CASE STUDY

QUT’s Casual Academic Staff Development Program

Each year, the Queensland University of Technology (QUT) employs around 2000 sessional or casual academic staff.  They fulfil a range of teaching roles from tutors to unit coordinators, in all Faculties.  The University Teaching and Learning Committee through the Deputy Vice-Chancellor recognises the need to support the development of these staff to ensure their contribution to the University’s teaching and learning environment is valued and acknowledged.  For this reason, a program of development activities has been presented at least twice a year for casual academic staff.  The program runs on a Saturday and all casual academic staff who attend are paid.  In a unique partnership, the organisation of the program is managed by Teaching and Learning Support Services in consultation with the Professional Association for Part Time Academics (PAPTA) – a network of casual and part-time staff representative of all Faculties at QUT.

PAPTA

PAPTA is a professional association for all part-time academic staff at QUT, including tutors, demonstrators, clinical facilitators, practicum supervisors and lecturers. Part-time staff includes both casual and contract appointments.

PAPTA provides support for part-time academic staff by:

• Representing the professional interests of part-time academic staff to QUT management
• Improving communication between QUT administration and part-time academic staff
• Providing information to part-time academic staff re QUT services and processes
• Working for more formal processes to support part-time academics, e.g., induction, handbooks, professional development opportunities
• Facilitating networking amongst part-time academic staff

Aims of the program

The program recognises that Casual academic staff perform a critical role within the University and make a strong contribution to the quality of learning outcomes.  The program provides an opportunity for staff to:

• Refine and develop their teaching skills;
• Enhance their understanding of teaching and learning in the university environment;
• Learn strategies to meet the changing needs of students and the university environment;
• Better understand and use relevant technology;
• Contribute to their career development.

Structure of the program

The program runs for a half day on Saturday.  There are up to nine parallel sessions that address issues such as:

• Supporting learning in tutorials;
• Developing a teaching portfolio;
• Using On-line Teaching (OLT) systems to support student learning;
• Effective communication in Large classes.

Participants can attend as many program offerings as they wish throughout the year to maximise their opportunities to engage in professional development.  The program is introduced each year by the Deputy Vice-Chancellor and concludes with a panel session with representatives from each Faculty who answer questions from the floor.

Attendance at the program has been around 300 staff per offering and for many it is a tremendous opportunity to network with colleagues from both within their own Faculty and across the University.

The presenters

Each of the sessions at the program is presented by staff from within QUT, many of whom give freely of their time to share their expertise with Casual Academic staff.  They include academic staff who have previously engaged in teaching and learning scholarship and staff from support areas such as those who support international students, the library and Teaching and Learning Support Services.

prepared by Karen Whelan, 23 October 2002. For more information visit http://www.talss.qut.edu.au/