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Participation and Community Engagement (PACE) at MQ

Prof Gail WhitefordPro-Vice Chancellor Social Inclusion

L&T Week 2010

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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

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Part of the new MQ Curriculum (The 3rd P)

What is PACE?

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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

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Learning through Participation

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A long history of participation at MQ•Many existing participation activities …

Internships and WIL: Sociology, Media, Engineering, Health, Business, Accounting, etc.Practicums: Education, Early ChildhoodKnowledge generation projects: CRSI Macquarie Park project, Marist YouthCommunity development: CAYLUS, PapunyaField trips with a partnership component: community-based indigenous tourism initiatives in the Top End (Human Geography)Co-curricular: PAL, mentoring, volunteeringPACE International pilot projects: PNG, Philippines, Mexico, Peru, India and beyond … partnership with AVI

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• 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 majorsInterdisciplinary 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?

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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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