The Engagement Incentive Fund has been established to provide financial support for initiatives that will be planned and implemented collaboratively by QUT faculties/divisions/institutes and external partners.
External partners (or community) can be identified, in the broadest sense, as including business, industry, government, non–government organisations and broader community groups, both local and global.
April 2008 - Engagement Innovation Grants
The 2008 round of Engagement Innovation Grants is now open to QUT staff for application before 16 May 2008.
For further information please refer to the application guidelines. Staff who are interested in applying for a grant must register their interest by contacting the Development Office before close of business 14 April 2008. Application forms are due by 16 May 2008.
Please contact Pauline Gray in the Development Office to discuss how your Faculty/Institute/Division could be eligible for support funding through Engagement Innovation Grants:
Extension: 84318
Email: pp.gray@qut.edu.au
January 2008 – Engagement Innovation Grants
The 2008 round of Engagement Innovation Grants will be open to QUT staff for application in March.
July 2007 – Engagement Innovation Grants
31 applications were received from the faculties, divisions and institutes of QUT. The applications were of a very high standard and were assessed by the Selection Panel who determined that 2007 Engagement Innovation Grant funds will be allocated to the following initiatives (led by areas of QUT):
Faculty of Built Environment & Engineering
An innovative model for engagement: Integrated solutions to sustainable growth in coastal Queensland
This project enables partners from the public and private sectors to engage on key priorities in relation to managing the complex challenges of rapid urban development, sustainable industries, expanding tourism, a growing goods port, and a sensitive coastal environment in the Bundaberg region. The Faculty of Built Environment and Engineering aim to address these challenges through the cross–disciplinary engagement model of ‘creative associations’. The success of this project will lead to further self–financing for engagement opportunities in the region and will leverage future partnerships and research opportunities.
QUT participants: Shannon Satherley, Dr Les Dawes, Glenn Thomas, and Dr Jon Bunker
External participants: Port of Bundaberg, Burnett–Mary Regional Group, QLD Department of Local Government & Planning, and QLD Sustainable Economic Development Working Group.
Faculty of Built Environment & Engineering
Guidelines to engage industry partners in academic research
The aim of this project is to develop a set of guidelines to enable stakeholders to engage in academic research. A framework will provide a series of methods to facilitate and consolidate the engagement process for stronger partnerships and improved research outcomes. The outcomes of this project include the Guidelines and a Web Tool Kit that will provide the necessary assistance and direction to early career academics, new academics, researchers, and support staff for the engagement of community in collaborative research grant proposals.
QUT participants: Aspro Douglas Baker, Bernie Murchison, and Michael McArdle
External participants: Brisbane Airport Corporation
Humanities Program
Youth Enterprise Trust/QUT collaboration
The Youth Enterprise Trust (YET) provides several programs to support troubled youth on two properties at Mt Tamborine and Carnarvon Gorge. Although highly successful, no robust evaluation and longitudinal mapping has been undertaken to fully articulate the programs. This project involves QUT Humanities students and researchers to assist in the benchmarking of current evidence and documented processes, collection and analysis of stories and exploration of the evaluation and measurement of the impact of YET interventions.
QUT participants: Dr Phil Crane and Dr Mark Brough
External participants: Youth Enterprise Trust
Creative Industries Faculty
Implementing Service Learning: From the Creative Industries and into QUT
Creative Industries will design and manage a service learning (sL) pilot project open to students across all disciplines in the faculty. The project seeks to unite QUT staff and students with local and international non-profit organisations and local businesses in voluntary, reflection–based sL partnerships directly linked to university curriculum and QUT activities. A sL manual will be developed to assist in the creation of a formal Service–Learning Program which can be used to inform a whole–of–QUT approach to service learning.
QUT participants: Prof Brad Haseman, Dr Glen Thomas, and Aaron Caldwell
External participants: Good Deeds International, Rotary Australia, and IBM
Faculty of Health/Institute of Health and Biomedical Innovation
QldMen: The Queensland men’s health project
Institute of Health and Biomedical Innovation (IHBI) is investigating the quality of life (QoL) and the role of genetics in prostate cancer, by comparing QoL and gene patterns between men with prostate cancer and men without from the general community. Men without prostate cancer symptoms will be invited to attend a single cancer and medical research education and information session as well as a laboratory tour of IHBI. The aim is to educate and increase awareness of prostate cancer and to highlight the importance of medical research conducted at QUT.
QUT participants: Dr Mary-Anne Kedda, Prof Judith Clements, Felicity Lose, Patricia Vanden Bergh, David Wiseman, and Prof Ross Young.
External participants: Royal Brisbane Hospital, Princess Alexandria Hospital, Queensland Institute of Medical Research, The Cancer Council Queensland, Brisbane Private Hospital.
