13 December 2002

A graduation ceremony bursting with stories of good cheer will usher in Christmas week this year in Ipswich.

About 170 people will collect degrees at the second UQ Ipswich graduation at 6pm in Ipswich Civic Centre on Monday, December 16.

Some already have jobs. For example, a recent Queensland Audit Office selection round drew 1200 applications for 20 positions — and three went to Bachelor of Electronic Commerce students due to graduate on Monday.

Other success stories include the first graduates in the Bachelor of Behavioural Studies program and the first 11 honours degree recipients: eight in Information Environments and three in Business - Communication programs.

Vice-Chancellor Professor John Hay will deliver the Welcome Address.

Guest speaker will be Wing Commander Gregory Hampson, Commanding Officer of 1 Air Transportable Health Squadron at Amberley Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) Base. A University of Queensland graduate (MB BS 1984), his RAAF career includes service in Bali (October, 2002), East Timor (2001) and Bougainville (2000).

Other points of interest include the following.

• Clint Feuerherdt (telephone 0401 489 733) also serves in the RAAF. He will graduate Bachelor of Electronic Commerce with an exceptional score of 7s for all subjects but one — which nevertheless earned him a 6. He plans to discharge from the RAAF on March 3 next year to concentrate on his honours degree as preparation for a career in investment banking.

Corporal Feuerherdt gave up a school-leaver’s place in civil engineering at Flinders University, Adelaide to join the RAAF and was posted to Amberley, to maintain communications and radar systems on the F-111 aircraft. Since switching from part-time to full-time University study in 2000, he has worked part-time with the RAAF on weapon delivery systems for the F-111, and part-time as research assistant for a finance lecturer.

• Valedictorian Mandy Mutzelburg (telephone 3812 2192) left school at 13, because deafness prevented her from doing well academically and she “simply had to get a job”. Aged 50, she decided to go to university — with such success she surprised everybody, even herself. One of the first to graduate Bachelor of Behavioural Studies from UQ Ipswich, she has achieved an enviable score of 6s and 7s and plans to do honours next year. Eventually she hopes to establish a community centre in her local area of Brassall, Ipswich with her husband, a minister of religion who supported her studies.

• Married couple Roslyn and Lloyd Cooper (telephone 3812 7338) will graduate Bachelor of Information Environments after living “in each other’s pockets” for the past three years. The former midwife and RAAF avionics technician (whose 12-year marriage had until then revolved around shift work) took classes, worked on team projects and studied together. In their spare time, they continued restoring the century-old Queenslander home they found at a garage sale.

• Ipswich-born and bred Tom Keenan (telephone 0438 766 267), a baritone with the Queensland Pops Orchestra and member of the Ipswich Orpheus Chorale, has completed a straight run of 7s over the past four years first-class honours at UQ Ipswich. His Bachelor of Business (Communication) thesis on knowledge management examines interpersonal incivility in organisations, and how personal interactions affect knowledge-sharing — particularly in creative industries such as community choirs.

Tom plans to take a PhD as part of a research team developing the Australian Cultural Resources Archive, a new ARC-funded project headed by Dr David Rooney and Dr Philip Graham of the University’s Business School. They will develop an electronic database and “cultural junkyard” for storing and recycling discarded but still-useful electronic material, such as advertising film headed for the cutting room floor as excess to requirements.

• International student Sandy Ng (telephone 0413 358 009) worked with the Australian Football League (AFL) and Brisbane Lions to complete a Bachelor of Business (Communication) first-class honours thesis examining fan loyalty. She will present her findings to AFL and senior Lions representatives on January 13.

Sandy completed a Diploma in Business (Corporate Communication) at Temasek Polytechnic in Singapore then worked for a year before enrolling at The University of Queensland. She plans to start her PhD next year.

“UQ is well-respected in Singapore as a top overseas university,” she said, “and I’ve grown to really love UQ Ipswich and the city too. It’s a wonderfully supportive and friendly environment and the quiet tranquillity of this campus has really helped me to focus on my study.”

Sandy’s sports consumption research, using a two-page survey which collected data from sports fans at a Lions/St Kilda match, is believed to be the first of its kind. The study measured the quality of spectator experiences of the match and subsequently related to how those experiences influenced intentions of buying tickets for future matches.

Media: for more information, contact Loretta Porche, Marketing and Development Officer UQ Ipswich (telephone 07 3381 1068 or mobile 0418 772 819).