I have often referred to retention of students, but the ability to hold onto valuable academic staff is also vital for any good university.

Academia is unlike any other profession. Teaching and research obviously demand human interaction — in the case of teaching, highly demanding interaction with students — but interaction with peers is often not necessary to the same degree it is in other walks of life.

To rise on the academic ladder requires the ability to work well with people. We refer to the “academic community”, but communities are not always functional. It depends on the individuals within them, and their willingness and ability to work with their colleagues, industry and community.

To support the careers of our academic and professional staff, UNE has put in place new professional development programs that have many aspects, but at their core emphasise people working with people.

In 2017, UNE Human Resources has introduced the Leading and Managing @ UNE Leadership Program, an intensive five-day course designed to help future academic leaders develop the skills they need to rise in their careers. The course was built on a successful pilot conducted in 2016.

The 16 places in the course are given to staff nominated by Heads of School or Directors. To qualify, staff must be working at an Academic Level B and above, or Professional Level HEO 8-10, and must be considered by their manager to have the requisite qualities of a future leader.

I’m delighted that we received 18 applicants for the course this year, 15 of whom are able to proceed with it. (Because the course is demanding, and requires substantial investment from the university and participants, the university needs an up-front commitment from participants to attend all five days.)

The course takes participants through five modules: Strategy into Action, Enduring Partnerships, Agile and Resilient Teams, and Change Management. It uses the “real play” technique to test each participant’s skills in work with an off-campus actor. The process is extremely challenging, as it should be, because so is real leadership.

For those only starting to test the rungs of the academic career ladder, HR has also rolled out an Early Career Academic Mentoring program across campus.

The program was tested, with success, by the School of Behavioural, Cognitive and Social Sciences last year.

For 2017, HR has made 22 mentor/mentee pairings across the Schools. Unfortunately, 10 requests for mentoring were unfulfilled because of a lack of mentors.

The program is built around development of personal qualities that will contribute to a career as a successful academic. A series of “lunch-box sessions” will provide additional insights into topics as diverse as “balancing family and academia”, social media, ethics, and management of teaching staff.

In the past, UNE has not supported the career aspirations of its academic staff as well as it might have. These initiatives are a strong step towards redressing that balance.

Through them, I hope we can retain our best and brightest staff within the university and New England community, and that they in turn will contribute to greater retention of students and future staff.

Regards,

Annabelle