Professor Simon Marginson, from the University’s Centre for the Study of Higher Education is regarded as the leading Australian expert on the international aspects of higher education. He was elected Honorary Fellow of the Australian Council for Educational Leaders in 2007 for his ongoing service to education.
In Australia his work informs public discussion of matters concerning higher education (particularly current policy issues) and international education in the context of globalisation. He played a major role in the series of five public seminars held at the University during the year on the ‘The Future of Australian Education and Science Policies’. The seminars were addressed by prominent national and international thinkers and policy makers.
In recent years Professor Marginson has frequently been called upon to provide information comparing Australian education with that in other countries, and to comment on international education in Australia, and matters of research and innovation policy in comparative context.
He is in considerable demand offshore for his expertise on global matters of higher education and research, for example, policy work for OECD and conference and seminar papers in OECD, governmental and university fora in Asia, Europe and North America.
PROFILE
100%
99%
98%
97%
96%
95%
94%
93%
92%
91%
90%
2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2007
2000 2006
quality of teaChinG surVey
Percent of undergraduate subjects with a mean rating 3.0 or higher on Question 2 (‘This subject was well taught’), Semester 2, 2000-2007
teaChinG exCellenCe stRAtegIC PRIoRIty
> Establish an interfaculty forum on good teaching practice
AChIeVements
A program of events throughout the year recognised, developed and promoted excellence in teaching. Key activities in 2007 included:
> An inaugural Teaching and Learning Forum was established to encourage staff to share effective, innovative approaches to learning and teaching and to ensure the distinctiveness of undergraduate programs. The forum, including a series of seminars and events hosted by the CSHE, focussed on approaches to first- year teaching, techniques for large-group lectures and the use of new teaching spaces.
> The 2007 DVC (Academic) summit showcased innovations in large group teaching.
> The Vice-Chancellor’s annual Colloquium on Teaching and Learning was attended by approximately 380 academic and general staff from across the faculties. The Colloquium recognised and celebrated the recipients of the University’s Teaching Award and the unprecedented number of winners in 2007 of national Carrick Awards for Australian University Teaching. A keynote address by international scholar, Professor Tom Angelo (Victoria University of Wellington), examined research-based strategies to encourage critical and creative thinking.
> The University had outstanding success in the 2007 Carrick Awards for Australian University Teaching (CAAUT), with four out of a possible 24 prizes for Teaching Excellence the equal highest number of awards for any university. Melbourne recipients are listed among the High Achieving Staff on page 18. Each received
$25,000 to advance their teaching careers and to support their ongoing commitment to excellence in teaching.
The University’s nominees for the CAAUT awards are selected from the winners of the University of Melbourne Teaching Awards.
The recipients of the University’s Teaching Awards for 2007 are also listed amongst the High Achieving Staff on page 18.
ensure aCCess for the best anD briGhtest stuDents reGarDless of DisaDVantaGe
stRAtegIC PRIoRIty
> Examine the feasibility of extending access and equity policy options by the Policy and Advocacy Taskforce, including obtaining DEST approval for a 2008-2010 CSP profile that supports the Melbourne Model
AChIeVements
The University is committed to increasing accessibility for all students, with the aim that the best and brightest students have access to the Melbourne Model, regardless of disadvantage.
In 2007 the University continued to address the academic and financial disadvantages of students from equity groups, minimising financial barriers and broadening access.
Early in the year, DEST gave in principle agreement for the University’s suggested 2008-2010 profile, enabling the University to allocate Commonwealth Supported Places (CSPs) to graduate students. The 2007 Federal Budget extended Youth Allowance and Austudy to students undertaking first professional degrees at graduate level and granted rent assistance to students aged over 25. All of these measures ensure that students in the new Melbourne Model professional graduate program will not be disadvantaged and the pool of potential graduate students will be expanded.
