As you may be aware, the 42nd annual conference of the Higher Education Research and Development Society of Australasia (HERDSA) was held at the University of Auckland in July this year.
UNSW sponsored a well-attended Education Focussed roundtable on the ‘Changing nature of academic practice’.
We had a great turnout with representatives from key Australian and New Zealand universities participating in the session. The UNSW EF community also turned out in full support – you can catch pics of Debbie Lackerstein, Gavin Mount and Nicolaas Warouw from UNSW Canberra, Eleny Tzioumis from UNSW Law, Adrienne Torda from UNSW Medicine, Natalie Oh from UNSW Business, and Shannan Maisey, Carol Oliver, Natalie Rogers from UNSW Science
Associate Professor Louise Lutze-Mann, Director of Education Focussed Career Development, presented at the roundtable session followed by a lively and engaging discussion with academics.
This was a notable way for UNSW to be seen leading the conversation on education and building an intentional presence in such conferences.
“The Education Focussed roundtable at HERDSA was a significant opportunity for UNSW to introduce the initiative to the wider higher education community and to showcase our achievements to date,” says Professor Alex Steel, Acting Pro Vice-Chancellor (Education), “It was also great to learn from the experience of other institutions who have teaching focussed staff.”
Associate Professor Adrienne Torda was awarded a fellowship from HERDSA and received her fellowship certificate at the conference dinner. Read more about her insights on teaching and the importance of the fellowship here.
We were able to explore different touch points that UNSW could have with education focussed universities, increase our brand awareness in this space and forge new opportunities and relationships with academics. It also supports UNSW’s 2025 strategic priorities of fostering educational excellence and social engagement.