2022 CAUDIT Awards Finalists

Outstanding leadership in a professional role and supporting diversity in the cyber security industry.

Nivedita (Nivi) has led the establishment and embedding of a mature cyber security governance and risk management practice at the University of NSW (UNSW), recruited an additional 6 team members (trebling the size of the team), and fostered a highly professional and collaborative culture through mentoring and coaching. Nivi has also established a pathway for UNSW cyber security students to gain experience within the broader cyber security function as part of their degree courses. Beyond her professional leadership at UNSW, Nivi has also shown industry leadership through its conception in 2021 to the establishment of the Tangible Uplift – Women in Cyber Security program, that is coaching approx. 50 women across Australia to pass the CISM exam in 2022, broadening and deepening their understanding of the diverse roles available within the industry and assisting them with career progression.

Sri is a wonderful example of an emerging leader at La Trobe University. She has a breadth of experience and a degree of maturity that allows her to communicate, influence, engage and lead by leveraging her credibility, technical and business acumen and genuine empathy. I have been able to observe Sri’s quiet and understated leadership style first hand during my time at the University. I have observed Sri in many situations where she is considered with her opinion, capable of listening to all sides of an issue and make sensible and sound decisions based on the strategic imperatives of the University. Her ability to lead others to achieve great outcomes is first class. I have observed her create a new function within our Information Services Division around stakeholder management. She has been able to clearly articulate the value proposition of the work she is doing and through her quiet and engaging style, has managed to bring a disparate group of IT leaders along the journey with her. Equally, her unique style has meant that she has been able to influence to achieve her outcomes right the way across the IT workforce.

Transformational Leadership in leading Digital Workplace through disruptions

Sri inherited the Digital Workplace team, as Manager Digital Workplace, in the middle of the pandemic, a team of 15 that provisions and supports Audio Visual, Communications and Collaborative services and is the first point of contact for all AV-related incidents/requests relating to learning, teaching, and meeting spaces across the University.

Like the rest of the world, the University had pivoted overnight to online teaching and remote working. Sri led the Digital Workplace team through transformational, thought and servant leadership, effectively managing self and the team with empathy, grit, and bringing the team on the journey with resilience and instilling a mindset of agile to adapt to the changing and challenging environment which led us to embrace, thrive and set for success.

Following the implementation of a new operating model within IT Services, Luke Shaw has championed a series of initiatives to improve the operation and effectiveness of the IT Service Desk for staff and students of the University.

These initiatives include: • “Students as staff” - providing on campus job opportunities for current students • Implementation of a cloud-based contact centre (AWS Connect) • Development of a Self-Service strategy and roadmap • Launch of new physical walk-up service point – TechBar • New virtual agent and Live Chat options to deal with common student enquiries

With the proliferation of video content and increased preference to utilise it, there is a need to manage and enable discovery of video content. The University currently lacks search and sharing functionality to enable efficient use of this medium. The implementation of Linius Whizzard aims to unlock the potential of video content at the University of Newcastle. Linus Whizzard makes it possible to enable users to search, create, save and share personalised/targeted video compilations on the fly. The Living Histories (GLAMx) has a repository of historical video content, which is archived digitally in multiple storage areas. Users (Staff, Librarians, Researchers, Students and Public) currently access the video content manually looking at each video’s content or reach out to GLAMx to provide the relevant video content. This is time consuming and a inefficient way to get the desired research outcome. The Living Histories NBN Archive (1981-1995) supplied to University of Newcastle researchers will be unlocked through easier access for the researchchers, self-service and efficient search and sharing by the Librarian.

The Research Technology Services (RTS) division of University of New South Wales (UNSW) embarked on an initiative to improve governance of data created and shared by researchers. Central to this initiative was to explore how to improve the researcher experience of data management and to drive adoption of official platforms that have been provisioned by the University, such as OneDrive, Teams and UNSW Data Archive (MediaFlux). ResToolKit is a one stop Research Data Management solution that improves governance of data created and shared by researchers. Through managing the metadata of Research Data Management Plans (RDMP) ResToolKit automates provisioning of official data storage solutions of UNSW (Teams, OneDrive, UNSW Data Archive (MediaFlux); including metadata and data classification) to research projects based on information from Grants Management, Graduate Research, and HR and Student Information systems and data requirements researchers provide; saving valuable researcher time and eliminating risks associated with manually provisioning data storage.

