QUT's Visiting Scholars Program

QUT is proud of its Visiting Scholars Program, which hosts visits from internationally renowned engagement experts. Scholars participate in this program to share their knowledge and experience with the QUT community.

Below you will find some information on recent participants of the QUT Visiting Scholars Program.

Dr Rob Greenwood

Dr Rob Greenwood, founding director of The Leslie Harris Centre of Regional Policy and Development will be coming to QUT to share his insights and perspectives on practical applications of university-community engagement.

Dr Greenwood has previously operated his own consulting business and has served as a Director and Assistant Deputy Minister of Policy in Economic Development departments in Canada. He was also Vice President, Corporate Development, Information Services Corporation of Saskatchewan, and was founding Director of the Sustainable Communities Initiative, a partnership of the University of Regina, the City of Regina, and the National Research Council of Canada.

In 1995 Dr Greenwood was the principal author of the Report of the Newfoundland Task Force on Community Economic Development, “Community Matters: The New Regional Economic Development”.  He has taught, consulted, published and presented extensively on community economic and regional development, strategic economic planning, sectoral and cluster development, and knowledge mobilization.

QUT is looking forward to Dr Greenwood’s upcoming presentations on regional engagement at the Caboolture campus and on ‘the Doorway Project’ - QUT’s external relationship improvement project, at Gardens Point campus.

Professor Sherril Gelmon

Professor Sherril Gelmon from Portland State University, USA  returned to QUT on Friday 4 July to present her findings on Community Engagement as a Core Institutional Strategy in Australian Universities.

Prof Gelmon visited QUT in February to interview the Vice-Chancellor and Professor Vi McLean as part of the research. She also presented at the VC's forum on the crucial role of university leaders in promoting engaged teaching and research.

Prof Gelmon's study is the first of its kind and has the potential to contribute to our understanding of institutional policy and practices with respect to community engagement as well as describing models of senior leadership responsibility to promote engagement.

Australian universities have demonstrated a strong commitment to promoting community engagement as a core institutional strategy through the appointment of senior university executives to positions with leadership and responsibility for advancing the community engagement mission of their institutions. Prof Gelmon summarised her investigations on the organisational motivations and strategies underlying these appointments and strategic decisions.

L-R Visiting scholar Prof Sherril Gelmon, Vice-Chancellor Prof Peter Coaldrake, and Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Teaching Quality) Prof Vi McLean.

Visiting US engagement expert Professor Sherril Gelmon kicked off the first VC's forum for the year in February with a strong message about the crucial role of university leaders in promoting engaged teaching and research. Prof Gelmon is visiting universities throughout Australia gathering data for her research on Community Engagement as a Core Institutional Strategy in Australian Universities. While at QUT, she interviewed the Vice-Chancellor and Professor Vi McLean as part of the research.

Prof Gelmon is Professor of Public Health in the Mark O. Hatfield School of Government at Portland State University. Her presentation to senior staff drew on her considerable expertise in service learning and civic engagement at Portland State, which is considered a national and international leader in these areas. Key topics included the motivation for university engagement, strategies for engaged teaching and learning, systems for supporting and rewarding community-engaged scholarship, and challenges for academic staff and institutions for extending and embedding engagement in core activities.

Professor Linda Silka

Images of Professor Linda Silka in action. Image on far right (L-R) of Melissa Nugent, Professor Linda Silka, Stephen Pincus and Simone Garske.

Linda Silka Ph.D, Professor in the Department of Regional Economic and Social Development and Director of the Centre for Family, Work and Community at the University of Massachusetts Lowell visited QUT on 10th and 11th July 2007. Early and middle career academics benefited from Prof Silka's expertise in building strong community-university research partnerships. Prof Silka also met with key staff to discuss the challenges and opportunities for evaluating engagement practices and establishing a coherent approach to managing community-university partnerships. Finally, Prof Silka addressed a collaborative forum for universities in Queensland (Northern universities of the Australian Universities Community Engagement Alliance).

Professor Michael Gibbons

Former QUT Deputy-Vice Chancellor (International & Development), Prof Sandra Harding (right) welcomes visiting scholar, Prof Michael Gibbons (left) to QUT.

Professor Michael Gibbons MBE, a distinguished international academic leader and former Secretary General of the Association of Commonwealth Universities, visited QUT from the United Kingdom's University of Newcastle upon Tyne on Thursday 14 September 2006. Prof Michael Gibbons' considerable expertise in the practice of regional engagement was highlighted during a senior staff roundtable that explored how universities can maximise the impact of regional engagement through partnership. Prof Gibbons then conducted a forum on the issue of capturing and evaluating the impact of multi-disciplinary research, considering the recent changes to the UK RAE and potential implications for Australia's research quality framework, including how QUT might prepare for a RAE-like exercise. For copies of Prof Gibbons' presentation material, please contact the Development Office.

Professor Steven Johnson

Also visiting QUT during the same week as Professor Michael Gibbons was internationally regarded service learning expert, Dr Steven Johnson, hailing from Portland State University in the United States. Dr Johnson enthralled QUT academics with his inspiring forum on, 'How to initiate and develop engaged learning as a key component of successful course delivery' during his visit to QUT on Tuesday 12 September 2006. He followed up this forum with a Teaching and Learning-specific roundtable centred on 'Delivering a coherent approach to work-integrated learning at QUT: What service and community-based learning models/practices have to offer'. For copies of Dr Johnson's presentation material, please contact the Development Office.