Update from the Provost

A message from the Provost Professor Pauline Nugent.

I have recently returned from a very successful trip to the United Kingdom and Italy where I met with partner universities and attended ACU events.

My meetings in London in mid-May at St Mary’s University in Twickenham were centred on student mobility opportunities. In particular, St Mary’s students joining ACU students  at our campus in Rome.

This integration of cultures in our unique Italian setting is a chance for ACU students to experience one more layer during their international placement.  Present at the meetings were Professor Symeon Dagkas, the Dean of Faculty of Sport, Health & Applied Science, Professor Karen Sanders, Dean of Research and Mr Paul Bridge, Pro Vice-Chancellor, Global Engagement.

Discussions were held to explore opportunities for establishing joint stakeholder events with St Mary’s University at ACU’s Rome Campus, and with these endeavours in mind, St Mary’s will send senior staff representatives to visit there later in 2019.

In Rome I attended the inaugural ACU-Pontifical Institute for Arabic and Islamic Studies (PISAI) lecture at the PISAI campus.  I welcomed the guests to the lecture given by Professor Daniel Madigan SJ, an Australian Jesuit who currently teaches at Georgetown University in the Department of Theology and whose scholarly work focuses upon the spiritual encounters and theological dialogues between Muslims and Christians.

I travelled from Rome to Siena to meet with representatives at Siena University on 23 May.  This visit follows on from an initial meeting held by our Vice-Chancellor and President, Professor Greg Craven at Siena University in 2018.  In order to gain more insight into collaborative opportunities there, I met with Professor Francesco Frati, Rector of the University of Siena; Professor Luca Verzichelli, Rector’s Delegate for Internationalization; Professor Elena Bargagli, Department of Medicine, Surgery and Neuroscience; and other senior staff.

Our discussions in Siena included the potential for ACU students to include Siena as a destination as part of their Rome Campus programs, for Siena University students to join ACU students in Rome and potentially our campuses in Australia for student exchange.  Siena University, one of the oldest and first publicly funded universities in Italy would provide a distinctive environment for study outside Rome.  Rector Frati and Professor Verzichelli will visit ACU in Australia later in 2019, where further discussion and more detailed next steps will be expanded.

I concluded my trip by hosting the Executive Education Immersion Tour and Roundtable program Governing for Sustainable Human Development and the Common Good from 27-31 May in Rome.  Facilitated by Mr Tom Ristoski, Executive Director, Strategic Partnerships & Executive Education, this highly successful program attracted 28 delegates, who were key stakeholders from various faith-based organisations across Australia.

Executive Education’s Governance Roundtable delegates and partners attended a cocktail reception at the private residence of Her Excellency Ambassador Melissa Hitchman, Australian Ambassador to the Holy See on Tuesday 29 May.

While I was in Italy, Professorial Fellow Barbara Riegel, ACU Mary MacKillop Institute for Health Research arrived in Rome, prior to facilitating the National Institute of Health’s Self-Care in Health Research Seminar, where we met with the Executive Dean, Health Sciences.  The Seminar ran from 4-7 June and was hosted by Professor Wayne McKenna, Deputy Vice Chancellor for Research, convened by Professor Riegel and attended by research collaborators and experts from various parts of the world.

Professor Michelle Campbell, Executive Dean, Faculty of Health Sciences, Professorial Fellow Barbara Riegel ACU Mary MacKillop Institute for Health Research and Provost, Professor Pauline Nugent.