Institute for Sustainable Resources
Sustaining success: Ensuring the future cohesion of the Kelvin Grove Urban Village
This study aims to investigate the effectiveness of various community engagement programmes that have been conducted at KGUV with students, residents and businesses. It will look into identifying a set of indicators to measure whether KGUV is meeting its objectives and also to compile base line data to measure over time. Data will be gathered via focus groups, interviews, surveys and reviewing existing databases and research outcomes from industry partners.
QUT participants: Prof Peter Grace, Laurie Buys, Michelle Gane, and Stephen Pincus
External participants: Hornery Institute
Faculty of Law
Community engagement through a model of Virtual Work–integrated Learning
The Faculty of Law is developing a virtual model of work–integrated learning to renew and strengthen partnerships with the wider community and assist student integration into the workforce. The virtual work-integrated learning model will enable students to assist the legal, not–for–profit and business community with these endeavours while enhancing their learning experience. The aim of the virtual WIL is to provide an authentic and sustainable virtual workplace experience for undergraduate law students at QUT as an elective subject.
QUT participants: Tina Cockburn, Melinda Shirley, Iyla Davies, and Iola Ternel.
Faculty of Science
Professional development programs for teachers in the Gladstone Cluster SCIPP Network
The focus of this project will be on developing and delivering a suite of professional development workshops and seminars for teachers in the Gladstone Cluster SCIPP network, which services the Capricornia region. Initially, the workshops and seminars will concentrate on Chemistry and Physics topics with the intention of utilising the schools of Mathematical Sciences, Natural Resource Sciences and Life Sciences as the project progresses. The project will strengthen the faculty’s practical engagement with professions, industry, government and the broader community as articulated in the QUT Blueprint 2011 vision.
QUT participants: Angela Harper, Maria Barrett, and Prof Acram Taji
External participants: Gladstone Cluster SCIPP, QAL Gladstone
Engagement Innovation Grant funding will be reviewed at the end of the year. The level of interest and application to the fund in this initial round, points positively towards the provision of further support of this nature for engagement.
Engagement Incentive Fund supports youth drug education in Indonesia
QUT's Faculty of Health recently hosted a visit from YCAB delegates, an independent, non–profit, community organisation in Indonesia, with whom QUT is partnering on an Indonesian youth drug education project funded by QUT's Engagement Incentive Fund.
CEO and YCAB founder, Veronica Colondam, said the QUT Engagement Incentive Fund money would be instrumental in undertaking rigorous analysis of survey data sets and would ultimately result in YCAB publishing the study together with QUT.
"We hope the data will be able to show tangible results for our work and further refine who our audience is" Ms Colondam said.
"Partnering with a well–regarded academic institution such as QUT will give much credibility to the study."
YCAB was established in response to an alarming proliferation in drug abuse among Indonesian youth and is working to combat the drug abuse problems through education, awareness and primary prevention efforts.
Faculty of Health staff involved in co–ordinating the visit include Dr Cynthia Cliff (Director of Project Development), Dr Helen Williams (Executive Officer, Strategic Projects), Mr Grant Warren (Lecturer, School of Public Health), Ms Sandy Sacre (Project Manager), Dr Julie Hansen (Senior Lecturer, School of Psychology and Counselling) and Mr Denny Surjaatmadja (Project Officer, Special Projects).
For further information on this project please contact Project Manager, Sandy Sacre on (07) 3138 3022.
Engagement Innovation Grants – 2006
A total of $150,000 has been made available to support partnership initiatives for semester 2, 2006. The eight successful Engagement Incentive Fund initiatives that will be supported through this Fund are:
- Community of practice of learning and engagement model. Primary contact – Ms Jennifer Mays (School of Humanities and Human Services)
- Collaborating with schools for enhanced pre–service teacher education outcomes. Primary contact – Prof Sue Grieshaber (School of Early Childhood)
- QUT and Equipment Technology Services of the Cerebral Palsy League of Queensland. Primary contact – Prof Mark Pearcy (School of Engineering Systems)
- A profile of drug use attitudes and behaviours in Indonesian youth: bringing the data out of the dark. Primary contact – Dr Cynthia Cliff (Faculty of Health)
- Development and testing of membership services for QUT’s Learning Lab Coalition. Primary contact – Prof Erica McWilliam (Faculty of Education)
- Improving health outcomes for low–income people living in rural villages in Central Kalimantan, Indonesia. Primary contact – Dr Jan McDowell (School of Nursing)
- Sustainable south–east Queensland–Portals to our community. Primary contact – Mr Mike Hefferan (Institute for Sustainable Resources)
- Initiate – Student–led engagement initiatives. Primary contact – Ms Joanne Venturato (Faculty of Business).
Watch this space over the coming months as we report the progress of these initiatives.