Closing the gap between research, policy and practice for regional and remote students
The National Centre for Student Equity in Higher Education (NCSEHE) continues to foreground the challenges of increasing access and participation in higher education among regional and remote students through targeted research, data analysis, good practice case studies and Centre initiatives.
At the Australian Government Department of Education and Training (DET)’s invitation, the NCSEHE recently submitted a response to the Independent Review into Regional, Rural and Remote Education Discussion Paper. The Centre’s submission focused on the challenge of increasing access and participation to higher education among regional, rural and remote students, and was informed by NCSEHE funded research, also incorporating a taxonomy of HEPPP and university-funded responses to regional access to higher education.
At the Society for the Provision of Education in Rural Australia (SPERA) Conference conducted this year at the University of Canberra, Centre representatives Associate Professor James Smith, Don Boyd, Louise Pollard, Dr Lynette Vernon, Ian Cunninghame and NCSEHE Director Professor Sue Trinidad are presenting research relating to regional barriers and motivations for tertiary education. The Conference also marks the first in a new series of workshops conducted as part of the NCSEHE Building Legacy and Capacity project.
Hosted by NCSEHE Senior Research Fellow Dr Nadine Zacharias, each workshop will bring together a panel of experts including researchers, practitioners, policymakers and community partners, who will contribute their insights into four topics central to student equity in higher education. The first workshop on 28 September focuses on effective career advice to students in regional/remote or low socioeconomic status (SES) high schools, and will inform a suite of resources for the sector, as well as a webinar on 9 October 2017.
The second in this workshop series, ‘Higher Education participation and completion of regional/remote students’ will run concurrently with a NCSEHE Equity Fellowship symposium at The University of Western Australia in October 2017. Hosted by Louise Pollard, ‘The Clever Country: The importance of investing in regional and remote students’ will incorporate speakers from across Australia, discussing the value of investing in higher education from the perspective of the individual, community and the university sector.
Editor’s note:
The NCSEHE aims to inform public policy design and implementation and institutional practice to improve the higher education participation and success for marginalised and disadvantaged people.
Media contact:
Nina-Marie Thomas
Media and Communications Officer
National Centre for Student Equity in Higher Education
Tel | +61 8 9266 3721
Email | nina-marie.thomas@curtin.edu.au