Nicole Klein, Schools Relationship Manager

Welcome to our Term 4 issue of School Connect. I hope you enjoyed the break and are ready for the busy few months before school ends in November. 

We visited many schools to talk to Year 12 students in Term 3, and are very happy to come out and visit your Year 8 to 11 students in Term 4.  I would also like to remind you about a new initiative that we have introduced this year, Scholarship Workshops. The Workshops are designed to assist your students to apply for USQ scholarships. If you would like to book a Workshop please email us.

Head Start 'Summer' is running again this year with applications closing on 12 October. If you have questions about Head Start send us an email.

Kind Regards
Nicole Klein

In the last issue of School Connect, we referred to the different types of scholarships available to your students. For an updated list of the scholarships available in 2012 visit the scholarship section of the USQ website.  For additional information and enquiries, please send us an email or phone 1800 269 500.

To encourage your students to apply for scholarships, please include the following text in the school's upcoming newsletter or school notices:

Scholarships are a great way to offset the cost of university. At USQ, we have scholarships, bursaries and prizes for everything from academic excellence to rural and remote students, as well as those experiencing financial hardship. Applications close Friday 28 October 2011. For further information, please visit www.usq.edu.au/scholarships.

For those Year 12 students who are considering university and haven't submitted their QTAC application - there is still time to apply!

This year QTAC will not increase the application fee after the 'on-time' date (30 September 2011). Please be aware that some tertiary institutions did require QTAC applications to be submitted by the on-time date for certain programs. USQ, however, is not one of these and students can apply to QTAC right up until 25 January 2012 for Semester 1, 2012.

For more information on how to apply, ordering preferences as well as the key dates and offer rounds visit the QTAC website. If you would like to talk about USQ's programs give our friendly Student Relationship Officers a call on 1800 269 500 or send them an email.

Good luck to all of your Year 12s, and for those submitting QTAC applications, we wish them all the best!

Applications for Head Start 'Summer' remain open and will close on 12 October 2012. Head Start 'Summer' is free for all first-time Head Start students and gives them the opportunity to study a university course in the summer holidays without the burden of studying high-school subjects at the same time.

For Head Start 'Summer' a full course list and application form can be found on the Head Start website.  We also have the Semester 1 and Semester 2 course lists for 2012 which includes a number of new courses. Applications for Semester 1, 2012 close 1 February 2012. We encourage you to forward these applications to us before the end of Term 4 so that they can be processed as soon as possible.

If you would like more information about the Head Start program send us an email, or phone (07) 4631 1736.

To assist students and their parents with any concerns they may have regarding studying at USQ or university in general, you may find USQ's Careers and Employment Office useful.

Resources include:

• The USQ Family Guide
• Indigenous Family Guide to USQ
• Parents Help with Careers

For more information contact USQ's Student Services to learn about what support we offer our students.

If you have any students coming to USQ next year and they would like a tour of the campus, please make a booking on our website.

Graduates from the University of Southern Queensland have been rated among the most employable in Australia.

The Good University Guide, an independent publication that rates universities and private education providers across Australia, awarded USQ a five-star rating for its students getting a job.

Vice-Chancellor Professor Bill Lovegrove said the University's high-ranking in this particular sector is impressive given that employment rates across of the country are slipping.

He said he was particularly encouraged that Faculty of Education graduates were ranked among the top 25 percent nationally for employability; proof that the high practical component given to courses is being well received by industry groups.

Read more >>>

Ashley Muller explores studying at Springfield

USQ Springfield staff recorded strong interest in the Bachelor of Construction (Management) at the University's annual Open Day in late August.

Offered for the first time this year, the degree is designed for people wanting to coordinate the construction of large and complex projects including housing developments, hotels, factories, office blocks and schools.

'There has been a lot of development in south-east Queensland over the past decade and that trend is expected to continue well into the future,' said Director of Construction Management Studies at USQ Springfield, Dr Vasantha Abeysekera.

'Graduates could secure positions as construction project managers, site managers, estimators or construction planners with relevant work experience.'

