Week 1 Classes

Lectures begin in Week 1. See you there!

Week-By-Week

In Week 1 you will be advised which team you are in and your project. You will meet your team and industry partner in Week 1. In Week 2 there will be team training. After that there are no classes until Week 11 to prepare you for the final presentations and the exam. In Week 13, you will present your project to other teams, industry partners and university staff.

In the interum weeks, including the mid-semester break, you are expected to be working on your project and posting weekly reports to the iLearn forums. Unit staff will be running consultations during these weeks. Your team may nominate to attend, or in some cases be identified as needing to have such a meeting and be summoned.

Methods of Communication

Cohort-wide informaiton will be communicated through iLearn announcements and/or lectures. Group-specific information will be communicated via iLearn forums and student email. Individual information will be communicated via student email. Official information will never be distributed through non-official University means, and information will not be repeated (e.g., an announcement made in a lecture cannot reasonably be expected to be stated again in an iLearn post).

Students are encouraged to post on the Discussion Forums on iLearn. Individual concerns should be emailed to the UCs. Staff will not respond to communication from non-student email addresses.

What to do in the case of an emergency:

1. Remove yourself from any danger.

2. Call 000, if necessary.

3. Speak to your partner-based supervisor, if possible. The Organisation may have emergency procedures to follow.

THEN - if the emergency occurs in office hours (i.e. Monday - Friday 9am-5pm)

4. Contact your Unit Convenor by phone/email as soon as you can.

5. If you cannot reach your Unit Convenor, contact your Faculty PACE Manager by phone/email.

OR - if the emergency occurs outside of office hours (i.e. outside of Monday - Friday 9am-5pm)

6. Phone Campus Security Office on (02) 9850-9999 as soon as you can. This is a 24 hour, 7 days a week service and it does not matter where in Australia you are when you call. Please identify yourself as a PACE student when you call.

N.B. For any minor issues with your participation activity, please speak to your partner-based Supervisor. If the problem is more serious, please contact your Unit Convenor or your Faculty PACE Manager.

If you are experiencing difficulties and need to speak to a counsellor:

Contact the MQ Counselling Service at Campus Wellbeing on 9850-7497 (Monday - Friday, 8am-6pm)

1800 MQ CARELINE (1800-227-367) - information and referral service (24 hours, 7 days a week)

If you would like to speak to a counsellor outside of office hours, you can also contact Lifeline on 13 11 14 (24 hours, 7 days a week).

Work, Health, and Safety (WHS)

A PACE Activity is a practical experience allocated to, and undertaken by, a student within a PACE unit which may take place in premises other than the University (usually the Partner Organisation’s premises). When working or studying in non-University premises, the primary responsibility for the health and safety of our students becomes that of the Partner Organisation hosting the student. However, as a student, you also have a legal responsibility under the Workplace Health & Safety Act 2011 and the Macquarie University Health & Safety Policy to ensure the health and safety of yourself and of others in the workplace.

Each student has a moral and legal responsibility for ensuring that his or her work environment is conducive to good health and safety, by:

• ensuring that their work and work area is without risk to the health and safety of themselves and others
• complying with the University’s and Partner Organisation’s Work Health & Safety Policy and Procedures
• reporting hazards and incidents as they occur in accordance with University and Partner Organisation’s policy
• actively participating in all health and safety activities and briefing sessions (eg emergency evacuation procedures, site inspections etc)

Each student is also required to advise their Unit Convenor or Faculty PACE Manager as soon as possible when:

• he/she feels unsafe at any stage during the PACE activity
• he/she did not receive a safety induction prior to the commencement of the activity covering: First aid, Fire and emergency evacuation; and Injury/incident reporting
• he/she did not receive any specialised instructions/training necessary to carry out the role
• an incident/accident happens (even when reported to the Partner Organisation/supervisor and managed by them) 

Non-compliance with the above may result in withdrawal of the student from the PACE Activity. 

WHS and risk for fieldwork-based PACE activities

Certain PACE activities are fieldwork-based.  Fieldwork includes professional experience whereby the fieldwork i) forms the majority of the activity; ii) is essential to partner benefit; and iii) requires the application of discipline specific knowledge and skills. Fieldwork-based activities are undertaken in collaboration with a partner and are conducted on a site in the natural and/or built environment in order to collect data (e.g. soil samples, asking questions of humans, documenting information about animals, etc.) for the purposes of informing a study about that environment or site. Fieldwork may be led by students as the discipline experts; however, it requires supervision by an appropriately qualified Macquarie University staff or external partner. Students who will undertake fieldwork-based PACE activities must consult with their unit convenor regarding additional WHS and risk procedures that might be necessary. All fieldwork must be officially approved by relevant staff before it commences. 

