In 2015 we have celebrated professional milestones, highlighted the achievements of some of our leading teaching staff, and shared ground-breaking academic research – it’s been a busy year! Thank you all for reading, sharing and contributing to the stories we share.
Not only are we listing our top 20 most read stories for 2015, we’re also featuring the top five stories from Macquarie Matters and Teche.
1. New email and calendaring for all staff
On Monday 28 September, we announced one of the biggest changes in the way we conduct our day-to-day work, and it’s set to launch this Monday 14 December.
2. New departments for new faculty
Following consultation with staff, a formal restructure has helped the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences become a fully-fledged faculty of the University
3. A new era of development
In the first phase of a 10-year plan to holistically address the lifecycle of campus buildings and infrastructure, Property will launch the renewal of E7A on 9 June.
4. Macquarie University Hospital welcomes Prince Harry
HRH visit Macquarie to meet leading surgeon Munjed Al Muderis and osseointegration surgery patient, Lieutenant Alistair Spearing.
5. Macquarie University to run city campus in 2016
A new Sydney CBD campus will offer study convenience for those who live or work in the city.
6. The doors are open
Today we welcome our first cohort of students to the new Macquarie University International College.
7. A meeting of pioneering minds
The University Annual Conference and all-staff expo is set to highlight a year of yard work and build upon our tradition of service and engagement excellence.
8. Your campus – the big picture
Director of Property Mark Broomfield couldn’t be busier; he’s overseeing around $60 million worth of campus development projects this year.
9. Snapped on (and off) campus
Always a popular feature, catch up on some of the photographic highlights you might have missed.
10. Hello U… bar
With a new UBar, new pop-up store and a new take on an old favourite, Campus Life is raising the food and beverage stakes.
11. Research Awards in focus: Part one
Meet some of our highly commended candidates in the lead up to the 2015 Research Excellence Awards announced Wednesday 4 November.
12. A new leaf for academic governance
Find out who your elected Faculty representatives are; they’ll help get your ideas to the table.
13. Advancing Macquarie
Paul Dennett has been announced as our new Executive Director of Advancement, commencing in late August 2015.
14. Leading-edge professional performance
Last week’s Vice-Chancellor’s Excellence Awards for Professional Staff awarded our professional best, who go above and beyond the call of duty.
15. The penny drops moment
Session 1 has begun, but why did Associate Professor Kevin Brooks spend it being deliberately grumpy?
16. It’s a wrap for April graduations
Students, staff, an Olympian and a Wiggle shared the stage during the April graduation series.
17. Rewarding our learning and teaching pioneers
Meet the staff whose extraordinary work was honoured at the Vice-Chancellor’s Learning and Teaching Awards.
18. Research weather report 3.0
You’re invited to join Professor Sakkie Pretorius for an update on the implantation of the Strategic Research Framework.
19. Welcome onboard
Human Resources is proud to say ‘welcome to Macquarie’ following the overhaul of its onboarding process.
20. The bisque is back
It’s the first day of winter and that means one thing: The Soup Kitchen is open!
Top five Macquarie Matters Stories
1. The great garden gnome hunt
Back in 1970, garden gnomes took over the campus, following what became widely known as the Great Garden Gnome Hunt.
2. Alumni benefits
The University offeres alumni a great array of benefits, from free access to over 15,000 journal titles to discounted membership at the Sports and Aquatic Centre.
3. Alumni volunteering
Macquarie is fortunate to have many volunteers among our alumni community who want to do more than keep their university experience alive through volunteering at alumni events: they want to help make real change in the lives of others through their actions.
4. Historians and scientists collaborate to crack 2,500 year-old mystery
Researchers at the Faculty of Arts’ Australian Centre for Ancient Numismatic Studies (ACANS) have joined forces with scientists from the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation (ANSTO) to solve a 25 century old mystery.
5. Students struggle to hear in open-plan classrooms
Kiri Mealings, a PhD candidate researching speech perception in open plan classrooms, discusses how noise is a real issue, particularly when a class is trying to engage in critical listening activities where it is essential that the children can hear the new concepts they are being taught.
Top five Teche stories
1. Connect More with….Prashan Karunaratne
“Once students see you as a relatable person and you genuinely care for their well-being, you can get away with any pedagogy”: Department of Economics’ Prashan Karunaratne shares his teaching secrets.
2. Introducing a new vision for learning and teaching
Designed at a program-level, digitally-integrated, experiential, research-enriched: In the lead-up to Learning and Teaching Week, Pro Vice-Chancellor Professor Sherman Young heralded the ‘new normal’ for learning and teaching at Macquarie.
3. Death of the lecture: have the reports been greatly exaggerated?
Associate Dean Learning and Teaching Dr Mitch Parsell on why there might still be life in the old lecture yet.
4. April Senate Summary: The Top 5 Issues
Hot topics from the Academic Senate included the Outside Studies Program, assessment policy, academic progression and students at risk…
5. Teacher of the Week – Dr Eugene Chekaluk, Senior Lecturer, Psychology
He says it’s “a waste of time putting effort into being popular”, but when students create a Facebook fan club in your honour, you must be doing something right!
Plus an honourable mention to the cutest Teche post of the year
Pet Therapy meets Snowy the therapy dog
That time Teche met one of Campus Wellbeing’s star performers…