Marking ten years since the PACE program was established, the prizes recognise 62 students as well as the ongoing work of staff and partners in providing students with an exceptional workplace learning experience. All Macquarie bachelor degrees include at least one PACE unit where students can learn from sector-leading professionals, explore future career options, build professional networks and become job-ready.

“PACE continues to go from strength to strength, and we acknowledge Emeritus Professor Judyth Sachs, founder and sponsor of these PACE prizes, ” says Kylie Ebert, Director, Employability and Graduate Success. “With almost 7000 students completing PACE activities, and more than 1000 partners in 2021, the program is a central part of our commitment to building and enhancing the employability of all Macquarie students.

“The strength and quality of the PACE program relies heavily on the engagement and generosity of partners, and the commitment and dedication of our staff, and this was celebrated by the inaugural PACE Partner Prize and Staff PACE Prize.”

Staff PACE Prize – Highly Commended and Winners

A special mention to the Highly Commended Finalists, Associate Professor Wayne Warburton from the School of Psychological Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, Health and Human Sciences and Dr Miriam Williams from the School of Social Sciences, Faculty of Arts.

Congratulations to our winners.

 Associate Professor Kate Lloyd

Unit convenor, Planning Experience (GEOP4080), Macquarie School of Social Sciences, Faculty of Arts

Kate was awarded a Staff PACE Prize for her work supporting and motivating students through imparting her professional knowledge of planning. She highlighted and facilitated discussion, encouraging students to reflect on their PACE experience. Kate is commended for her dedication to her students and support of their work-integrated learning activities.

Bonnie Ng

Business Support Officer, Operations, Office of the Pro Vice-Chancellor (Learning and Teaching)

Bonnie developed a process using the new Talent module within Employability Connect (the CareerHub platform), and has been awarded a Staff PACE Prize for her work. Bonnie collaborated with the broader Employability and Graduate Success team, PACE team and externals to shape the student and partner experience, building an innovative and scalable platform that bridged the gap between technology and business, creating a better experience for MQBS PACE students this year and in the future.

Betty Opacic

PACE and Employability Officer, Employability and Graduate Success

In 2021, Betty drew on her wealth of experience to assist in creating an improved way to manage and review a high volume of students progressing through their PACE journey in Employability Connect (CareerHub). From application through to job offer, the experience she created was user-friendly. By also providing subsequent partner and student communications to guide users through the process, Betty showed her commitment to improving the experience of all work-integrated learning stakeholders – students, partners and academics.

Featured image (Pictured L to R): Professor Dominique Parrish, Pro Vice-Chancellor, Learning and Teaching; Bonnie Ng; Betty Opacic; Associate Professor Wayne Warburton and Kylie Ebert, Director, Employability and Graduate Success.

The University’s Executive Group took the opportunity to recognise the hard work and dedication to continuing academic excellence.

“This event recognises the achievements of academic staff and gives us an opportunity to celebrate the progress of our many talented colleagues,” Professor Dowton said.

Happy 25^th birthday Mia Mia Child and Family Study Centre! A party was held to mark the occasion, and also as a farewell for founding staff members Wendy Shepherd and Janet Robertson, who retired at the beginning of this year after 25 years’ service at Mia Mia.

It was Wendy and Janet’s combined vision of what an early childhood program can be that underpins what Mia Mia is today, and has led to its national and international recognition as a centre of excellence in early childhood education.

The 400 attendees were a mix of past and present children and families as well as University staff and representatives of the early childhood sector. They even had appearances from children and their families from Mia Mia’s very first year in 1994 – now fully grown adults in their mid to late 20s.

It was a great celebration of what Mia Mia has been and continues to be, a chance to recognise the outstanding contributions of Wendy and Janet, and a reminder of the important place that Mia Mia holds in the memories of those who have been associated with it over the last 25 years.

The second Annual Macquarie Spine Cadaveric Workshop was held at the Macquarie University Clinical Skills Lab, overseen by the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences.

The event was organised collaboratively between the Macquarie Spine group and Spineart AU, comprising eight delegates – seven Spine Fellows and a Consultant Neurosurgeon. Dr Brian Hsu co-chaired the workshop, which focused on complex cervical and lumbar techniques, with Dr Davor Saravanja, Associate Professor Kevin Seex and Dr Bhisham Singh.

Outstanding student contributions, and the impacts their work has on partners and the wider community, were recognised during the 2018 Professor Judyth Sachs PACE Prizes.

This year, a record number of applications were received, and the selection committees were challenged with nominating winners from the large, talented pool of candidates.

“PACE activities give our students the opportunity to apply their classroom learning in practice and, in doing so, develop as active citizens capable of addressing the complex social, civic and business issues our global community confronts today,” says Lindie Clark, Academic and Program Director, Professional and Community Engagement (PACE).

