The Arc General Manager (Marketing, Strategy & Experience) loves being part of a team, whether it’s organising extracurricular activities for students or coaching a netball team.
At school, Mitchell McBurnie participated in many of the extracurricular activities on offer – debating, band and dance ensemble. So, it’s only fitting in his role at Arc that he looks after the extracurricular activities for UNSW students.
Arc is the student organisation at UNSW. Their mission is to create the best student experience for everyone who studies here.
“We look after all the things outside the classroom, but increasingly as I think about our role at UNSW and the nature of higher education, the cocurricular and extracurricular are not separate pillars, they are part of the holistic student experience,” said Mitch.
“It’s about a really holistic interdisciplinary learning experience. We own the non-academic side of learning and development, which I think is such a privilege.”
On a day-to-day basis, Mitch manages the classic marketing functions for Arc. This includes the studio side, with a team of designers and creators, and the communications side, with lots of social media, emails and website updates.
His job title does not capture the depth and breadth of his role at Arc. A big part of Mitch’s work is leading the charge on the inclusion, diversity, equity and access aspects of Arc.
“Things like Respect Week, our interface with UNSW Equity, Diversity & Inclusion and gendered violence prevention are something I’m really passionate about.”
‘All-in’ for O-Week
Arc takes so much pride in student orientation. It’s a huge part of the University calendar, and for Mitch and the team it’s one of their biggest interfaces with students.
“Just like starting a new job, new school or moving house, it’s the welcome to the neighbourhood that makes all the difference.
“It gives students a sense of belonging, a place to feel safe with so many opportunities at their fingertips. They are becoming part of our culture and family.”
During O-Week, no one at Arc has a job title.
“For us, O-Week is all-in. You could be flipping sausages on a BBQ, helping out at a membership stall, getting trucks on and off site or helping at online events. It’s a real hands-on experience and a highlight of our calendar.
“It’s the funnest job in the world, but we take it very seriously.”
Arc volunteers at the heart of everything they do
Since Arc’s formation in 2007, the model has always been students and staff side-by-side, with students at every level of the organisation. The community programs are run by a paid part-time student officer, and a team of volunteers help bring the programs to life.
“Every program is different. We have student contributors to our Blitz publication, the urban garden to grow produce and students that help with our Reuse program to upcycle old computers.
“We are a community of communities with lots of different ways students can get involved and volunteering is open to everyone.”
The Food Hub on the Kensington and Paddington campuses is an essential and big part of Arc’s operation that relies on the hard work and dedication of the amazing volunteers. The Food Hub is open to students, staff and anyone in the local community experiencing food insecurity.
Mitch says the recently opened Paddington Food Hub has been a great learning curve.
“One of the requirements of our grant is that we run the Food Hub once a month at the Darlinghurst Community Space. We interface with many people, different to our usual student cohort.
“Everyone has been so kind and enthusiastic about the program and some of the local community are even helping as volunteers. It’s reminded me that even though Arc is part of UNSW, we have all this potential for outreach into the community.”
Mitch’s personality is netball
Outside of work, Mitch is a regular on the netball court, a sport he started playing in Year 7 at school.
“All my friends were girls at school, and we had the option to choose either touch football or netball. I had never played netball before, but since all the girls played, it was an easy choice for me. I instantly fell in love with the sport.”
Mitch played in the UNSW netball team, which he went on to coach after graduating. He also played in the NSW mixed team at the national level, winning second place this year and first place last year.
Recently, Mitch started volunteering as a coach for the Ku-ring-gai under 14s boys’ team. It was his first time coaching juniors, a challenge he has really enjoyed.
“I have gotten so much out of netball, so I love the full circle of being able to give back to a sport that has given me so much.”
Mitch views netball as a metaphor for his life, as he loves teams.
“It’s the ultimate team sport because you can’t run with the ball. You have to rely on all seven players to make it happen and support each other. No one needs to be the best – we can all contribute in our own way.”
Can you tell us something about you that might surprise your colleagues?
I’m such an open book that I’m really not that surprising! I love being an extrovert and being confident is such a core part of my personality. I know it’s my strength, but my social battery does completely die, so I absolutely love having a Saturday night on the couch and speaking to no one. I need that to recharge the inner extrovert to take on the next day.
What’s the best advice you ever received?
I had this lovely moment this year with my mixed NSW netball team. My coach was a teacher at my school, and she went on to teach my brothers at their schools, so she’s known my family for years. She asked me to articulate my goals, which were to minimise my passing mistakes and to have no errors. Her feedback was to reframe my thinking to focus on the positive. I found this pedagogical approach of taking the negative and putting it into positive framing really helpful.
What’s one thing that makes you happy?
I can smash a block of Darrel Lea Rocky Road dark chocolate in one sitting. That’s endless guilt-free joy for me.
What day in your life would you like to relive (or redo)?
I tend to be someone who doesn’t really regret much, and I live in the moment. I don’t have time for nostalgia and hindsight. I’m very forward looking and forward planning.
But can I say, Saturday’s election result was very exciting for me. I was genuinely so happy. My one regret would be that I didn’t accept an invitation to Tanya Plibersek’s after party.
What’s the best thing you’ve watched in the last year?
I loved Anora, the movie. I knew nothing about it before seeing it and I was blown away. It’s so funny and so different to what I expected.
Another thing I saw which I had no expectations of was Hadestown, the musical. It was so good, and I cried so much.
Photo top: Mitch and a Sydney drag queen at this years inaugural UNSW Fair Day stall.
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