Education Ministry and Deakin University, Australia bring Sri Lankan VCs together
Friday saw the Sri Lankan Ministry of Higher Education teaming up with Deakin University’s senior leadership to run a roundtable on improving university research and ranking. Eight vice chancellors as well as senior members of the University Grants Commission gathered over lunch at the Cinnamon Grand in Colombo.
Led by Acting Vice Chancellor Professor Gary Smith, the senior Deakin delegation was able to share its experience and expertise in the approaches to developing strategies to improve University rankings. Professor Mike Ewing, Pro Vice Chancellor ( Business & Law) discussed strategies he implemented to improve research performance and rankings in the Marketing discipline at his former employer, Monash University.
Mr John Molony, Executive Director of Deakin International (formally of QS rankings) described how universities are assessed by the key global ranking systems. Professor Dineli Mather, Head of the School of Information & Business Analytics provided an overview of performance measures used to assess student engagement and graduate outcomes in Australia and strategies adopted by her School to develop work-ready graduates.
The event topped off a big week for Deakin in Sri Lanka.
The inaugural ‘ Deakin week in Colombo’ was a program of events to showcase Deakin University’s unique connection with Sri Lanka. The six-day program involving a 21 strong Deakin delegation reflected the breadth and depth of partnerships across all of Deakin’s faculties encompassing the Sri Lankan education sector, government and industry.
For over fifteen years Deakin University has been one of Australia’s largest beneficiaries of Sri Lankan outbound students. Those students have worked hard, been embraced by the Melbourne and Geelong communities, and achieved incredible successes in a variety of fields – helping grow Deakin’s name and reputation.
The leading Australian university’s popularity has been enhanced by longstanding arrangements with local partners such as Royal Institute of Colombo ( RIC), Sri Lanka Institute of Information Te c h n o l o g y (SLIIT) and International Institute of Health Sciences ( IIHS), and growing personal and professional networks, and academic and industry connections.
The number of Sri Lankan student numbers heading to Deakin continues to grow.
This week has seen Deakin’s delegation undertake an unprecedented number of masterclasses, professional development seminars, and research symposiums together with its local partners, in particular with Ministry of Sports and Ministry of Education with the active support of Australian Trade Commission (Austrade) in Colombo.
The week illustrate how Deakin’s partners’ expertise, knowledge and networks are enriched through regular engagement. This may be through professional development, internationalising curricula, collaborative research pathways and global citizenship initiatives. The Deakin Week in Colombo’s theme is therefore ‘reciprocated development through partnerships’.
All of Deakin’s faculties were involved and the delegation was led by Deakin’s Acting VC Gary Smith includes Pro Vice Chancellor, Faculty of Business & Law, Mike Ewing and Carl Jones, International Manager.
“It’s wonderful to have so many of my colleagues in town. Deakin values our Sri Lankan students enormously, and retain so many great connections with the country – it’s a thrill to have that celebrated in a landmark week”, says Carl.
Next year will see an even bigger Deakin contingent; with the first group of Australian students working with partners in community development projects in the Ampara region in January.
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