the pavement below sandstone walls and columns, you’ll see and hear students and faculty from Europe, Africa, America, India, Asia and everywhere in-between.

Since its establishment in 1989, the institution has aspired to be international in mind and body, says Vice-Chancellor Professor Tim Brailsford.

“That vision has been re-emphasised through our new strategic plan,” he says.

“I’ve made that an absolute priority.”

One country which Bond is focusing on (as is this issue of The Arch) is India.

“And that’s consistent with the history of Bond and our engagement over the past 25 years,” says Professor Brailsford.

“While we can point to many aspects of that engagement in a positive framework, we’ve never adopted India as part of our institutional DNA. “India has been part of us for our first 25 years. It is a global growth giant and we see India being part of us for the next 25 years.

“There are a number of significant alumni working in India who have made successful businesses in India."

Indeed one of the University’s core visions is that it can transform lives.

And the Vice-Chancellor says there are many Indian alumni – more than 500 in total – who are perfect examples of, and role models for, how that vision has been realised.

“That’s important for us because we’re a small institution. We are about punching above our weight, we are about making sure that our students are our greatest ambassadors; and we have some absolutely fantastic ambassadors in India.”

In taking its commitment to graduates further, he says planning is in place to reform the Alumni Community through engagement with and participation from the very people it will serve.

“More generally the University has made a strategic commitment for improved and deeper engagement with our alumni all around the world.

“But we certainly see India as a critical part of that global engagement strategy.

“An important part of maintaining a good relationship with our past students is to demonstrate in a genuine manner that they themselves can have an influence over the institution.

“And that’s about more than simply sending out emails to students; it’s actually about involving them.

The Vice-Chancellor says it's also "critical" for Bond to play an ongoing role in alumni careers.

“Rather than being a passive observer,

In this international edition of The ARCH, our Vice-Chancellor discusses mutually beneficial ways the University is strengthening its ties with friends across the seas. you’re an active partner in their career, and to that extent we have opened up our Career Development Centre to provide support for alumni.

“There are also very valuable networks and opportunities that arise from the alumni themselves.

“And the University has a role to facilitate that network and that interaction.”

The film industry is one way in which Bond can more closely align itself with the Indian sub-continent.

“There was an Indian film which was made on campus here in the early 2000s,” says Professor Brailsford.

“The movie industry is a significant component of the Gold Coast and we have one of Australia’s best film and TV schools on campus.

“We are seeking to ensure that our students have a global advantage, not withstanding that they are studying here in Australia.

“And part of that global advantage is about connecting them globally.

“We need to engage with Hollywood, obviously, but we need to acknowledge that the world is changing and that Bollywood is certainly a major focus of filmmaking globally.”

A visit earlier this year to India by Professor Brailsford and Gold Coast Mayor Tom Tate speaks volumes about how serious Bond and its community is about forming closer ties with the increasingly influential nation.

“Travelling with the Mayor was a great experience in that it allowed the University to access high-level government officials," says Professor Brailsford.

“We walked arm-in-arm, figuratively, into joint meetings and I had a number of discussions and meetings with some senior alumni who expressed their very strong support and desire for us to have a greater and continual presence in India."

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An Indian

CONNECTION

Ongoing academic links between Bond University and the Indian subcontinent will have a ripple effect far beyond but including educational outcomes.

RELATIONSHIPS with India have been important to Bond since the University was founded.

This issue of The Arch celebrates its overseas ties and some staff and alumni who exemplify it.

Bond has more than 500 Indian alumni including Chancellor of DY Patil University in Navi Mumbai, Vijay Patil.

And partnerships such as that with the globally prominent Hyderabad-based Indian School of Business (ISB) help link the Gold Coast’s own with the world.

International Director John McPartland says that throughout his career at universities in Melbourne and Dublin, as well as on the Gold Coast, he’s found the subcontinent very interesting.

“The reason Bond attracts students from there is because it’s a very different institution in that it has a strong reputation for a student-centred approach to learning,” says McPartland.

“And India is a leading source market globally in creating various opportunities through partnerships.”

He uses the example of a visit by former British Prime Minister Tony Blair to China, where he was impressed by the number of Chinese in management and government positions who had studied at UK universities, to explain the benefit of Bond’s knowledge sharing with India.

“These people who graduate from our University are the ones who get involved in a whole range of business endeavours back home that can be of benefit to Queensland and Australia.

“There are also growing opportunities for partnerships between Bond and high quality Indian institutions.

“Global partnerships are fundamental in terms of creating a sustainable internationalisation strategy, and we have a few which demand priority engagement.

“India is one of those countries.”

Links between Bond and institutions such as DY Patil can take the form of joint delivery of programs, research projects and student transfers, says McPartland.

“Education is a globalised endeavour, and students are now looking for qualifications that are globally relevant.

“Bond has launched a new scholarship scheme [which is] to target overseas students who are achievers in academia.

“India is such a big country, and it’s a hard one to ignore if you are interested in having a genuinely internationally focused education.

“It’s a country we hope to spend a lot more time at physically, as partners.”

Aspiring sport scientist wins scholarship RACHITA Mistry set and held the Indian 100m national record of 11.38 seconds in 2000, until it was finally bettered this year.

Fast-forward 13 years and her daughter Karen has now been awarded the inaugural Bond University Vice-Chancellor’s India Scholarship.

The DY Patil International School International Baccalaureate student plans to use her Bond education to pursue a career treating sportspeople, and is motivated by witnessing from a young age the toll her mother’s injuries took on her body and career.

“I want to help athletes with their injuries so that it never becomes an obstacle in their sporting career.

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“It is my dream to be part of the Indian Olympic contingent; not as an athlete, but rather as the team’s sports physiotherapist.”

The scholarship is one of Bond's most prestigious – providing a global education through a full single undergraduate degree tuition scholarship.

Vice-Chancellor Professor Tim Brailsford says Mistry joins a select group of Bondies destined to become future leaders in their fields.

The scholarship provides Mistry with some of the best exercise and sport science opportunities in the world, he says.

“Last year Bond secured a $14 million research grant from the federal government to work with the Australian Institute of

Sport (AIS) and several other universities to investigate and advance sports science.

“The University is expanding its health programs and, in the lead up to the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games there will be a number of opportunities for our students to interact, engage and work with the games’ operators and competing sport groups.”

“It is a significant gesture by Bond to recognise that bringing one of India’s best and brightest young leaders to the Gold Coast can only assist building long-term strategic partnerships with one of the world’s largest economies," says Mayor Tom Tate.

FEATURE

AN ACCIDENTAL ALUMNI

WORLD AT HER FEET

This son of an Indian film industry empire was preparing for tertiary study in the United Kingdom, until fate and the Gold Coast intervened.

FORTUNATE accidents don’t come much bigger than studying at Bond University.

But that’s exactly what happened for business administration alumni and Bollywood film distributor Kushagra Jalan.

“Ending up at Bond was a sheer coincidence,” says the director of Indiabased Jalan Distributors – a subsidiary of Jalan Business Group (JBG).

“It was something absolutely unplanned, and it came majorly as a result of chaos.

“I was all set to pursue my education in England and had everything prepared.

“I assisted two of my friends with their Bond application forms, which led me to submit my own application.

“It was only after making the application that I actually ended up doing research on Bond University and education in Australia.”

Jalan was eager to finish studying and join the family-owned JBG; founded by his grandfather 70 years ago.

After researching Bond, meeting some of its alumni and learning he would be able to finish a Bachelor of Arts (BA) in two years, “everything just fell into place”.

“And there I was, boarding a Qantas flight to Brisbane.

“I realise it seems that it was an impulsive and unplanned decision, but a lot of thought was actually put into it and it seemed like a great environment to be in.”

BOND’S south Asia and Africa

He was shy as a child, growing up as part of a traditional, yet not particularly conservative, Hindu family living in Kolkata.

“Even though my family was affluent, they always balanced luxuries and the concept and worth of money,” he says. “Which gave us (my sister and me) every possible comfort in life, but still developed in us a mind to think about the value of any luxury.”

Schooling at the long-established and respected St Xavier’s College furthered Jalan’s development through interaction with other children of different social and economic classes.

Then he says Bond became his “first push into unknown territory”.

“It was a place where I was physically on my own and a place where my smallest decisions had a direct consequence on my daily life.

“Bond got me from two to six on a scale of 10 on opening up.

“My mind was given the freedom and fuel to dream, which is something that I hope will always be my biggest asset.”

After finishing the BA in 2004 he started working for JBG so quickly he could not even attend his own graduation ceremony.

“My father wanted me to learn on my own rather than making me sit down with him to tell me how it worked.

“That’s something that I will always be thankful to him for."

International Regional Manager was a new position when Priya Kamineni took its reigns for Bond University in 2009.

It was initially challenging for the MBA graduate who studied half her degree at Bond then finished it in 2003 at Sydney’s Australian Graduate School of Management, after her husband gained work in that city.

Kamineni says her first two years as International Regional Manager involved consolidating the market and building relationships.

Recently she organised an alumni dinner to which 15 people ranging from prominent alumni to fresh graduates were invited.

“I’d love to do more of those sorts of things,” she says.

“Bond is doing quite well in India and we’ve tripled the numbers of intakes during my time.

“It is a niche university which looks for quality students and in turn attracts students who are looking for quality.”

In 2004 Kamineni became a Marketing Consultant at the University of Sydney then in 2006 became a Marketing Manager and Board of Management Member at Thomson Education.

When her husband returned to India in 2007 she worked in a book store with him then in 2008 became deputy general manager of a local company.

Now four years into her expansive role with Bond she would like to add other regions to her responsibilities.

www.arch.bond.edu.au 13

SUMMER 2013

Indian alumni using

TO SUCCEED SHISHIR BAIJAL SHISHIR Baijal backed himself and Bond when he gambled on studying an Master of Business Administration in Australia in 1995.

Before enrolling with a friend he was an Area General Manager for Sheraton Hotels.

“We decided to virtually sell everything to invest in ourselves,” says Baijal, the current Chairman, Managing Director and country head for commercial and residential property consultants Knight Frank.

He has come a long way since being born in Kolkata and attending many schools while his railway working father was regularly transferred.

“I graduated from St Xavier’s in 1976,” says Baijal, “then the Shri Ram College of Commerce with economic honours in ’79.

“For the next 15 years after joining ITC (Indian owner of Sheraton) I rose from Assistant Manager until resignation as an Area General Manager to go to Bond.”

It was a big decision at the time because his culture still dictated “cradle to grave” loyalty to one company.

“I said to myself: ‘If I want to do something different, something meaningful in my life, I need to invest in myself if I want to keep pace.’

“I had no children at that stage, and my wife was a PR expert; we both left our jobs.

“Deciding to study at Bond was a game changer for my career. I could then relate with 18 years’ business experience with the academic world and how I could do things differently.

"It was a very gratifying time at Bond; I was on the Vice-Chancellor’s list and received awards for economics.”

MBA in hand after graduation, Baijal returned home to work in hotels, then “got the urge to do something different” and migrated to New Zealand in 1998.

“I became the Deputy Principal

14 www.arch.bond.edu.au

and Senior Professor of Pacific International Hotel Management School, New Plymouth, and enjoyed the Kiwi way of life.

“Then, in 2000 I got a phone call from India.”

He was offered the chance to help start a new company – INOX – which aimed to set up multi-screen cinemas across the country.

“India until then had only had single screen cinemas,” says Baijal.

“I flew from NZ to Singapore to meet with them and was excited.

“So from the first of January, 2001 I became the Managing Director of INOX (Leisure Ltd) – which now has in excess of 200 or 250 screens promoting groundbreaking trends in entertainment.”

“If I want to do something different, something meaningful in my life, I need to invest in myself."

In 2005, Baijal became Managing Director of real estate fund Everstone, and helped manage US$1 billion destined for investment in shopping centres and mixeduse property.

“All this was not possible if I didn’t have my MBA behind me,” he says.

