This paper shares insights gained from members of a Community of Practice (CoP) who jointly designed and developed Interactive Oral Assessments (IOAs) for their online subjects in the first half of 2021 as part of a broader institutional project to improve online assessment practice across a multi-campus regional NSW university. Meetings of the CoP were conducted virtually to allow geographically dispersed staff to participate in and benefit from the sessions. The main aim of the CoP was to design online assessments that promote academic integrity and reflect authentic graduates’ practice. The CoP members implemented new assessment regimes, tasks and rubrics for their respective subjects involved in the initiative and developed a suite of resources for future staff interested in trialling this approach. The outcomes highlight the value of a dedicated CoP in supporting academics to successfully embed a new assessment approach, and for encouraging uptake across the university courses.

In March 2020, Charles Sturt University (CSU) launched two new pathway courses: the Diploma of General Studies (DGS) and the CSU Pathway course. These courses are offered at five regional campuses, along with an online offering. This particular cohort of students lack the skills and confidence necessary to engage withuniversity-level study. With the advent of COVID-19, the challenge was to transition the five on-campus cohorts to a fully online mode of delivery within a few weeks. This task was further complicated as a number of teaching staff on the program were new to CSU, with little to no experience teaching explicitly online.This paper showcases the student-centric strategies adopted to transition on-campus students to online delivery. A summary will also be provided of the successes of this approach (to date), particularly in terms of retention and progression, along with the lessons learnt as part of the process.

Charles Sturt University Engineering students complete four one-year, full-time, paid work placements during their 5.5 years of combined Bachelor of Technology/Master of Engineering studies. During their first and third work placements, students also complete four subjects, in which they are required to compile a professional portfolio claiming and demonstrating their skill development in a number of competency elements. PURPOSEGiven the 2020-2021 pandemic and lockdowns, many institutions strived to implement assessment approaches that suited their immediate needs in conducting fair and integral online assessments. In the meantime, Interactive Oral Assessments (IOAs) have been gaining popularity due to the benefits they offer. An IOA is an authentic, scalable, interactive and timeeffective method of assessing students' achievements of the learning outcomes. This paper discusses the use of an IOA in the Professional Portfolio -Advanced subject in 2021 and presents and evaluates the outcomes of a successful implementation. METHODOLOGYThis mixed-method study elaborates the experience of the authors in implementing an IOA in the mentioned subject and offers a reflection on the success of the IOA approach to assessing particular aspects of knowledge and experience acquisition. The arguments are supported by self-observation, comparison of the current and previous subject offerings, as well as the results of the end-of-semester subject experience survey (SES).

The COVID-19 pandemic has caused massive disruption to business as usual across all industries, including education, and there is a growing consensus that the higher education (HE) sector may never go back to ‘business as usual’. While universities are now developing strategies for 2030, several management consultancies are projecting a very challenging HE landscape in the next decade. Suggestions, from the death of the normal university campus to shutdowns, mergers and collaborations are widely predicted including new opportunities for growth. University administrators should develop innovative strategic plans to address the challenges and harness the growth opportunities. Although other industries have faced such disruptions and have coped with responses such as partnerships and mergers, it may be time for universities to reconsider business models for the future. The strategies adopted in the aviation industry have been used to recommend a way forward for universities.