They’re not.

“The Team have a focused and ambitious program of works for delivery in 2020, which is well underway,” says Professor Kevin Jameson, Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Academic).

“We’ve also expanded their scope to include projects that support HDR and Macquarie International.”

With a history of successfully delivering a wide range of challenging projects, the team were well placed to provide support to other teams across the University as they responded to the COVID-19 challenge.

“We all needed to respond quickly to the COVID-19 situation,” explains Ms Gail White, Executive Director Student Engagement and Academic Registrar.

“With their depth and range of experience, the Program Beacon team were well placed to jump in at the deep end and help other teams across the University provide the support and resources our students and staff needed.”

Here’s the team’s 2020 schedule of work:

Curriculum Management System (CMS) and CourseFinder Replacement

At the top of the list is the development of tools that assist prospective and current students find the degree they want to study. They need to be easy to use, highlight the key selling points of each course and provide the information students need to make an informed choice.

• Double Degree Advisor – Phase 1 deployed in March 2020
• Double Degree Advisor – Phase 2 to be deployed in September 2020
• CourseFinder Replacement, to be implemented by December 2020

Student Migration

After migrating all current students from old to new course structures in time for session 1 2020, the team are now concentrating on:

• Remediation of error
• Support for people, process, policy and technology solutions for the maintenance of the corporate records and BAU amendments to the student record and study plan
• Support for a hybrid completions solution for post 2020 courses
• Knowledge transfer
• Post implementation review

Work is currently being undertaken on behalf of various portfolios and offices across the University to review and analyse the impact of the new Curriculum and Student Management System configuration changes.

Student Management System (AMIS)

Rapid Enhancements:

• AMIS 8.1
  • HDR eApps Staff OneID
  • AMIS Staff OneID
  • Roll over for Scholarships to reduce manual effort
  • Transitioning the management of some non-award courses to AMIS Cloud (22 June 2020)
• AMIS 8.2, scheduled to be deployed in June 2020
  • Online leave of absence reporting for students- a new initiative
  • eStudent OneID (eStudent Password Integration) to provide students with single-sign-on to eStudent
  • 2019B upgrade for both Finance and AMIS
• AMIS 8.3 scheduled to be deployed in October 2020
  • StudyLink Data integration to remove manual application data entry in AMIS
  • eforms and workflows for HDR Candidature management
  • Transition of HDR Rewards and Scholarships

Business Transformation, implementing new features in AMIS:

• Applicant Portal (including repatriation of the HDR eApplication instance)
• Enhanced Admissions
• Enhance Enrolments
• Student Portal

TCSI- transforming the collection of student information project

After being delayed by the government due to COVID-19 the TCSI project is scheduled to be completed in December 2020. Implementation of the project will see consistent government student data reporting across all Australian universities.

The team are also assisting with the Faculty of Human Sciences transition.

So while the team had a busy 2019, 2020 continues that momentum and is full steam ahead on improving our systems and resources.

It’s certainly been a busy year so far, and as we look ahead to the second half of 2019, things don’t appear to be slowing down.

In fact, with the recent release of our Curriculum Management System (MQCMS) – and two more releases to follow – and student migration now well and truly in sight, the momentum is set to continue. Let’s take a look at the various streams of work under the Program Beacon umbrella to find out what’s been happening and what’s up next.

Curriculum Management System ­– MQCMS

Who hasn’t heard that our new Curriculum Management System MQCMS went live on 17 July? For those who have, the project team is happy to report that it’s being adopted well by Faculties, with over 230 proposals (course and unit) entered into the workflow of the new system. Two more MQCMS releases are planned for between now and April 2020, which will deliver a Handbook and Double Degree Advisor,  as well as a new CourseFinder for students.

The MQCMS replaces Web Forms, Handbook Admin, Web Handbook and our current CourseFinder, and was designed to support ongoing curriculum management. It will deliver greater consistency in the way we manage our curriculum and course information, drive improved efficiencies for staff, provide a single source of truth, and greater transparency, for anyone using the system.

