Administrative Heads Group Meeting 2-2003

Meeting 2/2003 of the Administrative Heads Group was held between 8.30am and 9:15am on Thursday, 17^th April 2003 in the Council Room, Building 3a, Clayton campus.

Apologies were received from Professor G Bouma - Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research & Development), Professor A Lindsay - Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Academic & Planning), Professor R Willis - Academic Director, Caulfield, Professor P Steele - Academic Director, Peninsula, Mr R Burnet - Campus Director, Berwick/Clayton, Mr P Marshall - Divisional Director, Student and Staff Services, Mr S Davey - Divisional Director, Facilities and Services, Mr J Levine - Divisional Director, Financial Resources Management, Mr R Wortley - University Solicitor, Mr A McMeekin - Executive Director, Information Technology Services, Professor J Harris - Director, Centre for Learning and Teaching Support, Professor G Webb - Director for Higher Education Quality, Mr G Connell - Director, Audit and Risk Management, Mr D Secomb - Faculty Academic Manager, Faculty of Engineering, Ms J Kemp - Faculty Manager, Faculty of Medicine, Nursing & Health Sciences, Mr J Curtis - Chief Executive Officer, Monash Unicomm Pty Ltd, Mr M Doulton - General Manager, Sport, Mr J McGrath - Manager, Bookshop, Ms J Holt - Director, Strategy, Mr N Thorburn - Manager, Compliance and Mr R Newham - Director, Business Administration and Protocol.

New Members

On behalf of the Administrative Heads Group, the Vice-Chancellor welcomed new members Professor R Willis - Academic Director, Caulfield, and Professor P Steele - Academic Director, Peninsula.

The Vice-Chancellor welcomed to the meeting:

• Professor R Norris - Chair, Occupational Health, Safety and Environment Committee

• Dr C Blandy - Head, Health Services

• Professor C Cocklin - Director, Monash Environment Institute

• Ms B Towns - Project Manager, Triple Bottom Line Reporting Project

• Professor T Brown - Chair, Monash Residential Services Management Committee

The Minutes of Meeting 6/2002, held 28 November 2002, were confirmed.

There were no matters arising.

Professor Norris, Chair - Occupational Health, Safety and Environment Policy Committee, informed members the OHS&E committee was responsible for the development and implementation of OHS&E policies, procedures and programs, and reported to the Vice-Chancellor who had statutory responsibility for Occupational Health & Safety under Victorian law.

Assisting the committee were a range of subcommittees including the Biosafety Committee, Road and Traffic Sub-committee, Ionising Radiation Advisory Committee, Fire Risk Management Subcommittee and the Environmental Policy Task Force. Commenting on changes and/or achievements in 2002, Professor Norris informed members that environmental issues had been included in the committee's terms of reference, the committee also reviewed the compliance levels of controlled entities, off-shore campuses/centres were expected to comply with Occupational Health, Safety & Environment policies however local laws would take precedence, strategic planning processes had been implemented in the areas of Occupational Health, Safety and Environment management, the membership had been expanded to include other areas of expertise and a range of new and amended policies had been introduced.

Mr P Barton, Manager – Occupational Health, Safety and Environment tabled a document titled OHSE Performance Indicators – 1999-2002 Comparison.

Commenting on some of the indicators, Mr Barton noted that in relation the Zone OHS Committee meetings, growth had been achieved in all indicators however the target for 2002 had not been reached. Other indicators discussed included the increasing incidence of "Strains and Sprains" and the need to promote early intervention strategies in order to reduce the incidence of all types of reported injuries.

Concluding the first section of the report, Professor Norris requested that all "managers" become actively involved in ensuring that the workplace is a safe environment for their staff and that they also undertake their own safety inspections.

Dr C Blandy, Head – Health Services, was in attendance. The following documentation was distributed at the meeting:

• SARS – Questions and Answers for School Communities

• Work/school precautions for travellers from Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome affected areas.

• Recommendations for specific workplaces – a document issued by the Communicable Diseases Network Australia.

Dr Blandy provided members with a briefing on the background of SARS including locations where the majority of cases have presented, the symptoms of SARS and the risks and means of contracting SARS.

Outlining the university's approach to SARS, Dr Blandy informed members that Monash was constantly monitoring the situation and taking advice from Public Health Authorities and the Chief Medical Officer. Members were advised that updates on SARS would be published as new/revised information became available and that members could always access the web for information.

