FAM news
Faculty Administration Managers Newsletter
Issue 11, November 2018
Welcome
As the end of the year approaches, the FAM’s would like to take this opportunity to recognise the hard work and achievements of all CSU staff members throughout 2018. We have enjoyed collaborating with Divisions, academics and senior leadership in numerous forums throughout the year. In particular, we want to thank the Faculty Functional Team members for all their hard work and dedication during 2018.
In this edition of FAM News we bring you updates regarding selected systems and projects to keep you informed of the collaborative work, progress and achievements made to date and also what’s on the horizon.
Each edition of FAM News is focused on one of the CSU Values. For this edition we focus on “Insightful… Understanding people and the world”. Included are some inspiring demonstrations of initiatives that have focused on understanding and support. A special thank you to the contributors of the event updates and photos…. please continue to keep us informed, so we can share these successes and inspire others.
We hope you enjoy this edition of the FAM News. If you have any feedback for us, suggestions for inclusion or further improvements, we are always happy to hear from you via fac-admin-mgrs@csu.edu.au.
We wish everyone a safe and happy holidays and look forward to working with you all throughout 2019.
Annual Closedown
The University will be closed from 12.30pm Friday, 21 December 2018 and will reopen Wednesday, 2 January 2019.
Please ensure your leave application has been lodged in Web Kiosk and you turn on your email ‘Out of the Office’ notifications prior to commencing your leave. Further details can be found here.
Professional Support Services 'Check-in' Survey
We would like to encourage all Faculty staff to complete the Professional Support Services 'Check-in' Survey before close of business on Monday 3 December 2018.
The survey can be found here.
The survey was circulated Monday 19 November 2018 and seeks your feedback on the recommended actions taken to improve Faculty Professional Support Services identified in the Common Support Mode (CSM) Evaluation Report.
This survey is our opportunity to ‘check-in’ with all Faculty staff to gauge awareness of improvements and to receive further feedback and ideas for future improvements.
It will only take 5 minutes and will be open until cob Monday 3 December 2018.
Graduation
Graduation is a major event to celebrate the achievement of our Graduands. Ceremonies will be taking place from 10th - 19th December across the University.
Staff who wish to participate in graduation, either as a guest or in the Academic Procession, will be required to register via What’s New.
Volunteers are still needed for ceremonies in Bathurst, Wagga Wagga, Albury and Port Macquarie. To assist please email Monique Smith, Manager Graduation and Protocol via graduations@csu.edu.au.
Professional Development through Online Learning
CSU provides the opportunity to increase capabilities of staff through online learning portals such as ELMO and Lynda.com. These online portals provide access to a suite of programs which can assist you in increasing your skills and knowledge. More information can be found here.
Contact Student Central - Online Form - Now with attachment capability
DSA’s Student Central has updated their online form to allow current students to add an attachment to their query. The form content and any attachments are logged as an interaction in Talisma for DSA to manage, referring on to Faculty staff as needed.
All current students with queries will now be directed to this form, rather than the generic ask@csu.edu.au email address.
Regeneration
Tania Cowgill, Administrative Officer to the Head of School, in the School of Teacher Education, has created a Mosaic Art Work for CSU Green representing the past, present and future of CSU, with a focus on getting back to nature. Tania wants the viewer to go on a journey of Hawthornden Creek and its surrounding landscape, from past to present, and reflect on how we can all work together to regenerate its biodiversity. It will be displayed at ‘PULSE’ on the Bathurst Campus.
Project Updates
CSM Evaluation Project
The Project team have been making some real progress on the Action Plan with over 50% of the issues initially identified now resolved and significant progress on most other issues. We have also been conducting information sessions for the Functional Teams. Recently the team has been focused on the following:
Clarity around the AO to HOS role
· Analysed AO to HOS survey and included issues in the Admin Hot Spots list
· Refined the AO to HOS issues roadmap
· Reviewed the Admin hot spots list and progressed unresolved issues
· Submitted a reviewed AO to HOS position description for finalisation
Workplace Learning
· Working with WPL Managers
· Finalising Procedure Reviews
· Creating a timeline for Website updates with a common approach
· Reviewing support for InPlace
Workforce planning
· Working with FOBJBS Functional Team Managers
· Development of a workforce planning tool
Offer Decision Project
The Offer Decision Project aims to improve on the work done by the Applicant Experience Project by allowing applicants to transition smoothly through the decision phases of Accept, Decline or Defer. The project also seeks to improve the retention of students lost in the current process and reduce the manual overhead encountered by staff in managing the applicants and their decision outcomes. The steering committee are meeting on a regular basis with Maryann Wakem representing the FAMs and Faculty Administration Teams.
Events
Higher Education EA Intensive
Members of the FOBJBS Functional Teams attended the Higher Education Executive Assistants Intensive with EA’s from the University of Tasmania and the University of Wollongong in October.