Baijal advises anyone studying an MBA or aspiring to a similar career to “constantly keep learning and adding to yourself”.

“The investment I made in myself at Bond was priceless, mentally and emotionally.

“One should be willing to take the risk of working across different industries.

“Trust in yourself and stay one step ahead.

“Once learning becomes constant, you can master any situation.”

FEATURE

Bond education

AT HOME RAVI SINGH RAVI Singh chose an “untested” Australian university at which to study his MBA in 1990.

Of course, that institution was Bond.

“After college I chose not to proceed to the US or the UK for my masters, as was the trend at that time,” says Singh.

“My father had been educated in the US and the UK and so, in some ways, that may have also played its part.

“Instead, I had read in newspapers of the establishment of a new private university in Australia, and turned up at Bond University.”

Singh chose the MBA because his first degree at Delhi University’s Shri Ram College of Commerce was in economics and his family owned publishing business interests.

He chose Bond because the “trimester format tempted my family as I would return sooner to join the business”.

“I did go on to become self-employed, but chose to do something of my own and did not join the family business.

“One of the fundamental things that I learnt was the concept of identifying an opportunity and then tailoring a business to meet the un-met need.

“In addition to marketing, my interest was also in entrepreneurship.

“At Bond, three of us met (Sushil Sukhwani, Shiv Kumar and myself) and decided that on return to India, we would work on a company together to promote and market Australia and Australian education in India.

“Shiv chose to settle in Singapore but Sushil

“One of the fundamental things I learnt was the concept of identifying an opportunity”

and myself did pursue this idea.

“After working together for a few years, we parted ways and set up independent companies and today my startup Global Reach (www.globalreach.in) and Edwise (Sushil’s startup) are both leaders in the industry.

The present and future remain bright for this Bond alumnus.

“I am also involved in several industry activities and the current President of AAERI (Association of Australian Education Reps) – which is the peak body promoted by the Australian government.

“I am also on similar consultative bodies for NZ (NZSA), and the US (AIRC).

“My personal goal is to chart out some work away from my business once I reach 50 years of age, in public service or some other forum.

“International education is close to my heart and so I will continue to comment and remain involved with it.”

SUSHIL SUKHWANI BOND betters 15 other Australian universities, at least according to this alumni’s taste.

Sushil Sukhwani visited every one of their campuses “as there was no information available on any institution in India at that time (1990)”.

“Bond had the best infrastructure, the best location, the best academic team and the best curriculum,” he says.

“I was so happy at Bond as a student that I decided to assist the University with recruiting students from India.

At 23-years-old in 1991, armed with a Bond Master of Business Administration in services marketing and with the support of his enterprising family, he started Edwise – which was reportedly one of the first overseas education consultancies in India.

It now has 22 offices across India.

“There were fewer students then that aspired to study abroad and the task of getting complete information on courses, institutions, finance, visa, travel and understanding the process was daunting.

“Over the last 23 years Edwise has bought the concept of overseas education to the doorstep of every aspiring student by making it affordable and devoid of cumbersome procedures.”

www.arch.bond.edu.au 15

SUMMER 2013

HIS BENEVOLENT

GIFT TO BOND Long-time supporters of education, and graduates during the 1960s of Canada’s Western University, Jack and Sharon Cowin have supported Bond University with a priceless and exceedingly generous donation.

BOND University was not even a spark in the Gold Coast’s eye when Bond Board of Trustees member Jack Cowin and his wife Sharon both graduated with a Bachelor of Arts from Ontario, Canada’s Western University in 1964.

Mr Cowin says his Western education taught him lessons and afforded him opportunities he wished for Bond students to experience.

“My time as a student and an athlete at Western taught me lessons in leadership, perseverance and commitment to excellence,” he says.

“My coaches and my experience around the world have played a significant role in developing the values and the skills that have taken me through life, both personally and professionally.

A $3 million gift from the couple made during August will see Bond students benefit from an exchange program with the Ontario institution over the next decade, and beyond.

“Sharon and I are proud to be helping students, athletes and faculty at Western and Bond University to gain the same 16 www.arch.bond.edu.au

opportunities (we did),” Mr Cowin says.

Since their own graduation, the Cowins have supported athletics awards, facilities and student projects at their alma mater for many years – not to mention their adopted Gold Coast institution.

Mr Cowin says he was initially attracted to supporting Bond as it was a private, not-for-profit university “trying to build a program outside of government assistance”.

He adds that though Western 50 years ago was probably about the same size as Bond is now, the former now has about 35,000 students and a wider range of faculties, so the two cannot fairly be compared in terms of size.

“Other than that, it’s the principle behind what Bond is trying to do that matters.

“And I think Bond students studying at Western, and Western students in turn studying at Bond, will be beneficial to both groups.

“The main benefit is to understand what is going on, on the other side of the world.

“If you accept the concept of the global village, the role education has to play

is to question how do you develop an international perspective on what is going on in the world.”

Cowin says though studying, working and living only in your own backyard may be comfortable, it is not necessarily a good learning experience.

“When I first came to Australia it was enlightening for me.

“The weather for a start, though more broadly it’s a different world and that’s part of the learning experience.

“Though it’s not like going to China, because as a learning experience the language is the same, and otherwise Canada and Australia have similarities.”

Bond's Vice-Chancellor and President Professor Tim Brailsford says the Cowins’ vision and generosity continues to be “outstanding”.

“The partnership between Bond and Western will enable students from other sides of the globe to interact, exchange ideas and share knowledge as they study together,” says Professor Brailsford.

“Our world is getting smaller and the opportunity afforded by this program will

FEATURE

Professor Tim Brailsford, Sharon and Jack Cowin

be truly life-changing for those involved.

“It is only possible through the Cowins’ generosity and their vision for global education.”

The scholarship program aims to foster an international network between the two Pacific Ocean divided institutions.

Professor Brailsford says Western’s values and reputation sit comfortably with Bond’s.

“Further, this partnership strengthens the ties that already exist between Bond and Canada that have been created by the path of many years whereby every semester many Canadian students spend time studying at Bond.”

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"It is only possible through the Cowins' generosity and their vision for global education."

He says the generosity shown by the Cowins is indicative of an emerging trend within corporate Australia to embrace philanthropic activities involving higher education.

“We are seeing increasing examples where astute, visionary businesspeople recognise the value in a better-educated

society and are actively contributing their own funds to further that goal.

“This is something that has been an accepted way of corporate life internationally for many years and it is pleasing to see such thinking now emerging in this country,” says the Professor. www.arch.bond.edu.au 17

SUMMER 2013

Breaking

barriers The Centre for Autism Spectrum Disorders is taking its research away from the campus and into the classroom with an innovative research grant from Education Queensland.

18 www.arch.bond.edu.au

FEATURE

{ SOCIETY places profound responsibility on teachers. They are tasked with training and guiding young minds, igniting imaginations and inspiring a love of learning and independent thought.

Bond University Professor Vicki Bitsika has seen first-hand the unwavering commitment of Queensland teachers, determined to bring every student to their full potential.

She sees teachers who are eager to find new ways to innovate and be flexible in their approaches to teaching; teachers who are often faced with incredible challenges, with students of different learning capabilities.

As Director of the Bond University Centre for Autism Spectrum Disorders, Professor Bitsika has dedicated the last 25 years to people with especially high educational needs.

She works hands on with children, adolescents and adults with autism conditions and behavioural challenges, providing training and support to their families, caregivers and teachers.

The Centre was developed as a result of great demand for evidence-based and specialised treatment programs in the Gold Coast autism community and collaborates with Australian and international bodies as well as a number of other universities including the University of New England and the University of Texas.

Recently, the Centre was awarded a substantial research grant from Education

"Often... teacher training doesn't give them the full capability to meet the needs of these students and work with them in innovative ways."

Queensland to develop and evaluate a resilience-building education programme for students on the spectrum. The findings of the evaluation will form the basis of a manual that advises schools and teachers how to best work with children and adolescents with an autism spectrum disorder.

As a result, the Centre has partnered with Burleigh Heads State School in The Regional Research into Autism Pedagogy Program (RRAP), which caters for high needs students with an autism condition across the Gold Coast.

The mini educational unit has three classrooms, a large eating and recreational area and a group learning area, as well as a sensory withdrawal room. Every part of the unit, from the positioning of the furniture to the materials used, has been designed to help children self-monitor and manage their own behaviour.

The Centre is also conducting training with 100 teachers from across the state.

The findings of that research will be used to create a seminar series that will be delivered to 140 schools, as well as procedures and protocols to be placed on the Education Queensland website, accessible to all teachers state-wide.

Professor Bitsika says an increase in training and support for teachers with autistic students is vital.

“Our results have found so far that teachers and schools are very well meaning, they are highly motivated to work to the best of their ability with the students, but

{

often their teacher training doesn’t give them the full capability to meet the needs of these students and work with them in innovative ways,” she explains.

“This training will give them additional information about autism and provide them with internationally recognised approaches to working with autistic children.”

“We’ve trained them in systematic observation with regards to children’s behaviour and emotional state. If you were to sit a RRAP teacher next to a mainstream teacher, the way they would describe what they are seeing and use their skills to come to a solution would look very different.”

Professor Bitsika says the response from the community has been inspiring.

“On a weekly basis we have parents contacting us to be a part of our research,” she says.

“When I presented a speech at the Bond University Research Week, in the first two or three rows I noticed parents who had participated in our research and they were beaming because I was talking about results they had helped us to achieve.

“The Centre’s research had the potential to contribute to policy making in relation to these children.”

“For us this is very exciting as researchers because it means we can work outside of our Centre and outside of our immediate context.

“Most of us in the Centre come from a hands-on background, so this is exciting for us. It’s not limited to a laboratory; it’s real.”

www.arch.bond.edu.au 19

SUMMER 2013

Bond takes the lead University gears up to lead the way in sports science research.

Associate Professor Lotti Tajouri (from left), Bond University PhD student Tim Whitehouse and Associate Professor Bon Gray

INFRASTRUCTURE is being put into place as Bond University embarks on a cutting-edge exercise science project which will significantly increase its research capacity.

Over the next five years, the University will move to the forefront of sports science research in Australia as the leader of the $14 million Collaborative Research Network (CRN) for Advancing Exercise and Sports Science.

Bond has received $5.7 million of that money to undertake a range of research, primarily on elite-level athletes, which will not only aim to advance athletic performance, but also improve the health of the general public.

The primary objective of the CRN funding is to build Bond’s research capacity in partnership with more developed research partners: the University of Queensland Dimantina Institute, the University of Sydney and the Australian Institute of Sport.

Professor Roger Hughes is the Head of the School of Health Sciences at Bond University and the Deputy Dean of Research. He is in charge of the project and has been busy in the six months since it got under way laying the groundwork for the research to start.

“Research productivity and impact does not generally happen spontaneously. It needs preparation, purposeful planning and strategic investment, all part of the initial work of the CRN team at Bond,” says Professor Hughes.

Relevant staff have undertaken a research

20 www.arch.bond.edu.au

and training program to build research and technical skills in preparation for a heavier research load, and recruitment of CRN research staff is under way.

Meanwhile, the University has invested in equipment and laboratory infrastructure to build its capacity to establish a research bio-bank and data management facility required by the research over the next five to ten years.

The emphasis of the CRN research will be multi-disciplinary, using a range of method platforms, including genetics, biochemical, physiological and psychological, to explore questions relevant to exercise and sports science.

“The really exciting thing about the CRN’s research agenda is the opportunity to translate findings from elite athletes to assist broader population health, and also vice versa,” says Professor Hughes.

“We know that exercise is a critical determinant of health and an important treatment option in many diseases, but we need to understand better the 'why, how and by how much' sorts of questions that we hope to be able to better answer via the CRN,” says Professor Hughes.

“Elite athletes represent optimal gene expression, as they look and perform optimally within the limits that genes and physiology allow.

“Elite athletes therefore represent

THE TEAM CRN’s Scientific Advisory Committee has organised the future research into four main themes involving a co-ordinated leader from each of the CRN partner institutions.

