The City of Boroondara, in Melbourne’s inner east, is giving its staff the edge by joining with a local university to offer an exciting masters scholarship program. Joining with Swinburne University, which is located within the City, Council staff have the opportunity to attain a Master of Business Administration or a Master of Management (Strategic Foresight) degree through the Swinburne-Boroondara Scholarship.
Boroondara CEO Dr Catherine Dale said that the organisation understood that by providing staff with challenging and personally rewarding development opportunities it improves not only staff’s skills, but also service to the community.
"The Swinburne-Boroondara Scholarship is just one example of our commitment to continuous improvement, for both the organisation and the individuals working within it," she said.
Catherine Dale believes the scholarship delivers much higher development opportunities than many other corporate learning programs.
"These Masters degrees allow participating staff to develop their strategic thinking," she said. "By providing this opportunity, Council is developing employees to lead and manage more effectively. And that has a positive effect both for staff and the local community."
Both degrees available through the scholarship are achieved in a three step process:
- Graduate Certificate
- Graduate Diploma
- then Masters.
The program is available to staff across the organisation, from officer to executive level.
Boroondara’s Learning and Development Coordinator Jane Lameijn, who has a young family, originally took her part time administrative role with the Council as a lifestyle choice. Since then, she has been given the opportunity to complete her MBA through the scholarship program and is now studying for her Master of Management.
Jane said the support from her supervisor and colleagues has been fantastic.
"I really appreciate the backing the organisation gives to all staff through programs such as this," she said."The benefits from my learning have been used in the organisation immediately and expanded my opportunities with Council."
With the CEO’s support Jane has started an innovation foresight group within the organisation. This group focuses on delivering new and improved ways of servicing the community. Jane Lamejin is also pleased with the calibre of Swinburne University, with its broad knowledge base and international accreditation.
"That means I have great opportunities to transfer my new skills across industry, should I choose to do so in the future," she said. "But that’s not part of the plan at the moment as I am really enjoying using my abilities here at Boroondara!"
The Swinburne University Graduate School of Entrepreneurship (AGSE) and the City of Boroondara pay 60 per cent of fees for scholarship recipients. Council pays the remaining tuition fees up front. The scholarship recipient then arranges for that to be repaid to Council via pre tax salary deductions.
Five staff members are participating in the scholarship program at present and another 38 are receiving study assistance from Council.
"I am expecting those numbers to grow," Catherine Dale said. "Staff development is important to the City of Boroondara and the work we already do to enhance their skills is paying dividends for the organisation and the community."
