Written by Nicole Roberts, Acting Associate Head of School, School of Policing Studies
In June 2022, weekly professional development meetings commenced at the NSW Police Academy (Goulburn CSU campus). This was an initiative of the Associate Head of School for the School of Policing Studies (SoPS), Nigel Donoghue. Mr Donoghue, with support from Curriculum Manager Steve Bath and Catherine McCarthy, who are also passionate about bringing professional development to the forefront, began organising and encouraging staff to present on learning and teaching practice. One of the first projects inspired by the professional development meetings was a knowledge hub. Collated by SoPS Lecturer Tanya Ford the knowledge hub identifies areas of proficiency and interest within SoPS staff and its colleagues in the NSW Police. In addition, Mr Donoghue wanted to create a platform where staff could share academic resources and continue learning. Building on the knowledge hub concept Tanya Ford and CSU Librarian Sandra Hall worked in partnership to develop an online knowledge hub utilising Leganto. While Leganto is used throughout the university to create reading lists for students, Tanya Ford and Sandra Hall have repurposed the platform utilising the software for staff professional development. With guidance and assistance from Sarah Rosetta from CSU Library Services, they have set up a space where staff at SoPS can read relevant and current articles, access databases relevant to their fields of interest or branch out into areas they may not have previously considered. Staff are now also able to circulate articles they have found or authored for inclusion in the hub, building the external profile of SoPS as a current, academically rigorous leader in education.