Although the capacity of ChatGPT to generate content that may be submitted in response to an assessment task is not new, the useability of the platform and its wide accessibility is. While many of us are concerned about breaches of integrity, I don’t believe that banning tools like ChatGPT is the answer. Advances in AI will rapidly outpace our capacity to respond to every misuse. Moreover, if harnessed properly, the gains from utilising AI in our education—for us and our students—are significant.

Utilising AI to good effect will take time. Like AI itself, we will also undergo a process of learning. Certainly, we need to find ways to guard against its misuse, particularly in assessments; but we will succeed working together as a community to find appropriate solutions.

I have spoken with a number of you already about what we might do to ensure that students demonstrate what they have learnt in assessments and do not pass off unattributed AI-generated content as their own. I have also spoken at length with the Vice-Chancellor, other members of the Executive Group, senior stakeholders across the University and colleagues across the sector to ensure that we are aligned. The conversations I have had reinforce what I have come to know about our institution—that we always rise to a challenge.

In the next few days, you will receive an email from your respective Deputy Dean Education and Employability offering help on faculty-specific measures. Pro Vice-Chancellor Professor Dominique Parrish’s team will release a series of FAQs that offer pointers to help you think through some of the thornier issues. Dean of Students Professor Mariella Herberstein and I will also write to students to remind them of the importance of academic integrity. And we are planning to release a video ahead of the start of the academic year comprising views and insights from across our community.

I am grateful for the time and dedication each of you puts into making our students’ time with us exceptional. It really does make the difference. I genuinely believe that there is a distinct Macquarie Advantage in the education we provide. Our response in moments like these is just one more example of that. Thinking through how we utilise AI in the way we assess and provide feedback to our students over the medium-term is another.

Professor Rorden Wilkinson
Deputy Vice Chancellor (Academic)

It should come as little surprise that since 2014 technology at Macquarie has developed even further. In 2014 the iPhone 5 was in use, we are now on iPhone 13, and we are constantly connected via laptops, flexibly working at the office, at home and many places in between.

The University scored highly in Remote Assistance and Electronic, On-Site and Phone IT Support Services. Opportunities for improvement were highlighted in some areas, including verifying permanent fixes for complex problems and receiving feedback.

Overall IT satisfaction for students ranked 2% below the benchmark average across all participating universities, with staff IT satisfaction ranking 6% below the overall benchmark average.

“Thank you to all who participated in the survey,” says Georgina Rossendell, Director, Client Services.

“We are constantly working to improve the systems and processes in IT and address the areas of improvement highlighted from the survey.”

View survey results here by logging in with your OneID and password. Results will automatically download.

The new portals launch on 13 February is fast approaching. What changes can we expect?

It will be easier to find information, do your job, and collaborate with others. Everyday tasks will be faster to complete.

You’ll be able to customise links to University applications, news and events that suit you. Search is also being re-built to ensure information is easier to find. The removal of duplicates will also increase search speed.

Our students need mobile access to web information so the portal will be fully accessible on mobile phones and tablets, and a new app for Android and iOS will be launched. We also know students need a consolidated calendar of their assessments, class timetable, and key university dates. This will be delivered in the new portal and mobile app in February.

Visit the website for a sneak peek of the look and feel.

How many people have been involved in building the new portals?

A lot! The Web Transformation team has more than 12 web specialists working closely with IT, Marketing and two external partners – Squiz and Empirical Works. Three students currently work on the project team and a University-wide team of 208 staff are working on the update of the website content.  About 1000 students and nearly 1000 staff have also been consulted on their expectations and web experiences.

When you have a large project like this, how do you set priorities? 

Improving the experience of users has always been the top priority. The most common prioritisation challenge is balancing the user experience with the needs and understanding of the website owners. Our job is to strike the right balance in putting the audience’s needs first.

Updating a website involves many moving parts; what’s been the biggest challenge with this project?

We started with the challenge of working out exactly how many web pages the University has, and who owned them. Quickly we discovered a great variety of different usages, strategies and technologies. Some websites were being used just to store files, which is not best practice. Again, the challenge is prioritising in order to make the site easier for others to use, even if that means it’s harder to maintain or govern.

What’s the latest in best practice for university websites?

University websites are complex; they need to simultaneously cater for campus, research and enrolment requirements, as well as internal needs, with a broad and diverse set of audiences. 

Benchmarking across eight industry sectors by Global Reviews shows that the university sector lags behind other industries in user satisfaction. I think this is because the activities conducted at universities are advanced and specialised, which creates big challenges around structure and communication of information. 

We’ve set out to create a presence that leapfrogs other universities by adopting best practice from other industries. Other universities can, of course, also do this, such moves require major culture shifts towards user-centred thinking.

What’s next after the portals are delivered? 

Work doesn’t end with the 13 February launch, there’s an ongoing need to continue to keep our online presence current, and up-to-date with best practice. 

Post launch, Marketing will be the business owner of the portals and the mobile app, with support provided by IT. Ongoing development and maintenance of new portals will also be guided by the Web Steering Committee and Web Taskforce.

Got any questions on the upcoming portals? Contact the Web Project team. If you are interested in learning more about future trends in digital and how universities can stay relevant in the digital age, attend a presentation conducted by Grace Woodrow Kraus, Head of Content at Squiz  December 13 2pm – 3pm at E7B 100 Theatrette.

