Executive Director's Report

Prospective Student Applications for 2019

Admission processes for 2019 are in full swing, with the Curriculum and Students team already processing over 2,000 applications for MGSE courses. Overall application numbers appear similar to last year’s healthy numbers, and there is an increased demand for some courses including the Master of Education and Master of Teaching (Primary). This is an early but positive indication that MGSE is on track to meet student load targets for 2019.

The MERI team have also been coordinating Graduate Research applications for 2019, with over 100 applications currently being ranked for the 2019 intake.

Working with Children Check – Update

Some MGSE Staff have noted that they have an active VIT registration, and queried whether this is an appropriate alternative to the Working With Children Checks being requested of University staff. Advice from the University’s Legal & Risk team is that VIT registration does not meet the University’s obligations, and staff with a VIT registration must still seek a WWCC. Please refer to the WWWC webpage for more details.

Technology Support in MGSE

A reminder that technology support, including for teaching spaces and meeting rooms, is now provided primarily by University Services. For immediate support in teaching spaces or meeting rooms please contact the Service Desk on ext. 40777. For other technology support please call the main service desk number ext. 40888. A limited number of clearly signed spaces remain currently supported by MGSE-IT, however please still access support via ext. 40777 in the first instance.

Induction Program for new MGSE Staff

The MGSE HR team are conducting work on an induction program for all new MGSE staff which will commence from next year. The program will include a face-to-face component for all staff including casual staff, and will improve orientation of new staff to the Graduate School and our operations. For further information please contact the HR team.

MGSE Research Review: Research Services Survey

Academic staff have recently received a request from the Dean to participate in a research services survey. A reminder that the survey closes on Tuesday 13 November, and the feedback collected will be vital to shaping research services for MGSE’s future.

MGSE Graduate Research Conference

The MERI team is coordinating the MERI Graduate Research Conference on Saturday 24 November.

We currently have 24 graduate researchers presenting (including two completions seminars) and 45 people attending. MGSE is keen to encourage more academics to participate, particularly those in the Professoriate. For more information please contact amy.yip@unimelb.edu.au.

Upcoming MERI Workshops

MERI is running a series of grant and ECR career support services over Nov-Dec, including:

• ARC Grant Application Support Studios – A series of six studios scheduled Sep-Dec covering a range of topics to support successful ARC applications.
• MGSE Grant Writing Retreat –  23-24 November. This retreat will bring together a range of mentoring, professional editing, and grant support services to assist MGSE academics writing grant applications across any category. Join us for one or both days.
• ECR/MECAF Strategy Workshops – A series of four workshops delivered by MERI and the library to support ECR and MECAF academics (Nov-Dec).

For more information on any of these activities, contact matt.smith@unimelb.edu.au

Roland