Administrative Heads Group Meeting 1-2002

Meeting 1/2002 of the Administrative Heads Group was held between 8.30 and 9:35 am on Thursday, 14 February, 2002 in the Council Room, 1^st Floor, University Offices Building 3a, Clayton campus.

The Chair, Professor D Robinson, welcomed to the meeting new members Mr M Doulton, General Manager, Sport and Mr D Whitehead, Faculty Business Manager, Faculty of Engineering.

Apologies were received from Mr A McMeekin, Executive Director, Information Technology Services Division (ITS), Professor M Evans, Director, Planning and Academic Affairs, Mr S Davey, Divisional Director, Facilities and Services, Mr K Hobbs, Director of Administration, Faculty of Business and Economics, Mr G Connell, Director, Audit and Risk Management, Ms M Jackson, Executive Director, Marketing and Public Affairs and Mr J Curtis, Chief Executive Officer, Monash Unicomm Pty Ltd.

Mr N Adolphson, Consultant, ITS Development and Ms L Steny, Team Leader Change Management, IAS Project, were invited to attend the meeting. Mr A Evans, Senior Facilitator, Audit and Risk Management, attended on behalf of the Director, Mr G Connell, for item 4.1.1.

Ms J Taylor, Manager, Secretariat Services, Mr G Toohey, Manager, Student Administration, Ms C-H Ho, Acting Deputy University Librarian, Mr O Slattery, General Manager, Monash International Pty Ltd and Mr I Kiddell, Manager, HR Systems, attended as observers.

The Minutes of Meeting 6/2001, held 22 November 2001, were confirmed.

The Chair advised about progress with matters raised at the previous meeting:

• the Institutional Self Review would be completed within two months. Actions required following the Review would be identified. The university would be advised in March about whether Monash would be involved with an AUQA audit during 2003. Members noted that quality themes that were presented at Council on 11 February had been well received and that university quality processes were underway; and

• the ‘Global Development Framework’ and ‘Global Development 2002-2006’ were adopted by the Council at its Meeting 8/2001. Printing of the Framework and modification of 2002-2006 for the web were in progress.

Mr A Evans, Senior Facilitator, Audit and Risk Management, attended on behalf of Mr G Connell, Director of Audit and Risk Management.

Professor P Darvall, Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research and Development), introduced this item. Professor Darvall, Team Leader of Monash’s Crisis Management and Recovery (CMR) Team, provided a brief overview of the internal exercise that had occurred the previous week to test the university’s response to crisis situations and recovery mechanisms. Members noted that the exercise had been valuable in highlighting the university’s strengths in dealing with such challenges.

Mr Evans informed members about the background to crisis management at Monash involving the establishment of a Corporate CMR Team and campus-based teams and strategies. Mr Evans provided a description of the exercise that was facilitated by an external company, Campbell. A crisis involving the Caulfield campus was simulated. Areas that required improvement were highlighted and knowledge gained from the exercise would be incorporated into the university’s CMR Manual.

Members noted advice from Mr J White, Campus Director, Caulfield Campus, and Mr J Matthews, Divisional Director, Corporate Finance, regarding aspects of the exercise and the lessons learnt. The Group also noted a video of the mock press conference that was held following the simulated event with the Vice-Chancellor as the designated Public Spokesperson for the university.

Mr N Adolphson, Consultant, ITS Development, attended for this item.

The Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Academic and Planning), Professor A Lindsay, introduced this item noting that the Course and Unit Publication and Information Database (CUPID) would integrate several university processes in relation to courses.

Mr D Secomb, Faculty Academic Manager, Faculty of Engineering and Chair of the CUPID Steering Committee, informed members about the Project’s background, current status and planned future developments. Members noted that CUPID would allow faculties to manage the devolved course proposal/approval process, house the authoritative university record of approved courses and units and prevent duplication of effort for the production of various publications. Mr Secomb advised about the benefits of the new system and its key features. Members noted that the first phase of the project was anticipated for completion by the end of June 2002. (A copy of the Powerpoint presentation presented by Mr Secomb is available on request to the Secretary.)

Discussion occurred regarding aspects of CUPID including development of training for use of the new database, data sources used, student access to the system and the overall benefits expected. Mr P Yates, Director, Systems and Services, noted the work of Mr N Adolphson, Project Manager, and the efforts of Mr D Secomb, Steering Committee Chair and Ms B Shields, Project Sponsor towards integration of the differing views and needs of members of the university community.

Ms L Steny, Team Leader Change Management, IAS Project, attended for this item.

Mr P Marshall, Divisional Director, Student and Staff Services, introduced this item noting the need for the SAP upgrade and the status of upgrades at other institutions.

Ms Steny informed members regarding the upgrade of SAP, including the benefits of its use and achievements to date, the reasons for the upgrade, details about timing, immediate and future benefits and the impact on faculties and divisions. Members noted that the new version incorporated user feedback about potential improvements.

Ms Steny advised that frequent users of the system were usually efficient and accurate in their operation of SAP. It had been found, however, that infrequent users were generally slower and less accurate in their operation. Administrative heads were encouraged to rationalise the number of their staff who required access and training for SAP in order to ensure frequent exercise of relevant skills, regular update of knowledge and accuracy of data input. Ms Steny informed members about the online training available on the web and the support that would be provided by IAS. Members also noted the importance of support for staff from their area throughout the re-training process. News about the upgrade would be communicated via the upgrade reference group. Ms Steny advised that the upgrade was also a step towards providing SAP as a web interface. (Copies of the Powerpoint presentation presented by Ms Steny were tabled at the meeting. Hard copies are available on request to the Secretary.)

The Vice-Chancellor thanked Ms Steny for the informative presentation.

Members noted the amended 2002 schedule for meetings of the Administrative Heads Group, including a change to Meeting 3/2002, as set out below: