Transition update: College of Education, Psychology and Social WorkWelcome to the third edition of the College of Education, Psychology and Social Work newsletter. This newsletter is one of the ways of sharing relevant information about the developments and processes associated with our new College structure to help each of us maintain and continue to develop a high performance culture that supports staff and has students at the heart of all we do. Our missionThe College of Education, Psychology and Social Work seeks to advance the quality of life for people across their life-span through world class research and teaching. We bring an interdisciplinary and relational approach to supporting all in our world to thrive. Helping students/University Open DaysAs we all know, our students are our customers and we will always do everything we can to help ensure they have an unrivalled student experience. Thank you to all of you who have been helping prepare for the University Open Days on 18 and 19 August. However, more support is still needed please. It would be especially helpful for students to hear from academics what it’s like to be a teacher. If you can help, please contact Lisa Warren or Shelley Nicholls. Students may ask any of us at any time about which college their course or topic has been allocated to. There have already been student communications with a search tool that gives them the answer. However, so that each of us can help them as well, this tool is also on the College Support Guide. If students, staff or stakeholders have questions about who to contact in our College, the People and Contacts section on the College Support Guide lists key people for each college, including the College Vice President and Executive Dean and members of the College leadership and Transition Teams. This is updated as additional appointments are made. A college staff contact guide spreadsheet is also located in the same section of the College Support Guide, listing staff who can assist in areas such as research, student and teaching support, finance and marketing. Recruitment updateThe recruitment process for the Vice President and Executive Dean of our College is advanced. Just in case you missed the last Forum, we are delighted that Associate Professor Carol Irizarry has accepted the role of Dean (Education) and enjoyed her enthusiastic and inspirational presentation at the last College Forum. We also remind you that Tracey Quigley formally joins us as our College Operations Team Leader on the 15th of August - welcome Tracey. After a hand over with Tracey, Nicole Sferruzzi will leave us and take on a new role with the College of HASS as their Operations Team Leader. Thank you Nicole for your contribution to the College and good luck in your new role. The Transition Team has identified College Teaching Programs and confirmed topic and course allocation to these programs. Teaching Programs (each of which is a collection of courses) will have Program Directors who will work with the Dean (Education) to drive the development, implementation and review of learning and teaching initiatives within a particular College Teaching Program and its courses. Teaching Program Directors will work with the coordinators of courses to ensure the quality of the courses in the teaching program. They will also work together on the effective running of the courses and topics. They will facilitate innovation, collaboration and synergy across courses, topics and Colleges for the benefit of student learning and experience. We called for Expressions of Interest for the Directors of the four Teaching Programs for our College:
We also called for an Expression of Interest for the College Research Higher Degree Coordinator. The RHD Coordinator oversees the maintenance of satisfactory supervisory standards and ensures that the research environment in the College is supportive to its RHD students. We’re delighted to announce the following appointments. Teaching Program Directors:
Following these appointments, the Transition Team will identify other roles needed within the College, such as an identified head of a program or discipline as required for accreditation purposes or other roles to support internal operational needs. Transitioning to the new model of professional support for CollegesAs you may be aware, we have started to implement the new model of professional services staff having partnership relationships with the new Colleges in the areas in the first round of the PSP changes. We welcome Grace Benvenuto as our People and Culture business partner, Dave Barber as our WHS representative and Vanessa Dorshorst as our Information and Digital Services (IDS) partner. Allocation of our Financial and Procurement Services partners is underway. We welcome and look forward to working with all of our partners and will make sure we introduce them to you as they take up their new roles. College forumsThank you for contributing to our well-attended, energetic, positive and productive third College Forum last month, followed by a friendly lunch. Interim Vice-President and Executive Dean Professor Clare Pollock, Dean (People and Resources) Professor Lindsey Conner, Dean (Research) Professor Mike Nicholls, Dean (Education) Associate Professor Carol Irizarry and Head of College Services Sardi Calver all presented. The need to produce outstanding research, which has an impact and is published in top-ranking academic journals was emphasised, as well as having pride in teaching our students to make a difference in the lives of people. We appreciated all the helpful and candid questions at the Forum. The next College Forum is scheduled for Monday 18 September - 11.30am to 1pm in Humanities North Lecture Theatre 1. Social functionsThank you for making the celebration at ALERE to mark the start of our new College and the lunch after the last forum so enjoyable and positive. We will reduce the frequency of Forums but you will see a monthly event scheduled of a more social nature to encourage you to continue to build and develop relationships within the College. We are seeing the benefits of such networking opportunities. Below are the upcoming social events:
We will organise a College Christmas function in December, so watch this space. Staff movementsAs you know, some of our team members have started to move to their new locations and Colleges or take on their new roles. Where possible and practical as professional staff move, they will take their existing workloads and activities with them. Over the coming period we will confirm transition plans to ensure people can more fully take up their new roles and duties while not impacting on current services. We would like to thank everyone for their flexibility and adaptability during this period. If you have any concerns or issues regarding duties or services please speak with Lindsey or Sardi in the first instance. We realise that there are some temporary gaps in professional staffing resources and are taking action to fix this. Sardi would be happy to update anyone with concerns about this. Academic promotionsLindsey is pleased to announce that the academic staff in the College have had great success in the Academic Promotions Level A – C. These promotions are very well-deserved due to their research achievements, teaching innovations and significant contributions to service. These promotions were effective from 1 July 2017. Please join me in congratulating the following staff who have been successful:
A huge congratulations to Dr Heather Fraser who was promoted to Associate Professor in recognition of her achievements and contributions to the University and beyond. Our warmest congratulations to all. College officeWe have successfully commenced the transition to the new EP&SW College Office based in the Education Building. Thank you to all the staff supporting this and the other offices in our College. The collegiate way in which these teams are undertaking the task and support they are providing each other is exemplary. Over the coming weeks we will plan for services and support to be centralised to the new office. The Social Work office will transition to the College office soon. We will keep you posted; in the meantime it’s Business as Usual. So, for now, please continue visiting the following offices:
College corporate stationery (including business cards), college email signatures and related college templatesPresenting a contemporary look and feel, the new college stationery features a range of items for immediate download. These include:
For the first time the PowerPoint template includes a selection of ‘about Flinders’ slides that can be used in external presentations as appropriate. Orders are now being taken for a suite of visually appealing new business cards. If your role involves external engagement, please visit Flinders Press to download the new templates, and business card webpage to order new cards. If you haven’t done so already, please update your email signature using the examples and guidelines provided. Key questions asked by staffThe College Support Website provides answers to the many operational questions (e.g. systems, delegations) that staff may have about the new college structure. In addition, College newsletters are stored on this page. Frequently Asked Questions with respect to the transition to the new College structure are also available on the The 2025 Agenda – Achieving our vision webpage. As the design of the College Service Teams and other College transition activities continue throughout 2017, there will be continuing updates from either the Transition Team or Project staff. We would encourage you to communicate your questions and feedback to the Transition Team by emailing 2025@flinders.edu.au Staying connectedAs well as keeping you up to date through communication with members of the College Transition Team, you can also keep up to date by visiting The 2025 Agenda – Achieving our vision webpage. At any time throughout this process you can also ask questions or provide feedback to 2025@flinders.edu.au. If you need further clarity on any of The 2025 Agenda initiatives, you are encouraged to speak with your supervisor or Senior HR Advisor. If you feel that you would benefit from talking to someone independently, Flinders University offers support and counselling via the University Employee Assistance Program. This service is entirely confidential.
The EP & SW Transition Team |