Student Curriculum Implementation Project (SCIP)

SCIP has two streams of activities: firstly, there’s a technical component to configure AMIS with the new curriculum structures as well as an impact assessment of other student systems; and Student Migration.

The first half of 2019 was spent planning and preparing for the migration of approximately 47,000 current students across to our new curriculum in 2020. Now with the migration only a matter of weeks away, the preparation is paying off with Faculties having submitted most of their student transition plans and preparing their Faculty Student Centres for any enquires or support students might require through migration. As the final few student transitions plans are submitted, the project team continue to work closely with Faculties around student cohort planning and navigating the complexities associated with the various student scenarios that they will be managing.

With 1 October earmarked for the official commencement of student migration, it’s certainly time to start talking to students about what they can expect. With this in mind, a comprehensive student communications plan has been developed, with the clear aim of ensuring students understand the changes associated with the new curriculum – pre, during and post-migration, during migration and post-migration – and what they need to do.

Student Migration Communications

Part of the SCIP project, the student communications activity has a dedicated focus and plan to ensure students receive simple, clear communication about their new 2020 study plans, and feel supported and informed about any changes to their course. The planned communications are a mix of general awareness messages, direct messages to all students as well as specifically tailored messages to student cohorts. The comprehensive plan also focusses on providing ‘on the ground’ support and advice, and prepares student facing teams (in and out of faculties) to support students through this transition.

We are now in phase two of the communication and engagement plan which introduces general details about some of the changes and drives large-scale awareness with students about the migration in October. Phase three communications, commencing in October, will centre around the roll out of 2020 study plans and will ensure students have all support and information they need to enrol for 2020. Communications have also re-iterated Macquarie’s focus on investing in our students’ success. Student communications and information for staff can be found on the Program Beacon Hub wiki page.

Student Management System (SMS) Cloud Upgrade

In short, this project aims to significantly improve the way our students interact with us (via our systems) and the way we interact with them. It encompasses the modernisation and standardisation of AMIS functionality as well as the upgrade to a cloud-hosted version of the system and will actively support student migration in October. The SMS project will also deliver a OneID sign-on for staff. Watch this space for progress updates coming soon.

Customer Relationship Management (CRM)

This project is about to really ramp up. The CRM project under Beacon will enable staff to provide a more personalised and informed service for our students. It will also deliver improved workflow efficiencies and reporting capabilities for staff through effective integration of systems. The body of work around CRM commences next month (September 2019) so keep your eye out for more information in the coming months.

E-student Login Portal

The ‘E-student Login Portal’ project will deliver a single sign-on and more streamlined enrolment process for students. If you think about how many times you’ve wished for single sign-ons – at work or elsewhere – it goes without saying that the overall experience for students who interact with us via our systems will greatly improve as a result of this work. Work on our  ‘E-student Login Portal’ will commence in September 2019.

Program Beacon is making good progress and hitting all of its major milestones, but as you can see there’s still plenty more to do. The project team is committed to keeping the University community updated along the journey so will post updates via This Week. If staff have any questions or would like to subscribe to Beacon Bytes – the Program Beacon newsletter – they can email beacon@mq.edu.au or visit the Program Beacon wiki page for more detailed information.

Many teams, in fact hundreds of individuals, have been working hard for nearly 18 months to deliver our new MQCMS. So, congratulations and well done to the project teams and users who have helped to get us to this point.

It’s a complex project with diverse stakeholders across the University. Today we’re keen to share a back to basics overview of the system and let you know how you can access MQCMS training and support.  

What exactly is a Curriculum Management System, or CMS? 

A Curriculum Management System (often referred to as a CMS) stores curriculum data and assists with development, mapping, approvals and publishing of curriculum items (ie courses, units and course components). Ours is now known as Macquarie University Curriculum Management System – or MQCMS for short.

Who uses/interacts with MQCMS at Macquarie?

Whilst the majority of MQCMS users are faculty-based staff, both academic and professional staff from across the University can collaborate in the MQCMS. This includes librarians, property and marketing teams. Academic staff can collaborate in the co-design of new courses or co-teaching opportunities. Faculty Boards and other governance committees will use information in the system to generate agendas, share documents and host meetings.

The MQCMS is a work tool for MQ staff, not students. The system will certainly sit behind (and enhance) our student-centred deliverables including the Handbook and the new CourseFinder. The system will enhance the coursework review process and provide a nimbler approach to management of our coursework lifecycle.

What benefits will it deliver to staff?

The MQCMS provides a new curriculum system to give staff one ‘single source of truth’ for all activity relating to our Macquarie curriculum (courses, units etc). It brings together aspects of the multiple systems we currently use (such as webforms and spreadsheets), streamlining the curriculum management process and providing an overall better user experience for staff. This includes improved version control and data quality, automated (and transparent) workflows within the system and improved opportunities for collaboration…to name a few.

In a recent interview, Kerri Mackenzie, Senior Education Program Officer in the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences described it like this:

“Although the new system is replacing several others, we haven’t just taken everything existing and squeezed them into one new place. It’s a new, efficient and intuitive system, where course development tools are connected, captured in the same place and visible to everyone. It will have better reporting and notification functions, enabling consultation and decision-making. By moving all aspects to one platform, we are supporting good governance whilst also eliminating the double-handling that happens now.”

How does the new MQCMS benefit students?

In short, the system promises to deliver a more accurate handbook and up-to-date unit and course materials. As we become more confident in using the system academics with teaching responsibilities will save time and effort in maintaining their course and unit offerings each teaching cycle. Streamlined and optimised development, amendments and review systems will simplify processes and provide busy academics with more time to focus on what really matters…which is empowering our students to succeed.

What kind of support activities have been delivered in preparation for go-live?

Whilst the Program team have been working with faculties since last year to understand how best to work with them to deliver training and support, the activity has stepped up a notch in the preceding weeks. For instance, we’ve conducted faculty-based User Acceptance Training (UAT) workshops, delivered faculty-based training sessions, train-the-trainer workshops and scheduled drop-in sessions for the remainder of the year.

What kind of support is being offered after go-live?

Over the next six months the Program Beacon team will work with faculties to embed the system across the organisation. The team have developed training to meet the faculties’ requirements and workshops to support committee servicing and member participation. We’re also working with faculty leaders to build awareness of the systems capabilities through a ‘Train the Trainer’ model. Over 250 people have already registered for training over the coming weeks, so there’s clearly an appetite to get skilled up!

Visit the MQCMS Toolkit to access resources including process maps, videos and training material.

Will there be future releases of the MQCMS? 

Whilst this is an important release (Release 2), there are two more Releases already planned for the coming months. Release 3 will deliver the Handbook and a Double Degree advisor, while Release 4 will happen in the first half of 2020 and is all about replacing the current CourseFinder.

For any team members who might need more detailed information around this, or any of the other Program Beacon streams of work, why not sign up for “Beacon Bytes” by emailing beacon@mq.edu.au?

Register for training using our online training registration form

Visit MQCMS here

In April, we shared information you might not have known about the curriculum transformation. This week, Neta Mahbubani, Manager of Student Administration for the Macquarie Business School discusses her team’s approach to planning for the transition.

What is ‘transition planning’?

To my team, ‘transition planning’ means finding answers to these questions:

• Who (which students) should be transitioned based on the Curriculum Architecture Principles?
• What will be different for students in the new curriculum and what do we need to do as a team to help them through the changes?
• Where do students get the information and support they need?
• When does this all need to be done, so we can continue to provide an excellent student experience?
• How do we collaborate across the University to ensure agreement in joint programs
• How do we make sure communication is broad but also tailored?

What is the ultimate goal?

For every currently enrolled student who will be studying in 2020 or beyond to have a personalised study plan. And for the transition process to be as seamless as possible for the student.

