2022 ABDC Network Awards

About

The ABDC Annual Network Awards recognise and reward innovation and excellence across all areas of activity within Business Schools — research, teaching and learning, international engagement, professional management, and climate action.

The award entries are adjudicated by the ABDC Network Executive Committees relevant to each award plus one external judge, from academia or industry, and endorsed by the ABDC Executive Committee. The climate action award will be judged by the ABDC Executive Committee and one external judge.

Award winners will be announced at the ABDC meeting in November.

Eligibility

• Individuals or teams may apply for an award. For team nominations a maximum of ten (10) people can be included, and teams can be made up of people from multiple institutions.
• The awards will be open to permanent or fixed-term professional and academic staff who have been employed in the Business School for at least 12 months. Casual staff are not eligible to apply.
• Nominations must be endorsed by the applicant’s PVC/Dean. This is by declaration on the online application form.

Application

The adjudicating panels for each of the awards will assess applications made via an online form that requests:

• Applicant details
• A short description of the initiative or research (250 words max)
• An outline of how the initiative or research was implemented, including an explanation of how it met the award criteria (250 words max)
• Evidence of the measurable outcomes that have resulted from the initiative or research (250 words max)
• A declaration that your PVC or Dean of School supports your application

This award is for initiatives that have enhanced outcomes or improved practice in inbound, outbound or collaborative international education and/or engagement. They may relate to student recruitment, student mobility and research collaborations or teaching and learning partnerships with institutions overseas.

The key criteria for this award are:

1. Impact: How has the initiative positively impacted stakeholders including students, staff and/or industry partners?
2. Innovation: How innovative is the initiative in terms of its objectives, design, approach, delivery and/or content?
3. Sustainability/scalability: Can you demonstrate sustainability and/or scalability of the initiative?
4. Institutional support: To what extent has your institution/business school demonstrated commitment to the initiative through the provision of support or recognition of its value?
5. Value for money: Has the initiative led to efficiency gains on previous practice and provided a return on investment?
6. Excellence: What evidence can be provided regarding the underlying excellence of the initiative?

Apply

Applications for this award have now closed. Winners will be announced in November.

2021 overall winner

Andrea Haefner — Lecturer & Director of Griffith Asia Business Internship (GABI) Griffith University

For leading the Griffith Asia Business Internship, an interdisciplinary, global work integrated learning course, and pivoting to a remote offering in 2020-21.

This award is for research in business, management, economics, and related fields of research that has had a demonstrable impact on scholarship and/or practice among non-academic stakeholders.

The key criteria for this award are:

1. Impact: How has the research positively impacted scholarship in the field and/or contributed to improvement of practices in industry, government, or the not-for-profit sectors?
2. Innovation: How innovative is the research in terms of its aims, design, approach, and delivery?
3. Excellence: What evidence can be provided regarding the underlying excellence of the research (e.g. quality of peer reviewed outlets, industry testimonials, etc.)?
4. Collaboration: Is there evidence of partnership with academics and non-academic stakeholders outside the individual’s institution?

Apply

Applications for this award have now closed. Winners will be announced in November.

2021 overall winner

Alexander Newman — Professor of Management, Deakin University

Team members:

• Karen Dunwoodie
• Luke Macaulay
• Jo Ingold

For Centre for Refugee Employment, Advocacy, Training and Education (CREATE), which helps people from a refugee background rebuild their careers through access to education and meaningful employment.

2021 highly commended

Michelle Evans — Associate Professor, University of Melbourne

Team members:

• Cain Polidano
• Julie Moschion
• Marcia Langton

For I-BLADE (Indigenous Business Longitudinal Analysis Data Environment), a partnership between government, data custodians and researchers to measure the significant economic, social, and cultural contributions to Australia made by Indigenous businesses.

The ABDC Award for Teaching and Learning recognises Australia’s most outstanding university academics in business, management, law, and related fields who have demonstrated leadership through sustained commitment to L&T innovation, quality teaching, and sustained dedication to improve the student experience and learning outcomes in higher education.

The key criteria for this award are:

1. Impact: How has the initiative transformed the student experience and/or graduate outcomes in higher education?
2. Innovation: How innovative is the initiative in terms of curricula and resources, evaluative practices and delivery that influence, motivate, and inspire students to learn?
3. Excellence: What evidence can be provided regarding the underlying excellence of the initiative including scholarship activities and testimonials?
4. Scalability: What evidence is there that the initiative can be deployed to other disciplines in the business school or university or across business schools?
5. Collaboration: Is there evidence of partnership with academics and non-academic stakeholders outside the individual’s institution including the industry and/or the community?

Apply

Applications for this award have now closed. Winners will be announced in November.

2021 overall winner

James Wakefield — Senior Lecturer, UTS

Team members:

• Kristina Vojvoda
• Raechel Wight

For utilising technology to facilitate active, collaborative student learning in UTS’ compulsory, first-year accounting course.

2021 highly commended

Nicolas Pontes — Lecturer, The University of Queensland

For Newish Communications, the first student-run and 100% student managed communications agency in Australia.

This award recognises initiatives that demonstrably improve the management of ABDC member business schools.

The criteria for this award are:

1. Impact: How has this initiative improved management practices in your school? This could be through delivery of cost savings, removing frictions in processes, or contributing to staff and student experience.
2. Innovation: How innovative is the initiative in its aims, design and implementation?
3. Scalability: Can this initiative be deployed in other areas of the university or at other institutions? For example, beyond the business school there may be evidence of broader institutional support for the initiative.

Apply

Applications for this award have now closed. Winners will be announced in November.

2021 overall winner

CBLG Trimester Project team — James Cook University (award accepted by Kym Davis)

For the design and implementation of a trimester teaching timetable across JCU Australia tropical campuses and partner locations in Singapore and Brisbane.

2021 highly commended

Colin Picker — Executive Dean, Faculty of Business and Law, University of Wollongong

Team members:

• Sue Mathews
• Erin Snape
• Michael Grainger

For two COVID-19 response initiatives for international students: Food+ with Care, and RUOK call campaign.

The ABDC is committed to assisting business schools educate the next generation of business leaders about the importance of a net zero future for Australia and conducting research to advance the Sustainable Development Goals, thus ensuring a sustainable and competitive business sector.

This award recognises transformative action and innovative approaches within a business school that drive action towards a more sustainable future by addressing the challenge of climate change.

The key criteria for this award are:

1. Demonstrable positive impact: How has the initiative made a positive impact on society?
2. Innovation: How innovative is the initiative in terms of its aims, design, approach, and delivery?
3. Scalability/Replicability: Does this initiative have potential to be scaled up or be replicated in other business schools?
4. Collaboration: Is there evidence of collaboration with academic and non-academic stakeholders outside the business school?

Apply

Applications for this award have now closed. Winners will be announced in November.