![](/-/media/feature/micrositesnewsandevents/staffnews/suzanne-chambers-460px.jpg)
Innovation in practice
News 24 JulyA message from Executive Dean of Health Sciences Professor Suzanne Chambers: Winter has so far been a season of future-thinking and action for the Faculty of Health Sciences.
29 July 2020
Share
A message from the Associate Vice-Chancellor (Qld) Professor Jim Nyland:
I am pleased to report that ACU Brisbane is in the fortunate position of welcoming hundreds of new students and thousands of returning students to campus this week. They join our ACU Brisbane staff, including our essential services team who have worked selflessly to ensure the McAuley at Banyo campus has remained open during the past six months, as well as all other academic and professional staff who returned to campus on 1 July. I am grateful to our entire academic community who have worked tirelessly to further develop and support their courses both online and on-campus, giving our students the choice to continue much of their studies at McAuley at Banyo or from a distance.
A number of our key stakeholders are also beginning to re-engage with our Brisbane campus, including the Queensland Government Education Minister who joins a group of local principals in our Gaudete Centre later this week, and our strategic partners involved with the Veterans Transition Program who I had the privilege of welcoming face-to-face here on campus earlier this month.
This first week of Semester 2 in the third decade of the 21st Century is proving to be a time of great contradictions. The future seems set to be one of social crisis which at the same time is an educational crisis. In such a time, one is reminded by Rahm Emanuel’s oft-repeated quote:
“You never let a serious crisis go to waste. And what I mean by that it’s an opportunity to do things you think you could not do before.”
Amid the carnage of the worldwide health pandemic Coronavirus (Covid-19), which has led to hundreds of thousands of deaths, is the paradox that we have vastly more education and learning than our forebears could ever have possibly imagined. Formal and informal learning opportunities have exploded into possibilities via the digital revolution. Theoretically and almost practically it is possible for educators to communicate with every living human being on the planet. This juxtaposition presents new opportunities as well as threats for higher learning that are expanded upon in my recent op-ed piece in Campus Review.
Socially, there is an ongoing sense of solidarity in the face of the current crisis. “We are all in this together” is a sentiment that continues to be widely desired and shared across our academic community and beyond. One example of the importance of creating opportunity through adversity is the opening of the Maryamana Hospital in Erbil-Iraq that took place this week. This much-needed health facility was the vision of Bishop Warda, Chaldean Bishop of Erbil-Iraq, who was a frequent visitor to the ACU Brisbane campus (when borders allowed) where the Iraq Scholarship Program was formed. Saveen and Ban Oghana, two recipients of this program and now alumni of the Faculty of Health Sciences, have leading roles in the new Maryamana hospital, located in one of the most dangerous places on earth – higher learning at its very best!
Hope through opportunity is a definitive part of ACU’s new Vision Statement. There is hope available to us in this current crisis that we will surely shall find some scientific and medical solutions which work; this is within our capacity and resources. There is also hope in the fact that the pandemic is a spotlight which illuminates the key social and educational wicked issues that face us, that have shaped the real meaning of this crisis and that continue to shape what higher learning should and can be.
Professor Jim Nyland
Associate Vice-Chancellor Qld
A message from Executive Dean of Health Sciences Professor Suzanne Chambers: Winter has so far been a season of future-thinking and action for the Faculty of Health Sciences.
From Monday 22 July to Friday 9 August, Service Central will be available for extended hours to support staff.
A message from Vice President Father Anthony Casamento csma: From 5 – 9 August we will celebrate Mission Week across our campuses. This is an opportunity for us to come together as a community to cele...
Are you going to be a grandparent soon? Did you know ACU offers personal leave for staff to care for their child or grandchild after birth or adoption?
Discover the learning and career development opportunities that are available online, including the brand-new leadership development program, 'The Edge Series'.
Join ASCILITE and become a member of one of Australasia’s most vibrant professional technology enhanced learning communities, with more than 2200 members from tertiary institutions across Australia an...
Phones will be removed from all classrooms over the mid-semester break, from 23 September to 27 September.
Include an additional survey item in the Student Evaluation of Learning and Teaching (SELT) survey for units that are offered in Professional Term 5 (202455).
Australia’s first five-time diving Olympian, a Kiwi gymnast and the woman who taught actor Chris Hemsworth to row will be among 15 ACU students and alumni to compete at the Paris 2024 Olympic and Para...
A message from acting Executive Dean of Theology and Philosophy Associate Professor Richard Colledge: Recently, the faculty has hosted opportunities for reflection on the possibilities for reconcilia...
Are you on your parenthood journey? A practical guide is now available to support staff, and their supervisors, through the stages of becoming a parent and transitioning back to work.
Embark on an exhilarating journey into the mysterious world of enrolments. Register to attend an enrolment information session for Semester 2, 2024.
Join upcoming online workshops in preparation for Semester 2. Secure your spot today to learn how you can utilise Canvas and its features to enhance your teaching practices.
A limitless professional horizon awaits ACU students after its three IT programs were awarded certification by the nation’s most trustworthy player in the tech sector, the Australian Computer Society.
Following evaluation and voting by a panel of ACU judges, Co-Lab is delighted to announce Thomas Clark and Xavier Chalkley as the winners of the $1000 prize for the ACU Co-Lab Social Enterprise Pitch ...
ACU Library staff will participate in professional development activities on Thursday 18 July. While away from their usual posts, they'll be working together across three locations to plan our future ...
Applications for 2024 Teaching Development Grants, Citations and Awards are open. Explore guidelines and resources to enhance your teaching project’s impact or gain recognition for your contributions.
As we sit in this small window of the winter break gearing up for Semester 2, it's important to recognise that not everyone experiences this period as downtime. For many, workloads and busy lifestyles...
This week is NAIDOC Week, an opportunity to recognise and celebrate the history, culture, and achievements of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.
ACU staff who are also members with UniSuper can now access free expert medical advice and services to support their health and wellbeing through MetLife 360Health.
Visit Service Central to access Corporate Services.