What is the Macquarie Business School’s approach?

We established a working group with senior academics and members of my team. Academics in the departments, working with the various committees in place, did a great job of redesigning our courses for the new curriculum. So once that work was finalised, the Student Administration team was able to manage the transition planning, liaising with relevant academics as needed. We’ve taken an individual, student-by-student approach that’s made it possible to quickly identify and resolve problems. Our approach included:

1. Identifying all students currently enrolled at MQ
2. Reviewing each students’ units, then classifying students to be either migrated to the MQ2020 courses or taught-out of the current courses.
3. Mapping pre-2020 courses (programs) to the new curriculum architecture.

Collaboration has been really important, and we meet with other faculties regularly to look at cohorts together.

What challenges have you faced?

This is a busy time of year, so it’s been a challenge to add this to our significant business-as-usual workload and to accommodate changing timelines on the project.

We have always had a very flexible program. So, another challenge is managing each student’s individual unit options and mapping these into the new curriculum architecture.

What have you learnt during the planning so far?

This may seem odd, but I’ve definitely learnt that having too many options is not a good idea. I have also grown to appreciate the can-do attitude of my team and the other professional staff member teams: Lifecycle and Program Beacon, to name a couple.

What will be the benefits of the new curriculum?

The new structure should be simpler for students to understand and easier for them to self-manage. And students will have more choices and greater flexibility. The transition is hard work but the benefits to our students will be great!

Program Beacon says ‘thank you’ to Neta and all the other Faculty Student Administration Managers and their teams! We really appreciate your support and hard work in planning a smooth transition for our students.

This Week will continue to share updates about Program Beacon and the transition of students to the 2020 curriculum. And if you have questions, you can send then to beacon@mq.edu.au

For many weeks, our faculty teams have been working through the logistics of how to migrate current students from existing curriculum to the new. The majority of students transitioning in 2020 will experience minimal or no change to their study paths, and the course mapping activities faculties are now undertaking will give clarity to what kind of changes students will experience with the transition across to the new curriculum.

In particular, faculties are committed to ensuring that for students transitioning across to the new curriculum, the experience is as streamlined and stress-free as possible and each individual student is empowered with information to understand the reason for the changes and the impact (if any) on their study plans.

 Student-facing digital communications now released

Student-facing digital communication has commenced and over the next few days, you will start to see our MQ2020 imagery in digital displays around lecture theatres, screens and online portals.

The communication builds on the Vice-Chancellor’s 2018 end-of-year message and has been developed to raise awareness with current students of the curriculum change, and to let them know we’ll be in touch later in the year with their personalised study plans.

To supplement this message information has been posted online and the hashtag (#MQ2020) has been introduced to help students easily find the curriculum transformation MQ2020 information, if they need it (or want it) now. Student Connect, the faculties and Program Beacon have also put together student FAQs and pulled together resources for staff within the new Program Beacon Hub.

Direct communication with students regarding their 2020 study plan will commence in July as faculty transition plans are finalised. The goal is to distribute targeted curriculum change information to students prior to commencement of Session 2 2019. This communication will provide information to assist with unit selection, ease transition into new 2020 courses and sets the groundwork for student’s successful transition in 2020.  Student-facing teams both in and out of faculties will be prepared with information to support and direct student queries throughout this stage.

As we continue to prepare for 2020, teams are also juggling the all-important ‘business as usual’ activity – it’s a fine balance, and everyone involved in the work should be applauded for their commitment to our students and their needs over this critical time of transition to MQ2020.

This Week will be sharing information about some of the new courses coming in 2020, student communications through migration and some of the support activity planned for the coming months, so keep your eyes peeled.

If you have any questions in the meantime, send them to beacon@mq.edu.au.

With the recent go-live of our upgraded RPL Tracker and CTR systems – a significant milestone in our Program Beacon journey – we thought it was time to peel back another layer around this project and share some information that you might not know!

