News from the College of Business, Government and Law

We acknowledge the traditional owners, both past and present, of the various locations Flinders University operates on, and recognise their continued relationship and responsibility to these lands and waters. We recognise that Flinders was established on the lands of the Kaurna nation, with the main Flinders campus located near Warriparinga.

Welcome to the May edition of the College of Business, Government and Law newsletter.

Our May edition includes a story on school outreach by the Criminology and Law disciplines, directed towards a greater range of schools than has previously been the case. School outreach often happens beneath the radar but is critical if we are to achieve our ambition of attracting students from across Adelaide to our new City campus at Festival Plaza in 2024. A big thank you to all staff who lead and undertake this important work.

This edition also includes Professor Svetlana Bogomolova’s successful $1M+ application for the inaugural ARC Industry Mid-Career Fellowship scheme on transforming harvest surplus for food relief, in collaboration with Foodbank; and the pending formal launch of Centre for Social Impact Flinders and our new Graduate Certificate in Social Impact and MBA (Social Impact). If you click on the link, you will see how dramatically CSI Flinders has grown since its informal launch barely a year ago! Congratulations to the CSI team, and Svetlana in particular.

Kind regards,
Michael

Michael Gilding
Vice-President and Executive Dean
 

Welcome to the BGL community

A warm welcome to our new staff member joining the college.

Hafij Ullah — Lecturer in Accounting
 

School visits inspire future students

15 schools across Australia. 640 students.

That’s a snapshot of the Criminology Outreach sessions held by the team in 2022. “This year we are hoping to at least double this number,” Dr Andrew Groves tells us. “We’ll visit a greater range of schools, including those from low-socioeconomic and disadvantaged areas, as part of the various regional roadshow events.”

The Law team has also been busy engaging with schools, with Professor Tania Leiman, Dr Samantha Kontra and Brendan Grigg recently attending the 10th Themis Dinner for year 11 and 12 Legal Studies students at Concordia College. Samantha, Brendan and Rob Chalmers will be visiting Concordia College again this month, for year 12 Legal Studies inquiry interviews.
 

Let's help our student associations thrive

Academic student associations play a key role in keeping the student cohort engaged, and creating and strengthening social bonds. Flinders University Criminology Association is a shining example: pictured above are a couple of moments from a FUCA-organised trip to the historic former asylum in Parkside, where students reflected on how society's attitudes towards crime and mental health have evolved dramatically in the years since the building was used to house South Australia's "criminally insane".

Now is a good time to make your students aware of the benefits of joining - or attending activities hosted by - their relevant student association. Whether it's a social night out, a networking dinner or a lowkey campus catch-up, there are opportunities for all personality types to come together, learn something new, and make lifelong friends.
 

Sneak peeks of Flinders' new city campus

We know you probably have some questions about Flinders' new city campus. What are the workplace spaces like? Can we expect improved technology? Will there be a station to park bikes?

The best place to start is The Change Community, where you'll be able to seek answers to these questions and more. It's a great group to join if you're passionate about advocating for the exciting changes to come when Flinders' new city campus opens.

Last month, the Deputy Vice Chancellor (Students) Professor Romy Lawson, hosted the inaugural New City Campus at Festival Plaza Change Community meeting (view a snapshot from this in our newsletter header), which saw a strong turnout of over 73 staff.

The Change Community enables a diverse membership across all involved Colleges and Portfolios to engage in change and support activities. Through these, the Change Community can spread awareness, information, and contribute to a positive culture.
 

Research

Transforming harvest surplus into nutritious meals for food relief

As the cost of living rises, so does food insecurity. But a new project aims to turn agricultural surplus of fresh fruits and vegetables into nutritional meals for people most in need.

Professor Svetlana Bogomolova has been successful in her application to complete an Australian Research Council (ARC) Industry Mid-Career Fellowship project in this area, to be awarded $1,051,456. The highly competitive scheme has an 8% applicant success rate, with only 25 awarded nationally.

