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Three Grants & Fellowships programs open for applications
Dear colleagues
We are pleased to once again be able to offer opportunities to support your research work on student equity and success with our Grants and Fellowship programs. This week, we opened applications for ACSES's:
- 2025 First Nations Fellowship Program;
- 2025 Equity Fellowship Program; and
- 2025-26 Large Grants Research Program.
The 2025 rounds of our First Nations and Equity Fellowship programs will provide fully-funded annual fellowships for researchers and practitioners in higher education, to complete a project that will inform an area of Australian higher education practice and policy in relation to domestic students, via a combination of research, translation, best practice implementation, evaluation, and knowledge transfer.
Applications are open until 4pm (AWST) on Friday, 27 September 2024.
The 2025-26 Large Grants Research Program will fund proposals that address research topics of importance to contemporary developments and challenges in higher education equity policy, practice, and evaluation, across the following priorities:
- Alternative Pathways and Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL).
- Supporting academic success and effective and inclusive curriculum design and delivery.
- University engagement with First Nations and diverse equity-bearing cohorts – belonging, empowerment, and the student voice.
Proposals are sought via a two-stage process, with this Expression of Interest (EOI) stage followed by a second stage where successful EOI applicants are invited to submit full detailed proposals for consideration. EOIs will be accepted until 4pm (AWST) on Friday, 6 September 2024.
More information about each program - including application packs, guidelines, eligibility and selection criteria - is available on our website.
Questions about the programs or requests for additional information or support in the application process can be sent to acses@curtin.edu.au.
Best
Professor Ian Li
ACSES Research and Policy Program Director
In other news...
Equity Frontiers Program: Funding and support for your trials
In response to feedback from the sector, our Equity Frontiers funding scheme has been redesigned to make it easier for equity practitioners to access support to run trials on their nominated equity programs or activities. Key changes are removing fixed deadlines so people can apply for funding at any time, and introducing an Expression of Interest stage to help applicants work through their approach and, if required, seek support in designing and running the trial.
We are accepting Expressions of Interest now. You can find the Equity Frontiers Program Guidelines and an Expression of Interest template for download on the ACSES website.
ACSES's Trials and Evaluation Team with members of the EPHEA Victorian Chapter
ACSES visits Melbourne
The Trials and Evaluation team has just returned from a wonderful week in Melbourne, where we met with many universities and attended an EPHEA Victorian Chapter event. The weather was freezing but the warm reception more than made up for that!
The purpose of our visit was to meet as many people as possible and learn, first-hand, what support we can offer in their evaluation activities. A few recurring themes emerged. First, universities are at different stages in their journey and eager to learn from each other regarding best-practice evaluation. However, finding the time, and space, to generate these discussions is challenging in the current environment.
Second, some universities are experiencing some issues with converting, inhouse, their student addresses into relevant regional and low-SES classifications.
Finally, many universities were eager to undertake trials of various equity initiatives but were looking for various levels of support in designing and conducting appropriate evaluations.
I was pleased to be able to advise that in all these respects, ACSES is willing and able to provide support, particularly around knowledge sharing and further developing a strong community of practice.
Our next visit will be to Perth in mid-August, then Queensland in early September. But in the meantime, don’t hesitate to reach out if you have any questions.
Dr Tim Pitman
Trials and Evaluation Program Director (interim)
2024-25 Large Grants awarded
We are pleased to announce that three proposals have been selected for funding as part of ACSES’s 2024-25 Large Grants Research Program.
The 2024-25 Round was launched in March 2024, with ACSES calling for proposals that outlined projects across three research priorities:
- Alternative pathways to university and impact on academic outcomes
- Student wellbeing for success
- Collaboration for student equity and success – intra-sectoral (institutions within higher education) and inter-sectoral (institutions across higher, vocational, and secondary education)
ACSES received 25 eligible proposals during the Expressions of Interest (EOI) Stage, with eight teams being invited by the Grants and Fellowships Committee to submit full proposals for their consideration. The Committee’s final recommendations for three successful project applications have been endorsed by the ACSES Advisory Board.
ACSES and the Grants and Fellowships Committee would like to thank all applicants. The Committee noted the quality and range of proposals received, which bodes well for the work to be undertaken across the current grants, as well as the soon-to-be-announced 2025-26 Large Grants Round.
The three projects selected for funding in 2024-25 are:
Deadly Secondary Teacher Education
Lead institution: Australian Catholic University
Project led by Mr Christopher Duncan
Research priority: (2) Student wellbeing for success
Project details: This project will examine factors affecting, and strategies to enhance, First Nations Australian participation in secondary teaching education.
