* HERDSA Blog Post: Uncertainty ahead! How educators can prepare students to manage uncertainty
* HERDSA Community: Reflections on the August Assessment Quality SIG Catch-Up & Lightning Round
* HERDSA Members Save 30% – THE Campus Live ANZ 2025
* HERD Special Issue 'Educating for Societal Transitions' Launch – save the date!
* Hold the date! HERDSA Academic Development SIG webinar
* New HERDSA SoTL Modules Coming Soon – Module 1: Introducing SoTL
* Co-Creating a Collaborative Learning Design Guide for Third Space Professionals
* Hybrid event: Assurance of learning in the age of GenAI - Can assessment for inclusion and security coexist?
* 2025 CRADLE International Symposium: Expert panel - 'Assessment design in higher ed: Changing practices for a world with AI'
* Invitation to participate in research: Supporting academic educats with inclusive curricula and equitable teaching and learning
* Call for Applications: International Professional Wellbeing Programme Scholarships
* Invitation to Mentor in the 2026 ACUR Undergraduate Research Program
* New articles in Higher Education Research and Development

To submit an announcement for this list complete the online form at http://herdsa.org.au/herdsa-notices

A full list of HERDSA Notices is online at http://www.herdsa.org.au/latest-news

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HERDSA Blog Post: Uncertainty ahead! How educators can prepare students to manage uncertainty
Georgina Stephens , 27 August 2025

Georgina Stephens describes how we can start to cultivate uncertainty tolerance in the class room and how critical reflection assist in this journey.

Read more: https://herdsa.org.au/herdsa-connect/uncertainty-ahead-how-educators-can...

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HERDSA Community: Reflections on the August Assessment Quality SIG Catch-Up & Lightning Round
HERDSA Assessment Quality SIG, 15 August, 2025

HERDSA Assessment Quality SIG came together for its first Lightning Round session of the year. Diana Saragi Turnip describes it as an energising experience to see colleagues from across institutions engage with the pressing challenges and possibilities shaping assessment today..

Read more and watch the presentations at https://herdsa.org.au/news/reflections-august-assessment-quality-sig-cat...

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HERDSA Members Save 30% – THE Campus Live ANZ 2025
2–3 September 2025

HERDSA is proud to partner with Times Higher Education for the return of THE Campus Live ANZ 2025, hosted with the University of Canterbury, Christchurch, New Zealand on 2–3 September 2025

This event will welcome:
150+ senior higher education leaders
40+ expert speakers
Two days of thought-provoking discussion, fresh insights & high-impact networking

HERDSA members can access an exclusive 30% discount on tickets when register via HERDSA member dashboard.

Don’t miss this opportunity to connect with colleagues across Australia, New Zealand, and beyond — and help shape the conversations about the future of higher education.

Further information: https://www.timeshighered-events.com/live-anz-2025

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HERD Special Issue 'Educating for Societal Transitions' Launch – save the date!
Thursday, 11 September, 17:00 AEST – Online Launch

Higher Education Research & Development is proud to announce the upcoming release of our second Special Issue for 2025, 'Educating for Societal Transitions', guest edited by Dr Giedre Kligyte, Dr Susanne Pratt, Dr Mieke van der Bijl-Brouwer, and Dr Alex Baumber, from the Transdisciplinary School, University of Technology Sydney, along with HERD's Professor Stephen Marshall.

Save the date for the online launch of the Special Issue via Eventbrite and Zoom on Thursday, September 11th, 2025.

Launch Details:
Date: Thursday, 11 September
Time: 17:00 AEST
Duration: 90 minutes
Zoom link: https://zoom.uts.edu.au/j/86932422971

Hear from guest editors and contributors to the special issue in this facilitated session and join in the debate and discussion via the Q&A.

Eventbrite (free) ticket link will be shared in next week's notices, or contact Emily Giles via herd.giles@gmail.com for more information

Further information: https://www.tandfonline.com/journals/cher20

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Hold the date! HERDSA Academic Development SIG webinar
14th October

Hold the date!

The HERDSA Academic Development SIG's first webinar is on 14th October 1.00pm (AEDT)

Further details soon or join our Linked group https://www.linkedin.com/groups/10387957/

Further information: olga.kozar@mq.edu.au or k.shoecraft@griffith.edu.au

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New HERDSA SoTL Modules Coming Soon – Module 1: Introducing SoTL
Launch of new HERDSA SoTL Modules early November, 2025

Many of us aim to be evidence-based in our personal and professional decisions. This leads to more informed choices, better outcomes, and greater credibility. But how can we apply this approach to our university teaching? The answer is through the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL).