The four main themes will concentrate on research and development in sport and sporting health. These will include: Musculoskeletal diseases - Professor Matt Brown, UQDI Injury and Exercise Load - Dr David Hughes, AIS Exercise as treatment throughout the lifecycle - Professor Maria FiataroneSingh, USyd High performance science - A/Prof Bon Gray, Bond Some of the research questions and topics being planned include consideration of: How exercise influences gene expression in certain population groups.

How differences in genetics influence performance.

Can genetic profiling predict risk of musculoskeletal injury or disease, and can this be useful in guiding training and preventative programs?

a model for research as close as we can get to optimal health and physical human potential.”

The CRN has a broad research goal “to advance exercise and sport science”, allowing for a significant amount of freedom in research topics.

“Over the next few years I expect we will see research including how diet interacts with exercise to influence athletic performance, patient rehabilitation and disease treatment,” says Professor Hughes.

“In this context, the work of the CRN can contribute to advancing our understanding of what needs to be done to address burgeoning health problems such as obesity, diabetes and even dementia.

“There are many challenges but we have a great team of people involved across our partners in the CRN. "Bond will be a great beneficiary in terms of our capacity, capability and standing in the health and sport science research community in Australia and internationally over the next three to five years.”

FEATURE Gary McCoy

lifesavers SAVING THE

The Surf Safety Index has been designed to keep people safe in the surf and to prevent loss of life in surf life saving competitions.

A SURF safety rating system developed by two Bond University academics has shown promising results in testing, and could be a vital tool in preventing further injury and death to surf life saving competitors.

The Surf Life Saving movement has been rocked in recent years by the tragic deaths of young men in competition.

As a result there was much soul searching, with many questions about the management of competitions and

competitors in dangerous surf conditions.

Long-time surf lifesavers, Bond University Emeritus Professor Neville de Mestra and Senior Teaching Fellow Gary McCoy, put their heads together to do something about it.

The result is the Surf Safety Index, which is being developed as an independent system for rating the danger of surf conditions.

It is indexed to a system for rating the competency of surf lifesavers.

“This [is intended to] be a tool to help in life-or-death situations," says McCoy. "The system will tell you the risk of serious injury is as low as practicable and it will assist the decision makers to make the right decision.

“When the program gets in place, competitors will all have a rating and when they come down to the beach on any given day, if they haven’t got the skill levels for the day, the decision will be made for them.”

The pilot study ran through the summer of 2012/13 with support from a ViceChancellor’s Research Grant, and McCoy is on the verge of signing a partnership with Surf Life Saving Australia to continue to develop the criteria this season.

“We found some significant correlations between what we measured the surf conditions to be and what the competitors considered the surf conditions to be,” says McCoy. “Everything was positive in the outcomes of the pilot study and that will allow us to move forward into more detailed research.”

The data was presented at a forum earlier this year, attended by Surf Life Saving sports managers from each state, including the President of the Australian Surf Rowers League and Iron Woman Courtney Hancock who was representing elite athletes.

“Everyone recommended we go forward with more detailed research with all states collecting data through the state bodies and also the Surf Rowers League.”

McCoy is writing a training workshop to educate official surf observers in the surf index.

He is looking forward to resuming testing the system, which won’t be ready for widespread use for at least two years.

“Hopefully through the 2013/14 surf life saving season each individual state is collecting data to validate the index in the first instance.

"We will then offset it against the competency ratings for the lifesavers.”

“Like all research programs, if you put it into practice within six months, you are asking for trouble.

"There is only four months to collect the data... and we are only looking at recording data for the upper level of conditions.

“For moderate to difficult surf conditions we want to monitor the incidents and competitions and that takes time.”

www.arch.bond.edu.au 21

SUMMER 2013

Worried

WELL PERFORM a CAT scan on a middle-aged person and you will find, on average, about 2.4 lesions or abnormalities: this person may have no symptoms, and these abnormalities may not be harmful, so are they truly sick?

The Bond University Centre for Research into Evidence Based Practice (CREBP) is part of a growing body of researchers concerned by ‘overdiagnosis’.

The research points towards pressure from large pharmaceutical companies and a genuine desire by medical practitioners to treat more and more people, as the reason behind an increase in the amount of ‘worried well’ people clogging the health system.

PhD student Raymond Moynihan has been instrumental to the CREBP’s research and was a key organiser of the Preventing Overdiagnosis International Conference at the Dartmouth Institute in the United States in September.

He says most people are fairly sceptical of what drugs they take and what surgery they undergo, but warns we have to be sceptical of the disease labels we accept.

“The very definitions of disease are changing constantly, such that more and more people who used to be considered normal are now classified as sick,” he says.

“What we showed for the first time, in a study that we just published, is that the expert panels that are making those decisions have a majority of members with financial relationships to drug companies that will stand to gain financially.”

Director of the CREBP, Professor Paul Glasziou says there are three main ways this overdiagnosis is occurring.

“We keep changing and expanding the definitions of diseases where milder and milder cases are classified,” he says.

“Then there's over-detection, when there hasn’t been a change in definition, but you accidently detect more because you’re looking for it.

“For example, thyroid cancer has increased

22 www.arch.bond.edu.au

Professor Paul Glasziou with Information Specialist Sarah Thorning, Centre Manager Chrissy Erveti and Dr Rae Thomas

As thresholds for diseases continue to expand and definitions continue to be altered, the Centre for Research into Evidence Based Practice fears the health system is buckling under the weight of the well three-fold in the last two decades. We are diagnosing three times as many people with thyroid cancer, but the death rate is going down.

“The third type is the medicalisation of normality.”

He says this obsession with our health may be doing us more harm than good.

According to Centre research, screening for prostate cancer is occuring for many men without their informed consent, with prostate-specific antigen (PSA) screening performed as part of routine blood tests.

“If we screen people for any of the cancers, particularly prostate cancers, you get over-detected cases, people who have no consequence for that disease in their lifetime,” says Professor Glasziou.

“About 70 per cent of 80 year olds have prostate cancer, but it never harmed them in their lifetime.”

Senior Research Fellow and psychologist Dr Rae Thomas says people could have a

cancer detected and treated that may never have harmed them.

“We are conditioned to believe that screening, preventing, getting in early, saves lives. It saves some lives, but it doesn’t save all lives, and for a lot it actually harms them.”

Overdiagnosis also involves psychiatry, with the release of the new Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders.

These have expanded definitions of ADHD causing more and more children to be diagnosed with less and less symptoms.

Dr Thomas says the CREBP plans to continue collating evidence with the aim of implementing it in policy and clinical settings.

“You have to draw a line in the sand, and it should stay there because it should be drawn on the basis of evidence,” she says.

“We’re trying to get people to go back to conservative diagnoses, watch and wait, get more information, take your time.

“We have a responsibility to be cautious.”

CAMPUS

The future of

RESEARCH BECOMING a world expert in

any field inspires a level of vitality and enthusiasm that is the lifeblood of any research institution.

As Director of Research at Bond University, Andrew Calder is intent on bottling the triumph that comes when a PhD student writes the final word of their thesis, as the University steps up its commitment to research in its new Research Strategic Plan 2014-2018.

The plan was launched at the second annual Research Week, held in September.

Themed Building Research Capability, the week-long event was designed to celebrate Higher Degree by Research students and Early Career Researchers.

Australian Research Council CEO Professor Aidan Byrne presented the keynote address, inspiring the next generation of researchers to continue their work.

Calder says the speech was a call for institutions to recognise the value of fresh minds.

“He (Professor Byrne) was trying to encourage people to network and collaborate, to have confidence in their abilities,” Calder says.

“He talked a lot about his own research career and his own personal journey as a Dean and astrophysicist, a journey he thought was worthwhile.”

Calder says the implementation of the Research Strategic Plan

heralds a new focus on research at Bond.

“I think there’s recognition now that research needs to play a bigger part in what we do every day, including standing beside teaching and enhancing that teaching quality,” he says.

“We have agreed on a set of six research performance indicators which we will set targets against and evaluate from. That’s something we haven’t really done before.”

Pro Vice-Chancellor for Research and Faculty of Law Dean, Professor Geraldine Mackenzie was central to the plan’s creation and says it came as a result of a careful process involving all key stakeholders at Bond.

“It was a very inclusive process and its results will reflect that,” says Professor Mackenzie.

“The plan underpins our research strategy for the next five years and builds on our existing research," she says.

“Bond is a developing research University, and the plan positions us for the next five years to achieve some big goals.”

The plan sits under the University’s strategic plan, and will incorporate the Faculty Action Plans to allow faculties to individually interpret the plan to suit their own differing research procedures.

As Bond University reveals its new Research Strategic Plan, the focus is on the fresh minds of the future.

Professor Aidan Byrne

THE STRATEGY The Research Strategic Plan’s five key objectives include: • developing a world-class research workforce and culture; • enabling a research-training environment by blending research, teaching and service; • identifying and developing niche centres of research excellence; • enabling and enhancing access to world-class infrastructure; • and innovating through collaborative engagement with industry, business, government and the community.

www.arch.bond.edu.au 23

SUMMER 2013

Helping HANDS

Left to right: Dr Howard Marau, Jack O’Sullivan, Greg Leeb, Anthony Brown, Matthew Kelly.

A placement at Markira's Kirakira Hospital has benefitted patients and visiting students alike.

BOND University medical students have changed the lives of people living in the remote Pacific as part of a unique clinical placement in the Solomon Islands.

Small groups of fifth and final year Bachelor of Medicine Bachelor of Surgery students gave up their state-of-the-art facilities to fly to the island of Makira where they spent four weeks at Kirakira Hospital.

Student Anthony Brown visited in January and says the experience was invaluable.

“Professionally this opportunity has broadened my knowledge and advanced my skills, as I had exposure to procedures and clinical decision making that I would not have necessarily experienced until much further into my medical career,” says Brown.

“We were responsible for every aspect of a patient’s care and well-being.

“The remote area that we were in meant I had to think laterally about my

treatment plans and the impact they had on the patient – I couldn’t simply advise a patient to come back next week as they often had to walk for many hours to get to hospital, which often meant they couldn’t farm that day or feed their family.”

He says the placement has inspired him to continue working with disadvantaged communities in the future.

Associate Professor Dr James Fink has visited the island several times, arranging the placement for his students.

He says the 50-bed general hospital at Kirakira is staffed by one doctor and a team of registered and enrolled nurses.

The facilities are basic with little running water and inconsistent electricity, giving the students an understanding of how health care is delivered in a community with such limited resources.

“They are able to see the clinical course of diseases which are no longer common in Australia, or are detected and treated much earlier here than they are in the Solomon Islands,” says Professor Fink.

“It is also an opportunity for Bond University to assist a disadvantaged community by providing extra healing hands.”

The on-campus Medical Students’ Society plans to raise funds to purchase equipment for Kirakira Hospital, marking the beginning of a long-term partnership.

BUWN 10th anniversary luncheon THE Bond University Women’s Network (BUWN) celebrated its 10th anniversary with a luncheon at the Princeton Room.

The complimentary event hosted three guest speakers from different backgrounds: the Pro Vice-Chancellor of Pathways & Partnerships Catherine O’Sullivan, PhD student and Bond alumni Ashley Stark and incoming Bond University Student Association (BUSA) President Melanie Hayden.

Hayden struck a chord with the attending students, speaking about the power of networking and the benefits of the intimate Bond community, particularly in relation to her own employment opportunities at law firms.

24 www.arch.bond.edu.au

Chair of BUWN and Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences Assistant Professor Lisa Abel says the diverse representation made for insightful discussion.

“What linked all three women was the belief that Bond had been facilitative of their individual goals,” says Abel.

The luncheon attracted 70 guests and raised $300 for Destiny Rescue, an international organisation striving to end child sexual slavery.

The money was raised through raffle donations which were received from sponsors such as Jetts Gym in Market Square and 1two3 Dining and Lounge Bar in Broadbeach.

