Recovery at The University of Queensland is moving ahead quickly with an army of staff, student and community volunteers and contractors rapidly signing off the high priority tasks.
Senior Deputy Vice-Chancellor Professor Michael Keniger said flood recovery work had progressed “much faster than might have been expected”.
Summer classes will resume at UQ on Thursday, January 20 with the majority of teaching facilities not affected at any campus. This includes the MBBS course which will also commence on January 20.
“It is a remarkable turnaround when you think the recovery teams removed more than 270 tonnes of mud from one road at the St Lucia campus on Saturday, and today we have virtually all of the roads clear, buses coming to campus, the sun shining and most of our buildings up and running,” Professor Keniger said.
“Our IT and other networks were sustained and coped well throughout the crisis and construction resumed today on most of the large capital works on campus.
“The Gatton campus is also in good shape and the Ipswich and Herston campuses were not affected.”
Professor Keniger thanked all the recovery teams for their work to date and congratulated them on their progress.
He said the 114-hectare St Lucia campus was as large as the Brisbane CBD and and an important recreational and cultural rersource for many in the wider community.
Only low-lying areas had been affected, but the majority of the University’s buildings including those forming the iconic Great Court, were not damaged.
Volunteers are today assisting UQ Sport in cleaning equipment and by removing silt from the collars of affected trees near the river banks to restore them to health.
Griffith, Southern Cross and Sunshine Coast University staff have volunteered to assist UQ with regular ground maintenance, such as mowing, enabling UQ Property and Facilities staff to be freed up for the recovery effort.
At UQ Gatton campus, owners have been reclaiming animals from the School of Veterinary Science, which was turned into a temporary Noah’s Ark last week to house animals from the Lockyer Valley.
The Lockyer Valley Disaster Management Group has set up a forward command post at UQ Gatton to provide assistance in the Lockyer region.
There has been minimal damage at the University’s Milton library storage facility, and the University expects that power will be restored to the Customs House building in the CBD by tomorrow or Wednesday.
As a result of flooding 32 repair and renovation construction projects have commenced and been allocated to project managers who start work today.
Professor Keniger encouraged staff, domestic and international students and summer semester students to visit and revisit the frequently asked questions (FAQs) on the UQ home page www.uq.edu.au for the crucial information and relevant updates.
UQ flood update
Accommodation — The University has established an accommodation working group, which includes the UQ Union, which meets today. The University has also posted frequently asked questions for international students at these websites: www.uq.edu.au, www.uq.edu.au/international and via www.accommodation.uq.edu.au
Transport — buses are operating to the St Lucia campus with travel over the Eleanor Schonell Bridge (Green Bridge) and to and from the Chancellor’s Place terminal fully operational from today. The UQ City Cat terminal is not operational and will be out of service for some time. All public transport is free until Friday. Visit the Translink site www.translink.com.au for further details.
Roads – all roads within the St Lucia campus are open today, with the exception of Sir William MacGregor Drive, where heavy operating machinery remains at work, and Glasshouse Road and Blair Drive. The remaining boats in Glasshouse Road have been moved but one boat remains in an oval and will not be moved until the ground firms up. Please observe signage postings and directions.
Car parking — the University has opened most of its car parks today – essential staff, contractors and volunteers should follow signage directions.
People are encouraged not to park in streets to enable crews free access to remove remaining mud and debris and for final street sweeping today. It is particularly important that people do not park in Sir William MacGregor Drive or on Glasshouse Road, or their vehicles will be towed.
Road closures to the St Lucia campus were lifted today.
There will be no charge for car parking for UQ staff and students until further notice.
Buildings — All damaged buildings or facilities have had a specific project manager allocated. They will contact the coordinator for each building/facility and be the point of contact for all work.
The focus of the recovery work continues on the Human Movement Studies building, which is the main teaching and learning facility that experienced flood damage.
Contractors — are back in full swing on capital projects, and P & F Assist staff are taking work orders.
HealthThe UQ Health Service has prepared a post-flood health advisory to assist the University and general community. It is available at http://www.uq.edu.au/about/index.html?page=150344
Childcare - the Margaret Cribb and Munro childcare centres were extensively damaged and UQ staff are examining temporary alternatives for about 100 children.
Colleges – most are operating as per normal and those that lost power now have it restored, except for International House which had some water damage at the lower levels. Power is expected back later this week.
CommunicationsThere are regular updates to all staff and students, and inbound phone calls are now accessible to all campuses. The damage to some 4000 incoming lines has been repaired. Voice operations staff are back at the University switchboard, additional extensions have been added to the University hotlines and UQ Connect staff are assisting with IT enquiries.
Kiosk at Gatton An internet café will be set up at Gatton campus for UQ staff in the Lockyer Valley without facilities at their homes. It will operate from 8am tomorrow - follow the signposting.
Glasshouses — work is proceeding on the glasshouses and damaged motors have been removed for repairs and airconditioning control panels will receive electronic cleaning.
Pest control — Additional pest management will be carried out as a preventive measure.
UQ sporting facilities — work is continuing on these facilities, which suffered extensive damage. UQ is providing assistance to UQ Sport and volunteers are assisting to clean equipment. The netball courts have been cleaned and work is progressing on the athletics track and the tennis centre. UQ Sport is temporarily closed. Please visit www.uqsprt.com.au for more details.
