Welcome to the latest edition of the BJBS Faculty newsletter. As we progress through 2024, I am pleased to highlight our achievements in teaching, research, partnerships, and community engagement. I hope you find these updates both informative and inspiring as we continue to advance our academic mission of delivering an outstanding educational experience for our students, and research that has an impact in our communities.
Learning and Teaching Showcase: I wanted to thank Dr Troy Whitford for coordinating the Learning and Teaching Showcase held in August. The event attracted over 20 presentations sharing teaching practices and discussing emerging issues across the faculty. This was a considerable amount of work, and I know it was a passion of Troy’s. His efforts as our then Sub-Dean (Learning and Teaching) before he returned to the Australian Graduate School of Policing and Security (AGSPS) to take on the Associate Head of School role have significantly contributed to our efforts to enhance learning and teaching across all our courses – well done!
HDR Conference: I want to thank our Sub-Dean (Graduate Studies), Dr Arif Khan, and Ms Lara Cowling, who organised the Faculty of Business Justice and Behavioural Sciences 2024 Higher Degree by Research Symposium held online and across several campuses last week. The conference saw a great turnout, with around 170 HDR students, staff members and external keynote speakers in attendance with participants joining from across Australia, Canada, Indonesia, and Thailand.
The feedback I have received from students and staff so far is that the conference was a great success. The topics covered provided an opportunity to gain valuable knowledge from experienced academics across the two days and was an excellent opportunity to network with supervisory teams and fellow students. I would also like to acknowledge and thank Billy Kearney, Anna Schembri, Sue Henley and Amna Sabih who assisted with the meet-and-greet at our Canberra, Bathurst, Wagga and Port Macquarie campuses. Without our willing staff on the ground, the face-to-face component of these events could not happen.
Research Achievements: A number of Charles Sturt University researchers have been named in the 2024 Stanford University-Elsevier’s World’s Top 2% Scientists of the most cited scholars in their fields. I am pleased to see that we have several academics from FOBJBS included in that list. I know you will join me in congratulating Associate Professor Azizur Rahman, Professor Manoranjan Paul, Associate Professor Rafiqul Islam, Professor Zahid Islam, and Mr Khurram Shahzad on their recognition in this year’s list. Stanford University’s list of the World’s Top 2% Scientists is based on standardised data on various quality indicators, including citations, h-index, and other bibliometric pointers. Researchers are categorised across 22 scientific fields and 174 sub-fields using Scopus data supplied by Elsevier.
Congratulations to all the winners in FoBJBS and across the university.
We will be showcasing our impressive research achievements from across the faculty for 2024 in my final Newsletter in December.
Joint Cooperation Program: We take pride in our enduring partnerships with the four partner universities that comprise the Joint Cooperation Program – Jilin University of Finance and Economics (JUFE), Tianjin University of Commerce (TUC), Yunnan University of Finance and Economics (YUFE), Yangzhou University (YU). We resumed our in-country teaching in China at our four partner universities in September 2024 and staff are currently teaching in country.
These collaborations have been instrumental in enriching our business degree programs, fostering cross-cultural exchange, and enhancing the educational experience for our students. Our commitment to these partnerships underscores our dedication to providing a globally relevant education and preparing our graduates to excel in an interconnected world.
On the 23rd and 24th September 2024, a delegation of four staff members from Yangzhou University visited our Charles Sturt University Sydney and Albury campus’. They met with Associate Professor Fion Lim, Associate Dean (Charles Sturt, Sydney) at the Sydney Campus to discuss partnership opportunities and to welcome their students to study with us. The delegation then visited the Albury Campus, where they met with Associate Professor Dianne McGrath, Acting Head, School of Business; and colleagues from the School of Business and the School of Agricultural, Environmental and Veterinary Sciences to explore opportunities for further collaboration in research.
(L-R: Associate Professor Zhen Tian – Business School, Yangzhou University, Professor Yuanqiang Lian – Deputy Dean of Business School, Yangzhou University, Associate Professor Fion Lim, Associate Dean (Charles Sturt University Sydney), Professor Xingfang Qin – Director of the Research Center for Urban and Rural Integrative Development at the Philosophy and Social Science Research Base of Universities in Jiangsu Province, Associate Professor Yan Tan – Director of International Education Administration Centre, Business School)
(L-R: Dr Nick Pawsey, Dr Jen Bond, Dr Danny Murphey, Dr Dianne McGrath, Professor Xingfang Qin, Professor Yuanqiang Lian, Associate Professor Yan Tan, Associate Professor Zhen Tian)
In late October, our Associate Dean (Charles Sturt, Sydney), Associate Professor Fion Lim, travelled to China, where she presented at the 20th Anniversary of Sino-UK Cooperative Education Program and High Quality of Development of Sino-Foreign Cooperative Education Program held by our partners at Yunnan University of Finance and Economics. The conference and Fion’s presentation on “The making of high-quality Sion-Foreign Cooperative Education Programs – An Australian Experience” was a great success.
Joint China Cooperation Program (JCP) Annual Presidents Meeting: The JCP Annual Presidents meeting is being held in Shanghai on the 22nd November 2024. I will attend this important meeting with the Vice-Chancellor and PVC, International to meet and collaborate with all our partners in China to progress the current partnership and discuss new opportunities.
Best regards,
Professor Lewis Bizo