In Module 1 of the soon-to-be-released HERDSA SoTL Modules, you’ll take your first step in building your SoTL skills. This module will:
-Introduce you to what SoTL is, why it matters, and how it enhances teaching practice.
-Explore key concepts, inquiry types, and real-world examples of impactful SoTL.
-Share the stories of diverse educators—lecturers, learning designers, and curriculum teams—navigating their own SoTL journeys.
-By the end, you’ll have a strong foundation in SoTL and practical strategies you can apply immediately in your teaching.

You’ll also join a community dedicated to making higher education more effective and inclusive for all learners.

Further information: Enquire today: https://forms.office.com/r/pkXF0BN5F4

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Co-Creating a Collaborative Learning Design Guide for Third Space Professionals
31st August

The ASCILITE Learning Design Special Interest Group (LD SIG) is excited to present the development of an open-source resource titled Introduction to Learning Design for Third Space Professionals. This initiative is designed to advocate for the profession and support Third Space professionals by providing a collaborative platform for learning designers to contribute their expertise, insights, and real-world examples. We aim to provide Third Space professionals the opportunity to publish their best practices without feeling constrained about formal research. Our goal is to co-create an evolving resource that highlights key learning design topics and provides practical guidance for those working in learning design, enriched by case studies from across institutions.

This guide is created to support learning designers at all stages of their careers, from newcomers to seasoned professionals, by providing a clear, accessible path to improving their practice and building expertise in the Third Space. As volunteers committed to strengthening the learning design community, this resource will be provided based on demand, available capacity, and our community's desire to build collective capabilities.

Find out more here: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1wk0oZ9nbN0IWpWAUDWbUr94CX1DwSdC-

Further information: if you have question, contact kdave3@une.edu.au

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Hybrid event: Assurance of learning in the age of GenAI - Can assessment for inclusion and security coexist?
Tuesday 9th September

While assessment has never been particularly inclusive, there are concerns that strategies to assure student capability boil down to invigilated exams, which are not inclusive for the wide range of equity-deserving students with diverse characteristics and circumstances. Oral assessment, a common solution, has also been highlighted as problematic, particularly in the face of rising numbers of access plans and adjustments.

This interactive panel session will draw on educator expertise and lived experience of students to consider how structural modifications of assessment to assure learning can also accommodate student diversity. The panel will offer nuanced perspectives on what is possible, recognising the importance of context and acknowledging that some tensions may never be resolved.

This panel is a Deakin collaboration between CRADLE, Inclusive Education and the Redefining Assessment project.

Date: Tuesday 9th September
Time: 2pm-3:30pm
Location: Online or Deakin Downtown
Register: https://assurance-of-learning-in-genAI-age.eventbrite.com.au

Further information: https://assurance-of-learning-in-genAI-age.eventbrite.com.au

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2025 CRADLE International Symposium: Expert panel - 'Assessment design in higher ed: Changing practices for a world with AI'
Wednesday 17 September - 2.30 pm - 4.00 pm (AEST)

This year’s CRADLE International Symposium - ‘Assessment design in higher education: Changing practices for a world with AI’ - seeks to draw from theory and empirical research to unpack the broad range of contentions emerging about AI and assessment in higher education. As a pivotal highlight of the Symposium program we are pleased to invite you to an interactive public panel event.

Designing university assessment to account for the rise of artificial intelligence (AI) has proved to be difficult and contentious. Across the globe, many academics are making claims that assessment designs and systems need to be completely reconsidered. But the fundamentals of assessment in terms of its purposes may still hold true and many of the problems that are faced in implementing new regimes are challenges that already existed. So what, if anything, has changed? What are the tensions that continue to bedevil us? What conceptual or theoretical framings help us make sense of the things that change and the things that stay the same?

Facilitated by CRADLE’s Professor Phillip Dawson, this panel discussion will feature a national and international cast of eminent higher education assessment researchers. The panel will reflect on the discussions held throughout the symposium and offer potential directions for future research in the intersections between university assessment and AI.

