Early Career and Postgraduate Network: Crafting Collegiality in Competitive Contexts
Channel: e socsci
Date: 2018-08-14

Many universities within and beyond New Zealand use ‘collegiality’ as a criterion in decisions on (re)appointment, tenure (confirmation) and/or promotion. However, there appears to be no clear definition of what this term means, nor any guidelines for how to conduct oneself in a manner that ensures collegiality. Indeed, identifying ‘uncollegial’ behaviour seems to be an easier task than spelling out what collegiality entails.

In this Early Career and Postgraduate workshop on ‘Crafting Collegiality in Competitive Contexts’, our panellists draw on their rich and diverse experiences of working at various levels and in different capacities within and beyond New Zealand universities to shed light on what collegiality means and how we can actively foster it the increasingly competitive environment of the contemporary university. In an effort to reduce the opacity of the term ‘collegiality’, we will address the tensions between ‘congeniality’ and ‘ exploitability’ and explore the possible contradictions between cordial working relationships and robust academic debate.

Panel:

Professor Wendy Larner (President, Royal Society Te Apārangi and Provost, Victoria University of Wellington)

Professor Larner is an internationally respected social scientist whose research sits in the interdisciplinary fields of globalisation, governance and gender. She has held a wide range of academic and high level administrative positions at universities within and beyond New Zealand, including Dean of the Faculty of Social Sciences and Law, and Professor of Human Geography and Sociology at the University of Bristol. Professor Larner, who is Provost at Victoria University of Wellington, currently serves as President of the Royal Society Te Apārangi.

 Dr Gradon Diprose (Senior Lecturer, Massey University, Wellington)

After a number of years at the Open Polytech (Wellington), Dr Diprose took up a post as Senior Lecturer at the School of People, Environment and Planning at Massey University (Wellington), where he is conducting research on climate adaption, vulnerability and community wellbeing. His PhD in human geography from Victoria University of Wellington focused on alternative economies and labour beyond waged work.

 Dr Kim Brown (Graduate Research School, University of Otago)

Dr Brown recently completed a PhD on the topic, ‘Developing an understanding of collegial peer learning during doctoral education.’ Beyond her interests in peer learning, Dr Brown has conducted research on community-engaged learning and teaching, education for sustainability, and student-led learning. She currently works as a Professional Practice Fellow and Assistant Research Fellow at the Graduate Research School at the University of Otago.