Administrative Heads Group Meeting 4-2004

Meeting 4/2004 of the Administrative Heads Group commenced at 8.30am on Thursday, 12 August, 2004 in the Council Room, 1^st Floor, University Offices Building 3a, Clayton campus.

Mr P Barton, Professor E Cornish, Mr R Coventry, Ms A Crook, Ms R Drummond, Mr J Du Ve, Ms H Dunne, Mr C Flynn, Ms B Fortington, Mr D Gregg, Professor D Kirkpatrick, Professor R Larkins, Mr P Lawford, Ms A Lazar, Professor A Lindsay, Ms M Mannays, Ms J McLachlan, Mr A McMeekin, Mr D McWaters, Ms B Naidoo, Mr A Picouleau, Mr C Powell, Mr V Prpich, Mr S Scroggie, Mr D Secomb, Ms B Shields, Ms S Stafford, Mr N Thorburn, Ms J Vero , Mr N Wall, and Ms J White

Mr Jack Chorowicz, Ms Jill Dixon, Professor Merran Evans, Ms Anne Fletcher, Mr Sam Funnell, Ms Janet Gaffey, Ms Sue Gleeson, Mrs Pam Herman, Ms Chooi-Hon Ho, Ms Jane Holt, Ms Janet Kemp, Mr Geoffrey Murray, Mr Roger Newham, Mr Robert Palin, Professor Stephen Parker, Professor Phillip Steele, Ms Sue Wales, Professor Graham Webb, Mr Renn Wortley and Mr Peter Yates

Ms Kay Gardner was in attendance for item 4.2

The Minutes of Meeting 3/2004 of the Administrative Heads Group, held Thursday 27 May 2004, were confirmed.

The Vice-Chancellor informed members that following receipt of a report from the external consultant, Mr David Gilmour, a report had been presented to Council detailing two scenarios, a base plan including prudent expansion and a pessimistic scenario that would be triggered should projected enrolment levels not be achieved. Further, Council endorsed that Monash’s reason for a campus in South Africa was not to extract a profit from a developing country but rather as a strategic investment that would provide an exchange opportunity for students and staff in both Australia and South Africa, further Monash’s internationalisation and contribute to the development of a range of African countries.

Members received and noted the Inclusive Practices: Disability Plan 2004-2008.

Members noted the advice of the Vice-Chancellor on the status of planning for the new medical school and the proposal for a new campus in Malaysia.

The Vice-Chancellor outlined to members the education policy platform of the Australian Labor Party and the major funding ramifications of both the Liberal and Labor policies.

Noting the importance to Monash of enhancing strategic collaborations with the CSIRO, the Vice-Chancellor advised that Professor Cornish would continue to focus on improving interactions between researchers at both institutions.

Mr Alan McMeekin presented to members an outline of the VERN project that will establish a high-bandwidth optic fibre network connecting the campuses of all universities, research centres and other entities in Victoria to a network infrastructure sufficient in capacity for the next 30 to 40 years.

A copy of Mr McMeekin’s presentation is attached.

Professor Larkins outlined to members recent developments in establishing MPA delivered services across all Victorian campuses including specific arrangements for both Caulfield and Gippsland campuses.

Following an outline of the impact of HEIMS on Callista, Mr Du Ve outlined to members the current status of the project specifications, contract negotiations and contingency planning.

A document Policy on the Prevention of Bullying and Occupational Violence at Monash was distributed at the meeting.

A copy of Mr Barton’s presentation is attached.

During discussion the following themes were raised and noted:

• interim Grievance Procedures would shortly be published on the Monash website;

• in response to query relating to the suggestion that a "code of conduct" be developed, members were informed that the emphasis was on establishing a supportive and enjoyable environment at Monash for both students and staff; and

• the policy would be reviewed in 12 months in light of experience.

Concluding the discussion, the Vice-Chancellor thanked Mr Barton for his presentation and members for their constructive comments.

The next scheduled meeting of the Administrative Heads Group 5/2004 will be held at 8.30a.m., on Thursday, October 7 2004 in the Council Room.