“It was a very successful event with great student representation,” says Abel.

“Our link with BUSA earlier in the year has proven effective in attracting more students to our events.”

Chair of the BUWN for 2013 and the speakers at the luncheon from left, Catherine O’Sullivan, Melanie Hayden, Ashley Stark and Lisa Abel

CAMPUS

TOKEN OF

appreciation

THE campus came alive on July 14 for the annual Bond University Open Day. With everything from campus tours and presentations by worldclass academics, to cheerleading and face painting, the day showcased all that Bond University has to offer.

As part of Bond’s commitment to the community, each of Bond’s faculties and institutes nominated a charity for the day.

Every attendant was given a token in their bag upon entry, which they could give to the charity that interested them most.

The Faculty of Health Sciences and Medicine received the most tokens, collecting $2000 for its charity Iumi Togeda, which supports the Kirakira community in the Solomon Islands.

Event Manager Kirsty Morrison says the focus of the event this year was to build on the University’s campaign of 'Come Together, Go Beyond'.

“We wanted to showcase things the University is already doing, charities they are already liaising with and tried to showcase those through our Token of Goodwill promotion,” she says.

“We tried to engage the students coming onto campus and show them what the University is already a part of; what kind of involvement our students have, not just academically, but in the community.

“Each faculty did something different but it all came back to our motto and philosophy, and everywhere you went you could see ways they were bringing it to life.”

www.arch.bond.edu.au 25

SUMMER 2013

Our quarter

With celebrations beginning in February, Bond University’s 25th Anniversary will devote much of the first half of 2014 to commemorating its unique contribution to education.

EVENTS for Bond University’s 25th Anniversary celebrations will begin as soon as February.

Project Manager of the Our Foundation is Our Future program, Dee Chase, says attending Open Day when her son was investigating becoming a Bondy is what sold her on working for the institution, and eventually planning its upcoming milestone.

“I’m really excited about the anniversary as it’s a good opportunity to showcase what's special about Bond,” says Chase.

“This campus is just stunning – but not only physically.

“The atmosphere and enthusiasm from students is astounding.

“They’re such wonderful ambassadors

26 www.arch.bond.edu.au

for this University that it’s unbelievable.”

At only 25 years young, the institution has a rich history to celebrate in 2014.

In 1987, its construction was hampered by two of the Gold Coast’s wettest years at the time.

Three-hundred and twenty-two inaugural students began classes on May 15, 1989, Then in 1992, the University’s income started meeting its overheads for the first time.

In the year 2000, enrolments coincidentally reached the same number while the Faculty of Health Sciences was also launched.

In 2005, the University proudly opened its Medical School and in 2008 its

Sustainable Development Building,which is Australia’s first six-star, Green Star-rated building.

And in 2009, it celebrated its 20th Anniversary, while its first cohort of Doctor of Physiotherapy students graduated.

The 25th Anniversary program plans are to include: February will feature a great debate between academic staff, guest speakers, current students and alumni; During March, the Bond University Twilight Relay Run will be held at Bond along with a concert; And from May 15, 2014, Bond’s Foundation Day will be the focus.

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25TH ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION PROGRAM Thursday, May 15

Foundation Day Celebrations: America’s Cup Boat Race Volley Ball Tournament BBQ & Entertainment Fireworks Display Entertainment

3.00 - 3.30pm 3.30 - 4.45pm 5.00 - 6.00pm 6.30 - 6.45pm 6.45 - 8.00pm

Friday, May 16 Chase says Friday, May 16 will be a faculty day for Bond lecturers, staff, students and alumni.

“Saturday is the big one,” she says, “with Bond University Rugby Team home games and the big gala ball at the Gold Coast Convention and Exhibition Centre that night.”

Sunday will wind down the celebrations with a marquee brunch, followed by a Live at Bond music series performance.

Chase says a “good time will be had by all”.

“I’m really excited about it.

“We’ll particularly be able to celebrate Bond’s personable touch

– the closeness of interaction between the deans, lecturers and students.”

In the anniversary’s spirit, Bond is running a video montage competition for which it is sourcing short films from alumni and students that address their memorable experiences at the institution.

Submissions can be emailed to 25years@bond.edu.au

Faculty Day: To include Networking BBQ (Amphitheatre)

9.00 - 12.00pm

12.30 - 3.00pm

1989 Class Reunion Luncheon (The Fish House)

12.30 - 3.00pm

Women's High Tea

4.00 - 6.00pm

Saturday, May 17 Bond Breakers Home Games Gala Ball:

9.30 - 3.30pm 6.30 - 12.00am

Sunday, May 18 Brunch (Marquee) Live at Bond and Farewell:

10.30 - 12.30pm 1.00 - 3.00pm

www.arch.bond.edu.au 27

SUMMER 2013

Bonding over

RUGBY

Bond's partnership with the Australian Rugby Union heralds a new dawn for creating a collegiate sporting atmosphere within the University.

THE sun is scorching down on Bond University’s rugby field on a cloudless spring day as the Australian rugby sevens play a practice match against Canada in preparation for the Gold Coast Sevens Fever Pitch tournament.

Students are crowding the nearby spectator mound and grandstand, looking to get the best view of the elite players in action.

For Bond University, founded on the ideal of the American college where sport is an integral part of the university life and culture, this is what campus life is all about

28 www.arch.bond.edu.au

– a vibrancy and culture forged, in part, by sport.

They say rugby is the game played in Heaven, so it is fair to say Bond is on its way to becoming Heaven on earth.

The University has signed to be the official education partner of the Australian Rugby Union, while acting as a home base for the globe-trotting national sevens team until its 2016 Olympic Games campaign ends.

Bond has also become home and sponsor to the Gold Coast’s top rugby union team, the Gold Coast Breakers, who play in the

Queensland Premier Rugby competition, just one tier below the professional Super 15 level.

To cap it all off, the University recently held the final of the Associated Private Schools (APS) First 15 Rugby finals in early June, hosting 10 of the region’s top private schools.

It was only 18 months ago the campus rugby field was in danger of closure due to an unsafe surface.

Today, grandstands sit along the sidelines and the field looks in peak condition, with associated club house, new fencing cordoning the field and a set of high-tech LED flood lighting towering overhead.

The University has even made a miniature replica of the Melbourne Cricket Ground on a nearby field, complete with coach’s boxes and grandstands.

Sport and Industry Development Manager Brett Richardson says sport creates a sense of community, not just through participation, but support.

“We believe Bond University was founded on a similar model to what you see in the United States, where there is a college and town associated with the university,” says Richardson, a former elite beach volleyball player.

CAMPUS “If you look at the demographics of the students, 94 per cent of them live within 1.5km of the school, which creates a collegiate culture on the campus.

"It doesn’t matter if you play; people just have a passion to be involved.

“Look at Penn State; they will have 100,000 students wearing yellow jerseys, not because they play, but because they support the team.”

Through the partnership with the ARU, the Qantas Wallabies, Qantas Men’s and Women’s Sevens and Australian Under-20s sides will all have access to Bond’s state-ofthe-art training facilities both on campus and at Skilled Park in Robina when on the Gold Coast.

The sides will utilise the University’s research facilities, the Bond Institute of Health and Sport, as well as the highperformance unit’s testing facilities.

Bond University students also benefit from the partnership and will be provided the opportunity to work closely with the ARU’s professional athletes, representative teams and coaches.

A number of students will also be provided internships at Australian Rugby Union throughout the course of the partnership.

ARU CEO, Bill Pulver, says the ARU and Bond share a strong commitment to education and leadership, making them a strong fit for the partnership.

“This partnership strengthens our ties to the Gold Coast and offers our national teams access to elite training venues and sports science facilities,” says Pulver.

“The opportunity to be associated and work closely with Bond University on research projects and sports science projects is certainly an exciting prospect for Bond’s students, ARU and our national teams.”

Through this focus on rugby and sport Bond is also aiming to maintain adult participation in sport post high school, with rugby in particular.

“There is a gap in sports participation between school and adult levels and we want to help keep that connection through university,” says Richardson.

“This has a huge effect on sports participation and that is very noticeable in rugby union.”

Australian rugby is in a tough place at the moment, but as the national teams make their inevitable climb back to world supremacy, Bond University will be a key part of this rise, offering state-of-the art academic expertise and perhaps, one day, even playing talent.

John Eales and Terry Jackman AM

John Eales Rugby Excellence Scholarship HOLDERS of an inaugural scholarship will have the priceless opportunity for one-on-one mentoring over the course of their studies, from one of the great Wallaby captains, John Eales.

The John Eales Rugby Excellence Scholarship will reward two of the country’s most outstanding young rugby players who prove their nous both on and off the field.

With match-winning ability under pressure, exemplified by his after-thesiren conversion to win the Bledisloe Cup in 2000, and respect in the nation’s most important board rooms, Eales is the ultimate mentor.

Bond University Trustee Member, Terry Jackman AM is generously supporting the John Eales Rugby Excellence Scholarship over the next three years.

The scholarship is open to males under the age of 26, who have played the game at a high level relative to their age.

They also must have demonstrated academic, leadership and rugby excellence.

Sport and Industry Development Manager Brett Richardson says the University has received a number of excellent applications.

“The scholarship is in its inaugural year and we have some very strong contenders,” he says.

“The John Eales Rugby Excellence Scholarship is unique and we have had contenders from all over the world apply.

“Some of the applicants are the best in Australia.”

The successful scholars will network with elite athletes, coaches and top-level teams from a range of sports, and will benefit from regular one-on-one mentoring sessions with Eales.

The goal of the scholarship is to prepare the individual for life beyond rugby with a degree in the discipline of their choice.

The successful awardees commence study in January 2014 and spend the rugby season with the Bond University Breakers playing Premier Rugby for the duration of their degree.

www.arch.bond.edu.au 29

SUMMER 2013

BREAKING new ground With the Coast’s long-established rugby club now calling the campus home, Bond University can look forward to expanding both its academic and on-field sporting trophy cabinets.

WITH the Bond University Breakers Rugby Club calling the University's pitch home, Bond is striving to be an ever more influential sporting university.

It all started from a conversation between Vice-Chancellor Professor Tim Brailsford and Terry Jackman AM, who sits on the Board of Trustees of the University and the rugby team board, says its General Manager Tim Rowlands.

He says the campus is now providing quality talent to the team from both a hands-on-the-ball and academic perspective.

“We had eight students play with the Breakers this season,” says Rowlands, “and we want to grow that relationship.

“If any students want to aspire to play a high standard of football they are welcome to join the football team.

“Further than this we currently have a PhD student involved in our own strength and conditioning program.

“Physiotherapy students can get involved with the players, which has obvious

30 www.arch.bond.edu.au

benefits for both them and the players.

“Plus we have media students getting involved in such things as writing up match reports and promoting the team on social media.”

He says the team intends on taking full advantage of the first class facility it has called home for the past season.

And interest in the sport has already been attracted from the campus and wider community.

“The end result is that we want this team to be their team.”

Though Rowlands concedes that the Breakers’ first season was disappointing, he says that there is the opportunity to re-establish the team as Queensland’s number one.

“As we were in the early 2000s,” he says.

“With Bond having such a close relationship with Australian Rugby Union, that can only benefit us.

“We have aspirations to be one of the key institutions in rugby through

Bond University.”

The Breakers, as a local team, operates as a feeder club to international teams and the Wallabies, but Rowlands hopes to reign in the high turnover of talent.

“We’re aware of our role to give every player the opportunity to advance in the sport.

“Due to taking this seriously we have two players overseas – one in South Africa and one in France.

“We also play a role in our players moving on and hopefully playing for the Wallabies, such as James Slipper.”

Ultimately with the Breakers having broken in their new field and hosting after match functions within the campus, Rowlands says the aim moving forward is to become a strong university football club.

“And with Bond’s support, there’s no reason why that can’t happen.”

CAMPUS

Olympic DREAMS ALEX Beck overcame the disappointment of missing out on the London 2012 Olympic team by becoming the first Queenslander in 42 years to win the national 400m title and subsequently making the IAAF World Championship relay team.