Read more >>>

Recently the GEMS team (Girls in Engineering Mentors) in conjunction with the USQ Careers and Employment Office completed a series of school visits which took them to a number of south-western Queensland schools. The GEMS team aimed to get students thinking about careers, specifically, encouraging more girls to consider a career in engineering.

Presentation topics included:

• the huge variety of different fields of study and career paths in Engineering to cater for a wide variety of interests
• women now having increasingly flexible and fulfilling careers in this exciting field
• Australia has an annual shortfall of many thousands of engineering graduates. Therefore Engineering is a field with a growing number of well paid jobs

For more information on this project contact the Faculty of Engineering and Surveying or the GEMS Project Officer John Whybird.

Our annual Shakespeare in the Park Festival returns in October with its biggest and most ambitious season yet, with events sure to appeal to students and teachers alike:

Shakespearean Reverie Symposium 6-8 October - Cobb & Co Museum, Toowoomba

A Midsummer Night's Dream 7-9 & 13-15 October - 6.30pm, Queens Park, Toowoomba. 21 & 22 October - 6.30pm, Seafront Oval, Hervey Bay

To Glee or Not to Glee Wed 12 October - 6.30pm, Queens Park, Toowoomba

Secondary School Workshops Fri 21 October - 4pm, Seafront Oval, Hervey Bay

USQ Alumni actors (L-R) Christopher Hunter, Emily Curtin, Mathew A Walsh and Kate Murphy return as the lovers in A Midsummer Night's Dream

USQ's Shakespeare in the Park Festival is not only a much-anticipated event on the south east Queensland cultural calendar, but also a valuable learning experience for emerging theatre professionals. For the past eight years, the Festival has provided USQ students with an important platform from which to launch their careers.

Who could forget Lauren O'Rourke as Lady Macbeth (2007), Christopher Hunter and Kate Murphy as Romeo and Juliet (2008), Matthew Walsh and Hannah Ellis in The Tempest (2009) or Emily Curtin as one of the Twelfth Night twins (2010)?

With performances such as these, it is no surprise that these young actors have gone-on to establish solid, and in many cases, award-winning careers. This year, in a new initiative, the Shakespeare Festival has invited seven Alumni actors to join the cast of the 2011 production of A Midsummer Night's Dream. The quintessential 'park' play, A Midsummer Night's Dream will be retold on the Festival's spectacular open-air stage in Toowoomba's Queen's Park.

Read more >>>

The School of Creative Arts is now accepting audition and interview applications for the Bachelor of Creative Arts in all disciplines. After students have submitted their QTAC application, they are required to apply for an audition/interview for entry into USQ's Creative Arts.  Applicants now have the convenience of submitting an online application.

Auditions and interviews will be held:

• Saturday 12 November 2011
• Wednesday 16 November 2011
• Friday 25 November 2011
• Wednesday 30 November 2011 at the Springfield campus (note: audition only, the program is not offered at Springfield)
• 23 January 2012 (late applications)

For more information contact Cindy Giles or view the Creative Arts website

Environment and climate studies courses will be offered on-campus at the University of Southern Queensland (USQ) Fraser Coast from next year. It means students will be able to complete the first year of a Bachelor of Science (Environment and Sustainability) in Hervey Bay and then complete their program either externally or at the Toowoomba campus.

The focus of the first year of the program is the courses: Environmental Studies and Weather and Climate.
These courses are also available to other students as elective studies, and as single courses for professional development. USQ Fraser Coast Faculty of Sciences lecturer Dr John Parkinson said it was important to provide programs which were relevant to the needs of society.

Read more >>>

Registration for the 2011 PICSE Teacher Professional Development  workshop for Science Teachers is now open.

This year, the theme is "The Science of Food and Fibre Security"  and will held at the University of Southern Queensland,  Toowoomba Campus on 5 and 6 of December. The course cost of $150 includes all meals (including the workshop dinner on Monday), transport, program materials as well as a free PICSE laboratory coat.

More details are available on the PICSE Teacher PD program flyer. Numbers are limited, so please return the registration form as soon as possible, to ensure your place in the workshop.