Event program: World Access to Higher Education Day Australasia #WAHED2021

WORLD ACCESS TO HIGHER EDUCATION DAY Champions for Change

#WAHED2021

National Centre for Student Equity in Higher Education

17 November 2021

Equity Practitioners in Higher Education Australasia

Make tomorrow better.

Welcome The National Centre for Student Equity in Higher Education (NCSEHE) and Equity Practitioners in Higher Education Australasia (EPHEA) are excited to once again invite equity practitioners from Australia and New Zealand to join us for World Access to Higher Education Day (WAHED) Australasia.

This year’s event will feature a keynote from Professor Maria Raciti (USC), who will tackle the question, What’s the next step to help low SES students navigate perceived risk during these volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous times?

Following an overwhelming response in 2020, we are thrilled to celebrate our 2021 WAHED Champions for Change. Last year, over 50 equity practitioners were recognised for their extraordinary efforts in supporting students to succeed in higher education. If you know a Champion for Change, submit your nomination today and they will be announced in front of an international audience.

We will also hear from a disability practitioner and student panel, discussing important accessibility considerations when returning to an on-campus learning model.

WAHED 2021 will mark the introduction of the Australasian Spotlight on Equity: Grants for recognition of impact. EPHEA and NCSEHE value the efforts of equity-focused researchers and practitioners across the sector and wish to support our colleagues to raise the profile of their work, as well as supporting their continued professional development. These grants will reward the outstanding contributions of practitioners and researchers in delivering social justice, fairness and inclusion initiatives for both staff and students. The total grant pool is $10,000 and grant recipients will be announced at the WAHED event.

Professor Sarah O’Shea

Kylie Austin

Director

President

National Centre for Student Equity in Higher Education

Equity Practitioners in Higher Education Australasia

Tweet about this event #WAHED2021

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Please note: The NCSEHE and EPHEA will be taking photographs and audio recordings of event proceedings. Your image may be used by the NCSEHE in printed and/or electronic publications for promotional and educational purposes, and/or published on the internet. If you have concerns about your image being used for these purposes, please email ncsehe@curtin.edu.au.

What is WAHED? World Access to Higher Education Day (WAHED) is a platform to raise global awareness around inequalities in access and success in higher education, and act as a catalyst for international, regional and local action.

Since its launch in 2018, World Access to Higher Education Day: • • • •

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has held over 200 events in countries across the world with over 21,000 participants attracted over 75 registered and institutional supporters held conferences in Australia, The Philippines and the UK, attracting over 1,500 delegates held a Global Conference series WAHED24 as part of WAHED 2020, which featured six conferences in continents across the World published a major research piece – “All Around the World” analysing higher education equity policies in nearly 70 countries across the world and has recently published a follow up piece – “ASEM National Equity Policies in Higher Education” (2021).

A series of WAHED branded international and national conferences, local events and research are launched concurrently and a diverse range of activities take place.

These include: webinars, debates, seminars, board meetings, awards ceremonies, university taster sessions, round-table discussions and conferences.

The voices of students will be key to World Access to Higher Education Day. WAHED have an ongoing global student voices campaign, highlighting how higher education can transform the lives of students from underrepresented groups.

World Access to Higher Education Day

About the NCSEHE The National Centre for Student Equity in Higher Education (NCSEHE) is a research and policy centre funded by the Australian Government Department of Education, Skills and Employment, and based at Curtin University.

The NCSEHE provides national leadership in student equity in higher education, connecting research, policy and practice to improve higher education participation and success for marginalised and disadvantaged people.

Diverse activities conducted by the Centre focus on strengthening Australia’s research quality, capability and capacity to build a robust evidence base; and informing evidence-based policy design and implementation, and institutional best practice.

The NCSEHE has established a strong national presence, engaging with key stakeholders and maintaining sectorwide partnerships to enhance outcomes and delivery of research and recommendations. The growing reputation and influence of the Centre has contributed to student equity becoming firmly incorporated into higher education policy.

About EPHEA Equity Practitioners in Higher Education Australasia (EPHEA) is the professional incorporated association for equity practitioners who work in higher education throughout Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific region.

EPHEA plays an essential role in tertiary education to develop and implement affirmative action programs for students and staff, manage organisational responsibilities under anti-discrimination legislation, promote cultural change within institutions, and foster an environment which values and respects diversity.

EPHEA is run by a committed volunteer Executive Committee made up of equity practitioners from across Australia and New Zealand. The committee structure is guided by the EPHEA Constitution education policy.

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Program Welcome and Acknowledgment of Country: • Professor Sarah O’Shea (NCSEHE) and Kylie Austin (University of Wollongong) Keynote — Navigating heightened risk among low SES students in VUCA times: What’s the next best step?

