Welcome to the Academic Leadership for Course Coordinators Program
On behalf of Curtin I would like to welcome you to the Academic Leadership for Course Coordinators Program and thank you for the significant commitment you are making to improve the quality of teaching and learning within our courses.
We want to improve Curtin’s performance not only building on course quality, but maintaining and improving our reputation nationally and internationally. Ensuring a sustained focus at the course level is essential for improving our performance and Course Coordinators play a critical role in this regard. In addition, this Program is integral to the success of the Curriculum 2010 project which focuses on the improvement of the quality of courses and the C2010 team work very closely with Course Coordinators in this process.
Staff often assume the role of Course Coordinator for a range of reasons (discipline expertise, staff rotations, leadership attributes), but are often under-prepared for the realities of the role.
Research has shown that currently there is little support within Australian universities to prepare, support and recognise Course Coordinators in their critical academic leadership role. Hence, the focus of this Program is to enhance the academic leadership knowledge and skills of Course Coordinators in higher education institutions.
This Program originated in a national Australian Learning and Teaching Council Leadership Grant. It is now funded by Curtin. The Program has been structured based on a survey of Course Coordinators and their professional development needs and was trialed as part of the Australian Learning and Teaching Council Project in late 2007. Feedback from the pilot participants has been incorporated in the second iteration of the Program, which sees the addition of a module focused on working effectively to build performance of both staff and students. In addition, the program has been developed and endorsed by the Internal Reference Group which has representatives from each Division for undergraduate and postgraduate courses.
The use of a flexible delivery approach also facilitates development opportunities for staff on a variety of Curtin’s campuses and for those who may be unable to attend some sessions.
The pilot is being delivered by staff with expertise in leadership development and curriculum design and review. They include Professor Beverley Oliver (Director of Teaching and Learning Development), Ms Sue Jones (Dean Teaching and Learning Health Sciences), and A/Professor Rick Ladyshewsky (Lecturer, Graduate School of Business). The program provides Course Coordinators with both theoretical and practical ideas and resources relating to academic leadership.
Thank you for making the commitment to participate in this program and I trust that the experiences will help you to feel better equipped to undertake your challenging roles. We look forward to your feedback and we will continue to address the needs of a very important group of academic leaders within Curtin.
Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Education)
Example Welcome message.doc