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Welcome Message from Tina Crawford
Welcome to our new and returning sessional academic staff in 2021. The UON Academy aims to develop, support and engage our sessional academic staff.
As sessional academic staff, you are part of the UON Academy – for more information about the Academy and ways in which we can support you in your teaching please visit the website and connect with us on LinkedIn to receive information about professional development, job opportunities and other communication that directly relates to you as sessional academic.
As a sessional academic staff member, you play a critical frontline role in the education of our students. In many cases, sessional staff have more contact with our students than our lecturers and certainly play a very important role in their education. Students consistently highlight sessional staff in their feedback.
We would like to hear more about your experience as a sessional academic staff member and ways we can help you in your role. There will be an opportunity soon for you to participate in the next Your Voice survey and I would encourage you to take part. Feedback from previous surveys have informed initiatives of the UON Academy.
Tina Crawford
Director, Equity Diversity & Inclusion
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Your Voice – Have your say
The Your Voice survey is a confidential online survey run by Voice Project -The 2021 Your Voice survey will run from 10 – 24 March. Our University workforce is large and the employment experience is diverse. It is important that Your Voice captures responses from all corners of the organisation including sessional academics. For more information about the upcoming survey visit Your Voice website.
This survey will come directly to your staff email account.
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Enabling Change Program Updates
Our vision to create a collaborative and sustainable university means that the first half of this year will see us continue to focus on organisational changes. Key updates:
• Our three new Colleges are now operational, and have senior leadership teams in place. The Pro Vice-Chancellor Unit Change Proposal is approved and implementation is underway, meaning these teams should be settling into their new roles shortly.
• In the Schools, the leadership teams are continuing to build their strategies and revise their staffing profiles. The Consultation period for the School changes commences at the end of March, and all staff, including our sessional staff, will be invited to read the Consultation papers and make submissions. Staff forums will also be held, and the presentations and video recordings will be made available to anyone unable to attend via the Enabling Change Sharepoint site.
• Our Divisions will also be releasing Consultation papers shortly – in the middle of March. Again, you will be able to see the presentations and papers, all available on the Sharepoint page.
• We are introducing a new, consistent approach to equipping and supporting our people to adapt more readily through change. The Adaptability Framework includes change management methodology, a training program, and a suite of change management resources, all launching soon and available to our sessional staff.
We wish to extend our gratitude to all of our sessional staff members for their continued dedication through this time of change.
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Student Central News
With the start of the academic year, our campuses are once again active with the influx of new and returning students. Supporting these students in their studies is at the front of your mind - and Student Central is here to support you in that endeavour. Student Central is a contemporary business unit within the Academic Division. For academic staff, Student Central is a point of contact for information and referral to the relevant services to assist your students.
Useful key pieces of information for the start of term:
1. New Students website– all first year undergraduate and postgraduate coursework students are pointed to this website when they receive their offer and throughout the onboarding process, providing information to support them in their transition to university study and life.
2. Navigator is a peer-to-peer communication platform designed to deliver information to students based around the four domains of success: Academic; Personal; Professional and Social and ‘Your Stories’, providing a comprehensive representation of the University of Newcastle student experience by other students.
3. Staff Supporting Students Toolkit- all staff have a responsibility to recognise that a student may need help; respond in a helpful way; refer on to the appropriate area and, most importantly, renew themselves. This toolkit provides practical advice and resources for staff supporting students.
4. Student Central ‘Refer a Student’ web form
With our brief, web-based form you can access the support of our professional staff for any student you may have concerns about. We are trained to know exactly which services to connect students to for a wide variety of issues. Why not bookmark our Refer a Student form so you have it on hand when you need it?
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Huxley Library Relocation
With the closure of the Hunter Building, Huxley Library services and collections have relocated to the Auchmuty Library. A staged relocation of collections has commenced with Course Readings, the Curriculum Resource Materials Collection (CRMC) and the Indigenous Collection now in their new homes at Auchmuty. To ensure continued access to books and materials located at Huxley a ‘click and collect’ service is operating while the collections are relocated to the Auchmuty Library. Regular updates will be provided via email, the Library Homepage and our social media channels, and the Hunter Building Closure SharePoint site.
Auchmuty Library Tours
During February, the Library will be running tours for staff and students to re-orient you with the Auchmuty Library space. These 30 minute tours will also showcase the new homes of collections from the Huxley Library. Friendly Huxley staff will show you around and answer any questions.
Dates:
• Thursday 25th Feb – 10am
• Thursday 4th March – 10am
• Thursday 11th March – 10am
• Thursday 18th March – 10am
If these dates do not work for you, please contact Jacqui Jacqui.harris@newcastle.edu.au to arrange another tour time, or drop into our Library service zones to speak to staff about an appropriate time.
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Learning Design and Teaching Innovation
The Blackboard Welcome page outlines all upcoming online training sessions, or contact numbers for help and also provides Teaching Continuity resources for staff:
https://uonline.newcastle.edu.au/webapps/login/
The LD&TI team also provides Teaching Continuity resources. This page provides simple suggestions and tools for addressing common teaching and learning tasks, with links for getting started or accessing support in their use. You can click on the link below to learn more. In brief, there are 6 quick things you can do to prepare your course for online delivery.
Read more...
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The Educator Network
In 2021, the Educator Network (tEN) will prioritise its work to continue developing excellence among our educators and support for innovative teaching across the wider institution. We will play a role in supporting the activities of the Learning Design Teaching Innovation (LDTI) unit, as well as liaising with Academic Division work in ‘education’ at large. In particular we aim to develop awareness of teaching excellence through Fellowship and membership of the Higher Education Academy (HEA) but also to explore the possibility of creating a Newcastle Academy of Teaching and Learning Excellence. This aligns us to the work of Academic Excellence in the institution as well as potentially providing a link to formative discussions for staff promotion. In these ways we will reinforce our strategy and vision by linking our collective efforts to the UON Strategy, Looking Ahead: 2020-2025. We want
to build our visibility and become more contemporary – ‘of the moment’ – in 2021.
Look out for our Educator Network Learning Lunchboxes, our April Showcase focused on ‘Creative Pedagogies’, an event around the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning, invited speakers (virtual sessions) and more. Please join our mailing list: you can contact Leanne.Vaughan@newcastle.edu.au for more information. Our tEN website will be refreshed in 2021, and currently includes links to resources and events produced during 2019-2020.
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Support during COVID-19
As a sessional academic you have access to the Employee Assistance Program (EAP) which is a confidential counselling service free for all for UON staff and their immediate family members. The service can help you achieve lifestyle, work, personal and family goals and assist you with managing work and life experiences, issues or concerns that arise from time to time.
• Six free confidential counselling sessions per calendar year for staff and their families.
• You can either select face to face sessions, telephone or video conferencing during work hours or there is a 24 hour telephone counselling service in case of emergencies.
How do I access EAP?
Call NewPsych on 02 4926 5005, email reception@newpsych.com.au or send a message via the portal on the NewPsych webpage. While the head office is located in Newcastle, NewPsych has satellite offices in all the University locations and appointments are arranged via the Newcastle Office.
https://www.newcastle.edu.au/current-staff/working-here/benefits-and-conditions/healthy-uon/mental-health/employee-assistance-program
Read more...
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