CQUniversity has welcomed visiting research scholar Dr Megan Le Clus from Edith Cowan University (ECU) who has spent the past week learning about the University's engagement methodology.

Dr Le Clus' visit was part of ECU's Early Career Researcher Network Development Scheme which provides an opportunity for new researchers to enhance their collaborative and networking capacity by teaming up with other universities around Australia.

CQUniversity's Pro Vice-Chancellor (Community & Engagement) Professor Pierre Viljoen with Edith Cowan University's Dr Megan Le Clus and CQUniversity Executive Officer (Community & Engagement) Carole Dawes. Dr Le Clus hails from ECU's Perth campus, where she is the Senior Lecturer and Work Integrated Learning Coordinator for the Faculty of Business and Law. Primarily engagement focused, her role involves sourcing internships and coordinating learning opportunities such as philanthropy and volunteer-based projects for students, as well as working with not-for-profit organisations who are seeking students to work on marketing and business plans.

The week-long visit to CQUniversity Mackay enabled Dr Le Clus to work with Pro Vice-Chancellor Professor Pierre Viljoen, as well as to develop an understanding of the University's custom-designed engagement database, E-DNA.

In collaboration with Professor Viljoen, Dr Le Clus now hopes to publish a paper which looks at contextualising engagement in the Higher Education sector..

"Effective engagement is a critical consideration for all universities and it is a growing area of focus for our Faculty as well as for ECU," Dr Le Clus said.

"It has been beneficial to see how different universities operate and collaborate face-to-face with Pierre and his team at CQUniversity."