Meeting No 3/2001 of the Academic Board was held on Wednesday, 6 June in the Council Room of the University, commencing at 2:15 pm.

Professor A Lindsay (Chair), Drs H Abachi, G Acquaah-Gaisie, Professor D Abramson, Messrs J Arnold, C Avram, Professors A Bishop, A Bond, Mr R Burnet, Associate Professor J Cashion, Professors C Chapman, J Crossley, Ms A Crook, Professors P Darvall, R Dickson, R Doherty, M Evans, Associate Professor A Farley, Professors P Forsyth, G Griffin, Messrs D Hanson, B Harding, Professor J Harris, Associate Professor J Hurst, Dr M Iskander, Professors J Jarvis, M King, H LeGrand, E Lim, Drs M Lindorff, F Mavondo, Mr A McMeekin, Professors P Nagley, R Norris, Drs R Nelson, N Nichols, Associate Professor L Nethercott, Professors G Palmer, S Parker, G Peirson, Dr S Pfueller, Professors J Redmond, B Reed, D Robinson, J Rood, J Rosenberg, J Sheridan, M Skully, R Summers, Dr K Stewart, Associate Professors M Story, J Teicher, Professors N Tapper, B Toh, Dr A Tokita, Professors, G Webb, B Workman, W Young and Mr J White.

Professor W Anderson, Associate Professor L Angus, Dr K Blashki, Professors G Bouma, M Brisk, Associate Professor C Browne, Professors M Clayton, D deKretser, G Egan, M Hearn, Ms H Hortis, Drs H Irving, V Jenvey, Ms E Lanyon, Professor B Mackenzie, Dr K Macrae, Associate Professors S McKemmish, C Mingins, Dr C Porter, Professors A Russell, N Saunders, B Schroder, T Seddon, G Smith, Dr K Smith, Ms K Styles, Professor N Thomson, Mr I Walker and Professor W Young.

Mr Peter Yates

Mr M Fenaughty, Ms S Stafford, Ms A Stanford and Dr L Russell

Mr Tony Calder (Secretary)

On behalf of the Academic Board, Professor Lindsay thanked retiring members including two members of Steering Committee, Professor W Young and Dr K Macrae.

Item 9.2 was starred. Item 3.0 was added to the agenda at the meeting.

Ms A Crook, Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Resources) introduced this item.

Ms Crook informed members that the concept of The STRIP arose from a number of complementary developments at Monash including the need to upgrade facilities in the Faculty of Science, the need for additional space by the Faculties of Information Technology and Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences, recognition of the desirability for incubators and the ‘integrated learning environment’ approach to campus development which emerged from reviewing campus plans. Further, Ms Crook noted that The STRIP would provide a multi-disciplinary focus for the University, business and industry to work together forming one of Australia’s largest aggregations of researchers.

Professor Darvall, Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research and Development), advised the Board that the State Government’s recent announcement of funding for construction of Australia’s first synchrotron facility complemented the University’s plan to construct The Monash Science Technology Research and Innovation Precinct.

A document was circulated (p 1-4b).

Mr P Yates, Director Services and Systems – Student and Staff Services Division was in attendance.

Professor M Evans, Director – Planning and Academic Affairs, introduced this item.

Professor Evans provided the Board with a summary of the University’s enrolment position noting that DETYA funded load was expected to be above target by the 31 August census date.

Mr Yates informed the Board that the agenda papers included key features of the University’s enrolment position including:

Professor Robinson advised the Board that the Bachelor of Engineering offered at the Malaysia campus had recently been granted full accreditation – the first time an engineering course delivered overseas had received full accreditation by an Australian accrediting body.

A document was circulated (p5-20).

Professor G Webb, Director – Centre for Higher Education Quality, spoke to this item.

Professor Webb provided members with an overview of the major features of the paper Quality at Monash: Values and Principles. Matters noted by Professor Webb included the core values and principles that lie behind the University’s approach to quality and three important features of the Monash approach to quality – fitness for purpose, the Monash planning and review cycle and the importance of seeking feedback.