PACE-related policies, procedures, and other important information

Student Undertaking Form

Before a student begins their activity they will be required to complete the Student Undertaking Form.  This form asks students for their contact details, emergency contact information and their agreement to abide by the Roles and Responsibilities as set out in the Governance and Guidelines document.  The Student Undertaking form is provided electronically through iParticipate and the Faculty PACE team will alert you when it is available for completion and instructions on how to complete it. 

PACE Activity – Early Commencement Procedure:  – to outline the conditions under which the unit convenor of a PACE unit will consider a request from a student to commence or complete a PACE activity prior to the official start date of the associated PACE unit.

PACE - Managing Other Commitments Procedure:  to outline the University’s approach to an absence or other form of disruption during the session due to a student undertaking a PACE activity.

PACE - Reasonable Adjustments, Guideline and Procedure:  Macquarie University will endeavour to match students with an appropriate host and feasible PACE activity to maximise student success.  These documents provide good practice information for students and staff to encourage early disclosure of circumstances (e.g. disability, medical condition, flexible time arrangements, or leave days for official observances, etc.), which may impact on a student’s PACE activity, and the subsequent arrangement of reasonable adjustments when enrolling or participating in a PACE Unit (Guideline).

PACE activities requiring background checks:  Some partner organisations may require students to complete certain background checks and/or clearances in cases where they will be working with children, young people, people with disabilities, the frail-aged, at-risk clients, and government/statutory agencies. It’s very important that students complete the required background clearances before beginning the PACE activity. Any necessary information on background checks will be communicated directly to students by the Unit Convenor or the Faculty PACE team. Please note there is an extra verification step required for students who need to to complete a Working with Children Check.  Students will be required to provide their WWCC number to the Faculty PACE Team electronically and the result of their check will need to be verified by MQ WWCC Administrator (Governance Services) before they start their activity.

Policy regarding PACE and the AHEGS statement:  PACE units will be flagged on student transcripts with the symbol ‘π’ after the unit code which corresponds to the following statement on the transcript:

π: Units marked with a π are designated PACE units. These units provide students with an opportunity to learn through practical experience and make a valuable contribution to the community by applying knowledge and skills acquired at the University.

PACE and Ethical Practice:  Ethical considerations feature heavily in the PACE Initiative. As ambassadors of the University, students are expected to engage with the wider community in a responsible and ethically informed manner that respects the rights of individuals, communities and the environment. This expectation applies to all PACE activities regardless of their nature. Ethical practice involves negotiating the ethical complexities of the context with which you are working. This involves critically thinking about issues of power, hierarchy, culture and position, and about the potential risks of your work and interactions with others, immediate and over time. It is important to ensure that risks are mitigated and experiences are enriching and worthwhile for all those involved.

In addition to the role of students as ambassadors, partners must conform to the University’s ethical standards; PACE activities must be aligned with the wellbeing of people and planet; there are research-based PACE activities as well as collaborative research with partners; and, the way in which everybody’s PACE experiences are captured and shared must be ethical. If a student ever feels that unethical behaviour has occurred during a PACE activity, they should consult with their Unit Convenors and/or the Faculty PACE staff immediately. Further, any students whose PACE activity will involve research that is led by a Macquarie staff member must consult with their convenor prior to commencement to confirm whether or not research ethics permission is required.

PACE and IP:  Students enrolled in PACE units may be working with external industry partners. Although it is uncommon, during some activities Intellectual Property may be created and there may be some instances when the partner requires the assignment of IP. Students are encouraged to seek legal advice prior to entering into any such agreement. Students uncertain of their rights relating to IP ownership can seek advice from the Office of the Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research). This should be done by contacting the relevant Faculty PACE Manager.

PACE Grants and Prizes:  There are several ways in which PACE might support students financially to undertake PACE activities. PACE students are also eligible to apply for the prestigious Prof. Judyth Sachs PACE Prizes.

http://students.mq.edu.au/courses/professional_and_community_engagement/pace_grants/

http://students.mq.edu.au/courses/professional_and_community_engagement/pace_prizes/