We’re building a tool for faculties to record mapping information between the current and new curriculum

The information recorded will be used for a variety of purposes such as preparation of students’ data and communications for students’ migration, helping us define transition structures, with fees setting, load planning and responding to students’ enquiries in the future.

We’re making changes to AMIS to support the implementation of our new 2020 curriculum

If you are the owner of an application consuming AMIS data, you may want to check whether you have rules based on AMIS configuration data (e.g. category type) and if so, update those rules according to the new configuration. You can also request access to Databank test environments if you want to check your import of AMIS data by raising a OneHelp ticket. For more information email Program Beacon: beacon@mq.edu.au

We have a whole new range of double degrees on offer from 2020

‘Double degree’ is a term we will use when 2020 students are studying two Bachelor or two Master degrees at the same time e.g Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Information Technology concurrently. A key benefit for students enrolled in double degrees is that many can complete their course of study in less time. Information about double degrees can be found on our website.

We also have new range of combined degrees on offer

A combined degree is a term we use when 2020 students are studying a Bachelor and Master degree at the same time. Some might have known these previously as ‘vertical double degrees’. Many students enrolled in combined degrees can compete their course of study in less time.

Our new CMS will provide one go-to-system to replace our existing webforms

Not only that, it will also replace ten other separate systems we currently use to manage our curriculum. That’s quite a transformation!

We have to check and analyse the impact of the new curriculum and AMIS changes on 800 different AMIS reports

For owners of applications using AMIS data, please note that not all AMIS reports will need to be updated. If you have not been in touch with us already and need your AMIS reports updating or have a question about this, please send an email to Program Beacon beacon@mq.edu.au

We have just upgraded the Tracker RPL form and Credit Transfer Register as part of implementing our new 2020 curriculum

The systems now conform to our new 2020 curriculum, with a number of new features on offer including multi-unit functionality and ability to push approved precedents from Tracker to CTR, together with improvements for users such as better search functionality and 2-way communication between Tracker and CTR.

Anything else you want to know? Email beacon@mq.edu.au

Kerri Mackenzie, Senior Education Program Officer in the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, joined the Curriculum Management System upgrade project late last year to give a ‘coalface’ user perspective and ensure the system is developed with the user-experience in mind. Here she answers some common staff questions about the project.

Can you briefly describe the Curriculum Management System project?
The Curriculum Management System project will provide a new system to give staff one ‘single source of truth’ for all activity relating to the Macquarie curriculum. It brings together aspects of the multiple systems we currently use (such as webforms and spreadsheets), streamlining the curriculum management process and providing a better user experience for staff.

How does it fit with the bigger curriculum transformation work happening at the moment?
The Curriculum Management System activity is just one component in creating a better learning environment for our students. It has been informed by – and integrates ­with – our new Curriculum Architecture Principles.

What are some of the key features/functions staff will notice about the new system? What will change?
Although the new system is replacing several others, we haven’t just taken everything existing and squeezed them into one new place. It’s a new, efficient and intuitive system, where course development tools are connected, captured in the same place and visible to everyone.

It will have better reporting and notification functions, enabling consultation and decision-making. When you submit a change or new proposal, the system will also be able to assign virtual meeting dates to it, so that the proposer can see when to expect an outcome on their new curriculum idea. By moving all aspects to one platform, we are supporting good governance whilst also eliminating the double-handling that happens now.

How will the Curriculum Management System implementation improve things for staff so that they can focus on student success?
The new system will provide clarity for everyone involved in curriculum management, explaining what staff members need to do and how they do it. By having the system in place, accountability will be much clearer. It will be a fantastic time-saver in the long run, creating more time and space to focus on the things that really matter.

What timelines are we working to? What stage are we at now, and when will it go live?
We’re in the second phase of design and build and the system will be launching across the University in June this year.

Other questions about the new Curriculum Management System? Email beacon@mq.edu.au

The first stage of our curriculum transformation was the development of our new curriculum architecture and a refresh of our course offering for students. Colleagues from across the University worked tirelessly to ensure that all 2020 courses were submitted and approved by Senate last year, ready for the next stage – curriculum implementation. This was a significant achievement and we are now in the market with a selection of our double degrees, as well as the new course structures for our 2020 students.