“When students engage in PACE, they do so by undertaking a workplace project that not only supports their own development, but also meets the needs of the industry or community partner with whom they are working.”

The evening included an inspiring presentation from Mridula Amin, a Macquarie University and Media Mentorship alumna, (BA Media/LLB), who spoke of the connection between her PACE experiences and the professional opportunities these have provided. Mridula is a photojournalist and reporter who currently works for the ABC. She has recently been nominated for the prestigious 2019 Walkley Awards for Australian Journalist of the Year.

‘Spotlight on…’ is our way of showcasing different teams across campus to increase engagement, cohesion and an understanding of who does what at Macquarie. This week, we talk to the PACE team from the Faculty of Human Sciences.

What is PACE?
PACE (Professional and Community Engagement) is an award-winning, university wide initiative that offers our undergraduate students the opportunity to complete work experience in their chosen field before they graduate. PACE is about enhancing the employability of all our students and creating engaged citizens.
Every undergraduate student is required to complete a PACE unit, which includes academic study and a placement or work integrated learning project. PACE students put the theory they have learned into practice in the ‘real’ world. Our PSY399 PACE unit convenor Wayne Warburton describes PACE as allowing MQ students to “road-test their dreams”.

What do you do?
We work with both partners and students to arrange a great variety of placements for the students in the Faculty of Human Sciences. We look after students from Psychology, Linguistics, Health, Cognitive Science, Speech and Hearing and other majors under the Bachelor of Human Sciences. We need to ensure that the placements we offer are mutually beneficial for both the partner and student. The team works collaboratively with the PACE teams in the other faculties and with the central PACE ‘hub’ team.

Why do you do it?
This is a very rewarding job role. We are able to place students into organisations where they are making a difference in the lives of people in real need. It is also a privilege to play a part assisting students take the first steps in their chosen careers. PACE is making a real difference to the employment opportunities for our students, bridging the gap between their academic studies and the application of that learning. PACE also provides an opportunity, particularly for students who may not have had much experience in the workforce, to develop some of the soft skills required to be successful in their future careers, such as communication, team work, problem-solving and critical thinking.

Who do you most frequently work with?
On any given day we will be working with external partners, students and MQ colleagues. Partners can be spilt into two main areas: internal and external partners. Our internal partners may be academics who host students on research placements or professional staff who supervise students on a range of projects that contribute to the university. Our external partners are any organisation outside of MQ that would like to host PACE students and can include corporates such as Johnson & Johnson, not-for profits such as the Benevolent Society, government agencies, and other community and welfare organisations. We also work closely with the unit convenors of each PACE unit as well as other colleagues both within PACE and in other areas of MQ such as Corporate Engagement, Research, Careers, Campus Wellbeing, Advancement, and more.

What’s a recent achievement you’re proud of?
The annual PACE awards were held last week (8 August) and we’re extremely proud of all the recipients. These awards recognise and reward students for outstanding achievement in a PACE activity. We truly do have so many fabulous students doing amazing things.

We are also really proud of the wonderful work our Psychology students do with Blue Dragon in Vietnam.

Additionally, we are proud of the great relationship that we have with the Raise Foundation, an organisation that offers mentoring to young people at risk of disengaging. Raise offer mentorship training to our Psychology students and place them with high schools across Sydney. This year Raise hosted a record 62 of our Psychology students, three times as many as last year.

How do you engage with us? Where can we learn more?
Information on PACE can be found on the University website.

The PACE Human Sciences team can be contacted on 98501460 or on our email address pace.humansciences@mq.edu.au

Last week,  26 outstanding students were awarded a Professor Judyth Sachs PACE prize for their 2015 PACE (Professional and Community Engagement) placements. Across all faculties and disciplines, the one commonality between all the winners was that they grasped the opportunity: to produce great work, to demonstrate their value, and to learn a lot in the process.

Travelling as far as India and as locally as Ryde, this year’s winners stood out from the more than 6000 students who completed a PACE unit in 2015. A number of winners have also gone on to see their partner organisations implementing their work, making a difference that extends beyond their stint.

“I am immensely proud of what we’ve achieved with PACE to date. Our partners tell us that our students have made a valuable contribution to the work of their organisation and in turn, our students have had a glimpse of what their future might hold. There’s no better way to start your career,” said Lindie Clark, Academic and Program Director for PACE.

PACE offers programs for students that take them out of the classroom and into the heart of their chosen career path, making them more ready for work and life after university. As of 2016, all commencing undergraduate students will complete a PACE unit as part of their degree.

“Macquarie is a university that was established to serve the community, and we can now continue to do that with PACE,” said Emeritus Professor Judyth Sachs, former Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Provost) and Founder of PACE.

Learn more about how PACE transforms learning into reality.