Education

Happy New Year to all. 2008 promises to be an exciting and dynamic year at both University and Faculty level. Phase one of the restructure of the Faculty has now come into operation with the staff involved in that phase, taking up their new positions. Planning for the second phase of the Faculty restructure will begin immediately and staff will be involved in ongoing discussions for this next phase.

The 2 new Deputy Vice Chancellors have now taken up their positions in the University and will be meeting staff across the various Faculties and campuses soon. We have received and regrettably accepted the resignations of Professor Frank Hardman and Dr Jan Hardman who are to return to UK where Frank has gained a prestigious research position at York University. A professorial position at Bundoora is to be advertised later this month for a professor to replace Frank’s position. The position will be advertised as a Chair in Educational Leadership and Management as this is an area of both local and international significance. We are also searching for an Associate Professor in Special Needs Education for the Bendigo campus following the withdrawal of the acceptance of the offer to the preferred appointee. Some other vacant positions are currently under advertisement or at the interview stage.

As we have not yet heard the outcome of the Expressions of Interest for the Faculty within the 2008 budget process, we do not know what additional positions or initiatives may be able to be taken up. The budget is expected to be known after Feb 4. The selection and offer process in underway and we have been granted additional Commonwealth Supported Places for the Faculty in 2008, in recognition of the possibility of growing particular areas of significance. One result of the additional places is the potential conversion of Graduate Diploma in Technology Education to CSP. With the current skills shortages and career change initiatives, this course is seen as one which needs to be as widely available to potential students as possible. There is also to be a new Masters course introduced at mid year – Master of Applied Learning. Again this focuses on the growth in this area in schools and at TAFEs and this course is expected to be well subscribed. This is also the first year of the Graduate Diploma in Education (Middle Years) at Shepparton campus. This is a ground breaking course for the Faculty in many ways, especially in terms of its mode of delivery which involves a significant on-line component. Whilst it is a little early to tell, it appears that there is a reasonably strong demand for our courses but this varies from campus to campus. There will also still be the possibility of direct applications and offers once it is clearer as to the take-up rate of VTAC offers. Thank you to all the staff who have been so heavily involved with the selection and enrolment process since we returned for the year. It is a crucial time for the Faculty when these offers are being made and the work of all involved is much appreciated.

The Faculty is required to compile an Operational Plan based upon the University Strategic Plan and meetings and discussions will occur in the first part of the year in order to put this plan together. The University Strategic Plan is now formally accepted through Council and is available on the VCs website.

We are hoping this year after this first Newsletter, to move towards a format whereby staff across the Faculty will be invited to put forward items for inclusion in this Newsletter. It would be in the form of an e-newsletter and potentially encourage broad communication of newsworthy issues across the whole Faculty. We will provide details of deadlines and other matters, in the near future.