Following DEST’s approval of graduate CSPs, the University guaranteed that from 2008-2012 at least 50 per cent of designated places in Melbourne Model graduate professional degrees will be offered as CSPs. Scholarships for undergraduate and graduate students have been expanded and admissions processes revised.
expanDeD sCholarships proGraM During the year the University launched a significantly expanded Melbourne Scholarships program under which 8000 students will receive benefits worth $100 million over three years.
Melbourne Scholarships will be awarded to Australian and international students in undergraduate, professional graduate and research higher degree programs. Around 800 new Melbourne Abroad Scholarships will support overseas study during an undergraduate degree.
A key feature of the Melbourne
Scholarships is the Kwong Lee Dow Young Scholars Program, designed to provide high achieving students from every secondary
school in Victoria with undergraduate scholarship opportunities. More than 700 Year 12 students from 300 different schools across the state of Victoria were selected to be part of the inaugural program. While still at school, scholars participate in special programs, including lectures and seminars with leading researchers and teachers and networking opportunities with peers. The scholarships also provide financial support. With large numbers of students attending special events on Open Day and in December, Kwong Lee Dow Young Scholars Program events have become a highlight of the University calendar.
stuDent support
The University continues to develop services and resources closely targeted to the needs of students from equity backgrounds. Feedback is regularly sought from students, with the results reinforcing the important role that such services play in the retention and success of students.
In 2007 all faculties employed designated contact officers in each of the equity, disability and mental health areas.
Comprehensive orientation and transition programs addressed the needs of all new students inclusively as well as targeting the specific needs of equity students more specifically.
Targeted programs of 2007 included:
> Student Housing Access Program (SHAP), which offers rooms in University- owned ‘share houses’. Properties are within walking distance of the Parkville campus. SHAP provides a transitional step towards independent living;
> the Housing Bursary, administered through the Student Financial Aid service available to disadvantaged students renting property;
> Get an Edge. a targeted orientation program addressing the social and geographic transition needs of new students from under-represented backgrounds.
aCCess Melbourne
stRAtegIC PRIoRItIes
> Continue to allocate minimum 20 per cent to 25 per cent intake to Access Melbourne and retain 200 Access Scholarships for undergraduate entry
> Clarify criteria and application process for extension of Access Melbourne program to graduate study
> Review the success of offering a
restricted number of Access Scholarships in December 2006 to determine if all Access Scholarships can be awarded in December 2007 (for the undergraduate cohort commencing in 2008)
AChIeVements
2007 was the third year of Access
Melbourne. Through the Access Melbourne Scheme, the University aims to admit 20 per cent of its undergraduate CSP intake from applicants who have experienced disadvantage during their secondary schooling. Of those admitted, one in five is awarded a scholarship. In 2007, Access Melbourne enrolments totalled 1077, representing 20.1 per cent of the CSP intake. Two hundred and one of these were awarded Access Scholarships.
The Access Melbourne program for undergraduates will be extended to graduate students in 2008 with a minimum 20 per cent of the CSPs in professional degrees to be allocated to Graduate Access Melbourne applicants. Up to 100 one-off bursaries of $5000 will also be awarded to Access Melbourne applicants enrolling in graduate programs to assist in meeting the costs associated with graduate study.
In 2006 a pilot program offering a restricted number of Melbourne Access Scholarships was instigated to determine whether it would be feasible to award all Access Scholarships in December. The Undergraduate Scholarships Committee’s review of the pilot offering found that the early offers were only partly successful due to selection differences between universities and workload issues for the Scholarships Office.
inDiGenous stuDents stRAtegIC PRIoRIty
> Ensure that the University attains its target to recruit 30 Indigenous Australian students in 2007
AChIeVements
The recruitment, retention, experience and success of Indigenous Australian students remains a priority for Melbourne.
The University’s Centre for Indigenous Education (CIE) is the key focus of the University’s strategy to increase Indigenous student participation. The Centre has developed strong collaborative relationships with Aboriginal communities as well as Indigenous academic staff and units within the University. The CIE has gradually strengthened links with Trinity Residential College, with the number of Indigenous students in residency increasing from two in 2001 to 10 in 2007.
