Dean's Report

While Jim is in Beijing this week attending the annual Dean’s Conference for the International Network of Educational Institutes (INEI) I am acting as Dean. I’m sure Jim will tell us some interesting stories from the conference in his next report.

MGSE 10 year Anniversary celebration

Last week saw a series of events across the graduate school to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the Melbourne Graduate School of Education. Professional development sessions, a co-badged Dean’s Lecture and a Golden Alumni morning tea were held to celebrate this milestone. The events had a focus on our alumni and the morning tea provided an opportunity for our former Dean, Professor Kwong Lee Dow to describe to the gathering a little of the history of MGSE before cutting a magnificent cake embellished with the University’s logo. The celebrations also afforded the chance for many of our alumni to reconnect and to make new connections. A gallery of photos is available from last week's golden morning tea celebration.

MGSE Graduation

The MGSE graduation is coming up on Saturday 8 December at the Royal Exhibition Building and I encourage any academics who would like to attend to please register. Graduations are wonderful occasions and it is very moving to see the joy and pride of our students as they accept their degrees; not to mention the pleasure we feel as their teachers. This particular ceremony will be just for MGSE graduands and not for other faculties.

End of year work

As the end of the year nears, and we all look forward to spending some time with family and friends, I am keenly aware of the immense amount of work that is currently going on across MGSE. Both finishing up our 2018 projects and planning for 2019 is occupying us all. I particularly note the completion of the key semester two marking cycle and I would like to thank all staff involved for accomplishing this huge task. This week also sees our new Master of Teaching Internship program begin which has involved a great deal of preparation as we add a new cohort to MGSE.

Travel advice

Just a reminder as we head into a time when staff and students may be planning travel to conduct academic research that all travel to countries designated at DFAT’s level three or four require the Dean’s approval. The University has determined to also include DFAT level 2 countries in the Middle East as high-risk destinations for the purposes of its travel approval and escalations, and this travel will also require the Dean’s approval. Staff are required to book all University funded travel through UniTravel. If travel is booked by a third party (e.g. travel is externally funded), staff are required to log the details of their trip using the ‘Log My Trip’ function. A complete travel itinerary for high-risk destinations must be recorded with the approving supervisor before any travel approval is granted. All University-related international travel by graduate research students must be logged via Student1. Here is the latest travel alert issued by the University.

MGSE End of Year Celebration

Lastly, please don’t forget to register for our end of year celebrations on Wednesday 19 December – I hear that our new social committee is busy organising all sorts of fun for us to enjoy on the day. This is a good opportunity for us all to relax, appreciate the work we have all achieved this year and to spend some time together.

Helen Cahill