Dr. Jen Harvey:

When people look at a postgraduate diploma they tend to think of it in the same way as a second level certificate, although I am not saying Senator O'Donnell would do so. Academics who have gone through our programme have said it is transformational in that it encourages them to be reflective practitioners, to look at where the issues are and also to have a menu of options to think about how they might do things differently. Particularly with the use of new technologies and various other things, where else would academics have the opportunity to try these things out and to work together and support each other?

In the past I might not have believed that everybody should undertake a postgraduate qualification. Now I think it is a really good idea if it is the right qualification and it is done in the right way where it is structured and supported. I would be very concerned if a policy was brought in where such education just became a person sitting in a lecture theatre ticking a box kind of exercise to gain a certificate.