Dr James Thompson awarded the Universitas 21 Fellowship for academic staff

Dr James Thompson, a Lecturer in Teaching and Learning with an academic developer role in the Built Environment Learning and Teaching (BEL+T) group within the Faculty of Architecture, Building and Planning, has been awarded the Universitas 21 Fellowship for academic staff.

The U21 Fellowship recognises outstanding teaching performance, provides development opportunities for the recipients and benefits the University through the advancement of its teaching and learning quality.

The key objective of the Fellowship is to advance the strategic educational priorities of the University while enabling the fellow to develop their expertise, to pass on their learnings and to strengthen links with other U21 institutions.

The Fellowship will enable Dr Thompson to explore innovations in teaching and learning through collaboration with international partners, specifically in how different universities approach supporting academics in engaging with diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) issues in teaching and learning.

Dr Thompson will be visiting five Pacific Rim institutions – the University of Queensland, University of Auckland, National University of Singapore, University of California-Berkeley, and Simon Fraser University – to gather insights on how they navigate the interplay between university- and faculty-level operations to optimise efforts in improving teaching quality and fostering innovation around DEI. The project aligns with the University of Melbourne's strategic priorities, such as embracing diversity, supporting outstanding teaching, and cultivating an inclusive community.

The findings could inform the university's post- Flexible Academic Programming (FlexAP), Advancing Students and Education (ASE) aligned operating model of academic development and potentially lead to inter-institutional collaborations and research opportunities.