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Engagement Awards

The CQUniversity Opal Awards

Excellence in Engagement

The Excellence in Engagement Awards, referred to as the Opal Awards, were introduced in 2010 and aim to recognise and encourage outstanding engagement by CQUniversity staff, students and communities.

The specific categories for these awards are:

  • Engaged Learning and Teaching;
  • Engaged Research and Innovation; and
  • Engaged Service.

There will be a maximum of 10 finalist projects per category and one overall winner per category, per annum.

Central Queensland's opals in many ways mirror CQUniversity's engagement activities as opals are forged by the forces in the Central Queensland region. Their brilliant colours and charm reflect the nature, essence and beauty of the region and our 'power of place', they add to our regional identity and prosperity.

Opals represent loyalty, connectedness and communication and are said to aid the wearer in seeing unlimited opportunities.

Recipients of Excellence in Engagement Awards will receive:

  • A CQUniversity Engagement Opal Pin for each member of the winning project per category;
  • A CQUniversity Engagement grant of $2,500 for each of the three overall winning projects to further the current project or use for a new engagement project;
  • Recognition of excellence by:
    • Citation in the annual CQUniversity Opal Awards commemorative brochure;
    • Publication in UniNews; and
    • CQUniversity Opal Award Category Winner Certificate.

All finalists will receive a CQUniversity Opal Award Category Finalist Certificate and all nominations will receive a CQUniversity Opal Award Category Nomination Certificate acknowledging their contribution.
Please see the Excellence in Engagement Awards Procedure for further details.

2011 Opal Awards Winners

Engaged Learning and Teaching

  • Winner – CQUniversity Children’s Theatre Workshop – Kim Kirkman and Ian Gaskell;
  • Finalist – Disaster Resilience Education Project – Julianne Impiccini, Ali Black, Lyn Hughes, Kyle Stein, ALC Management Team; and
  • Finalist – Romp in the Park 2011 – Gillian Busch and Emma Killion. 

Engaged Research and Innovation

  • Winner – Driver Fatigue in Central Queensland -  Lee Di Milia; and
  • Finalist -  IT at the Coalface – Ashley Holmes, Dennis Jarvis, Jacqueline Jarvis and Ricky Prout.

Engaged Community Service

  • Winner – Idiom 23 Writers’ Workshop – Lynda Hawryluk and Liz Huf;
  • Finalist – Teachers Being Childwise – Rose-Marie Thrupp;
  • Finalist – International Engineering and Technology Education Conference – Arun Patil, Patrick Keleher, Amanullah Maung Than Oo, Mushtak Al-Atabi, Marlia Puteh and Sid Nair; and
  • Finalist – Sea Dreams Gladstone Festival of Creative Arts – Andrew Wallace and Helen Holden.

2010 Opal Awards Winners

Engaged Learning and Teaching

Engaged Research and Innovation

Engaged Community Service