Faculty Board for the "NEW Faculty" — special election of academic staff from the School of International Studies and Education

Candidates in ballot paper order

• Will Visconti
• Nick Hopwood
• Paola Eiras
• Keith Heggart

Candidates’ statements

Will Visconti

My teaching, supervision, and research span my current role as Italy major coordinator and French courses at UTS (Italian language, content-based courses and In-Country Study; Contemporary Quebec 2022, In-Country Study France 2024; Capstone supervision 2024), as well as other disciplines connected to the New Faculty via prior teaching at UTS and abroad. I taught and supervised design students at Central Saint Martins (2017-2018) along with Honours teaching and supervision in the BA (Culture, Criticism and Curation). In 2023 I gave guest lectures in UTS’ School of Design (Thinking Fashion). I have been contributed to planning and governance beyond tertiary education, such as the Dante Alighieri Society board (2022-2024). I am also a member of the Australian Centre for Public History.

Given my work across different disciplinary boundaries and courses, I am keen to be more involved in the life of the New Faculty and the shape that it takes.

Nick Hopwood

I have been on FASS Board and am eager to continue contributing to Faculty-level committee discussions, as my term on the New Faculty Research Working Group will end as the group wraps up its work. I am known for speaking up to represent my colleagues’ and students’ interests. For example, I posed challenging questions about how the merger will deliver the benefits that were listed in the earlier documents. I am ready to stand up for important issues around job security, staff and student wellbeing, equality and diversity. I still believe higher education is a public good, through our teaching, research and engagement work. Not only will I fight strongly to protect what matters in this regard, but I will also work positively and constructively to create conditions that enable academic and professional staff to do our work well.

Paola Eiras

Hello! I am Paola Eiras - a lecturer in International Studies & Global Societies in the School of International Studies and Education. With a background in the fields of Biomedicine and Linguistics, and scholarly expertise in the Sociology and Anthropology of Higher Education (HE), I bring an interdisciplinary and globally informed perspective to everything I do.

I have served in academic committees is the past as a PhD student in the UK and, if elected to the Faculty Board, I’ll advocate for inclusive and student-centred approaches to teaching and learning that reflect UTS’s global outlook and multicultural community. I’m deeply committed to academic collaboration to foster synergies that advance both policies and practices in HE.

I also aim to ensure that the voices of early and mid-career academics are heard in shaping our NEW Faculty’s direction. I would be honoured to contribute in this capacity.

Keith Heggart

I am nominating for Faculty Board to ensure staff voices are genuinely represented and that academic decision-making remains transparent, consultative, and principled. At a time when proposed cuts risk undermining the quality and diversity of our programs, I believe the Faculty Board must serve as a forum for rigorous scrutiny and collective advocacy.

If elected, I will actively question proposals that negatively impact staff and students, communicate upcoming agenda items with colleagues in affected areas to support informed responses, and work closely with like-minded Board members to present a strong, united stance in defence of our academic community.

As a committed NTEU member, I value equity, collaboration, and the long-term integrity of public higher education. I will work to ensure that changes to our courses, teaching, and research are not driven by short-term efficiencies but reflect the values and needs of our staff, students, and wider society.

How to vote in an online ballot

1. Note your candidate choices and preference order
2. Log in to UTS: Elections Online Polling Booth
3. Choose the election you wish to vote in
4. Select the candidates you wish to vote for
5. Check your vote
6. When you are ready, choose 'submit' to record your vote.

Conduct

Participants in elections (candidates, their representatives and voters) are expected to follow the same high standard of conduct and behaviour during the campaign process as is expected on campus generally. The behaviour of election candidates and their representatives should meet expected standards of conduct. See Code of Conduct for UTS Elections.

Concerns about security due to election-related conduct should be reported to UTS Security. Phone +61 2 9514 1192, or dial ‘6’ on any UTS phone.

Further information

The schedule for this election has information about the election rules, Returning Officer and Faculty Board for the "NEW Faculty".

See Voting for information about votes, confidentiality and results.