Increasing Access and Opportunity: Nesting enabling programs in senior schooling
Lead institution: Edith Cowan University
Project led by Dr Angela Jones
Research priority: (1) Alternative pathways to university and impact on academic outcomes
Project details: This project will examine models and academic outcomes of enabling programs embedded in secondary schools, to provide guidelines for the establishment of effective, portable and scalable university-school partnerships.
Enabling Equitable Learning Approaches for Students with Invisible Disabilities in Higher Education
Lead institution: University of Newcastle
Project led by Pok Yin (Stephenson) Chow
Research priority: (3) Collaboration for student equity and success – intra-sectoral (institutions within higher education) and inter-sectoral (institutions across higher, vocational, and secondary education)
Project details: This project will use survey, focus group, and interview data collection and analysis to identify ways in which universities can better address the needs of students with invisible disabilities and support more equitable learning environments.
Congratulations to all of our Large Grants recipients!
We're recruiting: Exciting opportunity to lead our Trials and Evaluation Program
Are you excited about student equity and fairness in Australian universities? Are you keen to play a role in reshaping how Australian universities serve the nation and contribute to prosperity and social inclusion? The Australian Centre for Student Equity and Success (ACSES) is now accepting applications for the position of Trials and Evaluation Program Director.
As the Director of the Trials and Evaluation Program, you will be working closely with the ACSES Executive Director and will be primarily responsible for the robust design and execution of equity-focused trials and of the evaluation of existing and new student equity projects in accordance with the ACSES strategic plan. As a key ‘outward face’ of ACSES, you will implement cross-institutional partnerships to position the Centre at the forefront of equity implementation and translation of research into practice.
You can view the Position Description here. Applications close 8 August 2024.
More information about the position, including links to apply can be found on the Curtin website, Seek, and LinkedIn.
Upcoming events
Engagement Australia Forum
Our Director for Research and Policy, Professor Ian Li, is joining a fantastic line-up of speakers at the upcoming Engagement Australia Forum on Enhancing Equity Outcomes Through Structured Community Engagement. The event is designed specifically for higher education practitioners dedicated to community engagement and student equity. An opportunity to discover practical strategies, network with like-minded professionals, and gain insights to create impact for your institution.
Date: 5 September 2024 | Time: 10:00 am – 4:00pm
Location: Australian Catholic University, North Sydney Campus
Find out more and register here
Future Solutions for Higher Education Conference
We are delighted to be able to support HEDx in their endeavour to create inspiring and innovative conferences for the higher education sector. Next up is the Future Solutions for Higher Education Conference, held at The University of Queensland, where ACSES Executive Director Shamit Saggar will join the impressive line-up of speakers.
Date: 31 October 2024 | Time: 9:00 am – 4:30pm
Location: The University of Queensland, St Lucia Campus
Find out more and register here
ESA Webinar | Labour market outcomes of graduates in economics
Hosted by the Economic Society of Australia (NSW), Professor Ian Li will discuss the labour market outcomes of graduates in economics in Australia. This online event will discuss key insights presented in the economic paper on the Labour Market Outcomes of Graduates in Economics in Australia. The webinar examines the strong employment prospects for graduates in economics after graduation, in terms of full-time employment and salaries.
Date: 6 November 2024 | Time: 12:00 pm – 1:00pm AEDT
Location: Online
Find out more and register here
BMC Medical Education article
BMC Medical Education's article, ‘Location and access to health courses for rural students: an Australian audit’, explores the impact of the undersupply of health professions in rural areas on healthcare access for those living in rural Australia.
Featuring three research reports from when ACSES was known as the National Centre for Student Equity in Higher Education (NCSEHE), the study reveals the lack of rural on-campus or online course offerings for some allied health disciplines, dentistry, and medicine. It concludes with the solution being to provide flexible or online courses in rural areas, which therefore will reduce access barriers for rural students and enable sustainable rural health workforce development.
Access the full article here
Visited our new website yet?
acses.edu.au launched last month and offers a user-friendly experience with improved navigation, updated resources, and a modern design that reflects our mission and values.
The site gives you access to a comprehensive library of data, research, reports, and tools designed to support the pursuit of student equity and features an intuitive layout and search functionality to make it easier to find the information you are looking for. It's a great place to stay informed with the latest news, events, and success stories from the field of student equity in Australian higher education. We look forward to your feedback and hope you enjoy the new experience.
