“Leadership is simply a series of moments, and every moment gives you the opportunity to leave a positive legacy for those you lead.”

This insight, from leadership expert and keynote speaker Dr Kirstin Ferguson AM, was one of many shared at the University’s second annual Professional Staff Leadership Conference on 17 November.

More than 300 professional staff came together for the full-day program, which featured inspiring personal reflections, case studies of leadership in practice and discussions on topics including continuous improvement, service excellence and developing teams.

Aspiring leaders were also encouraged to attend this year’s conference via an expression-of-interest process. One attendee remarked that their inclusion was indicative of the “positive working culture” at Macquarie: “It is a great example of how the University values and encourages not only current leaders but also potential leaders.”

Nicole Gower, Vice-President Professional Services, said she was pleased to receive overwhelmingly positive feedback from conference attendees, many of whom commended the University’s investment in developing staff and fostering connection.

“We know Macquarie’s professional staff value the opportunity to reflect on their practices in supporting the University’s research, education and health missions,” Ms Gower said. “This year’s conference sparked many insightful conversations about leadership and best practice, which are already starting to flow through to teams.”

Highlights from the 2023 Professional Staff Leadership Conference

Keynote speaker Dr Kirstin Ferguson AM shared the eight key attributes of a “head and heart leader” – with attendees measuring themselves on Dr Ferguson’s Head and Heart Leader Scale.

Nicole Gower, Vice-President Professional Services, reflected on her personal journey as a woman in leadership.

Daniel Crippa (Faculty of Medicine, Health and Human Sciences) and Byron Wilson and Paul Dorrell (Office of Strategy, Planning and Performance) were among the presenters discussing leadership in practice.

The day concluded with a ‘You Can’t Ask That!’ Q&A session featuring Professor Lucy Marshall and Katrina Sealey (Faculty of Science and Engineering), Fiona Reyerink (Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Academic) and Brad Windon (Student Shared Services).

As our staff are acknowledged for their contribution to the University’s research, health and education missions, it is timely to pause and reflect on what makes an educator stand out as exceptional in transforming the lives of our students.

There are many answers to that question. However, there are a few things that stand out to me personally about great educators:

• Passion – great educators always have a deep and genuine passion to see students succeed. They strive to see their students light up with those ‘ah-ha’ moments that are truly transformative.
• Communication – great educators can take the most complex of content or skills and communicate these in a way that makes them resonate and stick with students. They can cut through all the noise and deliver clear and concise messages on the most important aspects of what students need to know.
• Connection – great educators connect with students on a human level. They engage students actively in their learning ensuring that students can see the relevance and meaningfulness of what they are learning. Connection is also about the simple things – knowing students names, respecting their active role in the learning process, bringing the whole group along in the conversation.
• Agility – great educators are agile and flexible. They will recognise if something is not working or if the energy in the classroom is low and pivot to shift the dynamic in a room.

These qualities are supported when educators have a high level of emotional intelligence, and Macquarie educators exude a high level of emotional intelligence in a way that is rare in a University setting, leading us to deliver a high quality teaching experience to our students. This is recognised by our students who have ranked us second in the country for postgraduate teaching quality in the most recent QILT student survey, with our undergraduate teaching also above the national average.

Our educators are passionate about what they do, and it shows. This extends into the way we engage with our students across all aspects of their educational journey. Our students can see that we care about them and can see that we genuinely want them to succeed and reap the benefits of a Macquarie education.

This came through very strongly, both from our students and our staff, as we consulted on the Macquarie Advantage education strategy, which will harness academic excellence as one of our key strengths.

But while our academic excellence is widely known, it can be easy for great things to go unnoticed, or to be only seen locally by those within a unit, course or department. It is important that we shine a light on the great work that is happening in education at Macquarie, so we can share this practice widely with others.

Education is critical work. It is critical in the transformation of our students – enabling them to become what they dream of being. It is also critical to our communities, the nation and beyond as education both delivers the future workforce the world requires and the transformation of families and communities, both here and abroad.

