2018 Presentations
Below is the full list of abstracts and poster defence for the 2018 Professional Staff Conference being held at Rosehill Gardens.
Agenda
Keynote Speakers
| Presenter/s | Abstract | Location |
|---|---|---|
| Kerry Stubbs, CEO, Northcott | Keynote Address | Level 2, North D |
| Daniel Saffioti, Director, Solution and Project Services | Keynote Address | Level 2, North D |
Poster Presentations - 12:15pm to 12:30pm
| Presenter/s | Title | Abstract | Location |
|---|---|---|---|
| Marian Martin & Susanne Jones | International students integrated into university life | Many International students enrolling in degree programs at Australian Universities, very often have limited contact with other students, have limited support from friends or families and often experience loneliness and isolation. The Multi Faith Centre at a Western Sydney University Campus embarked on an ambitious plan to provide support for students by creating a space on campus for gathering and social events. From this program supervised by the university chaplain, emerged a successful integration of students and staff across many faculties. The program supplied an evening meal to students who were able to share the evening’s activities and form friendships. Medical students and nursing students formed the core and participated in menu planning, shopping, preparation and serving of what became a weekly occurrence. Mentoring was also available from literacy and library staff. | Level 1 |
| Dr Paul Glew, Mandy Salas, Heidi Creed, Katherine Raper, Marian Martin | Impact of literacy support on performance and retention | Key determinants of retention and academic success in higher education are academic literacy and English language capabilities. With widening participation, students from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds can experience gaps in literacy skills that impact on course progression and retention. This prompted the School of Nursing and Midwifery to provide embedded academic literacy support. This study examined the impact of Professional Communication Academic Literacy (PCAL) support using student uptake of support, the profile of students who sought support, and the relationship between these and retention and academic performance. The findings for a 17-month period from January 2016 until May 2017 revealed a total of 11,290 PCAL consults, including individual consultations, voluntary attendance at subject-specific and generic nursing support workshops, and online support webinars. Among the students who commenced over a 3-year period (n = 5,182) from 2014 until July 2017, those who sought PCAL support over the 17-month period were over 7 times more likely (Adjusted Odds Ratio: 7.29, 95% CI: 5.86 to 9.07) to continue in the nursing program. Of the students who completed or were continuing in the program, those who did not seek any PCAL support during their studies were found to have the lowest (mean: 3.9) GPA, followed by those who sought PCAL support between 1 to 3 times (mean: 4.3). Notably, students who sought PCAL support on more than 3 occasions during the 17-month period had the highest GPA (mean: 4.4), indicating in conclusion the importance of embedded support on nursing student retention and academic success. | Level 1 |
| Dr Rachel Bentley, Serryn Fowler, Dr Holly-Kay Smith, Sam Dessen, Rob Leggo, Sebastian Lee | Western One Stop (WOS) Studio | Western One Stop Studio is a custom built lecture/powerpoint capture system designed for simple ease of use by a lecturer. The studio camera. lighting and video capture is pre-set, and the software voice prompts guide the lecturer through the capture and record process. Using the studio will result in in professional looking and produced short video pods for use in flipped learning workshop studios and VUWS sites. The studio utilises a/v equipment and a bespoke app that guides the lecturer through the step by step recording process. PowerPoint Prompter is a bespoke software system developed and customised in-house by Digital Futures. The current prototype is available for use at Parramatta South campus. The Rich Media team are progressively presenting and training academic staff in the use of the studio. The rollout of other WOS studios at campuses will commence in June. | Level 1 |
Concurrent Session 1 - 1:30pm to 2pm
| Presenter/s | Title | Abstract | Location |
|---|---|---|---|
| Monica Lantay | Raising the bar. Working together with Office 365 | The University’s adoption of the Office 365 platform has provided us with a new state of the art toolkit for collaboration, not only between staff from different departments, but also enabling secure collaboration with students as well as external stakeholders. Not only can staff access the collaborative functionality of SharePoint, with its document management and tracking abilities, its shared libraries, secured working spaces, and automation and workflow capabilities, but we now have the power to collaborate on an entirely new level with Microsoft Groups and Teams. These tools are a true chat-based hub for teamwork and give staff the opportunity to create a more open, fluid, and digital environment. This presentation will demonstrate the above technologies, and more including Flow, Forms and PowerApps and how their use can enhance any collaborative endeavours to provide the best platform for success. | Level 2, South A |
