Following an extensive review of domestic student recruitment and subsequent change process last year, a new Future Students Office is now in place. The newly established office will develop a university-wide framework which aims to protect Macquarie University’s market strengths and to grow new and emerging markets.

The team, shown on the organisational chart, comprises internal and external appointments including key team leaders below, bringing together expertise from the public and private higher education sector in recruitment, marketing and student engagement.

• Rebecca Barnes, Director, Future Students – Rebecca joined Macquarie in 2014, bringing recruitment and admissions experience from the higher education sector in the UK and Australia. Rebecca will lead university-wide domestic student recruitment strategy and delivery of commencing student load.
• Caroline Taouk, Associate Director, Undergraduate Future Students, has worked in student recruitment, marketing and widening participation at Macquarie for a number of years and will lead all undergraduate recruitment programs, campaigns and school partnerships across the Bachelor and Foundation, Diploma and Next Step portfolio.
• Carlos Reis, Associate Director, Postgraduate Future Students, brings a wealth of experience from senior sales and marketing roles in the private higher education sector and will drive new strategies to regain our postgraduate coursework market and continue our performance in recruitment to the Master of Research program.
• Bonnie Linsell, Head of Operations, has worked as a marketing specialist and integrated campaign manager at Macquarie for a number of years and will lead a team of recruitment managers each dedicated to a faculty and Macquarie Applied Finance Centre. Bonnie will work with the faculties to establish priorities and opportunities for growth and develop specialised campaigns specific to these products while ensuring alignment with university-wide strategy and plans.

As part of the change, new Faculty Recruitment Manager positions were created to work in partnership with the faculties and serve as dedicated resources to develop detailed product knowledge and recruitment plans. They will meet with faculty staff over the coming weeks and can be reached by email.

• Faculty of Arts: Andrew Hewett
• Faculty of Business and Economics: Maria Kirkpatrick-Jones
• Faculty of Human Sciences: Theresa Touma
• Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences: Daniel Garland
• Faculty of Science and Engineering: Zoe Wall
• Macquarie Applied Finance Centre: Ann Schoefer

Engaging with the new team

• Future Students plans to work with academic colleagues to build a real understanding of their programs and ensure the passion they feel for learning and teaching and their field of expertise is conveyed in interactions with prospective students.
• Administrative units continue to play a large role in recruitment initiatives and are an integral part of the success of a university-wide student recruitment framework. The Undergraduate and Postgraduate teams will collaborate with administrative areas to ensure future students are supported in their journey to choosing Macquarie.
• There are series of both undergraduate and postgraduate recruitment activities throughout the year that academics can participate in directly, the biggest being Open Day on 20 August.

For questions or more information about Future Students, email futurestudents@mq.edu.au.