Tuesday, December 22, 2009

Have a great Christmas

Well here we are in Christmas week and I guess thoughts are more concerned with family and friends rather than the University – this is just the way it should be! It is also a time to reflect on the past and future.

Well for me this has been a remarkable 6 months. It has been a real privilege to be the Vice Chancellor of CQUniversity. We are really making head way and taking the University forward to being a force to be reckoned with in Higher Education. We have had some great successes in terms of independent assessment of our research and teaching quality. We have our renewal plan in place and we are well set for the future.

It has been a pleasure to work with the staff of the University. I am still finding gems and treasures as I explore the campus. We simply have some of the academics and professional staff in the sector working at CQUniversity.

I am looking forward to looking to see how we can support staff much better in the coming years. Early in the New Year we will be putting the EBA out to staff for consideration. I really hope that staff will be happy with the form of the agreement. I think staff will be pleased with the rewards package. We will have to work hard to afford the agreement – but if I was not confident that we could do it I would not have put it forward. I would like to thank all of our staff involved in negotiating the agreement. I would also like to thank the officials from the unions involved. You have all done a grand job.

We are well on the way to developing a whole range of new programs that should be available for 2011. These will give us the extra student numbers that we need – but more importantly they will serve the needs of our communities.

Our AQUA review will be one of the most important issues facing us in 2010. In the New Year preparation for the review will be the number one priority. This will be a great opportunity for us to be able to show the world just well we are doing. It will also be an opportunity for us to improve some of the ways we are doing our business.

I was very pleased to meet with so many colleagues and their families at the University Ball and Pool Party. The picture is of me and Professor Mark Burton knocking up a snack – you can see we like our food! In fact we were cooking for the kids at the Pool Party – just before a very slim Santa visited!



All the best for Christmas and the New Year

All the very best

Scott