On Tuesday 24 November Academic Senate held its meeting via Zoom, our 6th fully virtual meeting. The full agenda is on the Academic Senate website and papers are available on Truth.  With over 50 people in attendance we continued with our  ‘flipped classroom’ approach with presentations on some items pre-recorded for members to watch before the meeting, giving us more time for discussion.  

Here are the Top 5 items from our last meeting for 2020: 

1. Academic Senate Projects and Agenda Plan 

The projects endorsed by Senate for 2021 are: 

  • Post-Implementation Review of Shared Academic Governance 
  • Review of Indigenous Connected Curriculum 
  • Review of Diversity and Inclusion on Academic Senate  
  • Operating Plan 2020-2024 – Academic Senate engagement with academic and other related matters 
  • Review of University Medal Policy  

This list now goes to the Academic Senate Standing Committee for approval. 

In the meeting we also discussed a draft version of the annual agenda plan which has been developed to align with a revised annual agenda planning process developed by Council.  Some items listed in the Plan are undergoing consultation with portfolios and senior officers of the University, and a final version will be submitted to Academic Senate in early 2021. 

2. New Course Proposals 

The ASQC Chair spoke to the process by which new course proposals arising from the Curriculum Viability and Efficiency Principles have been through review and approval via Faculty Boards and ASQC. The Executive Deans provided a summary of the major changes to the coursework suite in their Faculty.

The DVC (Academic) acknowledged the amount of work put in by academic and professional staff across the University through this project and thanked all staff involved for their dedication.

3. Higher Education Certificates

The PVC (Programs and Pathways) provided a recorded presentation outlined that the Department of Education, Skills and Employment has announced the continuation of the Higher Education Certificates (HECs) beyond 2020. As part of support for a bid from Macquarie University, a working group including the Chairs of MUIC Subcommittee, Academic Standards and Quality Committee and Academic Senate met to review the list of 16 proposed Certificates, which was submitted to Academic Senate for ratification of this exciting new opportunity for the University.

4. Micro-credentials Policy

The PVC (Learning and Teaching) provided a background on micro-credentials, which have been in development at the University since 2018, and explained that further work in this space is a key project in the Learning and Teaching portfolio under the Operating Plan and the Learning and Teaching Strategic Framework.  To support the governance and implementation of micro-credentials, we considered a revised Micro-credentials policy that was developed after consultation across the University community including with members of Academic Senate, SLTC, ASQC and Faculty Boards. The policy was approved and is now on the MQ policy website.

5. Farewell to outgoing Senators

We farewelled a number of Senators who are finishing their term on Academic Senate.

This includes our student members:

  • Sayantani Chatterjee
  • Leanne Freame
  • Maria Koutsouklakis
  • Grace McIntosh Kessling
  • Shabnam Mohamad Shafiq
  • Danielle Tonkin
  • Jenni Zoue.

It was noted that Ms Tonkin and Ms Freame will continue in their roles as co-chairs of the Post-Implementation Review of Support and Recognition for Students involved in Academic Governance and will provide their recommendations to Senate to be provided in early 2021.  Ms Tonkin thanked the Chair, Deputy Chair and members of Governance Services on behalf of the student members of Academic Senate.

And we are also farewelling a number of academic staff members who are also finishing their term on Academic Senate:

And we are also farewelling a number of academic staff members:

  • Associate Professor Catriona Lavermicocca
  • Associate Professor Matt Bower
  • Dr Frank Carrigan
  • Dr Florence Chiew
  • Professor Catherine Dean
  • Professor Chris Dixon
  • Professor Thomas Fath
  • Professor Rebecca Mitchell
  • Associate Professor Lan Snell;
  • Associate Professor Mel Taylor
  • Clinical Associate Professor Jamie Berry
  • Mr Stephen Burke.

Next year we look forward to welcoming the members of Academic Senate for the 2021 – 2022 term.

Posted by Jacqueline Phillips

Jacqueline Phillips is a neurophysiologist and Professor of Neuroscience at Macquarie. She worked as a veterinarian before pursuing medical research. She is currently the Chair of Academic Senate.

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