The University attained its target to recruit 30 Indigenous students in 2007 with a total of 34 students from Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander backgrounds commencing undergraduate studies. The University recognises that there is room for improvement in this important area.
Victorian universities are developing a coordinated approach to Indigenous student recruitment, and it is envisaged that a more synchronised recruitment scheme will boost enrolments across the sector.
stuDents With Disabilities stRAtegIC PRIoRIty
> Report to PBC on implementation of 2004-07 Disability Action Plan AChIeVements
The Disability Action Plan 2008-11 endorsed by the Academic Board in June 2007 will build on the successes of the 2004-07 Disability Action Plan in achieving significant improvements in the participation of students with disabilities. Based on the DEST-defined disability groups: Hearing, Vision, Learning, Mobility and Medical (Mental Health Conditions forming a subgroup of the Medical Category), the new Plan tackles key issues impacting on these groups, identified from feedback mechanisms built into the earlier plan. One of the 2004-2007 Plan’s most important outcomes was the development of guidelines to cater for students undertaking subjects with practicum or independent research activities as an integral component.
During 2007 facilities for deaf students were significantly improved with the extension of the Live Remote Captioning (LRC) service across the University. LRC works by capturing audio information from a teaching environment and converting it to text by a stenocaptioner. The text is then streamed to a computer using the internet. The process happens in real time with minimal delay and the words appear on screen with 98 per cent accuracy.
iDentify anD iMpleMent initiatiVes to enhanCe the Melbourne experienCe
stRAtegIC PRIoRItIes
> Develop a strategy on opportunities for student engagement through residential colleges
> Consider, in light of CSHE
recommendations, the methodology of a Melbourne Experience survey measuring attitudes on the cohort experience to be administered by the end of students’ first year
> Implement the Melbourne Experience Committee recommendations on transition activities including orientation and capstone programs
> Further define and measure the concept of ‘a cohort experience’ and develop cohort experience initiatives
AChIeVements
The Melbourne Experience is at the heart of all Melbourne degrees. The University aims to:
> provide students with a variety of opportunities for becoming global citizens through increased opportunities to study overseas;
> encourage students to develop friendship networks through group work and peer mentoring programs;
> provide exciting and innovative e- experiences, access to learning centres, and support for e-learning communities;
> strengthen students’ links outside the University, through internships, on location subject delivery and volunteering.
The University of Melbourne Annual Report 2007 7
leARnIng &
teAChIng
2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007
enrolments 166 222 231 239 276 245 236 192
Completions 36 43 65 63 67 55 57 59 (est)
table : inDiGenous stuDents enrolMents anD CoMpletions
Ryen dIggle
Ryen Diggle is studying his first year in the Bachelor of Medicine/
Bachelor of Surgery/ Bachelor of Medical Science (MBBS) course.
Ryen’s path to the University of Melbourne began when he decided that he wanted to pursue medicine as a career. There were no medical schools in Darwin. The University of Melbourne stood out in comparison with universities across Australia and the prospect of study at an internationally renowned university was ‘very exciting and daunting’, said Ryen.
After learning about Melbourne’s Access Scholarships Ryen approached his school careers advisor and met with a member of the University’s staff who helped him through the application process. Ryen received a conditional offer of scholarship, provided he was accepted into his course and continued to pass at a satisfactory level. He completed Year 12, sat the UMAT test and received an offer for a place in the medical course in January 2007.
‘Without my scholarship, the opportunity to accept my offer into medicine at the University of Melbourne would probably have been missed, as I probably would not have been able to cope financially,’
said Ryen. ‘If I had managed to work enough to cope financially, it would have meant missing out on societies and clubs as well as many social aspects of University life, which would have diminished my University experience.’
