Highlights from the MGAEC Retreat | August 2024
The MGA Executive Committee (MGAEC) gathered together for a meeting of the minds at their annual planning retreat. You may be asking: what did they get up to? And more importantly, what do they have in store for you?
The inaugural MGAEC kicked off their term of office together with the MGA staff for a weekend of collaborating and strategising in the Yarra Valley. Their collective goal was to get to know each other better and plan for how they will support and represent their graduate student community.
Between brainstorming sessions and planning meetings, the MGAEC had some icebreaker activities and team building sessions to get familiar with each other, a trivia session and even a scavenger hunt to get some healthy competitive spirit going! The fun was interspersed with strategic planning meetings and, of course, plenty of food!
So, what are the key areas the MGAEC will focus on this year?
At the forefront of these discussions was the importance of increasing health and wellbeing for graduate students - both mentally and physically, as the group tackled the various ways in which to do this.
Over the next term of office, the MGAEC will continue to expand their focus on career development and networking initiatives, sports and recreation for graduate students, engagement with off-campus and distance education students, better transport options and subsidised programs.
When it came to the respective graduate student cohorts, the MGAEC's top concerns were as follows.
HDR:
- improving relationships with supervisors
- increasing stipends
- transparency over teaching opportunities
Coursework:
- improving opportunities for internships for international students and financial accessibility
- better feedback and turnaround for assessments
- AI training
- timetabling
This enthusiastic and innovative new leadership group brought a lot to the table over just two days, so we can't wait to see what they can achieve over the next year.
Here’s to an amazing new MGEAC team!
Have you got questions for the members of the committee? To find the relevant representative, click here. To learn about how you can get involved by joining a MGAEC advisory group, click here.
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Our destination for the 2-day retreat: Yarra Valley Estate
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Discussing Graduate Coursework issues
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Happy participants ⭐
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Sharing of ideas 💡
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Listening and reflecting...
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Brainstorming HDR issues 🧠
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After a full day of strategising and planning, it's time for a break!
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New connections, new friends
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Time for food!
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MGAEC happy and well fed 😊
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Dessert........
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... and Trivia! 🥳
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Refuelling with a full breakfast
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Your MGA Executive Committee for 2024-2025
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Team bonding with a scavenger hunt 🕵🏼♂️
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It's serious business!
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MGA Staff and EC in the wild
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The winners! 🏆
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