Recognising our best and brightest, and the transformational work they do every day, is not just something that brings us great pleasure and pride, it also reminds us all of our power to transform.

Not surprisingly for a university famed for its collegial culture, the development of Macquarie Advantage has been a distinctly consultative and collaborative process.

Together with the co-chairs of our program streams (which I shared with you in my previous This Week update – service excellence later having been added as the sixth stream), I have been privileged to hear from thousands of members of the Macquarie community over the last 14 months, each with their own unique and valuable view on what makes Macquarie so special.

Through all this, I continue to be struck by the sense of responsibility and custodianship that Macquarie staff carry for this great university, and their desire to be part of this next-generation strategy.

The outstanding ideas emerging in Macquarie Advantage have been powered by consultation activities including:

• initial ideation with leadership teams
• extensive data gathering and analysis
• working group initial sprints and plenary sessions
• staff and student workshops
• an all-staff and student survey generating more than 650 responses
• more than 5000 comments captured through the workshop and survey activities, which have been analysed using a purpose-built model
• triangulation of workshop and survey feedback with other data including the QILT Student Experience Survey (SES), which showed strong alignment.

It is a testament to the strength of the ideas generated in our initial consultation activities that 85 per cent of the survey respondents indicated that our proposed areas of focus were “Right” or “Mostly right”. Only 15 per cent indicated that one or more areas were “Not quite right”, and some local issues were also highlighted for further discussion with faculties and portfolios.

The institutional strengths that emerged strongly through this consultation echo my own very positive first impressions of the University: our stunning Wallumattagal Campus environment, the quality and dedication of our teaching staff and the strong sense of welcome and belonging that we all feel when we are at Macquarie.

Other advantages that were identified by our community include our location in the Macquarie Park Innovation District; the employability of our graduates; our facilities; our focus on diversity, inclusion and wellbeing; and our excellent access to transport.

Opportunities that were identified include embedding employability skills in courses; a strengthening connection between research and education; equity of access and participation; improving student support services; financial support and funding; digital technology; industry engagement; advancing the Macquarie brand; and flexibility of study options.

With the momentum of our community consultation behind us, we now move to the next steps in launching the Macquarie Advantage, which are:

• finalising the strategy
• establishing governance mechanisms, including for the six program streams
• defining measures of success and markers of progress
• detailing specific programs of work
• prioritising projects
• ensuring engagement and communication with our community on projects and initiatives
• developing a framework for monitoring and evaluation, including an annual update to the Macquarie community on progress
• launching the strategy in early 2024 to align with Macquarie’s 60th anniversary.

I look forward to working with you all as we move towards an exciting future for transformative education at Macquarie.

But one of the silver linings of COVID-19 was the impetus it gave us to re-think how we could structure our student recruitment functions to be responsive to an increasingly dynamic operating environment. Future-proofing Future Students was vital for our sustainability as an organisation.

The domestic and international recruitment teams were brought together in August 2021 to form Global and Domestic Student Recruitment. Global Partnerships and Protocol was also brought into the team in July of this year.

The synergy and efficiencies created by uniting these functions have helped us buffer the impacts of fluctuating international and domestic student numbers through and beyond the pandemic. Working as one team, we have been much more agile and flexible – able to allocate resources and expertise in response to the social, economic and geopolitical changes around us.

Our domestic and international teams are now sharing their knowledge and collaborating in ways that are exciting to witness. While all our different markets are distinctive and require their own carefully considered approaches, we have discovered many commonalities that create an environment ripe for collaboration. Our domestic and international teams, for example, have found much to learn from each other in their respective nurturing of our school career advisor and international education agent networks. I am also pleased to see staff from both teams take advantage of the increased career progression opportunities that have resulted from the amalgamation.

With our well-oiled and united machine working well, we recently took the decision to return to the name Future Students. It was important to us that our name reflected our deep engagement with students throughout multiple stages of their education journey. Like so many teams around the University, we work to create a strong sense of belonging for all students that see Macquarie in their future – whether they hail from Marsfield or Madagascar. We are grateful to the many teams and individuals across the University that support us in doing so.

