Academic focus zones for 2025
News 11 DecemberThe 2025 Academic Timeline interactions and focus zones are now available to help prioritise the planning and delivery of learning and teaching. Sync the focus zones to your Outlook calendar now.
12 May 2021
Share
A message from Provost Professor Belinda Tynan:
As I enter my third month at ACU, I am energised by the many positive impressions and ideas for our future growth that have been shared with me. I believe we can sit in the top quartile of universities in everything we do, and one of the areas I’d love to see ACU focus on is offering an intimate and contemporary student experience.
Teams across ACU are already working to create this sense of intimacy for students. Among the examples I’ve seen is the new pedagogy we’ve implemented at Blacktown to enhance the student experience and engagement, and efforts to foster a sense of belonging on campus through the many activities our students can engage in.
But rather than speak at you about this goal, I’d like to share two valuable perspectives with you. I asked Director, Office of Student Success (OSS) Jane Caton and Dr Ann-Marie Gibson, Lecturer in Sport and Exercise Psychology in Blacktown, about how they interpret intimacy, what it means in their context, and what they’re doing to create an intimate student experience.
Intimacy, according to Jane Caton, is a two-way thing. “It doesn’t just happen. It’s something that grows and matures and evolves. You cannot experience intimacy unless you feel safe and wanted and heard and respected. You cannot experience intimacy if you feel you don’t belong.
“It’s so important that students feel that they belong at ACU and that we really want them to be here. It’s important that they know we care about them and about what they think. It’s important that they know they can speak and be heard, and that their words and intentions will be respected.”
Jane says the next step towards intimacy is providing appropriate, welcoming, nurturing physical and digital spaces where students can meet likeminded people. Finally, we need to encourage students to develop and grow; to flourish in whatever way is meaningful to them.
Together, she says, these elements encourage a familiarity and ease among students of their surroundings. These also lead to students knowing that what they do in study is supported by the rest of the university – there is a connectedness.
One way OSS is working to achieve this sense of intimacy is by listening to students through consultation and engagement with campus student associations, ACUNSA, focus groups, clubs and societies, and SSAF surveys. “Student leaders are increasingly involved in decision-making and are consulted formally and informally,” Jane says. “This has fostered trust which, along with belonging and respect, is another essential element in true intimacy.”
For Dr Ann-Marie Gibson, an intimate student experience is “one where the student feels a sense of purpose, value, and connection with their social environment and the physical environment”.
“Creating intimacy in a contemporary context is about ensuring we place students at the forefront of these developments,” she says. “They are the gatekeepers to the knowledge and perspectives we need to shape the contemporary student experience at ACU, allowing us to celebrate the diversity of the student population and their varied and ever-changing educational expectations.”
Ann-Marie and her colleagues, together with the Learning and Teaching Centre, are working on a project to enhance the student experience and engagement at Blacktown Campus. There are several aspects to this, she explains.
“Within one of the exercise science units, we have incorporated an early, low-stake assessment with immediate feedback to develop a sense of purpose to their learning early in the semester.
“Exercise science students at Blacktown, unlike those at other campuses, are taught exclusively by me as the lecturer in charge. In addition to online learning, we meet face to face in weekly tutorial groups of 15-20 students, where students can develop a connection with me and their peers. I also offer students regular one-to-one tutor support to further develop the intimate experience.”
As you can see, some excellent work is being done at ACU to better the student learning experience.
This is an ongoing conversation – I look forward to engaging further with you on it.
The 2025 Academic Timeline interactions and focus zones are now available to help prioritise the planning and delivery of learning and teaching. Sync the focus zones to your Outlook calendar now.
ACU will move to the new EBSCOhost user interface on 4 February 2025. Find out what you need to do to prepare.
Please note the digests from Academic Board meetings 06/2024 held on 14 November 2024 and via circular resolution from 15-19 November 2024.
The 2024 Showcase of Teaching and Learning brought staff and students together to share innovations and collaborations from across the university. An online edition will be hosted in early 2025.
It has been a big year, and we understand that the festive season can be a different experience for each of us. Access a new resource from our employee assistance program, designed to help you prepare...
ACU's Co-Lab proudly announces Kyla Tucker as the winner of the $1,000 ACU Co-Lab Business Idea Pitch Award 2024, following careful evaluation by a panel of ACU judges.
Limited services will be available via Service Central on 12 and 13 December, while the Service Central team attend a staff conference. The Service Central phone line and live chat will not be availab...
A message from Vice President Fr Anthony Casamento csma: Ok, let’s not kid ourselves. If you are like me, December can feel like chaos. Yet, amid this chaos, the Church gives us the Season of Advent -...
Associate Professor Grant Duthie from the SPRINT Research Centre and Professor Jo Ingold from the Peter Faber Business School have won a prestigious government grant that will see them work with the b...
Let’s reflect on our inclusive practices during International Day of People with Disability.
ACU’s Peter Faber Business School has earned accreditation from AACSB, the US-based organisation that accredits business schools worldwide.
A message from the Provost, Professor Julie Cogin: As we approach the end of the year it’s fitting to look back and reflect on everything we’ve achieved over the past 12 months.
Find out the end-of-year deadlines and operating hours for a range of staff and student services within Corporate Services including Service Central, People & Capability and Student Administration.
The popular medicines database MIMS Online is upgrading to a new platform and changing its name to eMIMSelite.
16 Days is a global campaign observed annually from November 25 to December 10 and serves as a critical reminder of the pervasive and often invisible violence that affects millions of people. Watch a ...
Include an additional survey item in the Student Evaluation of Learning and Teaching (SELT) survey for units that are offered in ACU Online Term 4 (202476).
With the end of the year approaching, it's time to ensure a smooth closure of the university’s 2024 accounting books and financial year-end work. Check the finance end-of-year deadlines for 2024.
ACU’s Graduation and Protocol team has been recognized at the 2024 Association for Tertiary Education Management (ATEM) Awards for Excellence for their innovative Reader Module project.
A message from the Executive Dean of Health Sciences Professor Suzanne Chambers: The Faculty of Health Sciences research space has seen colleagues come together in a spirit of shared learning and conn...
Role of Chair training is now available through the ACU Staff Learning Hub.
Visit Service Central to access Corporate Services.