The Bond University Doctor of Physiotherapy student was shattered to miss out on London after qualifying as the second-fastest Australian in the event, with a personal best of 46.07, and competing in the Olympic Qualifiers in the United States and Korea.

As the saying goes “don’t get bitter, get better”, and that is exactly what the 21 year old has done.

“Unfortunately missing selection for the London Olympics has given me a lot of motivation and drive to succeed, and this resulted in winning the Alex Beck 2013 National Championships, and becoming the first Queenslander to win the 400m in 42 years and gaining selection in the 4 x 400m relay for the World Championships held in Moscow,” Beck says.

Against all odds, the team of Beck, Steve Solomon, Craig Burns and Tristan Thomas, made the final of the event in Moscow where they finished eighth.

A talented sportsperson, Beck was also a member of the junior Australian

tae kwon do team and seems to be a natural at anything he puts his mind to.

Beck graduated with a Bachelor of Exercise Science and is now studying for his Doctor of Physiotherapy degree as part of the Bond Elite Sport Program (BESP) and hopes to become a sports medicine practitioner.

Last year he was named the Bond University Sportsman of the Year.

“The BESP program is fantastic, it’s a very intense course, but it is so rewarding and the staff who manage the course are some of the best.

"We have a very small cohort of only 27 and they are 27 of my best mates,” he says.

Born and bred on the Gold Coast, Beck took up running as an 11 year old when one of his junior coaches recognised his talent and suggested that the promising young star find a proper coach.

He eventually found Glynis Nunn-Cearns, 1984 Olympic Gold Medallist, and has been with her ever since.

His ultimate goal is the Rio Olympics and after coming so close to Olympic selection last year, says he’s determined to get to Rio. “It is every athletes dream to be an Olympian; I'm very excited for the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow next year and on the Gold Coast in 2018. I would love to win gold in front of my home town, friends and family.”

Swimming for the MND THE spirit at the recent Million Metres fundraising swim at Bond University Pool was summed up by 14-year-old Olivia, who personally stroked her way through 10,000 metres in support of the MND and Me organisation.

Together, the 40 people who took part raised about $7,000 and swam 140,000 metres in an effort to raise funds for the fight against Motor Neurone Disease.

Olivia was one of just four people who completed the full 10,000 metres on the day, with the remainder swimming 1000 metres each.

Organiser Paul Olds is pleased with the effort by the Gold Coast swimmers, which included ironwoman Courtney Hancock.

“The Bond pool was a terrific venue and the University was super supportive of the event,” he says.

“We will definitely be back next year and I am looking forward to hosting an even bigger and better event.”

Since its inception in 2011, the Million Metres for MND Swim has raised more than $300,000 to support research into tackling the disease, and also helped Queenslanders impacted by the deadly Motor Neuron Disease (MND).

Motor Neurone Disease (MND) results in one death every 11 hours in Australia.

The condition affects the motor neurone cells that control voluntary muscles, leading to paralysis and loss of the ability to speak, swallow and breathe.

Sponsors included Kozii, Bond University, Amma Private Equity, Illuminated Water, Robina Easy - T Amcal, Robina Easy-T Brumby’s, Robina Easy-T Butcher, Kaden Boriss Lawyers.

CHAMPION SWIMMER AWARDED ADCO SCHOLARSHIP GREGG Fyffe has become the first recipient of the ADCO Sports Excellence Scholarship.

Sponsored by long-time Bond University supporter, ADCO Constructions, the scholarship is provided to students who excel at sporting endeavours.

Fyffe has already received a Bachelor of Excercise Science and has

been accepted into Bond’s Doctor of Physiotherapy program.

A champion swimmer, Fyffe has placed in the top 10 in the world in the 100m and 200m backstroke and top five in Australia over the same distances.

He is also a past winner of the 50m backstroke in the Australian Short Course Championships.

ADCO Constructions has been

associated with Bond University since 2003 and has been responsible for the construction of numerous buildings on campus.

“We would like to thank ADCO Constructions for their ongoing support of the ADCO Sporting Scholarships,” says Brett Richardson, Bond University Sport and Industry Development Manager.

www.arch.bond.edu.au 31

SUMMER 2013 With a creative career on the rise, this musician is increasingly committed to the Bond-based Indigenous high school student mentoring program he manages.

Robbie Miller

success

UNEARTHING EDUCATION and hard work were central to

Robbie Miller’s 2013 triple j Unearthed National Indigenous Music Award (NIMA) win.

It’s something the musician keeps in mind while nurturing his other passion: leading 70 Bond University student mentors and 230 local high school mentees as Australian Indigenous Mentoring Experience (AIME) Gold Coast Program Manager.

“I’ve had a lot of the kids ask me about my music,” says Miller.

“I’m 24 now, but it’s something I’ve been working at for the past seven or eight years.

“It took me three attempts to get into uni, so I’ve had to overcome a fair bit to get where I am.

“For the mentees, it’s something that resonates with them: success can take time.”

The 2010 Bachelor of Music graduate from the Queensland University of Technology – where he was also an AIME mentor – is now enjoying the fruits of his endurance.

Miller has supported 2012 Unearthed NIMA winner Thelma Plum.

In August he performed at the NIMA award ceremony held in Darwin, before finishing a month-long national tour with The Paper Kites in September.

He says playing with the Kites was an “amazing experience” and a tour highlight was having the band as guests of an AIME session.

“The whole band came on to the campus

32 www.arch.bond.edu.au

and spoke with the students.

“I’ve had really positive feedback from teachers, mentors and mentees about that.”

While he doesn’t draw attention to it, Miller is more than just a leader of, but also an inspiration to his Bond AIME community.

He says mentors such as Tyler Smith and Jessica Budd are also enjoying seeing what their influence can achieve.

“Tyler, from Canada, loves the program, and goes above and beyond.

“And Jessica arrives early and leaves after all the other students have gone home.

“They help lead groups in some of the sessions, which might be about racism or drugs and alcohol.

“When AIME is on, they live and breathe it.”

The program also compliments mentors’ higher education, he says.

“A lot of the international Bond mentors find it good for their communication skills.

“I’ve had a few students tell me how much they get out of it – especially learning about Indigenous culture, which they might not have experienced otherwise.”

With a single to be released at the end of October, followed by an east-coast tour, he is an embodiment of the program’s goals and values.

“I’m really loving it,” he says of his experience since the NIMA nod.

“It’s a bit clichéd to say, but I’m living the dream.

“It took a lot of hard work, and I’ve just gotta keep the hard work going.”

And he says both his music and mentoring success have taught him the importance of education for his mentees.

“Education can be the key to success in any part of life.

“It’s something that can give anyone a solid base for success.”

One youth who is benefitting from the program is Year 12 Varsity College student Oscar Davis.

“Oscar is applying to get a scholarship at Bond, and he does a lot of community work, so he has a real shot at it.”

More than 200 high school students from 17 Coast schools are now benefitting from the program.

This amount has doubled during the past few years.

Despite his increasingly busy music career and accompanying recognition, Miller aims for more than 20 schools to be participating in AIME’s 2014 program.

“If you’ve got dreams you’ve got to keep pursuing them.

“Our mentors as university students are such positive role models.

"These kids who come onto campus look up to them.

“I’m not sure there are many other programs that are able to have such an impact on high school students.”

CAMPUS

A lesson in

reconciliation

An Indigenous community leader and successful businesswoman is set to serve as a Fellow at Bond University cultivating a greater understanding of Aboriginal culture.

Leann Wilson

LEANN Wilson is a bridge between Australia’s ancient Indigenous history and the multicultural role model it is today.

From the Aboriginal Bidjara and Kara Kara People Leann will become a Fellow of Bond University. She was raised in the bush and first worked as a jillaroo and rooshooter.

Leann is General Manager of Regional Economic Solutions. She is now also working with Bond to share her story with the Alliance of Girls Schools.

Wilson says as someone fluent in Australia’s cultural history and present, she wants to further the reconciliation cause by sharing stories.

“I’m really influenced by my father and grandmother,” she says.

“She used to tell me about a man I didn’t know – she referred to him as King Chooky – he used to say ‘The white man will come to understand, but you’ve got to be a part of it’.

“Through lessons like that I’m hoping to bring my cultural knowledge to the Bond community.

“Through my stories I can raise Bond’s awareness of cultural challenges, experiences and opportunities.

“As opposed to just looking at issues, it’s important to identify opportunities for a shared journey.”

An approach to sharing cultural knowledge and gaining mutual enlightenment is referred to as “switching codes”, she says.

“For me switching codes means as an Indigenous leader it’s knowing who you are in your own culture and environment, but

applying different methods of behaviour in western culture settings.

“You are who you are in your own setting, but when you work or live in the mainstream culture you learn how to behave appropriately.

“You don’t change who you are, you’re not being less Indigenous, but simply applying different behaviours to a different setting.

“I’m hoping to share that with my nonIndigenous colleagues and bring them into an Indigenous setting.”

Pro- Vice Chancellor, Pathways and Partnerships Ms Catherine O'Sullivan

says one of Wilson’s greatest strengths is fostering cross-cultural understanding.

“It’s quite a powerful position that Leann holds,” says O'Sullivan, “because of her strong western corporate connections and awareness.

“She’s a remarkable woman from the perspective of both a western school setting and corporate Australia – where we are thirsty to know more about Indigenous culture.

“Leann can make that connection,” she says.

www.arch.bond.edu.au 33

SUMMER 2013

Meeting the students from the Warrtaka School.

Outback legal

Victory Bond law student Emily McDonald reflects on her reconciliatory journey with Gadens Lawyers to Australia’s red centre.

AS A second semester law student, I wasn’t sure what to expect when I was asked to accompany Gadens Lawyers on their Reconciliation Action trip to central Australia.

What I experienced was more than a typical extra-curricular activity, even for Bond University.

Five days spent in central Australia – with the first at Uluru (formerly known as 34 www.arch.bond.edu.au

Ayers Rock) followed by three nights in the tiny community of Lilla – heightened my awareness and concerns for Indigenous lifestyle and culture in the outback.

We were hosted by Remote Tours’ Reg, Keith and Ringo, who are unsung heroes of the region.

We were also accompanied by Andrew Veasey from Career Trackers and Miss World Australia Erin Holland.

Our trip began with a walk around the base of Uluru.

Rising a magnificent 348m above sea level, the sandstone towered over us and shaded us on our walk.

We opted not to join crowds scaling the rock’s slope.

The significance of the rock was as powerful at the base as it could ever be.

Our Indigenous tour guides Keith and James likened the climb to inviting guests over to your house and having them climb all over it.

Their analogy reinforced the ancient and ongoing significance of this land to the Anangu people.

The men let us in on a local secret, that they call the tourists “mingas”; which is the local word for ants because the visitors look just like ants crawling on the rock.

We arrived some 350km from Uluru in Lilla on Tuesday afternoon.

Many of the elders were at “Sorry Business” – a funeral in Alice Springs.

That afternoon we visited the sacred site of Lilla, the site for women’s business, men’s business and the sacred water hole and met with children from the Warrtaka School.

It was here that Erin Holland joined us to represent her Beauty with a Purpose charity.

Erin had raised thousands of dollars and purchased hot water systems, air conditioners, fridges, freezers, house paint, washing machines and other household hold items, which she was thrilled to present to the Lilla community on the Thursday.

Both Wednesday and Thursday were spent at the school, helping the children with their reading, spelling, writing and, best of all, recording a music video for Vamp TV (a Northern Territory program featuring Indigenous youth in music and dance).

The kids at the Warrtaka school loved Vamp and we all had our fingers crossed their video would be featured.

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"There is nothing stopping these children from becoming Australia's best: except the lack of a secondary school."

Something noticeably significant about the 11 students at the Warrtaka school was their pride.

They were proud to be Lilla kids, Ulpanyali kids and Wanmara kids.

They jumped at the chance to read you a story and eagerly spelt you their spelling list out loud.

