Driving student success: MUIC and ELC’s senior L&T leadership team (L-R) Dr Pamela Humphreys (Director), Dr Cinitia Agosti (Associate Director of Learning and Teaching, MUIC) and Cara Dinneen (incoming Associate Director of Learning and Teaching, ELC)

There’s a new L&T leadership team at Macquarie University International College (MUIC) and English Language Centre (ELC) – three women who share a passion for transforming lives through education.

Director of MUIC and ELC, Dr Pamela Humphreys, and Associate Director of Learning and Teaching at MUIC, Dr Cinitia Agosti, who have both been in place since mid-year, will soon be joined by Cara Dinneen, who will commence as Associate Director of Learning and Teaching at ELC next month.

“With Cara’s appointment, we have an excellent L&T leadership team at MUIC and ELC,” notes Pamela, who was a finalist in this year’s Academic Staff Awards in the Educational Leadership category. “Both Cintia and Cara are super experienced and capable, so we are well-positioned for the future. I think 2020 is going to be a great year.”

We sat down with the three to find out more about how they’ll be working together to drive student success.

Tell us a bit about yourselves, and what drew you to the education field…

Pamela: “I’ve worked in international education for 30 years in the UK, Spain, Italy, Singapore and Australia. At age 22, I was planning to travel the world and avoid a career, but the career eventually caught up with me in Singapore where I was lucky to have considerable professional development opportunities with the British Council before coming to Australia.

“I’m proud to have received Senior Fellowship of both Advance HE and IEAA, and I’m passionate about supporting the academic language and learning needs of students, and empowering teachers to transform students’ lives.”

Cintia: “My involvement in the higher education sector now spans more than three decades, but I have been passionate about education from a very early age – as a six-year-old in Argentina I would teach my teddy bears in my room, blackboard and all.

“Teaching, curriculum development, research, training and publishing have never felt like ‘work’ to me. I’m devoted to building a positive, collegial culture that draws on every team member’s strengths and supports professional development.”

Cara: “I have 18 years’ experience in teaching and educational leadership in Spain, Oman and Australia. It all began when I went to Spain for a short stint teaching English and learning a little Spanish. I picked up a theory book on Applied Linguistics and was absolutely hooked. Six years later I came back from Spain with a fluent level of Spanish, a husband, and a fresh sense of purpose!

“Now, I’m passionate about collaborative innovation – mapping people’s expertise and ideas to theoretical frameworks to create quality, long-lasting solutions in emergent areas of need. I’m also currently completing a Master of Professional of Practice in Digital Learning Leadership.”

What are you looking forward to for MUIC and ELC in 2020?

Pamela: “We’ve done a lot of great L&T work at MUIC over the last 18 months, developing a Learning and Teaching philosophy and associated strategy, followed by a Teaching Excellence Framework. The MUIC academic team have also been involved in a curriculum overhaul to better meet the needs of AQF5 students who are predominantly English as an Additional Language (EAL).

“I’m also delighted that the ELC has again been able to provide post-entry academic language and learning support to over 1700 students in Session 2 this year, with great feedback from both academics and students.

“In 2020, completing the MUIC curriculum project and revamping our flagship Direct Entry Program at ELC will be our priorities. I also look forward to continuing to support students during their degrees and delivering on the recent recommendations of the English Language Working Group, which I was fortunate to chair. The ELC is leading the sector in international student wellbeing and I am sure that this will receive deserved attention.”

Cintia: “I have thoroughly enjoyed collaborating with Pamela and the Senior Academic Team in all the L&T projects we’ve undertaken at MUIC this year, including our recent overhaul of assessment tasks for MUIC’s suite of offerings, which I completed with MUIC’s Program Managers, Dr Can Yalcinkaya and Dr Onur Ates.

“Stepping up to the role of Associate Director Learning and Teaching has given me the opportunity to represent MUIC at different forums and collaborate in the Learning and Teaching initiatives being discussed at a University-wide level. I am impressed by the level of commitment that my University colleagues show in driving improvements in this area.

“We’ve identified areas of possible growth for MUIC in the online education space and I’m excited at the prospect of expanding the scope of the College’s course offerings to meet the varied needs of both local and international students.”

Cara: “I am incredibly excited about joining the ELC in December and finding out about the learning and teaching programs and culture. Throughout 2020, I look forward to engaging in action research with interested staff and to furthering my own investigations into the use of digital translation and paraphrasing tools. I hope to engage regularly with students and teachers at Macquarie in a meaningful discussion about an area of practice that we simply need to be talking more about.”