Griffith University’s new Business School Strategy is about meeting the challenges of a rapidly changing world.
Launched in April 2017, the new objectives for the Griffith Business School (GBS) are aimed at creating a forward-focused, future-ready Business School and will ensure that the university remains an industry leader in the field of business education.
Pro Vice Chancellor (Business) Professor David Grant believes that placing greater importance on the School’s already strong commitment to global connectedness and social responsibility is the way forward.
“The strengths of the strategy are articulated in its mission and vision,” Professor Grant explains. “The Business School’s vision places a heavy emphasis on our traditional values of socially responsible, innovative and globally connected leadership. The mission places a very heavy emphasis on our engagement with businesses, government and other community partners, and ensuring we use that engagement to deliver high-quality business education and research.”
The four main areas of strategic
Category: Griffith University Feed
Griffith to host Voices in Paradise
Griffith is giving young singers a chance to join the a cappella revolution.
Next month, the university’s Gold Coast campus will host Voices in Paradise, an all-day workshop and concert celebrating the power of song.
Now in its fifth year, the popular event attracts hundreds of participants and is open to all singers between the ages of 15 and 30.
During the workshop, singers will get the opportunity to work with a cappella superstars like Blindside and Drums of War, using a range of popular arrangements by Pitch Perfect producer Deke Sharon.
Participants develop their skills in four-part a cappella harmony, technical vocal production and choreography, covering hits by contemporary artists like Bruno Mars, Imagine Dragons and Walk the Moon.
The results will be showcased in a concert at Griffith’s Gold Coast campus, where singers will share the stage with their mentors and the southern hemisphere’s largest male a cappella chorus, The Blenders.
Voices In Paradise
After back-to-back bleaching, Cyclone Debbie sludge hits Reef waters
Ex-Cyclone Debbie dumped rain in an erosion hot spot in the Burdekin catchment estimated to generate nearly a third of all the sediment that flows to the Great Barrier Reef.
Flood plumes from the Gregory and Fitzroy rivers are also pushing sediment and nitrogen pollution into Reef waters.
It is another blow to the Reef which has just suffered unprecedented back-to-back mass coral bleaching events.
Griffith University scientist Associate Professor Andrew Brooks has released dramatic pictures and video of the Burdekin and Gregory river flood plumes heading out to sea, and erosion in the Burdekin catchment.
His post cyclone helicopter flight (on March 31) to assess damage was jointly funded by Griffith University, the Federal Government’s National Environmental Science Program, the Queensland Government, and NQ Dry Tropics.
Dr Brooks said much of the cyclone deluge fell in an 11,000 sq km section of the Burdekin catchment which is a known erosion hot spot.
This area is currently the
Muhummad Yunus visits GBS
Griffith Business School was honoured to have Professor Muhammad Yunus attend Nathan campus and inspect the newly established Yunus Social Business Centre Griffith University.
Exploring the unique skills of people with autism
Developing the unique skills of people with autism and improving pathways to further education and employment will be explored in an autism seminar at Griffith University’s Mt Gravatt campus on Friday, April 21.
Emeritus Professor Patricia Howlin from the King’s College London, said most follow-up studies of adults with autism found that outcomes are poor with the majority of people unemployed and socially isolated.
She said studies of adults in Europe and the US indicate that employment rates, at best, are around 30 per cent and even among those who do find work jobs are mainly low level and poorly paid.
“But we now realise that many individuals with autism are of average or above-average intelligence and that a substantial minority also possess special skills or patterns of abilities that exceed those of the general population,’’ she said.
“How to make best use of such skills to enhance educational progress and facilitate entry into the
Turning the lens on Nepal’s untold stories
Griffith photography students recently travelled to Nepal for a three-week study tour, revealing some of the untold stories of the tiny Himalayan nation.
The tour featured a five-day festival of masterclasses and workshops, followed by an intensive 12-day storytelling project which gave students the opportunity to work in the local community with a team of international mentors.
The trip concluded with a series of open-air exhibitions in the local communities the students had visited. The theme, ‘Utopia/Dystopia’, allowed the photography students to showcase the negative and positive aspects of Nepalese life.
Heading out of the classroom
Adjunct Senior Lecturer in Photography Earle Bridger said the study tour provided a unique learning experience for students from the Queensland College of Art and Griffith Film School.
“It was our first trip to Nepal and it won’t be our last,” he said.
“The kind of stuff our students took away from this trip can’t be taught in a classroom.
“They
Italian exchange inspires Claudia
Languages student Claudia Espinoza on exchange in Italy.
By journalism intern Monique Gilmore
Griffith University Italian student Claudia Espinoza recently returned from Italy where she worked at a primary school (the Convitto Nazionale Paolo Diacono) as part of the Griffith Global Mobility program.
While in Italy, Claudia took on the role of English language assistant, an experience she describes as unforgettable.
“Having a passion for Italy and Italian pushed me to enrol at Griffith and although learning the language at university for the past two years has been an absolute delight, nothing compares to the experience of traveling and being immersed in a different cultural practice,” Claudia said.
“I had the chance to work closely with each and every one of my students. I listened to their impressions on different topics, laughed with them, cried with them and most importantly, learned from their vivacity and innocence.”
When asked about how the Griffith mobility program benefited her, Claudia had
Griffith leads the way for student satisfaction
Griffith is among the leading universities in Australia when it comes to student satisfaction.
A new report, published on April 12 by the Federal Government, places Griffith University at number two in the country amongst publically funded universities after students across Australia were surveyed about their entire educational experience. Griffith was ranked fifth overall.
The annual Student Experience Survey, carried out by the Social Research Centre, is the only comprehensive survey of current higher education students in Australia. About 178,000 undergraduate students participated in the 2016 survey, which focused on six quality indicators in learning and teaching.
“Griffith outperforms the national average in all six of the survey’s focus area indicators,” Professor Debra Henly (left), Deputy Vice Chancellor (Academic), said. “Our students registered an overall satisfaction rate of 84.2% which is notably higher than the 80% national average.”
Along with the overall quality of educational experience, the other five indicators in the Quality Indicators for
Get your green thumb out with groNATIVE
Gardening in southeast Queensland has never been easier with the swipe of a finger – or green thumb.
The groNATIVE app – developed at Griffith University in partnership with Natura Pacific and funding from the State Government – includes profiles of more than 400 plants native to southeast Queensland.
The app intuitively helps you find the most suitable native flora for your suburb.
Since being launched, the free app for smartphones and tablets is already being used by more than 2000 people and Professor Catherine Pickering is encouraging even more to think about using it and getting out in their garden over the Easter break.
The botanist in Griffith’s Environmental Futures Research Institute says it’s a great time to revitalise the garden with some new plants, with April’s milder weather and moist soils creating perfect conditions. She says the days when native gardens might have looked a little drab are long gone.
“People can use
End of 457 Visa program may be bad news for Australia’s STEM field
While the Turnbull government’s recent announcement that they are axing the 457 Visa program has federal officials calling it a victory for Australian workers, Associate Professor Mohan Thite of the Centre for Work, Organisation and Wellbeing believes the decision is short-sighted.
“Cracking a whip to make sure businesses only hire locals is more of a political statement than a pragmatic one because it assumes employers want to hire overseas workers rather than locals, which is simply not true,” said Thite.
“If I’m an employer I would much rather have a local person if they meet all my requirements because it’s so much less of a headache for me. If I’m hiring an engineer, a doctor or an IT manager from India or China, all their personal problems become my personal problems. Are they going to get their visa? Do they understand the language? Do they have family issues settling down in Australia?”
According