There is nothing stopping these children from becoming Australia’s best: except the lack of a secondary school.

A secondary school is one of the major initiatives of Gadens and tour guide Reg’s reconciliation plan.

Reg has established a close knit relationship with the elders of Lilla and has even proposed to the NT government that the ex-rangers centre – an infrastructure of three, three bedroom homes, a fenced yard and meeting hall – become an outback campus for a Sydney school.

It is a plan for which negotiations have already begun.

These children suffer at boarding school away from their family and their country.

Kinship and nationality is too important to the wellbeing of Indigenous youth to expect these students to excel at boarding schools thousands of kilometres from home.

However, the leadership shown by Reg and the team from Gadens has already made positive changes to Lilla’s community.

Reg taught me that it doesn’t take money, connections or power to make a difference, but hard work, passion and respect.

The efforts of the team from Gadens were a refreshing reminder that corporate lawyers don’t live in a corporate world; and the issues we faced in Lilla are the issues that we all as Australian citizens face every day.

These are issues we can all work to change, and sometimes all it takes is a friendly smile and recognition that, whilst we may all be different, we are united by this great land.

PARTNERSHIPS DRIVE WOMEN'S LEADERSHIP EARLIER this year the Pathways and Partnerships portfolio was established as part of the 2013-2017 strategic plan. The portfolio is dedicated to developing the women, Indigenous and sport strategies and non-traditional pathway options into university. Work is well-under way to building a diverse and inclusive student body through sustainable participation and scholarship opportunities.

In January Bond signed national partnership with the Alliance of Girls' Schools Australasia, connecting Bond to 142 girls' schools across Australia, New Zealand, Hong Kong, Phillippines and South Africa. The partnership provides the opportunity to nurture future female leaders, and collaborate with School Principals and their boards in the areas of Indigenous and women’s leadership, entrepreneurialism and corporate governance.

Pro Vice-Chancellor, Pathways and Partnerships Catherine O’Sullivan said Bond's interaction with the Alliance is adding value to the essential question that surrounds their school graduates.

“Girls graduate from school as successful, optimistic and resilient individuals. More girls are graduating with higher academic results than their male peers, yet still a gap remains with the number reaching CEO, Ministerial and boardroom positions.

“Bond has partnered with the Alliance to inspire today’s school students with the stories of influential women who can shape their thinking so more girls aspire for careers in senior executive roles and are afforded the opportunity,” said O’Sullivan.

This year Bond has profiled senior executive, industry CEOs, and Indigenous leader Leann Wilson across the country and New Zealand. In January 165 School Captains will come to campus for a Student Leadership Conference and in May, Vice-Chancellor Professor Tim Brailsford will present a keynote about creative leadership at the Biennial Principals Conference in New Zealand.

Adding to this, former Alliance President and St Aidan’s Anglican Girls’ School Principal Mrs Karen Spiller has been appointed a Fellow of Bond University in recognition of her expertise and thought-leadership in girls’ mentoring and networking opportunities.

And Bond has partnered with the highly-respected national organisation Business Chicks. Bond students, alumni and community are now connected to 30,000 corporate women across Australia. With more than 45 events annually there is a raft of opportunities to stay connected and to be inspired by business leaders and high-profiled achievers. Bond alumni are encouraged to become members and get involved.

www.arch.bond.edu.au 35

SUMMER 2013

Cameron, Clare, William and Joseph

Striding

FORWARD THROUGH PAIN A Bond graduate’s traumatic, and nearly fatal, experience almost 14 years ago has become a book, with all profits helping young people in need.

UNTIL the day she almost lost her legs, Clare Sultmann had never been admitted to hospital.

Six weeks after the accident that hospitalised her, as friends and family continued to rally in support, she used a pen and paper to shield them from the worst of her pain.

36 www.arch.bond.edu.au

“I wanted to remember everything,” says Clare.

“They were very, very dark times, and I knew I wouldn’t be able to remember it without keeping a diary."

So six years ago she began writing.

“I’m not one to sit down with a psychologist and talk about how I’m feeling,

so it became a real outlet for me.”

She completed a Bond Bachelor of Laws in May of the year 2000.

At 6.15am on August 18 the same year she set out from her Bondi Beach home for a regular 10km run before going to work.

Clare was working in taxation law at KPMG while completing professional legal training.

She writes in her recently released book, Standing on my Own Two Feet, how as she stepped on to a pedestrian crossing, a ten-tonne rubbish truck hit her and then came to a stop on her legs.

This life-changing event is described in the book’s first 10 pages because it is not a suspense thriller, but a heartfelt example of triumph over adversity.

“It’s a very honest, emotional account,” says Clare.

“Keeping a diary was something that really evolved from a therapeutic tool into something much more.

“I started wondering if I could help someone through my experience, and that’s what it grew into.”

After the writing process began, husband

ALUMNI

Cameron tried to reign in her obsessive editing and re-editing.

“I replied that it was one thing to write a book, and another to write one you know that people you know would want to read.”

In 2009 journalist and author Peter FitzSimons came on board to turn Standing into “something that I’m proud of”.

“People go through traumatic accidents, divorce; death.

“Adversity comes at us in so many ways, but if someone can read the book and be inspired to believe they can get better, keep moving forward, then that is the message from me: to keep fighting.

“Since publication I’ve had a lot of emails saying things like: ‘Thank you, that’s exactly how I feel’.

“All of these little things that people have said along the way have given me strength.”

The mother of two, who is currently on maternity leave caring for her almost one-year-old son Joseph and William, two, recognises how much she has changed and grown since her accident in 2000.

“At 23, at that stage of my life my biggest concerns were what I was going to do on the weekend,” she says.

“All those trivial things, I look back at now and think they’re ridiculous.

“I just want to go back and shake that person.

“There’s no way the accident hasn’t changed my life in so many ways.

“I’m certainly a different person, and have a lot more empathy for others.”

All profits from sales of this inspiring tale of woe to wonder woman will be donated to Youngcare – where Clare once worked as a funding and legal representative.

“I’d love to raise them as much money as possible.

“There’s thousands and thousands of young people out there who need help.”

Wise words from her mother Noelene not long after the accident help us understand why Clare chose a charity to profit from her story and experience.

Cameron and Clare wedding day Inset: Clare's parents Bill and Noelene, Clare and aunt Sister Mary Carmel Martin; Standing on my Own Two Feet book by Clare Sultmann

{

"I've learned life lessons that many others might never learn, about loyalty, friendship and to believe in myself."

“Mum said: ‘Clare, it is not the accident that will define you, but where you take it and what you do from here’.

“If I had been interviewed by you two years after it I might have been very teary and emotional.

“I find it very easy to talk about the experience now.

“I’ve learned life lessons that many others might never learn, about loyalty, friendship and to believe in myself.

“When you have a catastrophic accident like that you have no alternative –

{

you have to make the best of your situation.”

What helped Clare most, other than love and support from friends and family, was writing about the accident and subsequent recovery.

“A lot of the people who walked with me through the recovery never realised how hard it was, before they read it.

“There’s a lot of pain in it at the start, but at the end of the day it has a happy ending.”

For more information visit www.standingonmyowntwofeet.com.au

www.arch.bond.edu.au 37

SUMMER 2013 Wayne and Jeremiah Scott

The Bond University MBA program has shaped the future of a Bond alumnus, whose son has now walked the same path underneath the sandstone arch.

Like father,

LIKE SON

38 www.arch.bond.edu.au

ALUMNI

WAYNE Scott had never imagined any of his six children would come to Bond.

A self-described risk taker, the American accountant came to Bond University as part of the inaugural 1989 cohort of students, undertaking a Master of Business Administration (MBA).

Lured by a professor from Western Connecticut State University who was also coming to Bond, the late Steven Johnson, Wayne decided to put aside his life for a year and move his family to the Gold Coast.

At the time, his son Jeremiah wasn't much older than seven.

Jeremiah recalls sporadic memories of the University under construction, the iconic arch building, Burleigh headland and the Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary, memories all formed in the year it took his father to complete his MBA. Now, the 31 year old has moved his own family to the Gold Coast, to relive some memories and undertake an MBA which will help him with his plans to join his father’s taxation and financial planning business, Sunkap Enterprises.

Wayne admits he had concerns about whether or not he was making the right decision in coming to Bond University.

"It was a brand new university on the other side of the world."

But the risk paid off, he says, as the University changed his life invaluably.

“Steven Johnson asked me if I would be interested in doing my master’s degree overseas and obviously that wasn’t in my plan: I was just going to become an accountant,” explains Wayne.

“He was the one who got me interested in coming here, that and everyone told me not to.”

Sadly, Steven passed away in an accident before Wayne arrived in Australia, leaving him without a support network.

“I had no one here. I hardly knew the currency and you drive on the wrong side of the road,” he laughs.

“That’s enough of a challenge, so my anchor, my support system was the B9, which is what we called ourselves: those of us who were in that initial class and were going to graduate in one year.

“The biggest thing for me was, the MBA program here was designed to make you realise you can’t function by yourself.

“There’s no way we would have completed the program unless you had a

"The MBA program here was designed to make you realise you can't function by yourself... up to that point it had all depended on me." group, and everybody in that group had to contribute.

"That was different than my expectation, because up to that point it had all depended on me, I didn’t need anyone else.”

After graduating and moving back to America, Wayne worked in taxation for seven years before opening Sunkap Enterprises in 1997. "[My master's] gave me some very important tools to be successful in business,” he explains.

“It’s the delegation, the idea that other people may not perform up to your expectations.

“I can do everything, but I don’t want to do everything.

"The firm has over 1000 clients, so we’re up to our elbows in work, but after April 15 I get on a plane, and I go to Hawaii for a month.

“I’m very fortunate, but all of those things happened because I came to Bond.

"Without Bond, I’d probably still be in Connecticut working as a Certified Public Accountant and not enjoying the life that I have now.”

Wayne’s success played on Jeremiah’s subconscious as he considered his own Master’s degree almost 25 years later.

He came to the realisation that a fasttracked MBA at Bond would put him back in the workforce much quicker than a

similar part-time course at a Californian university.

“I thought the Bond one-year-course was a good idea.

"Coming to a different country forces some changes in your life,” says Jeremiah.

"I knew that I would have this time to enjoy with my family and I knew I could get the program done quickly in one year, which is important to me.

“The thing that really will come out of Bond is probably leadership.

“There’s more things that you need to learn in terms of leadership, especially to make sure things go well, and I knew that coming to Bond I would be able to reinforce those skills that you need to be successful.

“You have this connectivity with your cohorts and your group environment, and you work as a team to manage your assignments, your virtual business."

Wayne says he had no clue Jeremiah intended to relive history, until he called with the news after being accepted.

“Again Bond is stepping in and making the firm take its next step: we’re buying a building, so he’ll be coming back into a different office space with his ideas.

“Bond is allowing us to go on a different path rather than stay in a stationary position. Who knows where we’re going to end up?”

www.arch.bond.edu.au 39

SUMMER 2013

ADDING TO

AFRICAN

foundations

africa 924 / Shutterstock.com

An inaugural 2012 mission set the scene for a student group to build on works benefitting a town in Malawi and Cape Town, South Africa.

STRONGER relationships have developed from Bond University students’ second trip to the African continent in support of the Mulanje Mission, located in the land-locked country of Malawi.

Bond in Africa volunteer Carly O’Loughlan says one of the most rewarding factors for her was seeing fellow students benefitting from interacting with the mission’s children.

“Communication was not a barrier in the end,” says O’Loughlan.

“A lot of us have exchanged emails with

40 www.arch.bond.edu.au

Anna Omelchenko / Shutterstock.com

the kids and continue to keep in touch.”

She recalls one story involving maintenance men employed by the mission who are “basically paid nothing”.

“It was quite a moving experience to see some of the boys become good friends with one of the maintenance workers.

“He was living a difficult existence looking after his sister’s child and sharing one-room accommodation.