• Professor Maria Raciti (USC) There is no doubt that the pandemic has transformed higher education globally. Despite experiencing a paradigm shift of proportions unseen for decades, Australia’s widening participation (WP) community and its agenda remains resolute and committed to righting the wrongs of educational inequality. WP, however, is currently in the eye of the perfect storm. The perceived risk of going to university for students from low SES communities has been heightened during these VUCA times where Volatility, Uncertainty, Complexity and Ambiguity make it challenging to predict career outcomes. Shifting course delivery models and looming future work scenarios also fuel these perceived risks. It would seem that now is the time for the WP community to come together, reset the compass, and ask the hard question: What’s the next best step?

Practitioner and student panel — Accessibility considerations when returning to an on-campus learning model.

Just as online learning due to COVID-19 has brought challenges and opportunities for students with disability, so too will the return to in-person delivery. In this expert panel, disability practitioners and students will discuss important accessibility considerations when returning to an on-campus learning model.

Awards and grants: • •

Champions for Change Australasian Spotlight on Equity: Grants for recognition of impact

Champions for Change The Champions for Change initiative was developed in 2020 to recognise and celebrate the dedication and outstanding work done by Australasian Equity Practitioners each and every day. As part of the 2021 event, we again asked students and staff to nominate someone they felt had demonstrated being a ‘Champion for Change’. We know that it is often small gestures that make a difference to how students experience university — each of us has probably witnessed how a well-timed intervention had a positive impact on an individual learner. These ‘Champions’ have been recognised for repeatedly going above and beyond to ensure that students are supported.

Australasian Spotlight on Equity: Grants for recognition of impact EPHEA and NCSEHE have partnered to provide a grant that recognises the impact of equity practitioners and researchers.

This recognition will take the form of an official commendation and sponsorship opportunity for those engaged in equity research and/or practice activities. The total grant pool is $10,000 and there may be up to four grants awarded from this total pool of funding The grants aim to: • • •

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raise awareness and the profile of equity programs and research at an institutional level provide an avenue for staff and student equity programs and equity researchers to receive grant funds to assist in maximising impact of their activities offer a funding source to provide equity practitioners the opportunity to disseminate their practice/research or undertake ongoing professional development nationally and internationally.

Speakers Maria RACITI Director of the Indigenous and Transcultural Research Centre, University of the Sunshine Coast Professor Maria Raciti is Director of the Indigenous and Transcultural Research Centre at USC. Maria uses marketing tools and techniques for the greater good — being the active pursuit of equity, social justice and betterment. Her main research areas are social marketing, services marketing and higher education. Maria is an Adjunct Fellow with the NCSEHE, was a 2018 NCSEHE Research Fellow, and was part of a 2019 Departmental Taskforce with the Australian Government Department of Education, Skills and Employment. Maria is a Principal Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (UK) and is co-leader of two research groups being the USC Indigenous Studies Research Theme and the USC Transcultural and Indigenous Pedagogies Research Group.

Anthony GARTNER Manager, AccessAbility, La Trobe University Anthony Gartner is a social worker with a commitment to access and inclusion for students who are often marginalised within higher education. With over twenty years’ experience in the community and education sector Anthony brings an understanding of the social model of health to his role as manager of the AccessAbility Hub at La Trobe University in Melbourne, and is supported by an amazing team of AccessAbility Advisors who are passionate and dedicated in their roles. Anthony is committed to achieving the best outcomes for students living with disability and for the professional development and resourcing of staff who undertake the important role of supporting students to access their unique abilities and succeed in their education.

Darren BRITTEN National Assistive Technology Office, Australian Disability Clearinghouse on Education and Training (ADCET) Darren has been involved in inclusive practice and accessible resource development in the tertiary sector for almost two decades and has a passion for technology and how information is delivered and accessed. He has been active in designing and developing learning objects for online learning, providing advice and training to academic staff around digital equity, and was instrumental in the establishment of the Inclusive Resources Development (IRD) team at La Trobe University. IRD provided best practice in the provision of accessible learning resources for students with print and hearing impairments and won several awards for student support including: ‘Making a Difference’ award from Vision Australia, an ‘Excellence in Transition Award’ from Pathways 9 and a La Trobe University Citation for Outstanding Contribution to Student Learning.

Erica SCHULZ Bachelor of Arts Student, La Trobe University

Yasmin PARSONS Bachelor of Psychological Science – Bachelor of Social Science, University of Wollongong

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For more information about 2021 events internationally, visit the WAHED website: https://worldaccesshe.com/

National Centre for Student Equity in Higher Education Building 602 (Technology Park) Curtin University Kent St, Bentley WA 6102 GPO Box U1987, Perth WA 6845 Tel: +61 8 9266 1743 Email: ncsehe@curtin.edu.au

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