Official Opening of the NCV

Above (Left to Right): Prof Fiona Wood, Vice Chancellor Fred Hilmer, Archbishop Peter Jensen & Prof Trevor Cairney (Master)

Friday 8th May saw the official opening of the New College Village. While some residents have been living in the building since the 5th January and we have been full since early February, as is usually the case the official opening took place four months after we opened for residents.

In all 130 alumni, University staff, donors, board members and representatives of the residential community joined us to share in this big event. Speeches were given by me as the Master, Professor Fiona Wood as a leading scientist, researcher and humanitarian, Archbishop Peter Jensen representing the Church and Vice Chancellor of UNSW, Professor Fred Hilmer. All four speakers offered different perspectives but there were many common themes, including the:

importance of community;
value of diversity in the student population;
place of faith in the university;
role that residential colleges play in contributing to campus life;
importance of support for postgraduate students;
importance of the NCV to the strategic needs of UNSW;
uniqueness of this new community in Australia.

In my comments I also acknowledge the founders of New College and named the group of pioneers who began pursuing their vision for university colleges in 1956.

My Board encouraged me as new Master in 2002 to embark on a refurbishment and development program for the College. We added a floor to New College and are part way through a total refurbishment. The original founders of the College were committed to the development of many colleges like New; they were successful in building two. The NCV is the third residential community that was inspired by the original vision of our founders.

Above: Guests at the Opening in the Central Courtyard

It was a wonderful day to celebrate the opening of this beautiful building and the establishment of a strong postgraduate community that is already developing a rich life of its own. Already, the 315 residents are developing strong relationships and are beginning to challenge one another to pursue goals that will lead to them making a significant contribution to their world.

Above (left to right): Carmen Cairney, Shelley Bambrook (Senior Resident), Nicky Sutton (guest), Niloufer Johansen (NCV Academic Tutor)

Official Opening of the NCV

Another first for the NCV - Our first Christian service!

It seems like every week there is something new at NCV. We celebrated our first Christian service at Easter. The service was based on an early Christian service called Tenebrae. The name Tenebrae is the Latin word for "darkness" or "shadows." The service involved a series of Bible readings, songs, prayer and some brief comments from me. At the end of the service we enjoyed a supper together of traditional Easter Hot Cross buns. About 45 people came including a contingent from New College.

Above: Just before the service in the Main Common room

Above: Some animated discussion after the service, coffee and Hot Cross buns (yes, Rebecca in the centre made an unexpected appearance, it was good to have her back)

I hope to commence monthly services in the Main Common room on a Monday evening starting in May.

Another first for the NCV - Our first Christian service!

NCV Seminar series under way

One of the many activities that we have planned to encourage dialogue about important matters of research and scholarship is our NCV Seminar series. A seminar is held every 3-4 weeks on a Thursday evening. Our first seminar was held on the 19th March. It was presented by David Loonan, Student Support Services Manager at Arc, the UNSW student organisation, who addressed the topic 'Key issues for postgrad students'.

This week, Dr Ian Pollard will visit us to talk about his new book. Ian Pollard - “Investing in your life’ - your biggest investment opportunities are not necessarily financial." Dr Pollard has been chairman, director or CEO of more than 30 companies. He is an actuary who was a Rhodes Scholar and has written widely on business coaching.

All residents of the NCV are welcome to attend the seminar in the Main Common Room on Thursday 16th April at 6.00pm.

NCV Seminar series under way

Bible Study at the NCV

New College Village welcomes people of all faiths or no faith at all. In the present diverse community with over 50 nationalities we have residents who are Muslims, Buddhists, Hindus, Orthodox believers, Catholics and all types of Protestants. However, since the Sydney Diocese of the Anglican Church founded New College, we offer Christian ministry consistent with the Anglican Thirty-Nine Articles of Faith. We choose to say 'Christian' ministry rather than 'Anglican' because we wish to stress that we offer residents the opportunity to find out more about Christianity based on the teachings of the Bible, rather than just Anglicanism.

