Staff & Training

The Staff

The Science Centre plays host to an extraordinary assortment of people. They range in age and experience from pre-school children to retired trades people. Consequently our explainers need to be a special breed of person. Communicative and supportive but not obtrusive, enthusiastic but not overbearing, creative and flexible in mind and spirit.

The Science Centre in Wollongong prides itself on the close communication between our explainers and our visitors, indeed, one of the most commonly heard compliments in the Centre is directed toward the involvement our explainers have with visitors.

The Training

We are currently developing several explainer programs which are designed to complement the philosophical underpinnings of the Centre and we will, therefore, update this document regularly. Just a sample of the staff enrolment and development program are given here;

The Intern Program

Paid Internships are available to undergraduate students of the University of Wollongong. There are approximately 30 internships which have a maximum tenure of 4 years. This means that there will be at least 7 places available each year for new interns. Interns may work in the retail areas, on reception, as guides of as science or planetarium show presenters.

Volunteer Program
Several documents have been disseminated within the education community outlining the importance of volunteer program within community based education centres. Realizing this we're undertaking a series of initiatives designed to promote the use of volunteer labour within our centre. This can be broken down into categories involving regular volunteers, special interest volunteers, and one-off volunteers amongst others.

Our Sponsor an Explainer Program
A "sponsor an explainer" program is being promoted in our local community. The benefits of this are legion, but to name a few

• reduced cost to the Science Centre
• increased community involvement
• and opportunities as an explainer which might not otherwise arise.

An Increasing Range of Shows and Demonstrations
We also have, as an integral part of the discovery experience, an increasing number of shows. In order to cope with demand for these shows we have instituted a series of training program to increase the skill levels of our staff. This increases the explainer's versatility in a more general context in the sense that a broad skills base is greater than the sum of its parts.

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