Sites include:

http://www.adm.monash.edu.au/sss/pc/sars.htm

www.dhs.vic.gov.au/phd/sars

www.dfat.gov.au/zw-cgi/view/TravelBulletins

The Vice-Chancellor thanked Professor Norris and Dr Blandy for their presentations.

Professor C Cocklin, Director, Monash Environment Institute spoke to this item. Ms B Towns, Project Manager, Triple Bottom Line Reporting Project was in attendance.

Professor Cocklin informed members that the report was a pilot focussing on Gippsland and Clayton campuses and largely utilising existing data. Members were advised that the university would prepare a 2003 report incorporating all Australian campuses and including an improved set of key performance indicators.

Members were advised that Ms Towns may contact them for assistance/information in relation to the 2003 report.

Mr P Yates, Director, Services and Systems (Student and Staff Services Division) spoke to this item.

Mr Yates informed members that the projected enrolment position at 31 March 2003 would result in DEST coursework load enrolment level being fractionally below planned target. Undergraduate load would exceed target by 158 EFTSU however with attrition, a second semester intake in some disciplines may need to be considered.

Other key aspects of the report included:

• GPG load was expected to be 14.5 EFTSU below target of 1343.5 EFTSU

• HDR load was estimated to be 1739 EFTSU, 78 EFTSU above the 1661 EFTSU target. It was expected that most of 369 EFTSU enrolled in fee-paying places would be transferred to Researching Training Scheme places.

• Fee paying – undergraduate fee paying load is continuing to slowly increase (2002=859 EFTSU : 2003= 911 EFTSU), GPG load increased by 13.8%, Monash University Malaysia enrolments were up by 10% and South Africa enrolments continued to steadily increase.

The Vice-Chancellor thanked Mr Yates for his report and congratulated all staff involved in the selection process for their continued efforts.

Mr T Pollock, Vice-President (International) and Executive Director, Office of International Development informed members that commencing enrolments, excluding transfers for Monash University Malaysia, had increased by 53% to 3066 (31 March 2002 = 2614).

Summarising the status of international admissions, members were informed that both applications and offers were up compared to 2002 figures and Monash was achieving a good yield from offers. Other aspects noted included a decline in information technology enrolment numbers due largely to the worldwide downturn in the IT industry, good growth in Arts, Education and Science with both Berwick and Peninsula experiencing growth in enrolments however Gippsland campus, following good early signs, experienced a decline in numbers possibly due to visa issues.

Commenting on commencements by country of origin, China was the major source with Malaysia and India continuing to be strong sources with Indonesia declining marginally.

Other issues raised by Mr Pollock included:

• Applications, offers and acceptance from Singapore are declining

• The importance of "feeder programs" was emphasised

• Submissions from China had increased 96%

• Important sources for commencing students continued to be Monash College, Private Agents IDP, international students enrolling via VTAC and current students enrolling in further programs

• Trends in commencements between 1998-2003 indicate strong growth in demand with China showing significant growth.

Mr Pollock concluded his presentation noting that Monash would continue to carefully monitor its policies and strategies to ensure that appropriate outcomes for students and the university were achieved. Further, in response to a question in relation to visa conditions, Mr Pollock informed members that ongoing consultation with the Department of Immigration and Multicultural and Indigenous Affairs was underway and faculties would be kept informed.

The Vice-Chancellor thanked Mr Pollock for his presentation.

Professor T Brown, Chair – Monash Residential Services Management Committee and Mr V Prpich – Director, Monash Residential Services spoke to this item.

Professor Brown informed members that following a review in 2000, all campus residential services, excluding Gippsland, were consolidated under a new entity Monash Residential Services (MRS). Outlining the major goals for MRS, members were advised these included extending and improving the support structure for residents, diversifying the range of accommodation on all campuses and continued integration of accommodation services with other service providers and faculty requirements.

Mr Prpich informed members that MRS had established a Mission Statement and Goals that were intended to enhance and promote positive interaction between residents and the university. Further, MRS was constantly looking at ways to improve service delivery in areas such as transition to university, creation of a safe environment, facilities for short terms stays for staff and graduate/postgraduate students and ways of "creating a village feel" about future residential projects.

The Vice-Chancellor thanked Professor T Brown and Mr V Prpich for their presentation.

Meeting 3/2003 will be held at 8:30am on Thursday, 12 June 2003, in the Council Room, 1^st floor of Administration Building 3A, Clayton campus.