Meet the Future Students leadership team

Maria Souris, Executive Director, Domestic Student Recruitment

David Harrison, Executive Director, International

Tim Hyde, Director, Student Acquisition and Conversion

Stephen Fan, Director, Global Partnerships and Protocol

Vice-Chancellor Professor S Bruce Dowton and Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research) Professor Sakkie Pretorius were joined by Macquarie’s partners in the Australian Hearing Hub on 24 October to welcome the Hon Mark Butler MP, Minister for Health and Aged Care, and Member for Bennelong Jerome Laxale MP to the University.

Their visit was in honour of the 10^th anniversary of the Hub, which was established in 2013 as a unique partnership uniting academic, industry, government and not-for-profit partners to improve the lives of people with hearing loss. The project was funded with $40 million from the Federal Government’s Education Investment Fund (EIF), together with an $80 million investment from Macquarie University.

Addressing the Minister and Macquarie’s partners in the Hub, the Vice-Chancellor thanked them for helping the University realise its mission to serve.

“This building is a representation if what can happen when you unite research, business and service provision for the benefit of our community,” he said. “This service is at the heart of our founding vision as a university.”

Professor Sakkie Pretorius: Celebrating 10 years of impactful hearing health research and collaboration (This Week, 21 August 2023)

The Hon Mark Butler MP and Jerome Laxale MP with representatives of Australian Hearing Hub partners: Macquarie University, Hearing Australia, Cochlear Australia, National Acoustic Laboratories, NextSense and The Shepherd Centre.

Having visited the Hub shortly after its opening, Minister Butler said he was delighted to see how the collaborative partnership has thrived in the decade since.

“To see the sophistication that has developed in the Australian Hearing Hub over this time is wonderful. There is no better example in Australia, or in the health sector, of something that offers this depth and breadth of services, education, clinical care and research innovation and commercialisation,” the Minister said.

After meeting representatives of the Hub’s members – including Macquarie University Hearing Professors Catherine McMahon and David McAlpine – and hearing about successful projects such as the Indigenous audiometrist training initiative, the Minister toured the anechoic chamber to experience first-hand some of the challenges experienced by people with hearing loss.

Four million Australians – one in six – live with some form of hearing loss. That number is expected to rise to one in four by 2050.

Correct citation of sources is at the heart of good scholarly practice and one of the ways in which academic integrity is displayed. However, the Library’s biennial client survey found that students find referencing for their assignments confusing and stressful. Listening to the voice of our clients is central to building relevant, high-quality library services, so I am pleased to be able to share how we are responding to this feedback and simplifying referencing for our students.

The Library has worked with the University’s Academic Integrity Taskforce, which commissioned a cross-faculty project to explore current referencing practice at Macquarie. Taking a multi-pronged approach, the project team, led by the Library’s Director of Academic Library Services, Susan Vickery, gathered further student feedback, examined sector practice, surveyed Unit and Course Directors, and looked at current support mechanisms available to students.

We found students were concerned about the number of different referencing styles they need to master and wanted clarity around which styles Macquarie University endorses. The students’ impression of being overwhelmed was supported by project outcomes, which identified at least 12 different styles in use across Macquarie, including six variations of Harvard style. Staff recognised the importance of developing students’ referencing skills as part of academic integrity, and reported they would welcome quality tools and resources to do this more effectively.

To address these issues, the project recommended that a more coordinated approach to reference requirements would reduce the complexity and confusion that students associate with referencing, while supporting academic staff to assist their students. These simple but effective changes include:

• providing students with clear, consistent referencing guidelines within their unit assessments
• identifying a Macquarie set of internationally recognised and authoritative referencing styles, aligned to Macquarie’s diverse areas of disciplinary focus (APA7, AGLC4, Chicago17 (Footnotes), Vancouver and IEEE)
• developing quality online Macquarie-branded referencing guides that are readily accessible to teaching staff and students

By simplifying the technical aspects of referencing, students will be able to focus on the principles of academic integrity and ethical scholarly practice that underpin citation.