“And transport is a huge issue for them, so the boys contributed $10 or $20 each and managed to buy him a bike.

“The look on his face was amazing, and he showed the bike off to the rest of his community.”

Bond University Student Association Special Interest director Lee Jarman says this year’s group of students were able to build on the efforts of those made in 2012.

“We visited some classrooms that were very small, had huge holes in the wall and sometimes termite mounds,” says Jarman.

“We did things such as repairing IT systems, plastering and installing windows.

“And we were able to install solar panels

FEATURE

{ with help from fundraising from last year.”

One problem the mission struggles with is finding trained medical staff.

Jarman says it can’t afford them in the first place and any they can find are required to work for free to pay back their training.

“It’s a terrible system and it doesn’t work.

“We’re trying to sponsor one a year, to meet the cost of whatever we can fundraise – $3000 is the aim – to house and feed them."

The mission was wary of welcoming the original Bond group through its doors, says Jarman.

"A lot of us have exchanged emails and continue to keep in touch with the kids."

“But after seeing the good work that was done the first time it makes sense that they’ve warmed to us.

“The simple fact that we came back really generated a lot of thanks from them.”

This year Cape Town, South Africa also benefitted from the attentions of Bond in Africa’s expanding program.

Jarman says the mission’s purpose was intended to be degree relevant and limited to those interested law and international relations students.

“Or anyone with an interest in social justice.

{

“They were placed in Non Government Organisations providing legal aid in intern-like roles.

“Some were placed with the AIDS Legal Network, which assists with avenues open to people when AIDS affects their community.”

In the program’s tradition Jarman will make way as director for Jenaya Keats next year.

He says Keats aims to build on the continuing success of the Malawi and Cape Town projects and to also extend the program to assist Australia’s indigenous communities.

www.arch.bond.edu.au 41

SUMMER 2013

Nick Pearce

42 www.arch.bond.edu.au

FEATURE

Chalking up

SUCCESS

An ongoing Bond degree and successful café business are proving mutually beneficial to this former Victorian’s life on the Gold Coast.

B-WORDS dominate the success story that entrepreneur and student Nick Pearce has to tell.

He wants the best baristas and brews at his Blackboard Varsity Lakes and Soul Surfers Paradise cafés..

And he founded the business brand in 2011, while studying a Bachelor of Business majoring in entrepreneurship at Bond University since 2010.

Pearce defines himself as someone with a lot of energy, not just because of all the readily available coffee. He says he has learned a lot from his business and from Bond and they are mutually beneficial to both parts of his life.

“Obviously the content of the courses is very important from a business sense,” he says.

“But Bond also chooses their tutors really well, so they’re not just reading to us from textbooks but imparting their real-life experiences. I’ve really benefitted from that – understanding business and everything that comes with it.

"And at the same time there’s definitely a benefit that can be applied to my studies from things I learn through my business.”

Pearce says the most important thing he’s learned from the degree, particularly from its entrepreneurial focus, is the difference between normal and abnormal problems – and resulting implications.

“The biggest thing they teach you is how to understand which problems are normal and how to define them.

“Or are they abnormal?

“If they are abnormal it can potentially notify you that you’re not doing something right.”

Pearce lists staffing as a constant and normal problem which has many solutions.

And he has a reputation for paying his staff what they deserve, which often means more than what he’s legally obligated to.

“As a business grows you inevitably need more people to run them.

“You might go through patches where staffing is a problem; getting the right people to the right places.

“It’s something you’ll always have, and I know what my strengths are so I just try

graduating from high school.

“I didn’t think it would grow into what it is now, and guess people were just looking for a cool place to hang out.”

Pearce is a perfectionist, but in a relaxed way that flows into his cafés’ culture.

“We try to deliver the best quality products in a relaxed atmosphere.

“The most important thing is consistency and quality, and from that perspective I treat myself as a customer and have learned to constantly change and evolve our offerings.”

The name Blackboard came about because of his passion for understanding the source of food and drink.

"If you tell people their coffee beans were hand-picked in Ethiopia it can be a real eyeopening experience for them." to employ people to do things that I’m not good at.

“When it comes to wages we look after the right people on a case-by-case basis, based on their skill set and what they offer.

“We look for people who bring value and steer away from people who do the bare minimum.”

The now 22-year-old has no different business ventures planned but is considering one day studying an MBA after graduating from his bachelor in 2014.

He says Blackboard came about from his time working in Melbourne cafes after

“Blackboard is not just about what’s on for the day, but where our produce and coffee comes from,” says Pearce.

“If you tell people their coffee beans were hand-picked in Ethiopia it can be a real eye-opening experience for them.”

He says the original Varsity Lakes café has a 30 per cent Bond academic and student patronage that noticeably drops between study periods of the year.

Blackboard’s new Capri Villa Roma café opens next year at about the same time Pearce’s new Probat five kilogram roaster arrives from Germany.

www.arch.bond.edu.au 43

SUMMER 2013

FROM LITTLE THINGS

Kirsty Mitchell

grow BIG THINGS

Small to medium businesses may be the ideal way to get your foot onto your career ladder.

THE graduate job market has been slow to recover from the global financial crisis four years ago.

Almost a quarter of job-seeking graduates reported no success in a 2012 survey released earlier this year by Graduate Careers Australia.

But Bond University is tackling the challenge head on, tapping into a growing SME market to find opportunities for graduates keen to hit the ground running in environments that demand innovation and entrepreneurialism.

Career Development Centre General Manager Kirsty Mitchell tells The ARCH why Bond graduates are the perfect match for the Gold Coast’s thriving small business sector.

WHY ARE SMES BECOMING INCREASINGLY VALUABLE TO BOND GRADUATES? A lot of people are looking at careers and employment and not seeing a lot of growth; they’re either maintaining or declining.

However, one of the largest areas for growth in the market is small to medium enterprises or SMEs. They’re typically employers with 15 – 60 staff. They’re the lean and nimble organisations that are really making the most of the current economic environment by innovating and growing.

SMEs provide the bulk of opportunity and they really offer great learning and career experiences that are very aligned with the Bond mentality, of ambition, entrepreneurialism, taking on the big brands, innovating.

44 www.arch.bond.edu.au

HOW DO SMES COMPARE TO LARGER FIRMS? Often people think they need to have a brand on their resume for security. They think if they have a job in a top tier law firm they’ll be much more employable, however, if you’ve had work in any law firm you’re equally experienced.

From a career perspective, people often overlook the opportunities that exist within SMEs. In a large firm, there’s a bigger disconnect, there’s shareholders, and in terms of autonomy and responsibility you’re always going to be limited, but one person in a team of 15 can be an agent of change. You begin to see a culture of ‘intrapreneurship’ where there are entrepreneurs within the business.

A good example could be Burleigh Brewing Co. Peta Fielding, a Bond graduate who came across a business opportunity which is now a fairly reasonable SME. If you worked for someone like Peta managing accounting, you would get access to the full breadth and depth of that business, and I think that is a great learning curve for a professional, especially someone who values the lifecycle and wants to be involved in the beginning, the middle and the end.

Sure you’re not working on the big shiny brands, but the reality is when you are working on those big shiny brands, you only get to see such a lean layer of the process, along with 20 other people.

I think some of our Bond graduates working in larger firms are frustrated because they have no sense of ownership

at the end. You see here at Bond they have a lot of ownership around what they do and they value that.

WHAT ARE THE CHALLENGES WHEN LOOKING FOR WORK IN AN SME? I think the problem with SME employment is that it’s very fragmented and difficult to find. When you talk to Bond students about SME opportunities they really don’t know how to find that, and it really comes down to a deliberate process of focusing on what are you interested and curious about, what are you good at, what do you want in a job, and what’s the market out there? It’s more of a DIY process than being handed a nice flat pack and an Allen key.

A lot of people wait for a vacancy to appear online and really that’s not a very effective way. On the Gold Coast we have a really innovative small business sector but they’re not marketing for recruitment purposes. They’re not out there pitching to anyone but their clients and when they do have a vacancy they go to the market, or they go to who they know.

HOW CAN STUDENTS FIND OPPORTUNITIES IN THE SME MARKET? We’re really pushing out a planned growth strategy to engage with SMEs, to bring them to campus, to showcase the opportunities, to deconstruct what it really means for a student and how they might go about applying for an opportunity there.

This will then flow on to the alumni market.

SOCIAL

BOND'S

Indigenous night of nights 1

2 BOND UNIVERSITY’S Indigenous Gala on October 18 raised $175,000.

It was also a successful celebration, attended by former NRL player, new author and Bond student Scott Prince, Chancellor Dr Helen Nugent AO, Indigenous art collector and patron Dr Patrick Corrigan AM, Vice- Chancellor Professor Tim Brailsford and many Indigenous representatives such as Law and International Relations student Mangubadijarri Yanner.

National Indigenous Times journalist Geoff Bagnall was also in attendance and reported that Pro Vice-Chancellor,

3

1. Catherine O’Sullivan, Trent Bosgra, Kaitlyn Clancy, and Mangubadijarri Yanner.

2. Adam Knight, Susie Hunter and Narelle Urquhart.

3. Leroy Wilson 4. Adam Knight, Michael Rankin, and David Corrigan.

5. Evan Warkill, VC Professor Tim Brailsford 6. Rick Macourt 7. Jayden Chadburn, Nathias Warkill, Chancellor Dr Helen Nugent AO, Dr Patrick Corrigan AM, VC Professor Tim Brailsford and Kimberly Brooks.

Pathways and Partnerships Catherine O’Sullivan said the night was an important fundraiser for Bond’s Indigenous program.

Indigenous scholarship partners supporting the Indigenous program include Accor, Indigenous Land Corporation and Sunland Foundation and corporate partners include ISS Facility Services, Former Origin Greats Queensland, Newell Consulting Engineers, Pindara Private Hospital, Hickey Lawyers, ANZ and Technology One.

4

5

7

6

www.arch.bond.edu.au 45

CLASS NOTES SUMMER 2013

Sometimes it’s hard to stay in touch, particularly when friends are scattered around the world. Here’s what some fellow Bondies have been up to since they graduated. Stories are grouped according to class year.

Kate Halsall (nee Dwones)

1997

Peta Fielding

1989 Peta Fielding PICTURED and her husband own and operate Burleigh Brewing Company which this year won the Queensland Telstra Business of the Year Award, as well as the Small Business Award and is now in the running for the national award. The Burleigh Brewing Company is the biggest independent brewer in Australia. Its brews on their own have also won many awards. Fielding studied a Bachelor of Laws and Bachelor of Arts, majoring in Japanese.

Andrew Crooke

Sailing away Kate Halsall (nee Downes) has been working for the rich and famous on their super-yachts, sailing around dream locations like the Maldives, Tahiti and the Galapagos Islands. Kate met her husband at St Maarten, in the Caribbean, and they are expecting their first child together in February next year. Last year, her husband accepted a position as captain of a private yacht in Qatar and they have enjoyed living there ever since.

46 www.arch.bond.edu.au

Andrew Crooke, PICTURED while commencing a Bachelor of Arts then finishing a Bachelor of Law, had the opportunity to work in a general practice law firm two-to-three days per week in Brisbane and most semester breaks full-time whilst completing his degree.

Since his admission, his focus has been in family law and has included obtaining Family Law Specialist accreditation in 1999. Crooke is one of five directors at Murdoch Lawyers with offices in Brisbane and Toowoomba. In September 2009 after working and practising in Brisbane

ALUMNI for almost 20 years he moved his family to Toowoomba for a “tree change”. He and his wife run a 290 acre farm 17km from the Toowoomba office, breeding Droughtmaster cattle.

1991

joined up with fellow Bond graduate Steven Dangerfield. Together the pair has spent the past 10 years growing their boutique property law Firm, Dangerfield Exley Lawyers. Exley is also a keen adventure traveller.

John Knox helped start and is the Managing Director Asia at AdventBalance.

