The Macquarie Advantage strategy is gathering momentum, with cross-institutional working groups having submitted their reports and recommendations to the Education Strategy Committee following an intensive month of collaborative discussions and workshops.

In his recent This Week article, Professor Rorden Wilkinson, Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Academic), highlighted some of the unique advantages of a Macquarie University education: the quality of our teaching, the experiences we craft for our students, our industry connections, our collaborative culture and the care and compassion demonstrated by Macquarie staff.

The University has activated a strategic planning process to explore how we can build on these advantages to guide our education into the future.

Five working groups have been established that align with the interconnected and mutually reinforcing elements of the Macquarie Advantage. These groups comprise colleagues and students from across the University, representing a broad range of expertise and perspectives:

• Wellbeing and belonging: co-chaired by Professor Mariella Herberstein, Dean of Students, and Professor Viviana Wuthrich, Director in the Lifespan Health and Wellbeing Research Centre
• Academic excellence: co-chaired by Professor Taryn Jones, Pro Vice-Chancellor (Education), and Professor Albert Atkin, Deputy Dean, Education and Employability, Faculty of Arts
• Assessment and feedback: co-chaired by Professor Jacqueline Phillips, Chair, Academic Senate, and Professor Cath Dean, Deputy Dean, Education and Employability, Faculty of Medicine, Health and Human Sciences
• Employability: co-chaired by Professor Dan Johnson, Pro Vice-Chancellor (Research, Innovation and Enterprise) and Professor Yvonne Breyer, Deputy Dean, Education and Employability, Macquarie Business School
• Digital technology: co-chaired by Professor Linda Beaumont, Deputy Dean, Education and Employability, Faculty of Science and Engineering, and Professor Matt Bower, Interim Dean, Macquarie School of Education, and Chair, Senate Learning and Teaching Committee.

These working groups have spent the past month in focused and intensive discussions to assess current and best practice, identify opportunities to leverage our distinctive advantages, propose enhancements in areas of importance and explore pioneering initiatives within the sector. Reports and recommendations from each group were provided to the Education Strategy Committee in late June and will help shape the initial design of the Macquarie Advantage strategy.

The strategy will also build on work completed over recent years to develop the Macquarie Way and deliver the Students first, Coursework suite and delivery and other streams of the Operating Plan.

Professor Wilkinson says he has been excited by the opportunities that have been identified by staff and students in the early stages of the strategy’s development.

“We have a real opportunity to take a lead in higher education,” he says. “Building on what we do well will ensure we have a dynamic education and student experience that prepares us for the future. I would like to thank everyone involved in the working groups for their important contributions and I look forward to involving the broader University community in the initiatives that are taking shape throughout the areas of focus.”

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Macquarie staff and students will have opportunities to contribute to the Macquarie Advantage strategy, with a staff Town Hall planned for 1 August, followed by staff and student workshops and feedback surveys.