She will undertake the four-year project with two key partners: the leading food relief organisation Foodbank South and Central Australia, and state government agency Green Industries SA.

The SA-focused project will tackle food insecurity issues in the state by using surplus locally-grown produce to make nutritious, plant-based and shelf-stable meals – while also giving a team of interested volunteers the opportunity to develop new skills in food production and supply chain.  

“We will work with food relief provider Foodbank SA, policy-maker Green Industries SA and specially trained volunteers to create a novel social enterprise, targeting a reduction in food waste and simultaneous improvement in community health and wellbeing with accessible, nutritious meal choices,” says Svetlana.
 

Visiting academic from the University of Sydney

Associate Professor Carmen Huckel Schneider visited our College last month, and was involved in a range of activities including a specialised masterclass discussion, guess lecture and meetings with staff and students at CBGL.

Carmen is Deputy Director at the Menzies Centre for Health Policy and Economics at the University of Sydney, where she is also lead of the Health Systems and Governance theme. Associate Professor Huckel Schneider holds positions of Co-Director, Academic Education, Sydney School of Public Health; Adviser, Knowledge Exchange, at the Sax Institute; and Honorary Senior Fellow at the George Institute.

The masterclass and guest lecture were jointly co-hosted by Flinders Business and Centre for Social Impact. These sessions provided an opportunity to discuss, critique and evaluate research methodologies, theoretical perspectives and studies on integrated care. Staff and students from CBGL, CNHS, CMPH and colleagues from SAHMRI, University of Adelaide and SA Health attended these sessions.

*Based on notification emailed to CBGL.research@flinders.edu.au from 21 Mar to 12 Apr

This month, there were four publications in top-ranking journals from BGL staff.

News to me: far-right news sharing on social media. Information, Communication Society, 1-17.
Dowling, M-E. (2023)
Scimago: Top 10% (17/458) in Communication 

Encounters with police drug detection dogs at music festivals amongst people who regularly use ecstasy and/or other illicit stimulants in Australia. Drug and Alcohol Review, 42(3), 555-560.
Gibbs, D., Peacock, A., Hughes, C., & Grigg, J. et al. (2023)
Scimago: Q1 (54/320) in Health (Social Science)

'Thin Labourism': Ideological and policy comparisons between the Australian, British and New Zealand labour parties. British Journal of Politics and International Relations, 1-23.
Manwaring, R., Duncan, G.,  Lees, C. (2023).
Scimago: Q1 (110/597) in Political Science and International Relations

The global healthy ageing agenda: The impact of education, gender, childhood conditions and social engagement in rural South Africa. Journal of Policy Modeling.
Donato, R., Onur, I., & Wilson, J. (2023).
ABDC ranked: A

*Based on notification of contract emailed to CBGL.research@flinders.edu.au from 21 Mar to 12 Apr

Skills (mis)matching and Australia's migration program

CIs: Cebulla, A., Gamble, H. & Tan, G.
Funder: Department of Treasury and Finance. Award amount: $79,715

RED Business Club Program Evaluation

CIs: Cebulla, A. & Moretti, C.
Funder: The Healthy Collective. Award amount: $34,919

Cisco Systems Australia Pty Ltd Umbrella Agreement

CIs: Hordacre, A-L
Funder: Cisco Australia Pty Ltd. Award amount: $30,000
 

Education 📚

Explore the exciting side of Canvas

Have you explored the features on Canvas yet? We've heard on the grapevine that it has the potential to improve teaching - by streamlining processes that were once more complicated, and having the capability to present information in a more appealing manner.

We checked in with Canvas expert Ashleigh Powell (who worked with Canvas for years in her previous role at RMIT), to learn about some features that are engaging for students, and easy to both discover and use on the platform:
 

Integrating generative AI tools

On the back of Innovation and Enterprise students experimenting for six weeks using AI as a learning tool, Bert Verhoeven and Vishal Rana published a blog post in London School of Economics Impact blog (LSE), which highlights the successful integration of generative AI tools such as ChatGPT and DALLE2. It's well worth a read.

