With a new book, a new role, a new award and a new office, all in one week, it's no wonder that Professor Rob Reed is looking to consolidate for a while.

Shortly after being announced as CQUniversity's new Pro Vice-Chancellor (Learning & Teaching), Rob was also lauded as one of 3 winners* of the 2009 Vice-Chancellor's Teacher of the Year Award.

Professor Rob Reed with his latest textbook

He then returned to his new office to receive a complimentary copy of his new book, the Second Edition of Practical Skills in Forensic Science. Rob is one of 3 original authors for the 'Prac Skills' series of student textbooks which has now sold more than 100,000 copies worldwide. These books embody Rob's beliefs in the value of subject-specific skills, as well as generic attributes, covering a wide range of aspects of the student learning journey.

The updated book includes fingerprint recovery, trace evidence examination, bodily fluid examination and DNA analysis, as well as broader skills such as tackling numerical problems and passing exams. It has case examples, guidelines for documentation and results reporting and advice on the legal aspects of forensic science, as well as study exercises and answers to reinforce learning.

Professor Reed arrived at CQUniversity in 2007 as Foundation Professor of Biomedical Sciences and has acted as Program Director for Undergraduate Science and, more recently, as acting Pro Vice-Chancellor and Executive Dean of the Faculty of Sciences, Engineering and Health.

Rob made a name for himself in the UK during his 18 years at Northumbria University in Newcastle upon Tyne, where he was Head of Biological & Food Sciences and then Head of Biomedical Sciences. He was particularly active in developing and implementing new undergraduate and postgraduate teaching programs across the applied sciences, including accredited Biomedical Sciences programs at BSc and MSc level - these were the first in the UK to include an innovative work-integrated learning component within a standard length full-time program.

In addition to Rob's discipline-specific publications, he has a strong interest in student learning, especially in relation to work-integrated learning, self and peer assessment, graduate attributes and core skills, and the role of formative feedback in enhancing subsequent learning outcomes.

Rob also believes very strongly in ‘walking the talk' at the chalk face, having just finished teaching a term 3 Forensic Science course on-line, and he is keen to continue to engage with undergraduate and postgraduate students across the University through his new role as Pro Vice-Chancellor (Learning and Teaching).

Professor Reed will have specific responsibility (under the leadership of Professor Jennelle Kyd) in preparing the University for the forthcoming AUQA Audit, and in particular will provide leadership around the audit theme of quality of teaching. He will be supported in this role by an Office of Learning and Teaching, which involves a realignment and renaming of the former Division of Strategy, Quality and Review in the first instance. 

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* The winners of the 2009 Vice-Chancellor's Teacher of the Year Award in recognition of their excellence in teaching: Professor Rob Reed, Pro Vice-Chancellor (Learning and Teaching), Rockhampton Campus;  Judith Brown, Senior Lecturer, School of Creative and Performing Arts, Faculty of Arts Business, Informatics and Education, Mackay Campus, and Helen Holden, Lecturer, Academic Learning Services, Gladstone Campus.