Facilitated by Dr Karen Whittingham the 2 days focused on small group interactive sessions on enhancing your personal and professional value as an EA. There was an emphasis on the importance of self-reflection, continuing to grow with PD, with a ‘problem-solution-benefit’ approach.
FOAE Operations Team Retreat
The Operations Team from the Faculty of Arts and Education held their annual team retreat on 23-25 Oct on the Albury-Wodonga Campus with a focus on living the CSU Values and participation in the University ALLY training.
UPCOMING EVENTS
Indigenous Research Summit
The School of Indigenous Australian Studies invites researchers from across the Faculty to the 2018 Indigenous Research Summit in Wagga Wagga, 5-6 December 2018.
A closed workshop for Indigenous HDR candidates will be held on 7th December, following the Summit.
If you would like to register to attend, please send an email to FoAE-RGS@csu.edu.au, signifying your interest, dietary requirements and home campus. You’ll be contacted soon with further details of travel arrangements.
FOAE Courses Team Face to Face
All Faculty Functional Teams endeavour to have an annual face to face conference. The FOAE Courses team will be meeting in December 2018 in Wagga.
Community
FOS Ronald McDonald House Fundraiser
With a focus on improving cross-unit collaboration, the Faculty of Science professional teams introduced cross campus social activities during 2018. It was hoped that these events would strengthen our Inclusive (Stronger together) and Impactful (Outcome driven) values.
As part of this initiative the group decided to hold a fundraising morning tea to raise money for Ronald McDonald House on the Bathurst, Orange and Wagga Wagga campus. The professional staff got busy baking and all held their morning teas during the month of October.
The events were a huge success with over $1000 raised.
The Orange and Bathurst campus donated $520 to the Orange Ronald McDonald House in a presentation to House Manager Kellie Hughes. The story made the local Central Western Daily newspaper in Orange.
The Wagga Wagga campus donated $540 to the Wagga Wagga Ronald McDonald House in a presentation to Deborah Braines, Executive Officer of Ronald McDonald House, Wagga Wagga accompanied by Stephanie Murphy, House Manager
The Faculty of Science want to thank all staff across these three campuses who supported the morning teas and are looking forward to continuing with these social activities. They were a great opportunity to give back to our community and a chance to take a break from our desks and engage with our CSU community.
End of Year and Regular Building Functions
We are often hearing about some of the great social activities being organised around the university and would like to take the opportunity to encourage these events. One of CSU’s biggest assets are its people and the more we can build and foster our relationships the better for everyone.
In the lead up to the end of the year we are sure there will be a number of social activities to celebrate 2018. We encourage you to attend the functions in your area if you are able and for those organising these events to take an inclusive approach.
We would also like to give a special thanks to those who are often the organisers of these social events.
CSU Values
Insightful… Understanding people and the world?
In living the value of Insightful we act respectfully and perceptively to seek to understand why people think and behave in the ways that they do.
Understanding why people think the way they do or behave the way they do. What their underlying attitudes, beliefs and motivations are. Not just taking words or actions at face value, but digging deep to understand the why in addition to the what.
Digging deep to understand the why in addition to the what, we shift beyond taking words or actions at face value.
Through an open-minded approach we reveal people's underlying attitudes, beliefs and motivations.
An insightful approach means we remove ambiguity, we are each clear and agreed about our goals and actions, and we better position ourselves for success.
Faculty of Arts & Education
Three Faculty Research Officer Support positions have been appointed in the Faculty of Arts and Education to provide support to researchers across all campuses. These positions have been designed to support and develop areas of research strength in the Faculty, particularly where staff are working collaboratively. The aim is to increase research impact and quality outputs, generate external income, and promote engagement with industry in the short and long term.
Nicola Ivory (Research Assistant) is based in Albury with Elizabeth Wulff (Research Officer) and Sarah Redshaw (FoAE Research Fellow) based in Bathurst.
Faculty of Business, Justice & Behavioural Sciences
Several TOL subjects have been complete and are going live for 201890 including LAW516, LAW517 and QBM120. Together these subjects have a common look and feel with contain custom video content and interactive elements and also offer students flexible assessment options via the Study Planner tool. In addition, they have been designed so that they look great whether viewed on PC, tablet, or mobile phone (see image below).
Thanks to the teams that worked together to understand each other by having a transparent and consistent approach to the subjects and taking ownership in finalising subjects. The TOL team are working on another 30 subject for 201930.
Faculty of Science
This year two Course Administration Officers (CAO) from FOBJBS and FOS course teams participated in job shadowing. Bec Salmon and Jodie Mitchell sat with each other for one hour fortnightly between the months of July and September. The Faculty of Science Functional Team Managers are currently working on a framework around job shadowing and job skilling with a view to rolling this out for all Faculty administration teams to utilise and form part of their 2019 EDRS discussions with their Managers.
CSU Ethos
Faculty Administration Managers Contact Details
Alice Roberts
Email: aroberts@csu.edu.au
Jenny McIntyre
Email: jmcintyre@csu.edu.au
Maryann Wakem
Email: mwakem@csu.edu.au