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rograms taught by teams of Indigenous staff
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Interactive online settings with lessons adapted to
community needs.
NOTHING ABOUT US WITHOUT US:
STUDENTS AS PARTNERS
Natasha Abrahams (centre) and Mark Pace with seminar chair ANU
deputy vice-chancellor Professor Marnie Hughes-Warrington.
Personal VC, Natasha Abrahams
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egular careers fairs, with potential for them to be segmented
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(e.g. hosting one specifically for international students)
More focus on cadetship programs and learning within industry
Opt-in tutorials for small-group, face-to-face discussions on
course content
More direct engagement as to what students want to get
involved in, or why they feel they can’t get involved (e.g. no
childcare centres on campus)
Student-led initiatives.
International VC, Bijay Sapkota
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aculty-specific advisers and career advisory services
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Frequent visits by industry leaders
Support for marginalised students to increase retention rate
Smoother processes for international students, particularly in
times of crisis
Funded counselling and financial planning
Leniency with special consideration
Focus on the question: What is our responsibility to shape this
world as a whole?
Indigenous VC, Sharlene Leroy-Dyer
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learer job pathways, including cadetships and
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entrepreneurial programs
Grow proportion of Indigenous academics and support staff
Build culturally appropriate student centres
Programs delivered online and face to face in Aboriginal
communities: ‘don’t come to us, we’ll come to you’ approach
Sharlene Leroy-Dyer (left) and Bijay Sapkota with Professor Marnie
Hughes-Warrington (right).
A second session of the conference took on similar themes to
the panel, and looked at the benefits of partnering with students
to improve higher education, as well as successful examples of
collaborative projects between staff and students.
The seminar was kicked off by University of Queensland PhD
candidate Lucy Mercer-Mapstone.
“I believe deeply in the creativity that comes from university
students and staff collaborating,” she said.
“Emotional intelligence and good human skills both come from
partnerships, and we need to have shared responsibility for the
learning endeavour.
“We’ve mastered giving students a voice, but we have a long way
to go when it comes to student action. Too many students are still
considered as passive consumers of knowledge.”
Mercer-Mapstone defined student action as a progression from
giving students a voice, which involves placing students in the role
of co-creators, experts and agents of change.
Bringing international experience to the table, University of East
Anglia vice-chancellor Professor David Richardson built on this
concept, citing examples of student-led initiatives that achieved the
otherwise unachievable.
Richardson’s main example was the university’s Never OK
campaign. The project saw students charged with creating a
project to tackle racism, discrimination and sexual assault on
campus, and resulted in a series of graffiti-style messages raising
awareness across campus.
Richardson said such a campaign illustrated how students
better communicated with their peers, and possessed a wealth
of creative ideas that could improve campus life and education
outcomes.
“I’ve seen universities develop in a positive way when we realise
the potential of partnership – when we place students as
co-producers and co-designers of education,” he said.
“I don’t think we should fall into the trap of just seeing students
as consumers. It’s a culture shift that can be uncomfortable for
senior staff, but I feel it’s my job to lead that change.
“If you work with students, you get creative solutions which
are far more impactful than you would have come up with
by yourself.”
Other successful examples included a collaboration between the
University of Queensland and its student union to create a sexual
misconduct policy and mental health strategy.
University of Technology Sydney Professor Sally Varnham said
knowing the benefits of collaboration, universities should aim to
create their own genuine partnerships with students.
“It requires a mindset change from what we’ve had previously in
Australian universities,” she said.
“Partnership is an ethos not an activity. Students are the
university and the university is the students, but sometimes that
gets forgotten.
“It’s like a gym membership. You can’t just sign up and then
loiter around and expect to get fit – you have to do something
about it.” ■
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