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Hi everyone,

This week is the first time a whole new cohort of students find themselves at ºÚÁÏÌìÌÃready to start Semester 2 – and I have enjoyed opening events across campus and seeing their optimism, excitement (and nervousness!) about starting here. A huge shout-out to the teams working hard to ensure the first few weeks of semester run smoothly and our new students have a great experience as they settle in.

And even as we commence O-Week and Semester 2, we are already planning for 2026 Graduation dates. We are currently scheduled for Wednesday 28 January to Friday 6 February 2026, and I hope people will hold those dates. Graduation is one of the most significant rites of passage for our students and I know how special it is for our faculty to be a part of graduation celebrations. We are still working through some of the details and will continue to iteratively update the ºÚÁÏÌìÌÃGraduations website.

Last week I hosted the first ‘facing the future together’ conversations and there were a range of different people from across campus making the time to talk about ANU. Our community has a wide range of experiences about what is working, and what is not. It is clear that conversations are flowing in different ways across the organisation and the experience of one area or team is not universally that of others. So there is work to do to better align our communication consistency ANU-wide and to empower our leaders to have more inclusive dialogue with their teams, and for all of us to engage with those conversations.

It was also clear that people have genuine and thoughtful feedback about all kinds of things around the University but aren’t always sure where to direct it. There are lots of options to do this, including speaking with your supervisor, Director or Portfolio lead, or you can log feedback into the ANUOK app directly. The team at PSP manage the ‘University feedback’ submissions, and each and every submission is individually reviewed and followed up. If we don’t hear your ideas, we can’t work out how to address them, so I encourage everyone at ºÚÁÏÌìÌÃto reach out if you have ideas.

With this in mind, feedback for change proposals does still need to be submitted via the forms on the Renew ºÚÁÏÌìÌÃwebpage or via org.change@anu.edu.au to be captured properly. I know there are lots of views, emotions and opinions about the current plans, and it’s important to remember that each of us shows up every day because we care about this place, and we believe in our mission. We are in the midst of having hard conversations, and your feedback is going to make a difference – and I also encourage you to provide optionality in your feedback about what a different future state could look like, and to provide this in a constructive and respectful manner. All of the recent Change Proposals have been shaped by feedback and the final Implementation plans are better for all the input and suggestions.

Good thoughts to where this may find you,
G