Horizons Educators Initiative at U of Sydney

The University of Sydney in Australia has posted several faculty roles for its Horizon Educator initiative. This program is looking for the world’s best educators, and applications for the final round are now open. The program welcomes international applicants, and successful candidates will be provided with visa support and relocation assistance. Today, we are talking with Vice Provost Susan Rowland about these roles.

Q: What is the university’s mandate behind this role? How does it help align with and advance the university’s strategic priorities?

A: There are three reasons for the Horizon Educator initiative, which has recently advertised several openings:

1. The higher education landscape in Australia is changing. Our student body is becoming larger and more diverse, and they expect and deserve a quality educational experience. Rapid technological change is also demanding adaptations in the way we teach. This requires a workforce that is highly skilled in pedagogy and more specialized than the more traditional academic workforce has been.

2. The University of Sydney is committed in its Strategy 2032 to delivering a transformational education. Education-focused (EF) academics are specialist educators with deep disciplinary knowledge in their field of study. They have the capability to develop and deliver the transformative educational experience our students want and deserve. EF academics are also leaders and change makers—we believe this group of academics will have a significant impact on their colleagues—both modeling and nurturing exceptional scholarly educational practice for all academics.
3. Under the Enterprise Agreement 2023–2026 (a document that sets the terms of employment for all members of the university community), the university committed to offering 330 new roles, 220 of which are education-focused. The University of Sydney sees this as an exciting opportunity to invigorate our teaching and learning culture through hiring a cohort of exceptional educators, and supporting them as a community. 

Q: Where does the role sit within the university structure? How will the person in this role engage with other units and leaders across campus?

A: Horizon Educators are embedded across the university as regular members of the academic body. They work alongside our other faculty and are full members of the academy. Like all academics at the university, they can be promoted to full professor. They have the same Academic Excellence Framework as our other academics, although they will gain promotion through a more education-focused population of that framework.  

They have been hired at all academic levels, from level A (associate lecturer) through to level E (professor). We have specifically hired a significant proportion of senior Horizon Educators to help provide mentorship and visible leadership in the education space. 

Q: What would success look like in one year? Three years? Beyond?

A: The university is working to codify and demonstrate the importance of EF academics. We have recently introduced a new Academic Excellence Framework that has clarified and elevated the expectations around education practice for all academics; the Horizon Educators are key to us delivering this excellence across the university. In one year, success will include the establishment of the Horizon Educators cohort and the sense that this cohort is here to stay as a force for positive change and educational leadership. We are seeing significant changes in the way heads of school [department chairs] are looking to uplift educational practice in their units, and these plans are built around the EF cohort.

So, three years down the track we expect to see multiple Horizon Educators in significant positions of influential change leadership. We want these staff to have authority as education specialists, confidence in themselves and the confidence of their colleagues. Five years down the track—promotion for these staff, more leadership, a revitalized education culture at the university and increased student satisfaction. 

Q: What kinds of future roles would someone who took this position be prepared for?

A: Many leadership roles are open to EF academics, and we expect they will hold them now and into the future. Examples include director of first year, program director, deputy head of school (education), head of school, associate dean (education), deputy dean, pro vice chancellor (education) and deputy vice chancellor (education). I serve as vice provost, and I am an education-focused academic.