A document was circulated (p21-38).

Professor G Webb, Director – Centre for Higher Education Quality, spoke to this item.

Professor Webb informed the Board that the Guidelines for Academic Review were to assist the University to assure itself of the quality of all aspects its academic endeavour and to effect improvement. Commending the document to the Board, Professor Webb noted that it was proposed that each area of the University’s operations would normally be reviewed every 5 years with the first phase being a process of self-review.

Professor Lindsay informed the Board that Quality at Monash would remain a standard item on the Education Committee agenda with the Academic Board to receive regular updates. Further, Professor Parker, Dean – Faculty of Law, had agreed to Chair a Self-Review Panel to undertake an initial quality audit in the second half of 2001.

A document was circulated (p39-52).

Professor A Lindsay, Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Academic and Planning) spoke to this item.

Professor Lindsay informed the Board that the agenda paper provided the second of the overviews of the course portfolio as outlined in the paper on Integrated Academic and Resource Planning endorsed by Academic Board at meeting 4/2000.

The purpose of the paper was to provide a basis for discussion of the expansion and diversification of courses and qualifications that has taken place in recent years in response to changing community and labour market needs.

During discussion members noted the following:

Professor Lindsay noted that Education Committee would give further consideration to cross-faculty and cross-institutional awards and that a working party be established to consider further restructuring of postgraduate awards.

A document was circulated (p221-224).

Professor S Parker, Chair of the London Steering Group and Professor H Le Grand, Chair of the Prato Steering Group were invited to speak to the report.

Professor Parker provided a brief background on Monash in Europe. Professor Parker indicated that Monash in London had ended its first phase and the Pro Vice-Chancellor London had settled a range of matters with King’s College. Noting that Professor White would retire at the end of 2001, the Board was advised that staffing at Monash in London would include an Office Manager and a Monash Professor seconded for half her or his time as the Director – Monash in London. Major activities foreshadowed included the promotion of student and staff exchanges, the establishment of jointly badges programs, to further develop relationships in Europe with Monash alumni and to raise awareness of Monash in Europe.

Professor Le Grand introduced the presentation on Monash in Prato noting that the centre was housed in very good premises, the Palazzo Vaj, and had received very strong support from the commune, province and government. Major activities foreshadowed include expanding connections with universities, government industry and cultural institutions in Italy and Europe, expanding the opportunities for students and staff to study overseas and to enable Monash to act as a facilitator of contact between Europe and Asia for academics and political and business leaders by organising briefings and workshops.

The Board was advised that it was now proposed that a single Europe Steering Committee be created to take over from the separate London and Prato Committees and provide a broader approach to planning activities in respect of Europe.

A document outlining the future directions of Monash in Europe as presented to the Board is available at the following url:

http://www.adm.monash.edu.au/unisec/res/fdr.html

The Learning and Teaching Plan – Performance Report 2000 was circulated ( pages 61 – 74 ).

Professor A Lindsay, Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Academic and Planning) and Professor M Evans, Director - Planning and Academic Affairs spoke to this item.

Members were advised that each faculty had identified one key LTP area or lead site activity where it would assume a University-wide leadership role. These lead site activities have been demonstrated to the Committee of Deans and members were encouraged to access the reports at the following url:

http://www.adm.monash.edu.au/paa/plans/ltp/ltp_lsa.html

Following discussion at Steering Committee of Academic Board, it was proposed that a Review Group consisting of;

Professor P Darvall Deputy Vice Chancellor, Research and Development

A Dean of a Faculty Professor R Norris

Professor R Gunstone Faculty of Education and

Professor M King Director, Monash Research Graduate School

and assisted by Ms P Herman, be formed. The review group is to develop appropriate terms of reference for a review of the regulations and authority pertaining to all non PhD/professional doctoral degrees, report the terms of reference to the next meeting of the Academic Board and submit a final report to meeting 5/2001 (5 September 2001) of Academic Board

Academic Board approved the establishment of a Review Group as detailed above.