At the core of the Library’s mission is assisting students to develop information and digital literacy skills, and their ability to find, manage and ethically use information within complex digital environments. We are delighted to be working with colleagues to demystify referencing and develop tools to support students and academic staff. To implement the outcomes of the Referencing Project, the Library is using its students-as-partners approach to develop new referencing guides. We will be engaging with key partners in time to release the guides for Session 1, 2024. I am looking forward to sharing our new suite of referencing tools in 2024 and seeing how they improve our students’ experience.

For more information about the cross-campus Referencing Project, please contact Susan Vickery, Director of Academic Library Services at susan.vickery@mq.edu.au, or Vanessa Todd, Digital Literacies Program Manager at vanessa.todd@mq.edu.au.

The result of the Voice referendum has left many people wondering how our nation will tackle long-standing inequalities in economic, social, education and health outcomes, as well as how to achieve true reconciliation.

Over the last week, we have witnessed the recurrence of escalated hostilities and atrocities in the Middle East with senseless loss of life and devastation of communities. At the same time, the ongoing and entrenched conflict between Ukraine and Russia continues to wreak havoc.

These matters all closely touch many members of our University community.

This is a time when I urge that we surround all individuals of the Macquarie family who are touched by current national and world events with our thoughtful support and concern. In doing so, I also urge that we continue to provide a safe, respectful and secure environment for all members of the University.

I crave that we can each draw strength from being part of an organisation that respects the richness of cultures, histories and religious beliefs of all in our community. In particular, at this time, I ask that we are especially attentive to those members of our community with ties to Israel and Palestine, and those with ties to Ukraine and Russia. I also ask that we support all First Nations members of our community as the results of the Voice referendum settle across the nation.

As national and world events play out, there will be a range of strongly held and divergent views on the various sides of the issues at hand. I urge that we express those views about what is happening in a respectful way, always thinking of how what we say or do might affect other members of the Macquarie University community.

As always, the University has support in place for staff and students, as well as policies designed to promote respectful debate.

Wellbeing support for staff

The Employee Assistance Program (EAP) offers a confidential counselling service, which is free for all Macquarie University and entity staff and their immediate family members. Call Benestar on 1300 360 364 or create a BeneHub account to access EAP services anywhere, anytime.

Wellbeing support for students

The University has multiple supports in place for students affected by current events. These have been summarised on our student crisis-support page, which is being shared with students today. Teaching staff may also like to share this link with their students.

Students can also connect with support from our Student Wellbeing team by submitting an online CARE report or can contact the GP Service at MQ Health. Students located outside Australia can find mental health support contacts listed on our website.

Racist, discriminatory or unwanted behaviour

Macquarie University is committed to maintaining an inclusive and safe campus environment for all staff and students. Unlawful discrimination, bullying and harassment is not tolerated at Macquarie, as documented in the Staff Code of Conduct, Student Code of Conduct and the Discrimination, Bullying and Harassment Prevention Policy.

If you experience (or witness) racist, bullying or unwanted behaviour on campus, or on University-hosted digital platforms, you can seek support as outlined on the following pages:

• Unwanted staff behaviour (Diversity and Inclusion – Help and Support)
• Unwanted student behaviour (Student care and reporting > Inappropriate behaviour)

Public comment and respectful debate

Universities play an important role in fostering informed and educated discussion of social and political issues. Academic staff contributing to these discussions in the public sphere are encouraged to familiarise themselves with the relevant University policies:

• Freedom of Speech and Academic Freedom Policy
• Public Comment Policy
• Social Media Policy

The Group Marketing Communications Team provides support for staff who are unsure about how to respond to a media request for information or comment (email communications@mq.edu.au).

I encourage members of our community to look after each other and reach out to any University services that might be helpful at this time.

As we work to build Australia’s first university-led, fully integrated academic health enterprise, it has been a busy time for building works at the University. I would like to provide you with an update on some of these developments at Wallumattagal Campus and how they are preparing us to continue our work in healthcare excellence.

