1 Participation and Community Engagement (PACE) at MQ Prof Gail Whiteford Pro-Vice Chancellor Social Inclusion L&T Week 2010
2 MQ’s vision Excellence in learning & teaching and knowledge generation & dissemination Community engagement and partnerships Ethical practice Whole person education: graduates with –highly developed personal, interpersonal, social and cognitive capabilities –global and local perspectives –a commitment to just, inclusive and sustainable societies
3 Part of the new MQ Curriculum (The 3rd P) What is PACE? Participation Planet People
4 Goals of PACE Develop the capability of MQ students and staff to actively contribute to the well-being of people and the planet Improve the capacity of partners to achieve their goals Establish MQ as a leading university for transformative learning and knowledge generation
5 Learning through Participation Local Regional International Projects Rigorous academic framework Contribute to community Develop key Graduate Capabilities
6 A long history of participation at MQ Many existing participation activities … Internships and WIL: Sociology, Media, Engineering, Health, Business, Accounting, etc. Practicums: Education, Early Childhood Knowledge generation projects: CRSI Macquarie Park project, Marist Youth Community development: CAYLUS, Papunya Field trips with a partnership component: community-based indigenous tourism initiatives in the Top End (Human Geography) Co-curricular: PAL, mentoring, volunteering PACE International pilot projects: PNG, Philippines, Mexico, Peru, India and beyond … partnership with AVI
7 Staged implementation of PACE over the next 5+ years (see next Slide) Recruitment of participation staff to Faculties (4 X Academic, 4 X Professional) Accreditation of participation units for 2011 and beyond Discipline-specific – embedded in UG programs and majors Interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary teams – Faculty shell units Continuous improvement in academic quality and rigour of participation units and activities (LTC resources, community of practice) PACE Hub: Building the infrastructure to support participation unit and partnership development (PACE toolkits, IT application) Participation research & knowledge generation strategy Improved internal and external communication Monitoring and evaluation strategy Where to now?
8 Revised implementation horizon Staged implementation of PACE over the next 5+ years: By 2012, a PACE unit will be a core requirement in a majority of UG degree programs (at least 50%)... PLUS there will be a range of other participation activities potentially open to all students via the Faculty shell units, optional/elective units in UG degree programs, and other co- curricular opportunities.
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