In an effort to ensure the cyber security of all staff and systems, staff will receive a link via an MQ Announcement on Monday 5 December to reset their OneID password. University devices, smart phones and tablets and any saved passwords will require updating after the password change, which must be done before 5pm Monday 12 December.

Josef Oduwo, Director of Policy, Compliance and PMO at the Macquarie University IT Department, says this reset will improve the cyber security of Macquarie’s systems.

“Computer Security is important,” he says. “The IT environment, platforms and systems are constantly evolving and we encourage staff to continue taking a risk-based approach to how they secure and use their computers at work and at home.”

These changes are part of a series of required improvements to cyber security endorsed by the Vice Chancellor’s Executive Group.

“The one-off password change to ensure a stronger password, coupled with the introduction of a new self-service password reset capability, is the first of these improvements concerning access management,” he says.

The recently updated Information Security Policy provides more information on the change. For a list of frequently asked questions and information on password requirements, see here. Extra staff will be on hand to assist those who do not change their password before 5pm Monday 12 December. Faculty/Office IT representatives will be on hand to answer any questions.

The IT department appreciates the continuing commitment of staff to cyber security and their cooperation with this change.

Rollout of Lynda.com is being jointly managed by the Learning Innovation Hub and the Library.

Pro Vice-Chancellor (Learning and Teaching) Professor Sherman Young explains: “Lynda.com aligns with our strategic vision of creating innovative learning experiences for our students that encompass informal learning, the development of a connected learning community, and our focus on employability.”

What’s the deal?
The University’s site-wide licence provides unlimited access for all staff and students (a subscription would normally cost you about $35 a month). As well as watching videos, you can create and share playlists with other Macquarie staff and students. You can access from anywhere – campus, home or mobile.

Some ways you can use Lynda.com

• Improve your work related skills in IT and other professional learning and development topics.
• Be creative and explore new subjects or life skills.
• Help your students improve essential software skills, like Excel.
• Provide a playlist to students on presentation skills ahead of a class presentation.
• Use the videos to help you redesign a unit with a Flipped Classroom approach.
• For teaching staff, you can add a link to a Lynda.com video in iLearn, just as you would any other url.

How do I start?

1. Go to Lynda.com
2. Click on Sign In and then select Sign in with your organisation
3. Enter Macquarie’s URL mq.edu.au
4. Enter your Macquarie OneID and password

For subsequent access on the same device simply go to Lynda.com and login with your Macquarie OneID and Password. Lynda.com videos are also available from the Library’s search system MultiSearch.  For further help and resources go to libguides.mq.edu.au/lynda

Who do I contact for more information?

The Lynda rollout is being jointly managed by the Learning Innovation Hub and the Macquarie University Library. Contact lucy.arthur@mq.edu.au or fiona.burton@mq.edu.au.

Underpinning all our work on a day-to-day basis are our information technology systems and processes. An extensive review process has highlighted the need for us to effect a step change to enable us to build and enhance our capability in this area. This is necessary in order to match the needs of a fast-paced and ever-changing teaching, learning and research environment that serves a diverse range of digitally informed audiences with an ‘anytime anywhere any device’ expectation of technology.

Last week a workplace change proposal was sent to impacted parties, proposing a new structure for IT that is designed to build and enhance our capability. The proposed change looks at shifting from a product-oriented focus to one that is service-oriented and better leveraging cloud to replace ageing technology. The change does not propose a reduction in investment, in recognition of the vital role effective, efficient and agile IT support plays in any large and growing organisation.

At the heart of the proposed change is a new organisational structure that addresses functionality gaps and reorientates the IT Department towards meeting the University’s technology demands and service requirements while supporting the achievement of its strategic goals. It highlights the need to adopt new models of service delivery in context of new and developing technologies such as mobile, cloud and virtualisation.

Consultation on these proposed changes with centralised IT teams is currently underway (faculties and entities are out of scope). An implementation plan is expected to be released from 16 May, subject to feedback. Updates will be provided in the coming weeks.

Supported by industry leaders, educators, families and fans, and united by a mutual love of science, technology, and engineering, nearly 50 high school student teams from the United States, Singapore, Taiwan, China, India, and Australia converged at the Sydney Olympic Park Sports Centre on 17-19 March to launch robots they’d designed, built and programmed themselves over a six week period.

The 2016 ‘Stronghold’ challenge had a medieval theme that required the robots to overcome obstacles and weaken their opponents’ defences by catapulting ‘boulders’ to conquer their castle tower.

Much more than just a game for robots, the FIRST Robotics Competition (FRC), is part of a much larger FIRST® (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) program aimed at inspiring and educating students in STEM subjects (science, technology, engineering and maths), and encouraging them to consider further study or career options in these fields.

Joined on the sidelines by Foreign Minister The Hon Julie Bishop, and the Member for Reid The Hon Craig Laundy MP, Prime Minister Turnbull said they were excited to visit the event and to be so inspired by such brilliant young minds.

“They’re right here at the cutting edge of technology; the technology that delivers jobs, the opportunities of the 21st century for our children and our grandchildren.”

The winning team alliance will compete at the world championships in St Louis in April; an honour which was collaboratively achieved by Team 3132 Macquarie University, Team 4613 Barker College and Team 6035 Ulladulla.

Team 6035 was supported by Robots in the Outback – a program which Macquarie University proudly partners in. Volunteer mentors drove donated cars to 12 high schools in rural and regional New South Wales to support teams with expertise and guidance in order to help them compete.

Take a look at some of the social media highlights from the event below.