One of our activities is a Bible Study that Carmen and I run each Monday night. We have 40 people who have registered for this group, with about 25 attending each week. We have been studying the Gospel of Mark, a book in the New Testament that provides the story of Jesus life and teaching. We meet in the Main Common room where we start with supper, I usually give a brief talk, we break into groups to read part of Mark and explore some questions together and to pray, and then I wrap up.

Above: Enjoying a barbecue together on the Rooftop Terrace

Last week we met together first for a barbecue. This was a great chance to get to know each other a little better. Residents of NCV are free to join this group at any time, the only requirement being that they are interested in knowing more about the Bible's teaching.

Above: The Master turns his hand to cooking!

The NCV will be holding its own Easter Service on Thursday 9th April at which we will read passages of Scripture that tell of the last hours of Jesus' life prior to his crucifixion and resurrection, there will be music and I will give a short message. This will be a Tenebrae service. Tenebrae (which is the plural of the Latin word for 'shadows' or 'darkness') is a Christian service celebrated on the eve of Maundy Thursday and sometimes Good Friday and Saturday. Our service will be focussed on the Bible readings that tell of Jesus last hours as he approaches death on the cross.

It has been encouraging to see how many people are interested in knowing more about the Bible's teaching.

Bible Study at the NCV

NCV hosts its first BBQ for the year

Now that all residents have arrived our program of social activities is being introduced. The aim of the various activities is to offer residents the opportunity to meet with one another and form relationships that will enrich their lives. Our 316 residents come from over 50 nations and bring a vast array of lived experiences. Living at the NCV is a once in a lifetime opportunity to be among a diverse, interesting and very talented group of people. Our first BBQ for the year was run on the 27th February and attracted 250 residents. The plan is to have a BBQ for all residents every 4-6 weeks. They are held in the Central Courtyard and Main Common Room. If our first BBQ is any indication these events will be great times to meet and catch up with others.

NCV hosts its first BBQ for the year

We're full!

The New College Village is now full. While we are still finalising our last few rooms with latecomers waiting on visas etc, we have been turning people away this week. Last night we had our welcome 'Meet & Greet' for all residents in the Main Common Room and over 200 attended. It was a wonderful opportunity for people to meet others in similar courses or fields of study, people from their home countries, others on the same floor and so on. It was also a good chance to introduce residents to the Senior Residents on each floor who will assume responsibility for their care and support. People were exchanging phone numbers until midnight when I went to bed leaving about a dozen still talking.

The mix of residents is quire remarkable, with over 50 nationalities represented from every continent - our own little United Nations! As you'd expect we have large groups from Singapore (31), Hong Kong (20), Malaysia (20), India (9), New Zealand (9), Thailand (8) and smaller numbers (1-5) residents from countries like Nepal, Papua New Guinea, Mauritius, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, USA, Nigeria, Rwanda, Sri Lanka, Chile, Uruguay, Pakistan and many more.

The balance between postgraduate and undergraduate approximately is 65% PG and 35% UG. Most of the undergraduates are upper year students.

As we come close to seeing every resident in the building (people will be arriving up till the 7th March) we are beginning to enjoy each other's company at planned events and informally within the building.

Our next event will be our first NCV Barbecue that will take place on Friday 27th February. All residents are invited. The food will be provided and residents are being asked to bring their own drinks.

We're full!

Getting used to living in the new building

There have been some amusing moments in our first few weeks living in the NCV. I was at reception yesterday and one of our residents raced up to me with the words: "I've just done something VERY silly, I've dropped my wallet down the garbage chute when getting rid of my rubbish" To which I replied, "let's go and see if we can find it".

Down to the garbage compactor room we went to work out how you find and extract a wallet from the garbage. "Let's try rotating the garbage compactor and we'll see what we find." I pressed the appropriate button tentatively (never having operated it before) and waited. It whirred into action and there it was on top of a bin filled with well wrapped garbage.

Fanny was one very pleased resident who will probably not make the same mistake again. Fanny decided that she wanted a record of this event (as you can see below).

Getting used to living in the new building