We make great gains in our research and teaching and are proud of the many and varied projects and programs. This doesn’t just relate to our faculties and academic activities but also to our operational units.
Currently in our Campus Infrastructure and Services (CIS) Unit we have extended our role to support Guide Dogs NSW/ACT who is the leading provider of guide dogs and orientation and mobility services that enable people with impaired vision to get around their communities safely and independently.
A CIS team member has volunteered to be an official puppy raiser for Guide Dogs and the CIS team are now part of the family who are raising Kimmie, the black Labrador puppy. They are helping to train her to become a potential future guide dog who will change someone’s life forever.
Kimmie joined CIS in September as a seven-week-old puppy and she will be with us for 12 months until she returns to Guide Dogs NSW/ACT to undertake her official training and assessment to become a fully-fledged guide dog.
CIS team members are responsible for making Kimmie part of our family here at work. We are keeping her safe, teaching her dog skills like sit, drop and stay, making sure that she has good manners and providing many socialisation skills so that she gains the experience and confidence she needs to become a guide dog.
There are many volunteers from the team willing to take Kimmie on walks on campus and to assist in establishing good toileting, feeding and sleeping routines. The CIS team member who is the official puppy raiser takes Kimmie home each night to a loving home environment and has committed to take her to the education and regular training sessions called puppy pre-school conducted by Guide Dogs.
There has also been much interest expressed by some of our faculties, including Veterinary Science and the Sydney Medical School, who want to help to support Kimmie’s development. They see this as a great opportunity to raise general awareness on issues such as caring for puppies and visual health and to also help promote the great work of the University’s Save Sight Institute. The institute is leading the way in finding innovative new ways to preserve and restore vision lost to all eye diseases, including glaucoma, macular degeneration, retinal dystrophies, uveitis and inflammatory conditions.
As Kimmie’s journey continues at the University and as more people meet her on her daily walks, I am sure we will find other ways that she can help promote both Guide Dogs NSW/ACT’s mission and a myriad of other animal-related, eye health and assistance dog subjects.
However, at the moment she is just enjoying being a puppy who is bringing an enormous amount of joy and wellbeing into a fast-paced, action-packed workplace. We love having her as part of the team. It makes us feel that not only are we working together to create the best campus that we can for our students, staff and visitors, but we are also playing an extra part in doing good in the world.
