Lumen Autumn 2017 - Flipbook - Page 41
story by Ian Williams
Equipping students
for the global stage
The notion of pursuing an academic career on the other side of the
world was an unlikely option for Professor Pascale Quester when she
began her business and marketing studies in the 1980s in France.
S
he says back then the possibility
of studying abroad was rare and
difficult and the globalisation of
education was still in its infancy.
But that didn’t stop her heading to the
United States (US) and New Zealand
to continue her studies on her way to
becoming Deputy Vice-Chancellor of the
University of Adelaide.
Her early experiences have provided
the perfect grounding for Pascale who is
now leading the University’s push onto
the global stage.
Significant steps are being been made
through the Study Abroad program, a
leadership position in edX and its MOOCs
program, and strategic partnerships with
key universities around the world.
“Our future is going to be global, so to
equip our graduates to be citizens of the
future they need to be global citizens,
there is no other way,” says Pascale.
When Pascale first left France, Europe’s
successful Erasmus student exchange
program had yet to be established. Now
she says it is a completely mainstream
way of constructing a degree.
“Here in Australia going overseas has
been a much more involved process so
it’s taken that much longer for people to
see the possibilities.
“In my mind a key graduate attribute
is intercultural competence but it’s very
difficult for a person to imagine what it’s
like to be interculturally competent if they
haven’t at some point in their existence
been the foreigner.”
The University’s Study Abroad program
aims to provide that experience with an
international student exchange target
of 30 per cent.
Pascale believes the target is modest.
In five years, the University has moved
from 1 to 18 per cent and she sees no
reason why it couldn’t rise to 50 per
cent or more.
Securing strategic partnerships with
some of the world’s leading universities to
collaborate on research and education is
also raising the University’s global profile
where it counts.
Adelaide is an active member of the
AC21 international academic consortium
and has established priority partnerships
with nine universities in Canada, China,
France, Germany, Indonesia, Japan,
the United Kingdom (UK) and US.
“We’re not having a promiscuous
relationship with just any university that
comes knocking on our door,” she says.
“In 2012 we recast our international
strategy so that we’re very purposeful
in choosing strategic partners for
the long haul – universities that have
commensurate reputations, and
compatible goals and values.”
Another major initiative is the University’s
membership of edX, the non-profit
open-source learning platform started by
Harvard and MIT in the US.
edX is responsible for the delivery
of MOOCs – Massive Open Online
Courses – and Adelaide now delivers
eight courses and boasts almost 400,000
learners worldwide.
Equally impressive, Adelaide has
just been elevated to the top tier of
the organisation as a Contributing
Charter Member.
The University of Adelaide | Alumni Magazine 39