Research — Researchers returning to their place of work should not dispose of any lost material before this material is recorded. Please see equipment below. If researchers wish to come to their offices to work, they would be welcome to do so, given the grant deadlines in the next few weeks.
Equipment — If a staff member believes there is equipment that has sustained damage directly resulting from the flood, it is imperative that before attempting any repairs or recovery themselves, they must contact Geoff Dennis, Deputy Director P&F at g.dennis@pf.uq.edu.au, who is coordinating the University’s insurance cover.
Pinjarra Hills and Indooroopilly — There is still no access on the one lane bridge at Pinjarra Hills and there is some flooding in the University mine shaft at Indooroopilly.
UQ 24-hour Flood Hotline
UQ has established 24-hour hotlines for enquiries relating to the floods at UQ:
General enquiries: 07 3346 4444 (within Australia) or +61 7 3346 4444 (international).
Student administration: 07 3346 4446 (within Australia) or +61 7 3346 4446 (international).
General and student administration enquiries sent by SMS: 0434 603 132 (within Australia) or +61 4434 603 132 (SMS enquiries may only be sent to this mobile number)
The lines will operate 24-hours every day.
FAQs
The University has posted Frequently Asked Questions for International Students, new and current domestic students, Summer Semester Students and Staff from its home page at www.uq.edu.au
International students
Key UQ International and Institute for Continuing and TESOL Education staff are back at work today January 17.
The Airport pickup service has continued to operate normally for international students and UQ contact details have been provided to airport reception and the pickup service.
However, the airport collection and temporary accommodation request web system is temporarily inaccessible and requests should be sent to ss@uq.edu.au
Alternative emergency accommodation has been sourced for arriving students and Urban Nest (Southbank) will take emergency cases as of today, January 17.
Introductory Academic Program (IAP) classes are delayed for AusAid students until Thursday, January 20 and the University has emailed these students.
ICTE-UQ
The ICTE-UQ home page has been updated at www.icte.uq.edu.au/index.html?page=150270
All ICTE –UQ program classes will resume on Thursday, January 20. The IELTS tests scheduled for January 15 at both UQ St Lucia and Spring Hill will be rescheduled. Students registered to do these tests will be contacted from January 20, regarding arrangements to take the test.
Campus reopening and access
University campuses will reopen on Thursday, January 20, allowing staff time to assist in the recovery operations.
In the meantime, staff and students are requested to delay non-essential access until Thursday. Where staff need to check on key research projects, then access is available. Where staff do not have normal access at home to the internet or their computer systems, and they need such access for work purposes, they may travel to and use their office facilities.
Access to the St Lucia campus is open but buildings require card access. The UQ sewage element is repaired but further work is required downstream by Queensland Urban Utilities.
Three of the four electricity substations are operational and the fourth one is close to coming online.
Any UQ staff member requested to attend the campus should have their manager advise security by calling 07 3365 1234 so that 'access control' is notified. Staff entering the campus must show their UQ identification to 'access control' at building entry points.
Summer Semester
For students enrolled in summer semester, it is expected the class timetable will recommence on January 20.
Additional classes may be scheduled in revision week, from Monday, January 31 until February 4, with examinations still being held as usual.
The following details have been confirmed:
• The duration of Summer Semester will not be extended (ends 12/2/2011);
• The revision week (31/1/2011 - 4/2/2011) will become a teaching week, to be used at the discretion of the course coordinator, to make up lost classes if required;
• If possible, examinations will be re-scheduled to the latter part of the central examination period (5/2/2011 – 12/2/2011), to allow maximum time for student revision if classes are conducted in revision week (to be confirmed).
Course coordinators have recently been emailed to advise them of these arrangements and to ask them to decide how best to alter their course delivery and assessment to accommodate these unexpected events.
Course coordinators have been asked also, to communicate these arrangements to students as soon as possible, using email and/or Blackboard. However, students are asked to be patient waiting for this advice, because many members of academic staff have also been affected personally by the flooding and may not be able to access or respond to their email.
Prior to making any decision with regard to your enrolment in courses please contact an academic advisor in your faculty.
The University will consider compassionately, requests made by students to withdraw without academic penalty, and will also remove the financial liability were students were unable to complete Summer because of the floods (excluding Teaching Period 6 that concluded in December).
Also, if the student is able to complete the required coursework from their home, providing they are living more than 200 kilometres from Brisbane, the University will allow Summer Semester students to sit their end of Semester examinations off campus (including overseas). Students need to apply to sit off campus using the form that can be located at: http://www.uq.edu.au/myadvisor/forms/exams/internal-off-campus-exam.pdf
Students should consult the MyAdvisor web site to access application forms for withdrawal without Academic Penalty and Removal of Financial Liability – links below:
Application for withdrawal without academic penalty
Application for removal of financial liability
Volunteering
Anyone who would like to volunteer to help with the cleanup at UQ can register their interest by calling the general enquiries hotline 07 3346 4444.
Daily updates on the UQ flood recovery are posted online at www.uq.edu.au or UQ Twitter www.twitter.com/uqnewsonline.
For media inquiries contact: Jan King (0413 601 248) or Kathy Grube (0418 524 297)
