THE
MELBOURNE
The Graduate Union of The University of Melbourne Inc.
GR ADUATE
Periodical newsletter of the graduate union of the university of melbourne incorporated Print Post approved pp337834/00022 registered association no. AA0023234B August 2008 Volume 61 No. 3 www.graduatehouse.com.au
AN INVITATION TO OUR HEAD OF COLLEGE AND CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER
Contents CALENDAR OF EVENTS 2 LETTERS
2
NEW MEMBERS
2
VALETE
2
DONATIONS
2
ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING
3
RESIDENTS & STAFF
4
EVENTS & SPEAKERS 5 RECIPROCAL CLUBS 7 HEAD OF COLLEGE REPORT
Office Bearers President: The Honourable John Cain Vice President: Dr Robert Gibson Chairman: Mr Andrew Binns Vice Chairman: Mr David Sparks Head of College and CEO Mr Eugene Spanti
8
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n May, our Head of College and Chief Executive Officer, Eugene Spanti, was invited to address the 1st European Forum on the Right to Study and University Education being held in the Italian city of Perugia from 5 to 7 June.
The Forum was a unique and important event for ninety-two universities, regional authorities and institutions of the right to study and student associations to meet. Over the three days of the Forum, there were debates, seminars and meetings which discussed many issues including student citizenship, international mobility and disability. Mr Alberto Scuttari, Director of ESU in Padua, whom Eugene had met during his tour of Italy in 2007, was the co-ordinator of the congress covering “Halls of Residence” and it was he who invited Eugene to present a speech about his experiences in an Australian residential college, particularly the different types of buildings and their managerial organization. Although familiar with the Italian language, it was quite a challenge for Eugene to address the Forum in this language and caused him to be very busy for several days preparing his presentation and then translating it into Italian. Fortunately Graduate House hosts a group of Italian speaking members and friends at a dinner on the first Tuesday each month and members of this group generously provided assistance with both the translation and correct enunciation. After spending two days in Rome visiting relatives, Eugene took the train through the Italian countryside to Perugia, a very old city set in the rolling hills of Umbria. The Forum was held in a beautiful hall with a frescoed ceiling in the University of Perugia, a public-owned university founded in 1308. The Faculties of the University are situated in separate buildings throughout the old town and connected by a series of cobbled laneways. Although Eugene spoke about the residential colleges of the University of Melbourne generally and how they relate to the University, the major focus of his address was about Graduate House, its role as a postgraduate college, its organizational structure, its growth over the past seven years and the plans for future development. Not only was the Forum an excellent opportunity to promote Graduate House as a destination for Italian postgraduate students, it also gave Eugene the opportunity to meet with other University Heads and he has returned to Australia with potential reciprocity in Milan and Venice, in addition to the possibility of a staff exchange program whereby staff from Graduate House and the ESU/ postgraduate residential college of the University of Perugia will swap positions for a short time. Eugene has also been invited to address a similar Forum in France in November this year. August 2008 Volume 61 No.3 –