Education Focussed Careers Retreat 2025
The inaugural Education Focussed Careers Retreat was held on Friday 31 October, with more than 270 University staff attending to explore opportunities and pathways within teaching and learning and education-focussed careers at the University of Melbourne.
A recording of the morning session, including the keynote, panel discussion and education-focussed overview is available to watch for University staff.
The retreat provided the first opportunity for education-focussed academic and education-oriented professional staff from across the University to come together as a collective and connect, share resources and exchange ideas and perspectives in relation to education-focussed careers.
The morning began with a welcome from Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Education) Professor Gregor Kennedy, who emphasised the University’s commitment to supporting educational excellence and valuing the work of education-focussed staff through the Advancing Students and Education strategy.
Professor Susan Rowland, Vice-Provost at the University of Sydney, then delivered an inspiring keynote on transforming perceptions of education-focussed academics and their contributions.
She introduced a foundational ethical decision-making framework for staff to use and encouraged them to explore how their personal values, purpose and principles intersect with the University’s, highlighting how focusing on these areas of alignment can strengthen the impact of their work.
Professor Rowland also unpacked key aspects of organisational culture, biases, and shadow values, and shared practical strategies for building positive visibility, working smarter, and progressing within this context.
The retreat also featured a panel discussion hosted by Professor Karena Waller, and included Professor Rowland, Associate Professor Ika Willis and Professor Gavin Buskes from the University of Melbourne and Dr Collins Fleischner from Australian Catholic University.
The panel shared insights on navigating education-focussed careers, overcoming challenges, and offered advice for those looking to focus their career and scholarship in education.
In the final presentation of the morning Professor Karena Waller spoke about her journey and experiences as an education-focussed academic, about her new role as Academic Director, Education-Focussed Careers and provided an overview of the education-focussed landscape at the University.
She highlighted opportunities to support and celebrate educational excellence and innovation such as the GEM Scott Teaching Fellowships, Learning and Teaching Initiative (LTI) Grants, the Leading Educational Quality and Innovation program, AdvanceHE Fellowships and membership benefits, and Melbourne Teaching Excellence Awards that staff can be awarded.
Workshops ran in the afternoon on a range of topics, including to support education-focussed academics in applying for promotion, how to evidence quality, impact and influence, reflecting on how to become an even better educator, formulating Scholarship of Teaching and Learning projects and learning about possibilities and opportunities for education-focussed careers. These sessions equipped EF academics with tools and strategies to further their careers and contribute to a culture of educational excellence.
The retreat marked an important step in building a connected community of education-focussed academics, with more opportunities planned to support their growth and success in teaching and learning at the University.