Professor S Parker, Dean – Faculty of Law spoke to this item.

Professor Parker advised the Board that the title had been revised to the International Institute of Forensic Studies

A document was circulated (p53-106).

Documentation was circulated (Attachment 2 – p 75-83).

The proposal also included two new subjects, MGC5810&5820, proposed under the item "New Subjects" below.

The Master of Business Management would be included in the University’s Schedule of Exceptions in the Graduate Studies Policy. The admission requirements for the masters degree (72 points) are as follows: "Applicants must hold either an undergraduate degree or an executive certificate at a credit level average from the Faculty of Business and Economics."

Documentation was circulated (Attachment 3 – p83-84).

This proposal also involved the proposals for four new "MEU…." subjects as proposed under the item "New Subjects" below.

Documentation was circulated (Attachment 4 – P85-86).

Documentation was circulated (Attachment 5 – p87-88).

Documentation was circulated (Attachment 6 – p89-90).

Academic Board approved the proposal of the Board of the Faculty of Business and Economics to amend the Graduate Diploma in Human Resources, to reduce the number of core subjects from seven to five and increase the number of electives to three subjects.

Documentation was circulated (Attachment 7 – p91-92).

Academic Board approved the proposal of the Board of the Faculty of Business and Economics to amend the Graduate Diploma in Business Management, to reduce the number of core subjects from five to four and increase the number of electives to four subjects.

A document was circulated (Attachment 8 – p93-94).

Documentation was circulated (Attachment 9 – p95-98).

Documentation was circulated (Attachment 10 – p99-106).

The existing Master of Laws (Legal Practice), was approved at Academic Board Meeting 5/2000, as a 192 credit point masters degree to be undertaken by non-law graduates. This masters provided a single course that would allow admission as a legal practitioner. The Faculty of Law also offers the Post Graduate Diploma in Legal Practice, Skills and Ethics, a 48 credit point award in practical legal training, that leads to admission as a legal practitioner in Victoria following completion of an LLB.

This amendment expands the LLM (Legal Practice), now to be called the LLM (Legal Practice, Skills and Ethics), to also permit students who have completed an LLB to undertake the course. Students who hold an LLB and have successfully completed the Postgraduate Diploma in Legal Practice, Skills and Ethics (see proposal for specifics), will complete a 72 credit point version of the LLM (Legal Practice, Skills and Ethics), including 48 points credit granted for the Postgraduate Diploma.

(Documentation in relation to the subject proposals under this item was available for perusal upon request to the Executive Officer, Education Committee.)

The Academic Board was invited to note that thirty eight (38) subjects are proposed for approval in this Report. This total includes twenty-one (21) new subjects for establishment, twelve (12) new subjects by virtue of changes to the credit points of existing subjects, and five (5) new subjects by virtue of an additional year level of offering for an existing subject. A breakdown of the proposed new subjects is contained in the following table.

A document was circulated (p107-112)

A document was circulated (p113-114)

A document was circulated (p115-124)

The Academic Board established the Scholarships Committee (a sub committee of the Board) at its Meeting 1/2001. The terms of reference of the Scholarships Committee were approved at that meeting, based on those that were originally recommended by the Scholarships Review Committee.

At its first meeting, the Scholarships Committee considered its terms of reference (as established by the Board) and recommends that amendments be made as set out in the ‘strikeout’ version below.

A member requested that the terms of reference be amended to include reference to the promotion of scholarships. Noting that a web site existed for this purpose, members were advised that the matter would be given further consideration.

Academic Board approved the terms of reference for the Scholarships Committee as set out above.

The Scholarships Review Committee (SRC) made its final Report to the Vice-Chancellor in August 1999. A summary of the recommendations that were made in the SRC Report was attached for reference (Attachment A).

