It is difficult for me to believe that my involvement with the University goes back over seventy years. As a small child I began taking piano exams conducted by the Australian Music Examinations Board (AMEB). These were administered by the University. In 1952 I enrolled as a student using lecture rooms on the old Domain site. On completion of a Certificate of Education I began my teaching career whilst studying part time to complete my Bachelor of Arts degree (1958) and Diploma of Education (1963). From 1956 onwards student-teachers were allocated to me for practical classroom experience.

Those years of University lectures were made memorable for me by the professors and lecturers of the time. They were men both famous and infamous for the marks they made on the University - Professor Elliott, that great head of the Classics Department, Professor King and the wonderful George Wilson in History, Professor Townsley of Political Science, Willie Hills of Education IIA fame, Professor Cardno of Psychology and Professor Orr of Philosophy.

In the 1970’s I became more aware of the University’s system of governance and I attended meetings and dinners of Convocation. In 1978 I was nominated and elected as an Arts Faculty representative to the Standing Committee of Convocation – the upper house of the University’s governing body where statutes passed by the University Council were forwarded to the Standing Committee of Convocation for approval.

With the expansion of tertiary education in Tasmania, the need for change resulted in a new University Act of 1992 and the establishment of campuses in Launceston and Burnie. This act changed the composition of the University Council, disbanded the Standing Committee of Convocation and replaced it with an Alumni organisation with a committee representing all faculties and students in general. I was elected to one of the latter positions. This Committee, under the able leadership of the inaugural Chairman, Ken Axton, worked on its changed role of `friendship’ and `awareness-raising’ of the University’s alumni, state-wide, interstate and overseas. The formation of the University Foundation in 1994 created the 'fundraising' aspect of alumni of the University. (See The University Foundation by A Wojtowicz).

When Ken Axton retired as Chairman of the Alumni in late 1996, I was privileged to be elected to the position, and over the next four years led a committee to expand the work of friendship raising, established the Distinguished Alumni Awards system, and attended gatherings throughout Tasmania as well as in Canberra, Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane. Representatives from our Alumni organisation attended the Australian Universities International Alumni Convention at Kuching in Sarawak, Malaysia in August 2000.

Whilst remaining on the Alumni Committee for a further four years, I enjoyed the opportunity to be heavily involved with the 50th anniversary of the establishment of the Colombo Plan. Many students who studied at the University under the plan returned to Tasmania from overseas and interstate for a varied program of activities to celebrate the occasion.

In 2015 the University continues to expand; the student population, both here and overseas, grows; the University is again occupying the old Domain site and its influence on our lives continues despite one’s increased age.

About the author: Ann Hopkins, AMusA, BA 1958 DipEd 1963, taught at primary and secondary level in Tasmania, lectured at the Hobart Teachers’ College and for the last 18 years of her career was a Student Counsellor in Senior Secondary Colleges. She retired in 1990 and gained a Distinguished Alumni Award for service to the University in 2002. As the second Chair of the University Alumni, she was asked to write about her link with the University and has tried to give an insight into the University over a period of seventy plus years.