| Marta Vincent & Charbel Korkmaz | Game On: the Ready for Western experience | Many international students experience difficulties such as financial stress, culture shock, and meeting their study visa requirements when commencing their University studies. Despite these pressures the assistance these students receive is limited to a few niche programs. Western U recognised the vulnerability of this cohort and commissioned 3Radical to create ‘Ready for Western’, an innovative and fun online game to assist commencing international students settle into Australia and University life. Piloted in Autumn 2018, this interactive game delivered information to students via a new platform (Voco). Students accessed information in a timely manner through a Monopoly-style board game, undertaking online and on-campus challenges. Participation earned in-game coins that were redeemed for rewards. Our team engaged various stakeholders to move the game from concept to application, with 3radical creating the vision on their platform. The game relied on collaboration with other University departments such as International, Student Welfare, the Library, Careers and other areas to create content. Current international students provided feedback on the creative design, and on their experiences when starting at Western or The College. Game rewards were sourced from the wider community, and partnerships were created for Pizza Hut vouchers and NRL tickets. Over 600 students played Ready for Western. Their participation provided insights into student behaviours, namely how they like to be communicated with and what information they want access to. Several student behaviours met our expectations, whilst others required a change of approach. This presentation will focus on the game development experience and game demonstration. | Level 2, South B |
| Dr Paul Glew | Impact of literacy support on performance and retention | Key determinants of retention and academic success in higher education are academic literacy and English language capabilities. With widening participation, students from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds can experience gaps in literacy skills that impact on course progression and retention. This prompted the School of Nursing and Midwifery to provide embedded academic literacy support. This study examined the impact of Professional Communication Academic Literacy (PCAL) support using student uptake of support, the profile of students who sought support, and the relationship between these and retention and academic performance. The findings for a 17-month period from January 2016 until May 2017 revealed a total of 11,290 PCAL consults, including individual consultations, voluntary attendance at subject-specific and generic nursing support workshops, and online support webinars. Among the students who commenced over a 3-year period (n = 5,182) from 2014 until July 2017, those who sought PCAL support over the 17-month period were over 7 times more likely (Adjusted Odds Ratio: 7.29, 95% CI: 5.86 to 9.07) to continue in the nursing program. Of the students who completed or were continuing in the program, those who did not seek any PCAL support during their studies were found to have the lowest (mean: 3.9) GPA, followed by those who sought PCAL support between 1 to 3 times (mean: 4.3). Notably, students who sought PCAL support on more than 3 occasions during the 17-month period had the highest GPA (mean: 4.4), indicating in conclusion the importance of embedded support on nursing student retention and academic success. | Level 2, Breakout 1 |
Melissa Maucort, Jenny Purcell, Nicole Gray, Steve Stokes, Veronica de Paoli | School Managers and the Shared Service Journey | Hear from a panel of School Managers about the Shared Services Journey and their involvement from the get go. How did they influence and inform the design, hear their own journeys and how are they working with divisional managers to implement Shared Services in an Academic environment. What strategies have they developed and how has it changed the way that they interact with divisional units and their own teams. What strengths have they drawn on and what are the challenges still ahead? | Level 2, North C |
| Speed Mentoring Session 1 | Level 1, Members Lounge | ||
Concurrent Session 2 - 2:05pm to 2:35pm
| Presenter/s | Title | Abstract | Location |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nicole Brackenreg & Jo Holland | Student Leadership Training Site: A Shared Resource Hub | Coming together is the beginning. The Student Leadership Training site brought together a cross-disciplinary committee for a single common purpose - to enhance student engagement, participation and motivation in their learning journey while strengthening their graduate attributes. This shared purpose broke down silos and fueled a high-level of team performance. Keeping together is progress. A mutual commitment to the provision of centralised resources has lead to a hub and spoke model for student training. The site provides gamified learning pathways allowing students to ‘unlock’ new training opportunities on the basis of their accomplishments. Students self-construct unique learning experiences as they complete only those modules relevant to their needs. Further, students in leadership roles can co-create content for their peers. In monitoring student progress and accomplishments we have a unique and exciting opportunity to minimise duplication of resources for students and programs while enhancing the student experience. Working together is success. Shared contribution has allowed us to triangulate a third perspective on student engagement, pushing the boundaries of digital learning environments with the identification of underutilised or new blackboard features. The advent of personalised learning pathways and associated analytics regarding learning behaviours has provided insights into the pedagogical needs of students, and the diverse training needs of students in relation to volunteering or employment within the university. Join us for an interactive session in which we explore the principles and practice of creating personalised and engaging learning journeys for our students. | Level 2, South A |