The Scholarships Committee had considered annual reports from the Coursework Scholarships Committee and the PhD and Scholarships Committee. (Copies of the annual reports are available upon request to the Secretary.) These annual reports commented on the University’s implementation to date of relevant recommendations contained in the SRC Report. The Scholarships Committee noted that many of the SRC recommendations had been implemented. The Committee made the following recommendations for further action in relation to implementation of the SRC recommendations as set out below.

The SRC recommended that the University should attempt to meet in full students’ airfares related to postgraduate travel grants either by providing additional funds or by offering fewer grants (SRC Recommendation 16).

The annual report of the PhD and Scholarships Committee reported that the Monash Postgraduate Travel Grant budget of $180,000 was maintained in 2000. (In 2000, 230 students were supported by the scheme compared with 234 awardees in 1999.) The Scholarships Committee noted that presently, successful applicants are still required to pay the first $150 of the fare themselves, which is not in accordance with the original SRC recommendation. This SRC recommendation had not been fully implemented.

The Scholarships Committee noted the concern of the Executive Chair of the PhD and Scholarships Committee that the number of postgraduate travel grants not be reduced as a result of any further consideration of this issue.

The matters referred to above were not resolved at meeting 3/2001 of the Academic Board.

The SRC recommended that allocation of Monash Equity and Merit Based Support Bursaries be made by faculties (SRC Recommendation 19). The Coursework Scholarships Committee subsequently proposes that since applications contain sensitive information, and that since there is no faculty quota for distribution of the awards, allocation should continue to be made centrally.

The SRC proposed that faculties should consider allocating a proportion of departmental scholarships or other faculty funds to bursaries to support designated equity groups (SRC Recommendation 20).

SRC Recommendations 22 and 23 related to Summer Vacation Scholarships. These recommendations:

SRC Recommendation 29 was that faculties and departments should promote and acknowledge the success of their award holders. The Committee noted that faculties and departments were attending to this recommendation.

A document was circulated (p125-126)

A document was circulated (p127-128)

A document was circulated (p129-130)

A document was circulated (p131-132)

A document was circulated (p133-136)

Please note these regulations do not come into force until the repeal of Section 1 & 2 of Statute 6.1.2 by Council.

A document was circulated (p137-138)

A document was circulated (p139-140)

A document was circulated (p141-144)

A document was circulated (p145-188)

Please note these regulations do not come into force until the repeal of Section 1 & 2 of Statute 6.1.2 by Council.

A document was circulated (p189-190)

A document was circulated (p191-192)

A document was circulated (p193-194)

A document was circulated (p195-198)

A document was circulated (p199-204)

A document was circulated (p205-206)

A document was circulated (p207-208).

A document was circulated (p209-210)

A document was circulated (p211-214)

A document was circulated (p215-218)

At meeting 1/2001 (12 February), Council endorsed the proposal to move to six university committee cycles per year with eight meetings of Council, six dealing with normal business of the University and two special meetings which might reflect on governance and other Council matters. Council endorsed the proposed meeting schedule as follows at meeting 2/2001 held on 19 March 2001.

2/2002 18 March 2002 Normal meeting

3/2002 6 May 2002 Normal meeting

4/2002 24 June 2002 Normal meeting

6/2002 30 September 2002 Normal meeting

7/2002 11 November 2002 Normal meeting

8/2002 9 December 2002 Normal meeting

Meeting 1/2002 20 February 2002

Meeting 2/2002 10 April 2002

Meeting 3/2002 12 June 2002

Meeting 4/2002 28 August 2002

Meeting 5/2002 16 October 2002

Meeting 6/2002 13 November 2002

A document was circulated (p219-220)

The constitution of the selection panel for the Vice-Chancellor’s Awards for Exceptional Performance by General Staff is:

The Vice-Chancellor or nominee

An external person nominated by the Vice-Chancellor

A member of the Academic Staff nominated by the Academic Board

Divisional Director, Student and Staff Services

A member of the general staff nominated by the NTEU/ALHMWU

Manager, Staff Development Unit

A document was circulated (p225-226).