This implementation has been accomplished through authentic assessments and applying the tools in empathy research, creative thinking, design thinking and improvement of tone and style. The blog post follows Verhoeven's contributions to the Flinders AI working group headed by Michelle Picard which resulted in this resource for staff on AI.
 

A successful symposium

The 2023 Honours and GDRM Research Symposium was a major success, and marks another important milestone for Honours and GDRM students.

As Dr Andrew Groves pointed out in his follow-up email after the event, the opportunity to present research helps students crystallise their thinking at a given point in time, and to share their work with peers and College staff.

If you weren't able to attend the event, check out the recordings below:

Watch Part One
 Watch Part Two 

(note: part two starts in the middle of feedback for Meaghan Vogelsang (Criminology))
 

Five trends to watch in digital health management

In the health sector, digital technologies have simplified highly complex systems, and can assist in making healthcare more accessible to a greater volume of people. With healthcare providers under a public obligation to strive for best practice and continuous improvement, it makes sense to embrace innovation and development.

We checked in with Flinders' resident digital health experts – Associate Professors Angie Shafei and Christine Dennis, and Mr Mark Brommeyer – to find out what we can expect in the future, and to learn more about the Graduate Certificate in Digital Health Management.
 

What's On 📅

Launching Flinders University's Centre for Social Impact

This month, we're excited to launch the Flinders Centre for Social Impact and its newest educational offerings, the Graduate Certificate in Social Impact and MBA (Social Impact).

Since the establishment of the Flinders University Centre for Social Impact in 2022 much has happened. Now with over 25 active research contracts, the team has grown to 20 members, plus 20 affiliate colleagues.

Event attendees will hear about the evolution of CSI Flinders, learn more about its new projects across the social impact spectrum and connect with leaders in the government and the for purpose sector.
 

Preventing Space War Forum

What are the current rules of warfare as they currently exist? How are they conceptualized socially, politically and culturally? 

Tune in later this month to hear Professor Melissa de Zwart in the Space Law of Armed Conflict discussion panel, hosted by Arizona State University at the ASU Barrett and O'Connor Washington Center in Washington, DC. Save the link below to watch online.

Thursday 18 May | 5:45am - Space Law of Armed Conflict
 

Information to Note 📝

Did you know Flinders University has four different websites, each targeting a different audience? A good practice is to bookmark the following pages for easy access:

• BGL staff page – make this your default homepage – for BGL current staff

• Staff.flinders.edu.au – for current staff across Flinders university

• www.flinders.edu.au – for future domestic and international students, alumni and donors, business and industry, news and media, future staff. On these pages is a map of Australia and the world – click on these icons to toggle between content targeting international or domestic future students

• Students.flinders.edu.au – current domestic and international students, alumni and donors, business and industry, news and media

• Libraryflin.flinders.edu.au – for staff, students, researchers, high school students, any other library users
 

A note from Dr Lauren Butterworth, Language and Learning Teaching Specialist Academic from the Student Learning Support Service:

"Hi! As you may know, I am here to help support you to deliver learning resource to your students, and to support curriculum development. I will be located in room LWCM 2.39 on Thursdays for staff consultations. Please let me know if you’d like to discuss the delivery of study and academic support to students, either through targeted or general online resources embedded in the LMS, delivery of academic skills content in lectures (eg, referencing, essay writing, paraphrasing and synthesising etc), or curriculum development support, such as consulting on the Curriculum Design Accelerator workshops, or support for assessment or rubric design.

In addition, I will be located in SSS260 from 11am-1pm on Thursdays for student drop-in study and academic support. If you would like me to visit a lecture or workshop to tell your students about this service, or send you a short introductory slide or video, please let me know. As an FYI, I will be on leave from April 3-18, but my student consult hours will be covered by one of my SLSS colleagues."
 

Important Dates 📅

View the calendar here.