Administrative Heads Group Meeting 3-2004

Meeting 3/2004 of the Administrative Heads Group commenced at 8.30am on Thursday, 27 May, 2004 in the Council Room, 1^st Floor, University Offices Building 3a, Clayton campus.

Messrs P Barton, Ms T Coppa, Mr R Coventry, J Du Ve, Ms H Dunne, Mr C Flynn, Ms J Gaffey, Ms M Harris, Mrs P Herman, Ms C Ho, Ms J Holt, Ms J Houge, Ms J Kemp, Ms G Key, Professor R Larkins, Messrs G Lanyon Mr P Lawford, Ms A Lazar, Ms M Mannays, Mr G Murray, Ms B Naidoo, Messrs R Palin, V Prpich, J Rivett, B Ruck, R Sawyer, S Scroggie, D Secomb, Ms B Shields, Ms S Wales, Professor G Webb, Ms J White, Mr P Yates, Ms L Zaks,

Mr B Allardice, Mr R Burnet, Mr J Chorowicz, Professor E Cornish, Ms A Crook, Mr S Davey, Ms J Dixon, Professor M Evans, Mr D Gregg, Professor J Harris, Professor A Lindsay, Mr P Marshall, Ms J McLachlan, Mr A McMeekin, Professor S Parker, Mr A Picouleau, Ms S Stafford, Professor P Steele, and Mr N Thorburn.

The Minutes of Meeting 2/2004 of the Administrative Heads Group, held Thursday, 8 April 2004, were confirmed.

The Vice-Chancellor outlined to members Monash’s bid for additional load at the Peninsula and Berwick Campuses.

Members were informed that Dr Nelson had visited the office of the Peninsula local member and the Berwick Campus where encouraging discussions had taken place on the benefits to all stakeholders of creating vibrant and flourishing campuses.

The Vice-Chancellor informed members that the working party was nearing completion of the proposal to expand current equity programs, provide financial assistance to disadvantaged students and the introduction of a pilot program based on schools clustered near Monash campuses.

A document was circulated.

Ms Zaks outlined to members the role of the Discrimination and Sexual Harassments Procedures and emphasised the importance of students and staff being referred to a Discrimination and Harassment Adviser or the Equity and Diversity Centre during the initial stages of any claim.

During discussion, a members noted that bullying was not mentioned in the policy.

In response, members were advised that bullying also had additional industrial considerations and a university-wide policy on prevention of workplace bullying would be released shortly.

Secretarial note: Members are invited the note the following urls in relation to this topic –

Policy for the Prevention of Bullying and Occupational Violence at Monash is at

http://www.adm.monash.edu.au/ohse/documents/policies/Bullying%20Policy.pdf

Procedures for Managing Incidents of Bullying and Occupational Violence in the Workplace is available at

http://www.adm.monash.edu.au/ohse/documents/procedures/BullyingProcedures.pdf

Mr Paul Barton presented to members a report on the Assessment & Future Directions of OHS and the Environment at Monash.

Features of Mr Barton’s presentation included:

• injury rates at Monash are declining as the are at most Go8 universities;

• while strain and sprain injuries are the most frequently reported injury, stress related claims are increasing;

• legislative compliance – WorkSafe inspectors were now focusing on the education sector and compliance regimes and any future instances of non-compliance would result in prosecution and penalties up to $250,000;

• in relation to the environment, Mr Barton informed members while the legislative framework for this area was thinner, Monash needed to be able to demonstrate that it was committed to being a responsible corporate citizen particularly in the areas of recycling, reuse and the reduced use of resources such as energy and water.

Mr Barton advised members that the strategic directions for the OHS & Environment Strategic Framework 2004 – 2006 would include:

• OHS & Environment - a core business attribute;
• OHS & Environment - a core business attribute;
• A quality approach to OHS & Environment;
• Maximising engagement and recognising excellence;
• Integrating and optimising our efforts;
• Integrated risk management & compliance;
• Controlling the risks of emerging issues & technologies; and
• Excellence in OHS & environmental teaching & research

In order to progress the strategic directions, specific targets had been set including the alignment of OHS structures with management structures, that

Monash commit to a reduction of its injury rate by 50% over the period 2004 to 2007, that an OHS compliance audit program for use across Monash be developed & implemented, Monash commit to obtaining SafetyMAP accreditation for its safety management program by June 2006, the establishment of a range of environmental performance measures and targets and the continued implementation of the Environmental Officer network

Following discussion, Professor Larkins commended Mr Barton and his team and reminded all members that issues relating to occupational, health and safety and the environment were a shared responsibility of all staff and students.

A document was circulated.

Professor Graham Webb introduced the item noting that the Monash Experience Questionnaire (MEQ) was an outcome of recommendations contained in Still Learning: The Report of Our Self-Review and the results of the MEQ were now contributing to the university-wide planning process.

Commenting on the outcomes of the MEQ, Professor Webb informed members that the response rate of students was 40% with the following reports being available:

• a summary report for the university;

• a summary report for all campuses and TMC Singapore;

• a summary report for all faculties;

Professor Webb provided members with an overview of the "Comments" section of the agenda paper and responded to queries.

Ms Glenda Key provided members with an overview of how the Faculty of Science had undertaken further analyse of the data resulting from the MEQ and how the use of more stringent data sorting criteria and the different grouping of questions could provide further meaningful data that could inform the faculty’s quality processes.

Professor Larkins thanked Professor Webb and Ms Key for their presentations and commended the work undertaken by the Centre for Higher Education Quality.

The next scheduled meeting of the Administrative Heads Group 4/2004 will be held at 8.30a.m., on Thursday 12 August, 2004 in the Council Room.