student feedback and leadership - Office for Learning and Teaching

Part A: Developing a Distributed Leadership Model - Secton 3: Building Leadership Capacity
3.5.3 Act
Discussion in the Project Team as to how to ensure that the academic staff and
service providers continue to communicate about Infrastructure and IT/AV led
to a decision to establish a group similar to LSAG. The proposed Learning
Environment Improvement Group (L-EIG) was designed to adopt an actionresearch
approach with the same methodology of Plan, Act, Observe and
Reflect, through continuous cycles of improvement. L-EIG would provide an
integrating space to facilitate shared discussion around the monitoring and
improving of the learning environment across RMIT. L-EIG would:
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Operate as a collaborative group to facilitate and provide support
for the improvement of learning environments.
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Act upon and implement changes in response to feedback from
students and staff.
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Communicate improvements to interested staff.
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Liaise with and input into university committees and groups
(such as LSAG).
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Report to the DVC(A) on issues related to improving
learning environments.
It was envisaged that L-EIG would have a minimum of 4 meetings per year,
one at the start and end of each semester, with others scheduled as required.
Membership of L-EIG would follow the multi-level leadership framework
adopted for this project with representation from the DVC(A), Managers
of each of the Service providers and Student Services, Deans Academic
Development (Colleges), Director of Learning and Teaching and Resource
Directors (of each of the three Colleges).
However, at a subsequent Project Meeting it was agreed that rather than
creating a separate group, LSAG would be asked to extend its Terms
of Reference and activities. It was proposed that L-SAG would sponsor
four forums per year in which Learning and Teaching leaders from Schools
and Colleges would have the opportunity to discuss improvements needed
to the learning environment.
A further change that has been embedded into RMIT processes is that the
Vice President Resources is now part of the Program Annual Review process.
This provides an opportunity for resource issues that affect entire Programs
to be discussed with a view to identifying future resource needs.
The final Plenary was designed to embed changes introduced in the project
by, firstly, presenting a snapshot of ART initiatives undertaken as a result
of this project and to link these to other LTIF projects to improve student
feedback. Secondly, to identify how initiatives in this project link to initiatives
introduced by Student Services and People and Culture in the design of
professional development activities.
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