What is your role here at Flinders? 

I’m Pro Vice Chancellor (Curriculum Impact). I am responsible for strategic leadership in the development of key curriculum opportunities. This means I work with industry, community and other key stakeholders to co-design and co-deliver educational offerings like the new degree apprenticeships we are offering in engineering (with CSE).

My teams are Education Pathways and Partnerships, International Pathways and Partnerships, Graduate Career Readiness (including Careers) and Entrepreneurial Development and Growth (including the New Ventures Institute).

From your original study in speech pathology, what drew you to working in curriculum impact?

I have always been passionate about equity and I became a speech pathologist so that I could help all children, regardless of their start in life, develop foundational communication skills. I worked as a clinician in Australia, the UK and Singapore for 15 years and when I came back to Australia I picked up a casual job at Flinders as a placement educator whilst I finished my PhD. Working in the university has given me the opportunity to innovate, including developing pathways into university which are not the traditional school leaver route.

How do you see the strategic drivers of Agenda 2035 integrating into the curriculum?

I am excited to see the importance the Agenda places on our students, research that matters and the workforce needs of our community and industry partners. We will focus on ensuring all students have the opportunity to engage in authentic, real-world learning that will help them pathway to their future career. This might be through work integrated learning, internships, developing an enterprise mindset, growing their ‘side hustle’ into a viable business – there are so many opportunities that can be integrated into curriculum!

One of the core enabling commitments of Agenda 2035 is ‘stronger together’ – how do you see the role of collaboration in curriculum strategy?

Collaboration is essential for success. My team and I are connectors – bringing together the people who co-design and co-deliver curriculum. Our Diplomas with Port Adelaide Football Club and the South Australian Cricket Association (with BGL, now BCLS) are examples of where our industry partners work closely with the academic and professional staff teams here so students can study with those key partners.

What has been your career highlight to date?

That’s hard as there have been a lot! I am very proud of the Bachelor of Allied Health that we deliver in Port Pirie, Renmark and Mount Gambier through CNHS. These programs were co-designed with the intent to develop workforce who can address the health inequalities for rural South Australians. The students are all rural-origin, and now have the opportunity to study in place, without having to move to the city. They are all students who would not have had the opportunity to study otherwise, and they’re making a difference in their community already!

What do you enjoy about working at Flinders?

I love how collegial and collaborative my colleagues are at Flinders. And I really value the opportunity to innovate and respond to opportunities when they come up.

Tell us about your ideal weekend. 

I am about to head off on long service leave, so at the moment my ideal weekend is drinking Spanish wine and eating tapas after exploring sights in the Basque Country.