Dean's Report

Advisory Board

Last week heralded the first meeting of our new MGSE External Advisory Board and it was a successful beginning to what I am sure will be a fruitful engagement between MGSE and the wider community. The Board represents key organisations from within the education sector and industry and they will provide us with their expertise and allow us to test new ideas as we continue to develop the strategic direction of MGSE. While the Board will meet three times a year they will also be available to consult with us on an individual basis. The members of the Board are:

  • Mr Bruce Armstrong, Deputy Secretary, Regional Services Group, Victorian Government
  • Mr Lionel Bamblett, General Manager, Victorian Aboriginal Education Association Incorporated
  • Ms Kristin Douglas, National Manager, Headspace
  • Ms Linda Douglas, Principal, Ruyton Girls’ School
  • Mr Stephen Elder OAM, Executive Director, Catholic Education for the Archdiocese of Melbourne
  • Dr Peter Goss, School Education Program Director, Grattan Institute
  • Mr Andrew Hume, CEO, Gowrie Victoria
  • Mr Anthony Mackay AM, Chair Advisory Board for the National Institute for School Leadership, Washington DC
  • Professor Shelley Mallett, General Manager, Research and Policy, Brotherhood of St Laurence
  • Ms Maxine McKew, Honorary Enterprise Professor, Melbourne Graduate School of Education
  • Mr Craig Robertson, CEO, TAFE Directors Australia

During the wide-ranging conversation at this first meeting various priorities emerged concerning the need for building opportunities for stronger collaboration with the Victorian Department of Education, increasing the translation of research to practice, engagement in lifelong learning, embedding Indigenous literacy in all education and the critical need for a redesign of the VET sector. I am looking forward to working with the Advisory Board and I am sure they will play an important role in assisting us to realise our vision.

Vice-Chancellor Listening and Learning Tour

Last week was also MGSE’s first opportunity to meet our new Vice-Chancellor, Professor Duncan Maskell. I was pleased to see such a big crowd in attendance and the feedback I received was that it was a positive occasion that gave us a flavour of the person and his ideas, although it is early days in his new role. While it was a chance for us to meet Duncan it also provided us with the opportunity to tell him a little bit about MGSE. It was certainly an MGSE day for the Vice-Chancellor as he stayed on for lunch to meet with some of our senior staff and then later in the day I had the first of my one-on-one discussions with him which was timely and an opportunity to reinforce our priorities and strategic directions.

Staff Professional Day

On Thursday 25 October, I was delighted to attend the MGSE Professional Staff Day at the University’s Boathouse where I presented the first of the new Quarterly Conversation series. It was also great to hear from the Provost, Professor Mark Considine on the future priorities of the University. The staff videos were a resounding highlight and are available to download. Bringing staff to an external venue to spend time together and focus on both the work we do and the contribution we make to others is certainly a worthwhile and important part of building a collaborative culture here at MGSE.

Quarterly Conversations

All the initial Quarterly Conversations have now been held and I was pleased to see how well attended they were with excellent discussions about the opportunities and challenges we face. This series will continue in 2019 as we continue to build momentum. As I stated at each of these forums however, all staff should feel free to come to me, or members of the Executive team, at anytime with ideas or issues without necessarily waiting for formal meetings or forums.

Jim