| Sonya O'Shanna, Sophie Ramage, Desiree Mulley, Ray Villarica, Marg La Rosa, Jacqui Nicola | Whose job is it anyway? | Shared Services provided a platform for redesigning and reforming work practices. Hear from a panel of professional staff from schools and divisions about the challenges and opportunities revealed as a result of sharing different perspectives and debating the new world order to achieve a quality student experience. Their experience will provide a unique insight to their own journey working across divisions, and divisions working across schools, while at the same time addressing knowledge gaps amongst each other and balancing manager expectations. Shared Services has sharply defined the need for cross-unit-collaboration and has intensified opportunities for diverse collaboration, discussion and consideration. Come and discover what can be achieved (after the debate) and how sharing of knowledge and collaborative engagement can best serve the interests of our students, and each other. Presenters: Sonya O’Shanna (School of Social Sciences and Psychology) Sophie Ramage (Office of Marketing and Communication) Desiree Mulley (Office of Governance Services) Ray Villarica (Office of Advancement) Marg La Rosa (Project Management Office) Jacqui Nicola (The Student Experience Office) | Level 2, South B |
| Kate Capanna | It takes a village | We’ve all heard the phrase “it takes a village to raise a child”. Well it also takes a village to implement a learning guide management system successfully at a university. In 2016 the Course and Unit Information Systems and Processes (CUISP) working party was formed to investigate and propose a solution in respect of a coordinated institutional system and process to provide information on courses and units. The solution recommended for implementation was a system that was first developed and used by the School of Computing Engineering and Mathematics. The new Learning Guide Management System (LGMS), along with its partner system CAMS (the Curriculum Approval Management System), were developed late 2017/early 2018 and were implemented in early May in preparation for the 2H and Spring teaching sessions. This presentation will introduce you to the new LGMS and CAMS systems now being used to produce learning guides across the University as well as provide you with stories from some of the "villagers" who helped make it’s implementation a success. | Level 2 Breakout 1 |
| Grace Corpuz & Erin Greenaway | Come Together, Right Now, Over SFTs | How do you leverage networks to implement a project requiring major effort across the University? How do you influence stakeholders to support your project, especially when you are not in a senior role? How can you challenge and rework traditional approaches that are ingrained in organisational structures, and overcome resistance to change? And how do you frame your appeal to communicate the importance of your project and get buy-in at different levels, from casual academics to senior management? The Survey Team at the Office of Quality and Performance (OQP) faced all these questions and more in implementing the online Student Feedback on Teaching (SFT) survey in 2017. To successfully implement the change from paper to online administration, we needed to overcome a key challenge: improving the incomplete staffing information currently in the Timetable system. Achieving this goal required a multi-area collaboration across three areas - OQP, the Schools and Timetabling. By building relationships and trust, and presenting an effective appeal, OQP gained cooperation to achieve outstanding results for the Timetable update. The timetable for Autumn 2018 went from only 30% of classes having staff assigned to them, to over 90% - approximately 5,274 classes; which then formed the basis of the Autumn SFT sample. To sustain relationships for future development, OQP closed the loop by reporting back progress and acknowledging the support of key players. This presentation will offer some of the insights gleaned throughout the implementation of the online SFT project into how to influence stakeholders, generate support and collaborate effectively. | Level 2, North C |
| Karen Davies & Mary-Kate Pickett | A new SMS – working together for student success | A University’s student management system is the key solution for managing the admission, enrolment and progression of a student through their academic journey. The implementation of the Ellucian Banner student management system is an exciting opportunity for Western Sydney University to design a comprehensive system that will support a streamlined solution for students and staff. Core to the vision of Western Sydney University is to secure success for our students and Greater Western Sydney region through innovation and discovery in a dynamic and technology-enabled world. Join with us as we ensure we work together to develop the new student management system to achieve this vision. We really are all in this together. The approach being adopted to implement our new student management system is through extensive stakeholder engagement, at the right time, to design and configure the solution to provide a single source of truth for all student administration processes. This is the largest strategic transformation project that Western has undertaken for a long time. The core principles of the program will be explored as we work together to enable many of the administrative efficiencies of the Shared Services implementation. This presentation will explain the process undertaken by the project so far, and how you can join in the journey as we implement Banner. The session will provide information about the functionality of the system, details about systems or processes that will be replaced by Banner, and the implementation process that includes design workshops and training opportunities. | Level 2, North D |
| Speed Mentoring Session 2 | Level 1, Members Lounge | ||
Concurrent Session 3 - 2:40pm to 3:10pm
