Graduation - past ceremonies

Thursday, 6 May 2010 at 11am

Costa Hall, Geelong Waterfront Campus, Deakin University

Faculty of Arts and Education
Faculty of Health, Medicine, Nursing and Behavioural Sciences

Stage Party
The Chancellor, Mr David Morgan presided, assisted by the Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Academic), Professor Philip Clarke.
The MC was the Deputy Vice-Chancellor (International and Developement), Ms Robin Buckham.
The Mace-bearer was Mr Dale Warren.
The Faculty Representative was Mrs Lesley Fox.

Presenters were:
Dean, Faculty of Arts and Education, Professor Jennifer Radbourne.
Dean, Faculty of Health, Medicine, Nursing and Behavioural Sciences, Professor John Catford.
Deputy Chair of the Academic Board, Professor Julie Wolfram Cox.

The student response was delivered by Ms Andrea Allen.

Doctoral Degree Recipients

Dr Anne Marie Simmons - Thesis title: "Community Capacity Building for Obesity Prevention: Two Case Studies."

Summary
The study aimed to understand how capacitybuilding was operationalised within obesity prevention projects. It clarified definitions of capacity building and identified patterns in the process of building capacity. A potential framework to guide communities to formalise and contextualise capacity building, and prioritise action for leveraging existing capacities was proposed.

Dr Laura Jayne Younis - Thesis title: "Cognitive Function in Adolescents with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome."

Summary
This thesis explored cognitive function in adolescents with chronic fatigue syndrome. Counter to what has been found in adults, adolescents with CFS performed as well as their peers on demanding tests of executive function, information processing, memory, and attention. The results suggest that CFS might impact differently on the developing brain.

Dr Lyndal Jane Kerr-Bayles - Thesis title: "Mitochondrial Target Discovery in Diabetic Skeletal Muscle."

Summary
This study identified the protein PARL as a potential mediator of the mitochondrial abnormalities that are observed in diabetic skeletal muscle. This was demonstrated by analysing PARL expression in an animal model of type 2 diabetes and by investigating the biological effects of genetic variation in the human PARL gene.

Dr Adele Marie Gibson-Prosser - Thesis title:"Videoconferenced and Face-to-Face Psychological Supervision: A Comparison."

Summary
Behavioural measures confirmed a greater teaching focus in early videoconferenced sessions, while speech style was consistently less interactive, compared with face-toface. Overall supervision relationships felt closer in person, but some participants preferred the protection of distance. A positive attitude facilitated adaptation to the videoconferencing modality for effective supervision.

Dr Mark Humphries - Thesis title: "Understanding Euthanasia Debate: The Northern Territory Experience in Historical Context."

Summary
The thesis analyses the principles and philosophies behind the public submissions into the Northern Territory's Rights of the Terminally Ill Act [1995], which mirror wider debate over euthanasia since 1945. It argues that religious prohibitions against euthanasia have been largely replaced by slippery slope arguments that effectively obstruct law reform.

Dr Ilmiye Huseyin - Thesis title: "Training Divided Attention and Memory Skills of Older Adults."

Summary
The study examined whether divided attention and memory skills of older adults could be improved through video game training. The findings show that limited training with the games cannot enhance these skills. However, greater amounts of training could improve these vital skills amongst older adults.

Dr Melanie Sarah Nichols - Thesis title: "Should Early Childhood be a Priority Period for Obesity Prevention?"

Summary
This thesis explored a range of issues relating to overweight and obesity in children aged 0 to 5 years in Victoria. Key findings included relatively low prevalence and decreasing trends of overweight and obesity, and strong existing support for healthy behaviours in kindergartens and child care services.

Alfred Deakin Medal Recipient

Andrew James Cookson
These Medals are awarded annually to candidates with a record of outstanding scholarship as well as service to the community and the University.
The awards are named in honour of Alfred Deakin after whom this University is named and were an initiative introduced by the University to commemorate the life of Alfred Deakin.

Occasional Address

The occasional address was delivered by Ms Ruth Newton, Manager, Accreditation, Victorian Institute of Teaching.

The Victorian Institute of Teaching is an independent professional body for the teaching profession. The Institute registers teachers working in Victorian government, Independent and Catholic schools. As with other professions occupying positions of trust and responsibility, teachers are required to be registered in order to practice their profession.

All Victorian teacher preparation programs are required to be accredited by the Institute. In her current role, Ms Newton is responsible for the standards and processes used for the review and accreditation of over 70 teacher education programs. She has been instrumental in reviewing and redesigning the teacher education accreditation system in Victoria, including the development and introduction of graduate teacher standards. She is recognised as a leader in this field in Australia, having advised the teacher regulatory authorities in other Australian states in the development of their teacher education accreditation arrangements. She has also advised the national Ministerial Committee seeking to establish a national system of teacher education accreditation through the harmonisation of the current arrangements in each of the Australian States and Territories.

Ms Newton has over 15 years experience as a senior educator in schools in both the Australian states of Victoria and South Australia. As the inaugural Secondary School Principal she led the establishment of the prestigious independent school Sekolah Global Jaya in Jakarta, Indonesia.

Ms Newton has a degree in Science Education, a Graduate Diploma in Instructional uses of Computers and a Master of Educational Management.