Hello friends and colleagues,

Welcome to 2021! We are still in uncertain times; there is no doubt. But in speaking to many of you in the past two months, I have felt a sense of hope and anticipation, coupled with the pragmatism of the necessity to maintain business as usual with less international students and less funding.

Be Adaptable

In my last ‘Coffee Corner’ I said that my slogan for 2021 would be ‘Be Adaptable. Be Strong. Enjoy what you Do!’ Now that we are almost at the end of the first quarter, I think this is still true.

Many universities have commenced continuous improvement activities around their complex business processes, which is great to see. Hopefully, with the commencement of conferences again this year, those success stories can be shared with colleagues, and the learnings can be duplicated throughout the sector.

Higher Education Happenings

There have been quite a few movements within the sector, and we would like to take this opportunity to congratulate some of our sector colleagues, including:

• Professor Clare Pollock joins Western Sydney University as the new Senior Deputy Vice-Chancellor and Provost. Professor Pollock was previously the Senior Deputy Vice-Chancellor and Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Students) at Flinders University.
• Professor Scott Bowman AO has recently been announced as the new Vice-Chancellor and President at Charles Darwin University (CDU). He was previously the Vice-Chancellor and President of Central Queensland University and Deputy Vice-Chancellor and Registrar at James Cook University.
• Professor Phyllis Tharenou, Vice-President and Executive Dean of the College of Business, Government and Law, took her final bows at Flinders University, retiring at the end of January.
• Professor Peter Hoj AC has re-joined the University of Adelaide in the new role of Vice-Chancellor.
• Australian Catholic University (ACU) has welcomed new Vice-Chancellor and President Zlatko Skrbis.
• Professor Todd Walker former Provost and Deputy Vice-Chancellor at the University of New England was appointed Vice Chancellor of the University of the Highlands and Islands, Scotland.
• Last but certainly not least, DVE is thrilled to announce that Katrina Quinn (GAICD) from UniSA is joining the DVE team in March 2021 as Director – Governance and Innovation. Having worked with Katrina on several projects at UniSA, I know she will bring tremendous skills, knowledge and experience to our team and projects.

While we are celebrating, there have also been some exciting milestones for some Higher Education providers; these include:

• Bond University celebrated its 30,000th graduate, three decades on from their first student enrolment.
• UniSA celebrated its 30th birthday.

DVE Happenings

At DVE, we are planning some new and exciting activities for 2021, such as continuing with our webinar series and new projects around student wellbeing, research management and Work Integrated Learning (WIL), to name a few.

We are continuing to roll out our technology partners’ credit management and curriculum management systems and support upgrades and improvements to CRMs and student management systems.

Our training programs will be developed further in 2021 and include more of the Lean 8 Wastes workshops. We are setting up programs that will help build staff capability and provide sustainable solutions for your organisation. Contact me if you would like to know more.

I look forward to speaking with many of you this year and hopefully working on some projects together. Please contact me on 0412 417774 or dianne.vaneck@dvesolutions.com.au  if you have any problem areas that require attention, or if you are planning any programs of work for next year. DVE is here to help.

Kind regards,

Dianne

P.S. Remember to connect with me on LinkedIn or Twitter @Di1358.