| Presenter/s | Title | Abstract | Location |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chris Youness | “Employability is defined as….” | Employability, graduate attributes and the future of work have become prominent conversations in higher education. ‘Return on investment’ is being used as a means of questioning the labour market value of a university degree, particularly by those from traditionally under-represented groups. Messages are now shared on the collapse of professions, the mobilisation of artificial intelligence and the changing nature of employment in a way, which trigger emotions like anxiety, fear and vulnerability. This has also united us to consider the challenges that we face and ideate on solutions to try and be ahead of the game. Specifically, we debate on skills identification and attainment, curriculum redesign, learning practices and job readiness programs. Many universities are placing increased focus on employability, including our own with the creation of the Office of Employability and Graduate Success. Across the sector, a number of strategies and approaches have been decided on and put into motion to achieve success in an interesting area of ‘unknown unknowns’. But what is employability? What does it mean for Western Sydney University and its stakeholders? This presentation will define employability in the context of our University and the region we represent. It also shares insights on a University-wide employability strategy; the central and dispersed activities/initiatives that will enable outcomes; and provides you with tools to get involved in your own way. | Level 2, South A |
| Zoe Apostolatos & Associate Professor Alphia Possamai-Inesedy | Benefits and Challenges of Successful Partnerships | Universities are increasingly establishing partnerships with third party providers in an effort to create new opportunities for both students and the University itself. Sydney City Campus (SCC) is one example of a relationship between Western Sydney University and an external higher education provider, Navitas. SCC was established in 2016 through an agreement between the two entities to run a number of Western Sydney University’s undergraduate and postgraduate courses in a central city location with an expressed aim of increasing our international student cohort. This presentation will provide a brief overview of the history of SCC but importantly outline the benefits and the challenges of third party arrangements. | Level 2, South B |
| Bonnie Hoschke | Data Science in Action: A novel approach to improve service | Currently we have a ticketing system as an interface with customer to request for service. With each ticket raised by customers, the service data is able to be collected in the system. Every month there are thousands of tickets processed and handled by various resolving groups via the system. The descriptions for the service requests and solutions are captured in textual form. Some tickets are similar to each other. Some similar nonstandard requests could be converted to standard request that can quickly reach the correct resolving group and treated by formulated solutions to improve service efficiency. Some similar incidents may share the same root cause that can be handled by problem process. Problem process is one of the ITIL process to eliminate recurring incidents and to minimize the impact of incidents that cannot be prevented. To group similar nonstandard request and incidents together can also help to find candidatures for task shift left. Task shift left can speed up the resolution time and simplify the escalation and support steps. The similar tickets can be logged in the systems at different times of the year and can be handled by different resolver. As the descriptions for request/incident and solution are all free input text field, it present challenging to group the similar tickets by basic analytics methods. The high volume of ticket data makes it difficult to group the tickets by reading. As the similar tickets can be scattered across different time and different resolver, it is not easy to group them by collections from the relevant parties. Here we like to describe the works on using text mining techniques to identify and group the similar tickets together and the experiments on visualize methods for easy interpretation of the results. | Level 2, Breakout 1 |
| Penny Tribe & Deborah Carr | One Team, One Dream: Creating a culture of philanthropy | This interactive presentation will show professional staff how we can make philanthropy and fundraising a normal part of our day-to-day work to achieve the University’s goals. Using examples, stories and group exercises, this session will bring tips from global best practice, show you what donors really want, and explore the role that you, as a “University Champion”, can play in attracting philanthropic gifts – large and small – for your School, your Institute, your Unit and Your University. At Western Sydney University we have recognised the importance of philanthropy and fundraising in advancing our mission and strategic goals. Philanthropy is about building relationships to achieve lifetime giving. Increasingly we see the transformational impact that philanthropic gifts can have on expanding research and supporting students and inspiring our ambition. In 2017 the Office of Advancement initiated a program of Philanthropy Workshops across the Schools, Institutes and Centres at Western Sydney University. The program was initiated at a Vice-Chancellor’s Philanthropy Workshop convened by Professor Barney Glover with the Senior Executive team, and Deans and Directors of the University. Further Philanthropy Workshops were subsequently held, championed by Deans, and are continuing throughout 2018. The workshops aim to build a culture of philanthropy, recognising that it takes a team to raise a major philanthropic gift and secure success for professional and academic staff. Taking this year’s theme of 'Working Together: Succeeding Together', the Office of Advancement leadership team will present the key outcomes achieved from the workshops to date and show you the power of having “One Team, One Dream”. | Level 2, North C |
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