Welcome to the end of week four! If the long weekend has thrown you for a loop, here’s the news you might have missed this week.
ANU Administration
Skye Saunders, an Associate Professor in the College of Law, has lodged a complaint against the ANU with the Human Rights Commission according to the Canberra Times. Dr Saunders is alleging that the university has discriminated against her on the basis of her gender, including paying her less than her male colleagues for equal work.
At an International Women’s Day celebration, ANU announced a number of policies aimed at increasing the number of women involved in university life, progressing toward the goal of gender parity in appointments to executive positions, including Heads of College, and Vice Chancellors.
One such policy was the expansion of ANU’s parental leave policy, allowing all parents to claim up to 26 weeks of paid parental leave, regardless of their status as primary caregiver. Previously, only mothers were given this leave.
The Carers’ Career Development Assistance Fund was also significantly expanded, this fund provides grants to support dependents when caregivers travel for their academic careers.Finally, a new ‘Academic Women’s Leadership Program’ was announced. This initiative is intended to provide “tailored development support” to female academics, helping to further progress their careers within ANU.
Academia
ANU is “in negotiations” with the Ramsay Centre for Western Civilisation to provide the degree. The Ramsay Centre will fund the degree, including hiring of 12 new staff, and 30 $25,000 scholarships in the first year, increasing to 40 scholarships in the second year. The ANU Observer has written about the forum here, and about the background of the degree here.
A team of ANU astronomers have discovered that a mysterious signal from the centre of the Milky Way does not come from dark matter, but instead from 10-billion-year-old stars. The astronomers worked within an international team, headed by the United States’ Virginia Tech. Their work has been published in the journal Nature Astronomy.
Mid-semester exams will be held off-campus in a variety of locations, including 7-11 Barry Drive, the QT Hotel, and the Australian Croatian Club. These venues are up to 25 minutes’ walk off campus, and have only limited parking available. For further details, Observer’s article is here.
Kambri (Union Court Redevelopment)
ANU has opened voting for the naming of three streets and one building in the Kambri development. The eleven names on the list are women who had a role in “shaping” ANU, including Australia’s first female Senator, and the first woman to graduate from ANU.
Students have until 4 April to cast their vote here.
For more information about the women on the list, read Observer’s article here.