The EcoCommons Australia team is leading the development of a world-first collaborative commons that will become the platform of choice for analysing and modelling ecological and environmental challenges. EcoCommons will empower Australian practitioners and researchers to use trusted datasets, modelling tools, and training resources to produce high-quality research that will inform and accelerate evidencebased policy and decision-making for the environment. Twelve months ago, Biosecurity Commons partnered with EcoCommons to leverage the core platform architecture and infrastructure the team had developed and build the world’s first virtual laboratory for the biosecurity sector. This new Biosecurity project will build on and extend the functionality of the existing workflows in EcoCommons and deliver a cloud-based decision-support platform for modelling and analysing biosecurity risk and response.

UQ’s Research Computer Centre (RCC) team have achieved what we weren’t sure was even possible and have developed and implemented ‘CAMERA’, following a successful Proof of Concept. CAMERA is a novel research computing infrastructure that facilitates the CApture, ManagEment, stoRage and Analysis of data from scientific instruments, like microscopes. It unifies a range of otherwise disparate and independent software and hardware components and allows researchers to store and process data uniformly, regardless of the type of instrument. The integration and technical feat achieved through CAMERA is seamless meaning that researchers are not adversely impacted and can focus on the importance of their research and findings, while the software manages the storage, cataloguing and saving of data for them in a central repository. Not only does this support excellence in research right now, but the enhanced storage of data and structured meta-data now captured will support research of the future.

The StandOut Program focuses on the opportunity to take advantage of IT Services as a professional services provider of the University, as they represent corporate functions of a typical and modern organisation with deep relationships with global technology partners and suppliers. IT Services aims to deliver exceptional student experience by preparing graduates for life in an increasingly interconnected society, as well as inspiring student experiences to ensure that students develop life and career skills that will make them stand out in the workforce.

Life-ready students need a range of transferable skills that will enable them to work collaboratively across professions and transition between careers. The StandOut Program is about ensuring that students graduate with a clear understanding of their value and skills, knowledge, and capabilities to prepare them for life. Experiential workplace learning opportunities promote skills development, build self-awareness, fosters innovative thinking, assists in career planning, and support student transition into the world of work.

The project was implemented in 2020-2021 by an IT/PVCESE team to provide a 24x7 University-wide Work Integrated Learning (WIL) platform for students, staff, and industry partners. The project aligned with the UNSW 2025 Strategy by supporting increasing students undertaking WIL, improving the student experience, and driving improved graduate outcomes through industry pre-experience, networking opportunities, and development of skills desirable to employers. Students benefited from their SSO portal, safety from improved risk assessments, trackable and rapid issues management and clarity of responsibilities in formalised WIL Agreements. Their feedback will drive WIL course improvements and partner performance. Productivity efficiencies for administrative staff include integrated student and course data from the student system, dashboards, pre-filled templates, and workflows. UNSW received accurate enterprise reporting, cost savings by retiring multiple systems, and reduced IT support of the vendor-supported, cloud-based solution. Industry partners accessed 24x7 portal, improved approval workflows, survey feedback, less duplicate requests, and consistent systems experience.

COVID-19 created a huge influx of Academic Consideration requests where students request adjustments to coursework, assessments and exams as a result of changes to personal situations that have impacted their study routines. Each one needs individual assessment. The University urgently needed a solution to alleviate the immense workload and high stress environment that this process resulted in for both staff, and the students who submitted requests. After consulting with the Current Students team, a robotic process automation solution using artificial intelligence (AI) was deemed most effective and now:

• Applications are reviewed throughout the day by a robot. • AI is used to categorise requests to assess student support requirements as either High, Medium, Low or No • support. • High and Medium applications are referred to a Welfare Co-ordinator to co-ordinate appropriate support. • Low rated applicants are sent a flyer outlining support available. • Applications deemed not assessable are transferred to a staff member.