One of these key projects is the development of the new dedicated orthopaedic centre on Level 5 of the hospital, a facility that will play an instrumental role in delivering top-tier healthcare services to our community. I am now happy to report that the project is progressing well and according to plan.

The centrepiece of this project is the inclusion of four cutting-edge, glass-walled operating theatres. These state-of-the-art facilities are designed not only for precision surgeries but also with the highest focus on infection prevention and control. Alongside these advanced operating theatres, we are establishing two dedicated recovery units and a total of 29 in-patient beds, which will cater to the needs of our patients, offering them a comfortable and supportive environment during their recovery process.

In addition to the Level 5 works, we are currently in the process of rebuilding the Hospital’s Central Sterile Supply Department. This revamped department will play a pivotal role in supporting the operations of the orthopaedic facility and its innovative Enhanced Recovery After Surgery (ERAS) model of care.

As things stand, we are well on track to welcome our very first patients to the orthopaedic centre in January 2024. This marks a significant milestone in our ongoing commitment to enhancing healthcare at our University.

Our commitment to developing a collective healthcare network on campus also extends to our partners, and I’m excited to share news about the Woolcock Institute of Medical Research. Work has officially commenced on the refurbishment and upgrade of the former Siemens Building located on our campus at 2 Innovation Road. This refurbished space is poised to become the new home for the Woolcock’s sleep and respiratory clinics, research labs, offices and administrative teams. We look forward to welcoming our colleagues from the Woolcock to our Wallumattagal Campus in the first quarter of 2024, where they will undoubtedly excel in their groundbreaking research and services.

Finally, vision and hearing not-for-profit NextSense, one of our key partners in the Australian Hearing Hub, is nearing completion on its purpose-built centre for innovation. This impressive facility is located near the University Sport and Aquatic Centre on Culloden Road. The centre is set to make a significant impact on the lives of individuals of all ages dealing with hearing and vision loss. It will feature custom therapy spaces and, notably, a school and preschool, both set to open their doors next year.

This is an exciting time for both our University and like-minded partner organisations as building works continue at Wallumattagal Campus and we move closer to further integrating health education, healthcare and health research at the core of what we do.

Below I lay out some important information about this area and urge everyone to complete the training module available in Workday so we are all as well prepared as we can be to prevent cybersecurity breaches.

Most common cybersecurity risks to Macquarie

Phishing

Among the most common cybersecurity threats are phishing attacks. Crafty cybercriminals employ social engineering tactics, often sending deceptive emails with references to specific University executives and luring unsuspecting recipients into clicking malicious links or opening infected attachments. These phishing attacks are designed to collect your username and password to allow the hackers access to University systems.

Tip: You can protect yourself and the organisation by ensuring you do not click on any unsolicited link or attachment and ensuring you have multifactor authentication enabled on all your devices

Executive impersonation scams

Executive impersonation scams occur when a hacker mimics a high-level University executive with an urgent request to a staff member to purchase gift cards, access protected data, enable illegal money transfers or mislead staff. This is experienced most commonly via email, however there is an increasing occurrence of executive impersonation scams utilising social media, such as LinkedIn, Facebook and Instagram.

Tip: You can protect yourself and the organisation by reviewing the header of the email (which will reveal the sender is not genuine), reviewing the request against your knowledge of the executive and by slowing down. The hacker relies on the sense of urgency forcing the target to make a mistake.

In addition to phishing and impersonation scams, universities are targets for various other cyberthreats, including malware attacks, data breaches, and denial-of-service assaults. These threats endanger our student information, staff records, research, patient information and overall operations.

Our collective responsibility

The ever-evolving cybersecurity landscape underscores that defending against cyberthreats is a shared responsibility. Every member of our community must be vigilant, well informed, and proactive in safeguarding our digital assets. Here’s how you can contribute:

• Cybersecurity education

– Complete our cybersecurity training in Workday (Protecting Data and Devices – under Workday – Apps > Learning).

– Stay informed about cybersecurity in general. Knowledge is our best defence. 

• Compliance with policies

Familiarise yourself with and adhere to our University’s Cybersecurity policies and procedures. Compliance ensures that we’re all on the same page in protecting our digital domain. 

