Jonathan

Executive Committee – Vice-President

Jonathan Robberts

Study

PhD

Business and Economics

Vice-President Portfolio

The Vice-President provides research and policy advice to the MGAEC, oversees the compliance of financial transactions with the MGA constitution and deputises for the President.

Click here for the Vice-President’s full position description.

Background

I’ve been with Monash University since 2016, having completed my Bachelors of Commerce in 2019 before returning in 2020 after working full-time to complete my Honours in the Department of Management (Faculty of Business & Economics) and continuing into the PhD program. My interdisciplinary doctoral research contributes to an ARC Linkage project, “The Wellbeing of Architects: culture, identity & practice”, by broadly exploring the enactment of professional identities in emerging architectural practices.

With a background in researching organisational change management and a passion for understanding how we practice our identities/selves, I have always been interested in the processes that allow change to come about.

Throughout my tertiary studies, I have always worked in casual or part-time roles which have developed the values and principles that I practice today. Working in retail banking and compliance during my undergraduate studies, I learned important skills in negotiating, regulatory oversight, and the management of organisational change. Having worked in early dispute resolution for an Ombudsman scheme after my undergraduate degree taught me the importance of independence, accessibility, and fairness, and inspired me to return to university to pursue socially impactful research. Today, I am a sessional teaching associate in the Department of Management, teaching organisational change and leadership, and have been a research assistant on a number of projects.

During my PhD, I have been the Department of Management and Faculty of Business & Economics HDR representative since late 2021, and the GRC HASS representative and an Academic Board member in 2023. I have been committed to improving the university HDR representative network alongside the MGA, developing stronger ties between the university and our HDR student cohorts, and was involved in campaigning for increasing the RTP Stipend in 2022.

I joined the MGAEC because I feel I have the experience and compassion to truly make a sustainable difference to our graduate community at Monash. The issues we face as graduate students are complex and interwoven across professional, institutional, and political boundaries. I look forward to redefining the agency of our graduate students, developing the collective leadership capabilities of our cohort, and working collaboratively with the MGAEC and Monash University to reframe the challenges we face. By practising my core values of empathy, authenticity, and respect, I hope to work together towards collective improvement.

Personal Interests

Whether it be an art gallery or community event that deals with prickly topics, you often will find me in creative and intellectually inspiring spaces. A social butterfly by heart, I enjoy meeting new and different people and find comfort in learning new skills or interests. I wind down by streaming (too much!) television and film, as well as reading philosophy and hiking in nature.

Looking for more information?

If you are wondering what is involved in being a committee member, or about the annual election process, browse through the following pages:
› MGAEC FAQ
› Election Process FAQ
› Election Regulations

Would you like to join a University committee?

To apply for an advertised University committee vacancy, fill out our ‘Monash Graduate Student Representative’ nomination form.

To be notified when relevant University committee vacancy is available, please fill out our ‘University Committee Expression of Interest’ form.