Positioned in the growing field of learning analytics, iLearn Insights is an active and innovative tool for addressing the challenge of engaging and supporting student learning. It enables teachers to monitor student engagement in iLearn (Macquarie’s Moodle-based LMS), by identifying both high-achieving students, and those whose level of activity may put them at risk of failure. The iLearn Insights tool facilitates learning reinforcement and early intervention, triggering a range of automated communications to commend high-achieving students and offer additional assistance to lower performing students. With just three clicks of the mouse, academic staff can instantly send a personalised email aimed at re-engaging students who might have otherwise dropped off the radar. In session 2, 2021 iLearn Insights was used by approximately 542 users across 40 departments, learning support areas and 917 course units (subjects), sending over 225000 targeted emails to encourage students to engage with the learning or offer support.

Building 360 (B360), is a key project spearheading Murdoch University’s (MU) Strategic Plan and is scheduled to be operational in February 2023. This building will accommodate approximately 60% of the teaching and learning activities and will be the foundation for a move to a contemporary collaborative learning pedagogy. In Semester 1 2022, Murdoch launched a Sandpit and subsequently a Pilot Teaching space to establish and refine the eventual Teaching and Learning technology deployment in B360. This has allowed Academic and IT Support staff to be trained and familiarise themselves with the technology within B360. The Technology Enabled Active Learning (TEAL) Strategy implemented within the Pilot space enables a student-centred learning environment, focusing on interactivity, collaboration and flexibility across different learning and teaching styles and pedagogies. The technology within the Pilot Teaching space enables active learning, enhances student engagement and deepens learning outcomes.

The Hybrid Learning Mode Pilot was initiated and driven by the Hybrid Learning Project team from the Pro Vice-Chancellor Education & Student Experience Portfolio (PVCESE) which engaged stakeholders across the UNSW community i.e., AV/IT teams, Timetabling, Faculties/Academics. The pilot of the Hybrid Teaching spaces started in 2021 T2 for 4 weeks before another lock-down started and then recommenced in T1 2022. The initial pilot involved 9 active learning spaces and was later expanded to 12 teaching spaces, including the addition of 3-tiered lecture theatres to the suite of Hybrid Teaching spaces. The project was led by the Hybrid Learning Mode Pilot team with support from the AV team in IT and the timetabling team. The project addressed the direct need for academics and students to continue teaching and learning in room and online during and beyond a worldwide pandemic.

Transformation of the digital landscape for the organisation. Included consolidation of 3 SISs into one spanning HE, VET, HDR and TULC cohorts, SOX compliance, enhanced self-services, and visualisation and analytics. The project covered implementation and integration of a new SIS (Banner), CRM (Salesforce) and case and enquiry management system (Dynamics 365), all integrated with Informatica as middle-ware, an Operational data store on SQL Server, combined with operational and analytical reporting on Power BI. Several other systems were integrated through automation processes encompassing optimized timetabling on Syllabus+, learning management on BlackBoard, agent commissions management on SAP and digital experience on Sitecore, all tied together with Peoplesoft Financials, and Workday for human capital management.

In 2022 Victoria University (VU) has consolidated its city campuses into one new precinct known as the City West Precinct, incorporating the VU City Tower. The new precinct has been purposefully built without traditional general or specialist computer labs to encourage a modernised learning and teaching practise – one which supports VU’s unique Block Model and champions collaboration, engagement and flexibility. As a result, VU implemented a new Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) technology and infrastructure that enables staff and students access to VU specialist applications any time, any place and on any device with internet. BYOD enables delivery of these applications and course materials (that were traditionally only be available on-campus via VU's computer labs) via MyWorkspace. MyWorkspace is a cloud-based hosting service that allows course-related software applications to be virtualised, offering greater flexibility and continuity of learning, teaching and working.

The new student portal was gifted the name Pūaha, which means “mouth of the river”, and is the new digital entry point for students at Te Herenga Waka – Victoria University of Wellingon. It was developed as part of the Student Success Programme sponsored by the University Provost and provides students a personalised place where they can find all the information and services they need on a day to day basis. Pūaha follows students through their journey at the University, starting with prospective students applying for admission, scholarships and accommodation all the way through to graduation. Once a student starts studying, it provides a single timetable for all lectures, tutorials, labs and exams along with important notifications, a record of their study and access to new digital services. Pūaha provides students with a digital experience that is personalised, empowering and second to none. Pūaha has been built using Microsoft PowerApps talking to Dynamics CRM and integrated with over ten different university systems. It took 18 months to complete starting with a codesign sprint involving staff and students.