• Password security and 2FA

Use strong passwords and enable two-factor authentication (also known as multi-factor authentication) for all your online accounts. This extra layer of security helps thwart unauthorised access.

• Regular software updates

Keep your devices and software up to date. Promptly apply software updates to patch known vulnerabilities. 

• Beware of phishing

Exercise caution with emails and attachments. Do not click on links or open attachments from unknown senders. Report suspicious emails promptly via phishingemail@mq.edu.au.

• Immediate reporting

If you suspect a cyberattack, don’t hesitate. Report it to the IT helpdesk immediately. Swift action can mitigate potential damage.

The stark reality: Statistics speak

Consider these eye-opening statistics:

• In 2022, the Australian National University (ANU) suffered a major data breach that exposed the personal information of more than 200,000 students and staff. The breach resulted from a sophisticated phishing attack targeting staff members.
• In 2021, Melbourne Health experienced a ransomware attack that encrypted patient records and disrupted critical healthcare services. The attackers demanded a $1 million ransom, which the health network courageously refused to pay, but the incident still incurred significant costs.
• In 2022, the Australian Cyber Security Centre (ACSC) reported more than 1,000 cybersecurity incidents within the education sector, making it the most targeted sector in Australia. The healthcare sector also faced an escalating threat from cybercriminals.
• In 2023, a global ransomware attack targeted healthcare organisations in more than 70 countries, including Australia. The attackers exploited vulnerabilities in widely used medical devices, encrypting patient records and demanding ransoms. This attack showcased the vulnerability of the healthcare sector to cyberthreats.

A call to action

The rise of AI-based attacks and the increasing sophistication of social engineering tactics demand our unwavering attention. We must collectively act to bolster our cybersecurity defences. The safety of our universities, hospitals, and the broader Australian community depends on it. I urge all staff to complete the training module and will be asking leaders to ensure that this is happening.

Remember, this is not just an IT issue; it’s everyone’s responsibility. We are united against cyberthreats. Let’s fortify our defences and protect the University and MQ Health.

Earlier this year, the Vice-Chancellor highlighted our focus on improving internal communication at Macquarie as a key deliverable of the Our People stream of the Operating Plan 2020-2024. We knew Macquarie staff wanted a reliable and user-friendly way to stay up to date with activities across the University, find the information they needed more easily and perform everyday work tasks as quickly as possible.

This is why we invested in improving the employee experience at Macquarie with the development of a new staff intranet – a personalised central hub to give staff a ‘one-stop-shop’ for the information and tools they need.

The project team and working group have been working hard, in collaboration with teams across the University, to bring this vision to fruition and I am excited to announce that we will be going live with our new staff intranet on 5 December.

Here are some of the things you can look forward to.

A personalised experience

With fully customisable homepage quick links, one-click access to your most recent Microsoft files and sites, and news and events feeds that are based on your work area and job function, the staff intranet has been designed to be your personal hub, and a place to start every working day.

Streamlined and up-to-date resources

A full overhaul of staff portal pages means information and tools, including a new service catalogue, will be easier to find when you need them. With the intranet built in the easy-to-use SharePoint Online platform, content owners will find it easier to keep pages updated and will have dedicated support for content management and governance.

Real-time communication

University news, leader communication and important operational updates can be quickly and easily shared on the intranet, reducing our reliance on emailed newsletters (and the burden on staff email inboxes). Alerts functionality will allow us to communicate emergencies and system outages quickly.

Responsive and integrated

The intranet will provide a significantly improved experience for staff using mobile or tablet computing during their working day, and being SharePoint Online, it will integrate seamlessly with other SharePoint sites and the Microsoft applications we use in our everyday work.

More information about our new staff intranet, including user guides and information for content owners and publishers, will be shared in This Week as our 5 December launch date approaches. I can’t wait to see how the intranet improves my working life, and yours.

If you have questions about the new staff intranet, please contact Lauren Bradshaw, Intranet Business Lead: lauren.bradshaw@mq.edu.au.