Vicki Beyer since graduating with a Master of Laws is now in her 14th year as an in-house lawyer at Morgan Stanley in Tokyo. She has also become a commentator for the HR Legal Clinic column in The HR Agenda Magazine (http://www.jhrs.org/hr_agenda). From September to November 2013, Beyer is also teaching a Japanese labour/ employment law class in the Continuing Education Program of Temple University, Japan Campus.

Bryan Rolandsen is one of the original graduates from computer science at Bond, and has just completed an Android app called Model English. It is free to download, and incorporates in-app purchasing. The app is aimed at the non English-speaking world, and its sole purpose is to improve one's English vocabulary, rather than try to teach English grammar. Rolandsen would like some Bondies to download the app and give him some reviews: play.google.com/ store/apps/details?id=com.wendy

1993 Simon Exley, shortly after making the move to Melbourne from Perth in 2003,

Ryan Lee

Ryan Lee PICTURED had a successful career in funds management for ten years, before deciding to pursue his dream of acting instead. He graduated from The London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art and now works as a professional actor in London. Ryan is happy to catch up with fellow Bondies abroad, just visit his actor profile on www.facebook.com/orion8lee.

Paul Chong has gone from strength to strength since graduating with a Bachelor of Commerce and Marketing in 1995.

After running an investment company involved in hotel projects, he is set to

open his very own hotel. Internationally recognised chain Four Points by Sheraton will open another location in Brisbane at the end of March next year. Paul’s experience led him to investigate the city’s market and develop an innovative hotel complex, instead of a commercial building. The project was confirmed after meeting fellow Bond graduate, Sean Hunt, the Regional Vice President of Starwood Hotels and Resorts Pacific. Paul looks forward to welcoming Bondies to Four Points at 99 Mary Street when they visit Brisbane.

Sarah Cleaves works with a range of government and non-government organisations to introduce psycho-social education into antenatal care across the state. Using evidential information, she aims to reduce the number of children entering child protective services, lower postnatal depression and improve parental relationships. Starting at the grass roots level, research is shared with regional Child Friendly Community Consortiums. Sarah is working on plans in Queensland and intends on launching it nationally.

1998 Philip Rofe graduated with his Master of Business Administration, working in an advisory role in equity capital markets. In 2008 Philip established PBR Capital in Sydney, a boutique investment management and corporate advisory business. He looks after ultra-high net worth to institutional investors, advising on equity investment and managing their portfolios.

1992

Law & order Steven Dangerfield graduated from law and in 1997 was admitted to practice in Victoria. He gained an enviable reputation as a sole practitioner before teaming up with fellow Bond graduate Simon Exley in 2003 and together they founded Dangerfield Exley Lawyers. He specialises in property and commercial law, mediation, dispute resolution and debt recovery. Dangerfield remains a passionate and driven individual with a strong social conscience.

Steven Dangerfield

www.arch.bond.edu.au 47

SUMMER 2013

1999 Coralie Chatard (nee Cornet) now lives in Paris with her husband and their two children. She’s the Head of Communications at investment fund, Apax Partners.

2000 Zhenting Tan

David Willson has been living in Taiwan for the last few years with his wife and son. He has been developing a startup company in tea, focusing on local markets. David recently attended a tea expo in China, networking and establishing many distribution deals throughout Asia, Argentina, the US and even Europe.

He credits his success to his marketing professors and Master of Business Administration, helping him to achieve the impossible task of selling tea to the Chinese. You can find out more about his journey at tearroir.com.

2002

Zhenting Tan PICTURED graduated with a Juris Doctor degree from Bond’s Faculty of Law. Zhenting is now the Associate Dean for the School of International Education at Guizhou Minzu University in China.

2001 Ellena Thompson PICTURED graduated with a Bachelor of Finance and Bachelor of Information Systems. She furthered her academic record and completed her Master of Business Administration at London Business School. Ellena now calls London home and recently got married.

Chiu-Hing Chan has been making a name for himself in the legal world since graduating. The Attorney-General appointed him to sit on the Queensland Civil & Administrative Tribunal (QCAT), as part of the JP trial program at Southport Magistrates Court. He also sits on the national board for White Ribbon Australia and nominated for Vice President in the Queensland Law Society election. In 2009, Chiu-Hing was recognised for his efforts and was awarded Young Queenslander of the Year.

Clementina Maione now lives in Joslin, South Australia, after completing a Bachelor of Laws.

Manish Hathiramani

Manish Hathiramani PICTURED is well respected in the world of finance, often sought out for his opinion on trading in the Indian equity markets. In September, he addressed the Dubai Gold and Commodities Exchange held at The InterContinental in Singapore. Manish will also address the Singapore Stock Exchange and London Stock Exchange, to discuss trading in the derivatives market.

Nick Cherrier spent time working for the French embassy in Canberra after graduating. He decided to enhance his educational background, studying at the Paris Institute of Political Studies and the London School of Economics. Nick is now based in London, but spends the majority of his time travelling for work as a strategy consultant for Simon-Kucher & Partners.

Ben Mack

2006

Ellena Thompson

Top of the world Ben Mack completed the mammoth task of climbing Mount Kilimanjaro for Amnesty International. It was a proud moment for Ben, reaching the fundraising target of $100,000 on the morning of the group’s summit peak.

48 www.arch.bond.edu.au

ALUMNI 2008

Christopher Conradi

Search for success Christopher Conradi recently joined IT heavyweight Google, after working at IBM for four years. Chris is working to expand the company’s market share of devices, software and services, getting more companies to adopt Google’s technology.

2003 Jamie White graduated with a Bachelor of Laws and contributed syllabus as an Adjunct Teaching Fellow at Bond’s Faculty of Law. Now working as Solicitor Director at Pod Legal, the law firm has been placed on the inaugural Australian & New Zealand Janders Dean Lexis Nexis Legal Innovation Index.

Toini Kern (nee Moseby Hermansen) continued her studies, completing a Masters in Psychology at the University of Copenhagen and Masters in Buddhist Studies at the University of Hong Kong. She works as a psychologist in Norway, but is currently on maternity leave. After getting married a year ago, she is enjoying spending time with her newborn son.

2005 Lauren Earles PICTURED graduated with a Bachelor of Health Sciences, as well as completing the Doctor of Physiotherapy program as part of the inaugural class.

She currently works for Vital Health as a senior physiotherapist, serving the Darling Downs areas of Dalby and Kingaroy. For the last few years, she has looked after Lauren Earles

Karl Cotleanu

the national team in the winter sport of skeleton. The Australian Institute of Sport recognised Lauren’s efforts and chose her as one of nine physiotherapists for the Winter Olympic Team. She will be in charge of athletes for skeleton, luge and bobsleigh in the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympic Games.

2006 Melissa Storey graduated with a Bachelor of Laws and started working at firm Corrs Chambers Westgarth in a graduate position. She gained useful experience practicing in corporate advisory and mergers and acquisition law.

Melissa recently switched to in-house legal counsel, working with Brisbane Airport Corporation.

Sigrid Niederlintner graduated with a Master of Film and Television, becoming a teacher herself at SAE Institute in Frankfurt. She teaches Production Design, along with working as a Digital Manager at Innocean Worldwide. Sigrid lives with her boyfriend in an old farmhouse in the countryside complete with their cat and two sheep.

Karl Cotleanu PICTURED has worked as an English teacher in Korea for four years in primary schools. Adding to his repertoire, he is a consultant for international advertising agency TBWA based in New York. Karl is their go-to guy, helping with wording and presentation for television ads, billboards and other media campaigns.

2008 Abdulaziz Aldayel sends his best to Bondies all the way from Austin, Texas and describes it as a great city and music hub for the US. The saying everything is bigger in Texas rings true, even for universities, making Abdulaziz miss the Bond campus.

Caitlin Connolly will relocate to Sydney at the end of the year, after accepting the position of Senior Account Manager at advertising agency AJF Partnership.

Maximilian Waid returned to his home country of Germany last December, after a five year stint in Australia. He founded his own clothing company called HAVAIII Co. with head operations based in Germany. Maximillian runs the company from Canada, where he currently lives with his girlfriend.

David Puzenat now lives in Paris and works as Legal Counsel in corporate finance at Rexel HQ.

Paul Carcallas started his own company BPSD Consulting Pty Ltd three years ago.

He aims to help industry professionals

2007

www.arch.bond.edu.au 49

SUMMER 2013 enhance their business and careers. The company mentors people about goal setting and leadership, helping them to diversify sources of income. You can contact Paul for more information at paul.carcallas@hotmail.com.

Toru Fukuda is an avid runner and was kept busy combining work and his studyload at Bond University. Toru is excited to compete in a triathlon and is training hard.

2009 Courtney Wilkie

Courtney Wilkie PICTURED has been working in television production, not limiting herself to any particular genre.

She has worked on SBS documentaries, including ‘Jabbed –Love, Fear and Vaccinations’ to the other end of the spectrum with reality TV. Courtney has just wrapped up series ten of Big Brother as an Associate Producer.

bullying, victimisation and the enforcement of trade restraints.

Ralph Nicoloff studied Film and Television and is working as an artist. He recommends multi-media students sign up to lots of employment agencies and apply for as many jobs as they can. Ralph says the frequency of applications means success and the chance to network with industry professionals.

Roxy Heap graduated in 2011 with a Bachelor of Social Science, majoring in Counselling and Psychology. Since leaving Bond, she has been working for headspace, the National Youth Mental Health Foundation. It has been a very rewarding career, developing groups to help young people overcome body image and selfesteem issues. One of Roxy’s highlights has been facilitating a group with AFL star and headspace ambassador Campbell Brown.

Abdulaziz Alanazi is currently completing a Master of Business Administration at Boston University. Juggling parenthood with study, Abdulaziz also has a six month old daughter.

Jonathan Cover

2009

Michael Cole was taken on as a graduate at Herbert Smith Freehills in Sydney in March 2012. He practiced in the corporate group, advising on general commercial matters in technology, media and telecommunications. Michael is now a permanent solicitor in the firm’s employment practice group. He advises in disputes ranging from discrimination,

50 www.arch.bond.edu.au

2010 Hardy Awadjie helped complete dozens of short films and commercials while studying at Bond, including a promo video for the university. He recently wrapped up filming for a commercial for Thursday Night Football as part of the National Football League's (NFL) marketing. This will be shown nationally on TV and on their website. He also wrapped up filming on set for NBC's TV Series Grimm, which will be airing in early December.

Brad Holovati graduated from Bond with a Bachelor of Sports Management.

He then scored his dream job with the Queensland Reds rugby club. Since starting out in corporate hospitality and after the completion of a successful season, Brad has been appointed the new business executive for the governing body, looking after the acquisition of partners for both the community and elite game.

2011 Mile Vukelic since graduating with a Master of Construction Practice is now working on a $60million dollar project as a contracts administrator, with Hutchinson Builders in Townsville.

Eleanor McPhillips is a Workplace Relations Officer, handling workplace and industrial relations issues for all non-profit community clubs across Queensland. If that wasn’t a busy enough schedule, she is also in the early stages of creating an online business.

Jenita Kamania graduated with a Bachelor of Biomedical Science then made the move to Melbourne. Heading back to study, she is in her second year of the Doctor of Medicine degree at University of Melbourne. Jenita misses the Bond campus and the more consistent weather on the Gold Coast.

His MBA is expected to be completed in December and may be followed with a PhD.

Ryo Sakane after leaving Bond changed their responsibility at their current workplace from Asian business to Corporate Finance and Control.

2012

Going green Jonathan Cover is an integral team member at Leighton Contractors, working on the $146 million Ord Irrigation Expansion Scheme.

He helps to deliver important agricultural infrastructure for the project, based in Kununurra in the East Kimberley.

James Dunstan is currently living in Bray Park, Queensland and has been working as a level one building certifier for Professional Certification Group. He obtained a postgraduate Diploma of Building Surveying from Bond, and says the University is one of the best educational institutions he has attended and that it provided the most relevant training for his field.

Than Htut describes their time as a Bondy simply as amazing, and a great experience in which they met many good people and professors.

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