Education Committee

Function

The Education Committee is a operational advisory group, that provides advice on the Education Program Initiatives of WQRA. The main responsibilities of the Education Committee are to review project and candidate submissions to the various WQRA Scholarship Initiatives including PhD Scholarships, Honours Scholarships and Summer Scholarships, and to make recommendations to the CEO and WQRA Board (where required). This review mechanism establishes a transparent and rigorous due diligence process to ensure that WQRA scholarships are awarded to the best candidates and that WQRA is achieving its aim of supporting Australian Water Community to build capacity and capability in research related fields.

Sub-committees are formed and make recommendations for the following Education Program Initiatives:

• Summer Scholarships
• Honours Scholarships
• Postgraduate Scholarships
• Any other Initiative developed under the Education Program

The Education Committee assesses project proposals against the WQRA Project Prioritisation Criteria and provide advice to WQRA on project proposals submitted for Program Initiatives including, but not limited to, the following:

• An assessment of the project against each of the WQRA criteria
• Identification of additional information required by the proponent before the project proposals can be considered for funding
• Identify weaknesses/deficiencies in project proposals and, as appropriate, advise the Education Program Coordinator of actions required to address these issues for review by the Education Committee prior to recommendation to the CEO and the Board for consideration
• Suitability for a student research project at either undergraduate or postgraduate level
• Endorse project proposals that meet the WQRA criteria

The Education Committee also assesses potential student candidates against the WQRA Student Criteria and provide advice to WQRA on the following:

• An assessment of the candidate’s application against each of the WQRA criteria
• Identify the candidate’s suitability to undertake the project, taking into account the background of the candidate’s study, skills and experience in accordance with the project requirements
• Identify weaknesses in the candidate’s application form and, as appropriate provide recommendations to the Education Program Coordinator of actions that could be undertaken to address these issues for further review

Members of the Committee

Felicity Roddick (RMIT University) - Chair
Dennis Mulcahy (University of South Australia)
Kathryn Linge (Curtin University)
Richard Stuetz (University of New South Wales)
Rita Henderson (University of New South Wales)
Asoka Jayaratne (Yarra Valley Water)
Paul Atherton (Grampians Wimmera Mallee Water)
Glen Rowlands (Ben Lomond Water)