Dean's Report

Marles Medal

One of the great pleasures of being the Dean is announcing the recognition our MGSE colleagues receive for their outstanding achievements. To this end I am delighted to report that Laureate Professor John Hattie has been awarded the inaugural University of Melbourne Marles Medal in Humanities and Social Sciences, in recognition of the internationally significant impact of his research. The medal is named after Faye Marles, the first woman Chancellor of the University of Melbourne (2001-2004) and Victoria’s first Commissioner of Equal Opportunity (1977-87).

This medal is a richly deserved acknowledgment of John’s influential research which has opened up new dialogues about the use of research in the classroom. His work has moved the focus from ‘how to teach’ to ‘how best to learn’ and from ‘what works’ to ‘what works best’. His strength-based model looks not at remediation but at identifying success and upscaling to influence practice. His ground-breaking work, Visible Learning, is being used extensively in Denmark, England, the United States, Canada, Australia, Sweden, and across the globe. The University will publicly announcing the Marles medal winners tomorrow.

Professor Emeritus



Laureate Professor Emeritus John Hattie

I am also pleased to announce that the University has also conferred the honour of Professor Emeritus on John Hattie and John Polesel, who are both retiring at the end of this year, in recognition of their distinguished and exceptional academic careers.

As most of you will know, John Polesel’s work has focused on important issues in the areas of upper secondary education, vocational education and training, and transitions from school. In particular, his internationally recognised research has focused on issues of inequality, the relationship between schools and vocational training, models of education and training, and youth transitions systems. His focus on the transitions and pathways of young people as they navigate complex and opaque vocational education systems in a time of rapid and radical technological change has provided critical data and analysis about how systems work and how they could work better. This work has informed systems and governments as they grapple with seemingly intractable problems around vocational education and training.



Professor Emeritus John Polesel

I’m sure you will all join me in congratulating Professors Emeritus John Hattie and John Polesel on these prestigious honours.

Academic Workload Allocation Model

Next Friday 30th October from 2 – 3 pm we will be holding an academic Staff Forum to present and discuss the new Academic Workload Allocation Model (AWAM) where we will outline how the model works and what this means for staff. The principle which underpins the AWAM is to provide a model for the annual allocation of core academic work that is fair, equitable and transparent. It is the foundation for our MGSE workforce planning and budget sustainability and provides a framework to support career development and staff wellbeing. There has been ongoing consultation with senior academic staff over the past few months which has led to significant iterative improvements to the MGSE model and we now look forward to broadening the conversation to ensure greater clarity and understanding. A dedicated Intranet AWAM site will go live after the webinar and will provide comprehensive information and details. After this webinar, a series of virtual lunchtime sessions will also be organised for staff where all academics will be able to drop in to ask any questions about the AWAM.

I look forward to as many of you as possible joining me at the Staff Forum next week – a calendar invitation will follow shortly.

Jim