Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Team secondment

Building capability through quality improvement  

In 2025, I was seconded to the DVC(E) EDI Team and led a project to review the educational design of the EDI program, including training and online modules. Initially, I felt motivated by the opportunity to shape a program that directly impacts equity, diversity, and inclusion outcomes. I began by creating learning design standards for professional development and training. To provide a scaffolded approach to quality improvement, I developed the standards with the same three levels as the Moodle Design and Delivery Guidelines: minimum standard, good practice, and exemplary. Using this document as an audit tool for the EDI program showed impact in two ways: it identified the strengths of the practice already in place within the EDI teams’ educational program, and it acted as a mechanism to build capability by establishing future goals for the team’s work.

The next stage involved aligning the EDI Team’s existing learning with the broader Monash philosophies around constructive alignment. I facilitated the co-design of program learning outcomes with the team, then engaged in a mapping exercise to align the training and online modules’ learning outcomes to the broader program learning outcomes, elevating the program’s pedagogical philosophy to the same standard as award courses. 

Throughout the project, I used a combination of informal conversations, formal documentation, workshops, standards, mentoring, and facilitated discussions to build capability within the team and ensure sustainability beyond the project phase. I ran interactive workshops on learning outcomes and activities for the team and the student program officers. I was also requested to create guidelines for peer review of teaching and the implementation of 360-degree feedback to support the ongoing development of the student program officers. 

The main showcase piece from the project was the redesign of Rainbow Communities 101, an online module that acts as a foundational introduction to the rainbow community and LGBTIQA+ Ally training. This module was co-designed with a student program officer and developed with a foundation of near-peer and lived experience, and formed with a quality underpinning from the learning design standards for professional development and training. The showcasing of this work has been accepted at the Better Together Conference in October 2025. 

This project reinforced my belief that quality improvement is most effective when it focuses on systems and people, building the skills, confidence, and ownership of those delivering programs.