Two CQUniversity academics recently attended the More Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Teachers Initiative (MATSITI) project workshop in Sydney.

Those attending were Education Dean Professor Helen Huntly and Professor Bronwyn Fredericks, Pro Vice-Chancellor (Indigenous Engagement) and BMA Chair in Indigenous Engagement.

Prof Bronwyn Fredericks, Prof Peter Buckskin and Prof Helen Huntly

Prof Huntly and Prof Fredericks represented CQUniversity at the workshop which enabled participants to explain what their universities presently do to support Indigenous students in education, and what they plan to do to increase and retain Indigenous students in the future. The CQUni duo worked on an action plan for CQUniversity and look forward to working together in the future to implement it.

The CQUniversity action plan will include activities for staff and students within the School of Education.

Prof Huntly and Prof Fredericks were excited by the workshop. They both have secondary school teaching experience and strongly support the MATSITI project.

"I'm looking forward to working with Professor Fredericks to enhance our support of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander teacher education students at CQUniversity," Prof Huntly says.

The workshop was chaired by Professor Peter Buckskin, University of South Australia and also the Chair of the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Higher Education Council (NATSIHEC). NATSIHEC is the representative organisation for the Indigenous higher education sector. Prof Buckskin was also a member of the CQUniversity Tertiary Entry Program (TEP) review team.

Prof Fredericks said that Prof Buckskin "expressed interest in being invited back to CQUniversity in 2013 to see how we are going with TEP and also with our MATSITI action plan".