Associate Professor Kathy Mee (IAG 'ATLAS' Award) Citation
Associate Professor Kathy Mee - Award For Teaching Leadership And Scholarship (ATLAS)
Associate Professor Kathy Mee has been a mainstay of geography education leadership for over 30 years. She is a cultural geographer who works in the Discipline of Geography and Environmental Studies at the University of Newcastle, Australia (UON) (1993-present).
Kathy is an outstanding and inspirational teacher, mentor, program convenor and supervisor. She has led the discipline in undergraduate teaching and pedagogy; practice-based learning and community engagement; Indigenising the curriculum, and, via exceptional mentoring and supervision contributions, including through employability initiatives. Not only is Kathy exemplary in her focus on supporting students within the university context but she ensures student education is clearly embedded within developing relations and opportunities for students, graduates and postgraduates beyond the university.
Leadership in undergraduate teaching and pedagogy
Kathy is a gifted and passionate teacher who is extremely well respected by students and colleagues. Her track record of awards and formal recognition attests to this, as does the consistency of stellar student evaluations of her teaching.
Her undergraduate teaching awards include: UON Excellence in Teaching Award in 1998; Faculty of Science and IT Excellence in Teaching Award (2008); Faculty of Science and IT Teaching Excellence and Contribution to Student Learning (2017); and, the Vice Chancellor's Award for Teaching Excellence and Contribution to Student Learning (Science) (2017). She has consistently high performance in student experience scores with an Academic Average Teaching Score (2019-2024) of 4.67 out of 5.00.
Her achievements stretch far beyond her own teaching to leadership roles in undergraduate teaching. She has acted as Convenor of the Bachelor of Development Studies (2010-present) with excellent results. She was highly cited in an external review of the degree: “The Panel believes the Bachelor of Development Studies programs are sector leaders, in terms of their contribution to community development as well as the high quality and highly engaged graduates they prepare. The Panel also believes the program exemplifies best practice in teaching and learning”.
She led the development of combined degrees with Development Studies (Business, Media and Communications, Global Indigenous Studies, Law, Social Science) based on student demand and increasing employability. 65% of Development Studies students are now enrolled in combined degrees and enrolment in Development Studies has almost doubled. Over many years, university leadership around Teaching and Learning (T&L), for example, on the College of Engineering Science and Environment / Faculty of Science and IT T&L Committee (and was also a member of School T&L Committees during this period) [2019-present, and 2010-2017].
Practice-based learning and community engagement
Kathy has created and expanded opportunities for students to develop practical skills and create connections beyond the University through practice-based and work integrated learning (WIL), as well as through career support for undergraduates. She has been integral in developing and running WIL at UON, nurturing multiple relationships with external institutions and employers, nationally and internationally, to ensure students can access appropriate placements with meaningful opportunities for genuine engagement. Kathy has supervised many honours students in community/industry partnerships with strong a social justice/ fairness focus. Her outstanding work has been recognised including through the Faculty of Science and IT International Engagement Excellence Award (2017) for contributing to expanding student experiences abroad, and the Faculty of Science Student Experience Excellence Award for supporting and enhancing student learning in Work Integrated Learning (2020).
She has also pioneered and manages social media contact with students and graduates in UON’s Development Studies degree, via a Facebook page (more than 500 followers) and a LinkedIn group (more than 130 members). This builds a cohort of current students and graduates that inspires undergrad students, builds their networks and increases student employability through advertising job opportunities and sharing career stories through LinkedIn posts and graduate profiles. She has designed and run a series of sessions around career planning and development for undergraduate students, actively engaging employers and alumni. Under Kathy’s guidance, the Bachelor of Development Studies is a leader in employability initiatives for students.
Indigenising the curriculum
Kathy led Indigenisation in the Bachelor of Development Studies resulting in Aboriginal Studies becoming a core course and Indigenous knowledge being embedded across the degree, including in Geography. Her work in these areas was awarded with the Faculty of Science and IT Collaboration Excellence Award Team – (Highly Commended) as part of the Aboriginal Equity and Diversity Project. A review of the Development Studies degree, chaired by Professor John Lester of Wollotuka, stated:
“The manner that Indigenous material is embedded into the program is exemplary, and something that should be celebrated and shared as a best practice model throughout the University and tertiary sector”.
She is a member of UON’s Reconciliation Action Plan Working Group [2022-present]. She has presented this work in conferences (IAG conference, 2015; Indigenous Content in Education Symposium, 2015) and is convening a conference, ‘Indigenising Geography Curricula in University Education' (14th-15th November 2024) supported by GSNSW with keynotes by the University of Newcastle Director of Wollotuka and current Acting PVC Indigenous, Associate Professor Kath Butler and Professor Corrinne Sullivan from University of Western Sydney.
Mentoring and supervision, postgraduate education
Kathy Mee’s contribution to postgraduate education, and her impact as a mentor and supervisor, has been profound. The care with which she supports her students within geography more broadly is extraordinary, even life changing. In this, she has contributed significantly through her academic work and practice around care, which serves as a pedagogical basis for her approach (Mee, 2009).
She convenes the honours program in Geography and Environmental Studies, and Development Studies at UON, and co-leads a postgraduate reading group at the University of Newcastle. Her leadership with this group has led to a publication (Ey, Mee et al., 2020) that gives a sense of the role this group has played in the development of students and staff associated with Geography at Newcastle and, from there, as a discipline in Australia.
Her ongoing support for the discipline, practicing her pedagogy of care for honours and postgraduate education is also evident in the wide-reaching impact she has in the discipline more broadly, including through spearheading initiatives such as writing workshops for ECRs as Editor-in-Chief of Australian Geographer, hosting the VERA (Very Early Career Researchers Assembly), 2024, and supporting students and ECRs through the Cultural Geography Study Group of the IAG (since 1992).
References:
Ey, M., Mee, K., Allison, J., Caves, S., Crosbie, E., Hughes, A., … Wright, S., (2020). Becoming Reading Group: reflections on assembling a collegiate, caring collective, Australian Geographer, 51(3), 283–305. https://doi.org/10.1080/00049182.2020.1759181
Mee, K., (2009). A Space to Care, a Space of Care: Public Housing, Belonging, and Care in Inner Newcastle, Australia, Environment and Planning A: Economy and Space, 41(4), 842-858. https://doi.org/10.1068/a40197
Nominated by: Professor Sarah Wright, the University of Newcastle
Additional Testimonials and Endorsements: by Dr Melina Ey (Lecturer, the University of Newcastle); Jéan-Louise Olivier (PhD Candidate, the University of Newcastle); Rebecca Scob (PhD Candidate, The University of Newcastle); Susan Caves (PhD Candidate, The University of Newcastle); Professor Kristian Ruming, Macquarie University; Professor David Bissell, The University of Melbourne; Associate Professor Michelle DuFy, The University of Newcastle; Melissa Moore, Assistant Director, Careers and Employability, University of Newcastle.