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Stakeholder Engaged Scholarship Policy

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Section 1 - Background

(1) In advancing the commitment to ACU Mission, Identity and Values, it is important that the University responds to the needs of its Catholic and other partners who wish to engage ACU’s scholarly expertise and research assistance to inform, evaluate and enhance the quality of their activities.

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Section 2 - Purpose

(2) This Policy establishes a University-wide approach to the planning, initiation, implementation and reporting of stakeholder-engaged scholarship projects. It outlines the role of the Stakeholder Engaged Scholarship Unit (SESU) in providing governance and management of these projects across the University.

(3) The SESU enables ACU to collaborate with its Catholic and other partners to provide expertise in areas that are central to the University’s mission and ethos as a Catholic university. It also provides the skills and resources to increase the University’s research engagement with end-users.

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Section 3 - Scope/Application

(4) This Policy encompasses scholarship projects that have a direct link to the University’s mission, on behalf of and in collaboration with ACU stakeholder partners and wider community groups, but do not meet the parameters for research projects.

(5) Projects to be undertaken will be identified from a variety of sources including, but not limited to, the following:

  1. the Vice-Chancellor and President of ACU, and other Senior Executive staff from within ACU;
  2. direct responses to requests from key stakeholders; and
  3. through an Expression of Interest process.

(6) The projects to be undertaken will be diverse in their scope and scale, with a focus on activities with a strong link to the strategic priorities of the university. They will include:

  1. contract projects for ACU’s partners;
  2. collaborative projects with ACU partners; and
  3. both short-term and long-term projects.
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Section 4 - Policy Statement and Principles

Focus

(7) The principal focus of the SESU is to ensure that ACU has the capacity to engage in scholarship in key areas of need, and for those communities and organisations that are experiencing the most disadvantage, and that are linked with the University’s mission.

(8) These projects will usually be non-HERDC scholarly activities. The inclusion of contract and collaborative projects will facilitate opportunities for the development and growth of partnerships that will support the sustainability of the unit. The partnerships will also provide opportunities for future collaboration in competitive funding applications, such as ARC Linkage and NHMRC Partnership Grants.

Core funding

(9) The core operations of the SESU are funded by a levy contributed from the University’s Faculties. This funding is set at the level of $600,000 per annum (indexed), and may be increased in future at the Vice-Chancellor and President's discretion.

Partner contributions

(10) Stakeholder engaged scholarship projects will be undertaken in a spirit of true partnership. It is expected that the partner will make financial and in-kind contributions to the project, where they will work closely with ACU to design and deliver a project that is fit-for purpose. Where a financial contribution is not possible, greater in-kind supports from partners can be negotiated with the SESU.

(11) ACU must not provide any funding to the partners in these engaged scholarship projects.

Engaging with external partners

(12) Given the high demand for ACU’s expertise, and in anticipation of further growth in that demand, SESU calls for, and responds to, requests from partners in an equitable and strategic manner.

  1. Partner-initiated: Current and future partners are invited to submit requests / proposals for consideration. This may be in the form of clearly-defined projects or requests for exploratory work in areas of relevance. These are prioritised and assessed by the Advisory Group.
  2. ACU-initiated: Specific projects may be referred directly to the unit by the Vice-Chancellor and President or the Vice-Chancellor's Advisory Committee (VCAC) and these are considered by the Advisory Group. Should an organisational unit have proposals for projects linked to existing or new external partnerships, they will discuss their proposal with their relevant VCAC representative. After consideration of the request, the VCAC representative will forward it to Advisory Group for their consideration.

Outputs

(13) The outputs of this scholarship are usually published in report format, ACU-branded or co-branded with funders / partners, and / or in publications that are usually non-HERDC. Findings will not be submitted for publication in peer-reviewed outlets.

(14) In circumstances where the findings of a particular project are considered to be of sufficient significance to warrant a HERDC publication, a submission must be made to the Publication Advisory Committee, which will determine if publication is appropriate and provide direction for any subsequent HERDC output. The decision of the Publication Advisory Committee is final.

  1. The membership of the Publication Advisory Committee is:
    1. the Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research and Enterprise) [Chair];
    2. the Chair of the Advisory Group to the SESU; and
    3. the Director, Centre for Education and Innovation.

(15) Staff who publish results in HERDC publications without the authorisation of the Publication Advisory Committee will not be eligible for future projects under this Policy.

Dissemination

(16) The outcomes of this scholarship will be aligned with both the mission and the brand of ACU, as well as provide positive stories about the role of ACU, and our Catholic and other partners, in advancing the dignity of the human person and the common good. This is subject to the rights of University members to enjoy freedom of speech and intellectual freedom pursuant to Statute 13 - Freedom of Speech, Intellectual Freedom and Academic Freedom.

(17) Media and event opportunities to promote dissemination of the outputs are supported by ACU Engagement – working closely with Marketing and External Relations (MER). Together, ACU Engagement and MER work to identify and maximise opportunities to promote key outputs in order to strengthen the ACU brand. 

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Section 5 - Roles and Responsibilities

Governance

(18) The SESU and stakeholder engaged scholarship undertaken under this Policy, will be guided by an Advisory Group, consisting of internal and external stakeholders:

  1. Dean, La Salle Academy [Chair];
  2. Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research and Enterprise) (or nominee);
  3. Director, Centre for Education and Innovation; and
  4. Three representatives of key partners (on a 3-year appointment cycle) to be nominated and invited by the internal members of the Advisory Group. There will be the option to extend for a second term of service if mutually agreed by the member and the Vice President and Director, Identity & Mission of ACU.

(19) The role of the Advisory Group includes guidance on the overall direction of the unit, including selection of projects and appropriate ACU staff to deliver the projects; identification of new potential directions for scholarship, including the integration of findings from related projects into large scale projects; and, advising on, and assisting with, the dissemination of findings and promotion of the work of the unit.

Management

(20) The SESU is located within ACU Engagement, under the leadership of the Head, ACU Engagement.

ACU researchers

(21) One of the primary goals of the unit is to involve ACU academics in meaningful and high-quality scholarship and engagement. This will build and enhance ACU’s academic culture.

(22) When projects are selected, or proposed, the Advisory Group, along with the Manager, Community-engaged Research, will identify academics from Faculties / Schools / Institutes with expertise in the relevant areas of scholarship.

(23) An ACU member of the Advisory Group will negotiate with the relevant Executive Dean (and, where applicable, Institute Director) for the inclusion of the project in the academics’ workload. SESU funds will be used to buy out the academics’ time. These academics will be invited to lead and undertake the project(s), with the support of the SESU staff.

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Section 6 - Review

(24) This Policy will be formally reviewed every 5 years.

(25) Unless otherwise indicated, this Policy will still apply beyond the review date.

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Section 7 - Associated Information

(26)  For related legislation, policies, procedures and guidelines and any supporting resources please refer to the Associated Information tab.