Panellists
• Professor Jason Lodge, Director of the Learning, Instruction, and Technology Lab and Professor of Educational Psychology, School of Education, The University of Queensland
• Assistant Professor Jiahui (Jess) Luo, Faculty of Education and Human Development, the Education University of Hong Kong
• Professor Jan McArthur, Professor in Higher Education and Social Justice and Head of Department in the Department of Educational Research, Lancaster University
• Associate Professor Nicole Pepperell, Teaching & Curriculum Team (TACT), Education Portfolio, University of Technology Sydney

Join us in person at Deakin Downtown or online for the second seminar in CRADLE's New Directions in AI Research and Practice series.

Further information: https://assessment-design-in-higher-ed-changing-practices-ai.eventbrite....

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Invitation to participate in research: Supporting academic educats with inclusive curricula and equitable teaching and learning
Survey closes 11 September 2025

Are you an academic teaching staff member working at a higher education institution in Australia?

We are conducting a study funded by the Australian Centre for Student Equity and Success (ACSES).

Please consider completing an anonymous 15-minute national survey to share your experiences of how institutions support accessible and equitable teaching and learning.
Thanks!

Further information: https://anu.au1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_6tlGHOSqaNC9CD4?Q_CHL=qr

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Call for Applications: International Professional Wellbeing Programme Scholarships
30 September 2025

The Free Research and Educational Equity (FREE) Trust invites applications for a small number of professional Universal Wellbeing programme full-tuition international scholarships.

Scholarships are available for the following professional-level programmes:
•Certificate in Universal Wellbeing Evaluation Facilitation (CUWEF): Accreditation to administer, analyse, and report Universal Wellbeing Evaluation Tool (UWET)outcomes( ideal for wellbeing researchers).
•Certificate in Pastoral Care & Universal Wellbeing Coordination (CPCUWC): Development of advanced capability in designing, implement, and coordinate system-level wellbeing strategies(ideal for institutional system managers/leaders).

Both programmes commence in October 2025 and March 2026 and via interactive online session that enable participation from international applicants.

Applications close 30 September 2025. Selection will be competitive, and early submission is encouraged.

Further information: https://www.freedom-ihe.ac.nz/free-research-educational-equity-trust

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Invitation to Mentor in the 2026 ACUR Undergraduate Research Program

The Australasian Council for Undergraduate Research (ACUR) is currently inviting experienced academics and industry professionals to participate in our 2026 Undergraduate Research Mentoring Program. We would be delighted to have you join us as a mentor.

About the Program
The ACUR Mentoring Program connects undergraduate and honours students with mentors from academia and industry to support their development in research, career planning, and professional networking. The program is designed to be flexible, with a structured but low time-commitment format.

2026 Program Timeline:

• Mentor EOIs OpenNow – 31 December 2025
• Mentee EOIs Open1 – 31 December 2025
• Matching Period1 – 15 February 2026
• Pair NotificationsMid-February 2026
• Introductory SessionLate February 2026 (30 mins)
• Mentoring Sessions (4 × 1 hr)March – May 2026
• Final Wrap-Up SessionMid–Late May 2026 (30 mins)

Mentor Commitment

• Attend a short 30min introductory Zoom session and a 30min final wrap-up session
• Hold four 1-hour mentoring sessions with your mentee(s) between March and May
• Provide guidance on research skill development, academic/career pathways, CV and interview preparation, and professional insight

Why Mentor?

• Make a meaningful contribution to emerging researchers
• Share your experience and expand your professional impact
• Strengthen connections between academia, research, and industry

If you are interested in becoming a mentor, please submit your expression of interest via the following form by 31 December 2025: Mentor EOI Form: https://forms.gle/ahxMgMgXPmZ2v9T66

Further information: Should you have any questions or wish to discuss the program further, feel free to get in touch: mentoring@acur.org.au or chair@acur.org.au 

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New articles in Higher Education Research and Development

Rethinking the student journey with voice of student: unstructured data-driven approach, Hyunjoo Kim & Min Jae Park, https://doi.org/10.1080/07294360.2025.2543410

Assessment for student transitions and success: a scoping review of assessment principles in Australian enabling education, Elizabeth Goode, James Valentine, Amita Krautloher & Pranit Anand, https://doi.org/10.1080/07294360.2025.2543409

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In the spirit of reconciliation HERDSA acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of country throughout Australasia and their connections to land, sea and community. We pay our respect to their Elders past, present and emerging.