September 2009 — Volume 3, Issue 5

Welcome

Welcome to this edition of Communiqué which celebrates the considerable efforts of the 2009 ALTC Citation recipients each of whom has made an indelible impression on Australian higher education. Each of the 206 recipients has helped create a quality student experience through their long-standing contributions in specific areas of responsibility. Citation stories on the following pages provide a brief overview of the enormous amount of work taking place across the country and in each case students are central to that activity. While we
can publish just a few of the stories here, full details of all recipients are available from the ALTC website.

The 2009 ALTC Fellows are also introduced in this edition with three outstanding individuals appointed as national teaching fellows and six as teaching fellows, all of whom will address national priorities. Their activities span a range of areas from rethinking assessment in a participatory digital world, developing a national strategy for teaching Indonesian language to an invitation to enter Valhalla as part of a multimedia program designed to infuse students with an understanding of ethical practice.

ALTC Fellows play a significant role in ensuring that, as an organisation, we fulfill our obligations in providing leadership in learning and teaching through work that tackles emerging issues in Australian higher education. You can read about Professor Sally Kift who is producing world-leading scholarship on the first year experience. This is an area of increasing importance as the sector strives to meet the aspirations set out in the Bradley Review, and reinforced by the Education Minister Julia Gillard, for enrolments to constitute 20 per cent of students from low SES backgrounds by 2020.

Professor Michael Christie describes his unique work with Yolngu Elders in his piece on the Teaching from Country program while Professor Ron Oliver rigorously explores how to take the distance out of off-campus learning.

Professor Marnie Hughes-Warrington writes about the impact of being named one of the 2008 Prime Minister’s Award winners providing readers with a personal view of how receiving that prestigious prize has changed her life. Since late last year Professor Hughes-Warrington and Professor Stephen Barkoczy, also a 2008 Prime Minister’s award winner, have generously shared their experiences with university staff around the nation. We are fortunate to have a first-hand account from Professor Marcia Devlin of Deakin University
and Nicolette Lee from Swinburne, about the value of these sessions.

We also profile Professor Peter Coaldrake, Vice-Chancellor of Queensland University of Technology who has held the reins of Universities Australia since mid-year. UA’s Lead Vice-Chancellor for International Professor Daryl Le Grew addresses the challenging issue of how to deal with unscrupulous operators and ill-informed agents.

These are just some of the stories and topics in this edition of Communiqué all of which relate in some way to providing a quality student experience, the theme reflected in our wrap-around cover. I hope that you find plenty to enjoy and, as always, your feedback and contributions are most welcome.

Professor Richard Johnstone
Executive Director
Australian Learning and Teaching Council