View 2020 course offerings by visiting courses.mq.edu.au and selecting ‘Starting 2020’ on the top right of the page. >>

In parallel to the curriculum work last year, we also commenced an upgrade of two major student systems ­– the Curriculum Management System (CMS) and Student Management System (SMS). This year, both streams of work have been bundled together, along with the detailed work of transitioning courses and students, under Program Beacon to make sure we are working in the most efficient and aligned way to deliver our 2020 vision.

While we’ve come a long way on our journey, there’s still a great deal of work to be done to implement our new courses and support the transfer of our current students to the new offerings.

“Foremost in our thoughts must be the migration and transition of our students to their new courses of study. In this endeavour, it is important to [remember] … the Vice-Chancellor’s message to our current students at the end of last year, where he provided reassurance that that no current student will be disadvantaged by the curriculum changes. This remains our touchstone as we embark on the implementation phase.”
– Gail White, Executive Director Student Engagement and Registrar

While many staff may be familiar with the benefits of our new 2020 curriculum will deliver for students, fewer may know about the systems transformation work going on, and how it supports the successful implementation of our curriculum.

Gail adds:
“The new systems will make governance oversight of our curriculum more streamlined and make it easier for our students to interact with us – easier to enrol, easier to navigate courses, easier to access information etc. Most importantly, both new systems will reduce the inefficiencies and complexities currently experienced by academic and professional staff. This will allow them to focus on work that really matters, rather than on manual processes and administration.”

In coming weeks, Program Beacon will continue to support and engage with faculties and operational teams, build tools for implementation and provide a regular update on activities through This Week, Teche and other Macquarie communication channels.

If you want to know more about Program Beacon, email beacon@mq.edu.au or log a OneHelp ticket (via curriculum architecture and implementation). If students have questions before we commence our direct communication with them mid-year, you can direct them to AskMQ.

Team, implementation awaits!

With students now aware of the curriculum transformation, resources have been developed for staff who may need to assist students or their parents with questions. These can be found on the Curriculum Transformation wiki.

The key messages for students at this stage are:

• The intention is that all existing Macquarie students will transition to the new curriculum architecture in 2020.
• For many existing students, the change represents minimal or no changes to their current study pathway.
• For others, the curriculum change may offer new considerations around their current study pathway.
• Either way, no existing Macquarie student will be disadvantaged because of the curriculum changes.
• We are currently working to ensure that the transition to MQ2020 is simple and streamlined for students.
• Students do not have to take any action now – this is for their information only at this stage.
• Throughout 2019 we will communicate with all existing students to ensure they understand the changes.

In an email to currently enrolled students yesterday, the Vice-Chancellor said:

“We have a strong history of being focussed on providing our students with a university education, both in and out of the classroom, that sets them up for a successful future. Fundamental to this student success is a flexible and outcome-focussed curriculum that offers complete clarity of their study journey at Macquarie and, importantly, empowers them to take on the jobs of tomorrow.

In July this year Macquarie University designed and approved a new curriculum architecture for all students studying at Macquarie in 2020. The new curriculum offers greater clarity around their study path – from start to finish – and will increase both the breadth and depth of study options available.

The intention is that existing students who will still be studying with us in 2020 will transition to the new curriculum. For many of you there will be minimal or no changes to your current studies. For others, a more flexible curriculum architecture could mean there are new options to consider. Either way, it’s important to note that no current Macquarie student will be disadvantaged by the curriculum changes.

Please watch this short two-minute video message.

We will be in touch again in 2019 to ensure you understand the changes and what they mean to you.”

Students with questions about the curriculum transformation are encouraged to call Student Connect or visit them on campus in MUSE at 18 Wally’s Walk. Staff can also direct students to ask.mq if they are unable to answer their question.