The University of Melbourne Annual Report 2007 The University of Melbourne Annual Report 2007
sAlly FIRth
Single mother of three Sally Firth was awarded the Eleanor and Joseph Wertheim Scholarship in 2007. Sally, 31, has had a lifelong interest in photography.
She had completed some media studies at TAFE and worked part- time in a photography lab, but could not afford to pursue full-time study. Through the generosity of the Wertheim bequest to the University of Melbourne, Sally is now studying a Bachelor of Fine Arts at the VCA, majoring in photography.
Dr Eleanor Wertheim was a Senior Research Fellow in the Faculty of Arts for a number of years. Her husband Joseph Wertheim was a scientist and an alumnus of the University of Melbourne. It was their intention to leave a legacy that would have a positive impact on the lives of women for future generations. When Eleanor died in 2001, four years after her husband, the Eleanor and Joseph Wertheim Scholarship trust was established to assist ‘unmarried, widowed or divorced women over the age of 25 years in difficult circumstances to pursue undergraduate or graduate courses’.
‘The fact that the Wertheims have left a bequest specifically targeted to women in difficult circumstances who wanted to study shows such insight,’ said Sally.
Student feedback on the quality of the Melbourne Experience will in future be gauged through response to a new Melbourne Experience Survey (MES). The integrated survey incorporates a first- year experience survey, a current course experience survey, and a survey on student support services. The MES was administered for the first time in September 2007 and will ultimately form part of a more streamlined annual cycle of student evaluations.
Successful transition to University and the development of a sense of community in first-year students are fundamental objectives of the Melbourne undergraduate degrees. The importance that the University attributes to these objectives is reflected in the variety of ‘cohort experience’ initiatives actioned during the year.
> The University consulted with the heads of residential colleges to consider strategies for promoting student engagement through the colleges. The University has engaged a consultant to develop the strategy further.
> Funding from the Learning and Teaching Performance Fund (LTPF) was used to support 12 projects aimed at promoting innovation in large-group teaching.
> An additional round of LTPF funding has aided the development of University Breadth Subjects, designed to enhance a sense of learning community.
> A study of approaches to first-year teaching under the Melbourne Model identifies a number of barriers and solutions for delivering a cohort
experience to first-year students, ranging from timetabling matters, to managing and promoting social and educational interactions between groups of students in subjects with large enrolments.
Each year transition ‘in’ activities are monitored through the First-Year Transition Summit. A greater emphasis on integrating capstone subjects and capstone initiatives into the New Generation degrees will ensure that transition ‘out’ activities remain an integral and meaningful part of the learning experience for future students.
Voluntary stuDent unionisM stRAtegIC PRIoRIty
> Monitor the impact of VSU upon student organisations and the Melbourne Experience in order to sustain essential services and amenities
AChIeVements
Since the introduction of Voluntary Student Union (VSU) legislation prohibiting the collection of compulsory student amenities fees, student organisations such as the University of Melbourne Student Union (UMSU) and the University of Melbourne Postgraduate Association (UMPA) have reported low rates of new membership of between 7 and 14 per cent. A substantial rise in membership is not expected in 2008.
The University and its student organisations have continued to make adjustments to operate within these budget constraints. In an effort to maintain a campus experience for students outside the lecture theatre, in 2007 the University allocated $5.96 million in transitional funding to support the various bodies impacted by VSU and committed a further $5.05 million as transitional funding for 2008 along with provision of further
$0.5 million for sporting facilities. The University has agreed with student associations and Melbourne University Sport to allocate these funds in 2008, on the basis of undergraduate and postgraduate EFTSL. Essential services and high priority elements of the student experience (such as representation, advocacy, sport, theatre, clubs and societies) remained priorities in the 2008 Funding Agreements. In an effort to maintain a campus experience for students outside the lecture theatre, discussions have commenced with members of the MUSUL Board, and representatives for UMSU and UMPA, to determine strategic priorities for ensuring the long-term sustainability of student organisations.