Committee of Deans Meeting 8-1993
Meeting No. 8/93 of the Committee of Deans was held on Tuesday, 13 July
1993, in the Conference Room, Administrative Building, at the Frankston
campus, between 2.15 and 4.20 pm.
There were present:
Professor I.W. Chubb, Deputy Vice-Chancellor and Dean, Faculty of
Business and Economics, in the Chair
Professor R.J. Pargetter, Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Academic Projects)
Professor P.LeP. Darvall, Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research) and Dean,
Faculty of Engineering
Professor B. Dunstan, Acting Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Gippsland)
Professor M. Quartly, representing the Acting Dean, Faculty of Arts
Professor J. Greig, Acting Dean, Faculty of Computing and Information
Technology
Professor R.J.W. Selleck, Acting Dean, Faculty of Education
Professor A.J. Duggan, Acting Dean, Faculty of Law
Professor R. Porter, Dean, Faculty of Medicine
Professor C.B. Chapman, Dean, Victorian College of Pharmacy
Professor R.J. Snedden, Dean, Faculty of Professional Studies
Professor I.D. Rae, Dean, Faculty of Science
In attendance were:
Mr P.B. Wade, General Manager
Professor R.McD. Anderson, Campus Director, Frankston
Ms J.A. Dunn, Acting Secretary
M I N U T E S
55. Apologies
Apologies were received from Professor Logan and Professor West.
56. Minutes
The minutes of Meeting No. 7/93 held on 22 June 1993, copies of which had
been circulated, were confirmed and signed.
57. Matters Arising From the Minutes
57.1 Recreation Leave
Reference was made to minute 50.1 and a memorandum circulated to members
by Professor Williams about the provision in section 5.1.2.5.6 of the Staff
Handbook for a dean to direct staff to take recreation leave. It was left to
each dean to take appropriate action in this matter.
57.2 Malaysia and the Faculty of Medicine
Further to Minute 49.2 Professor Porter informed members that the
Vice-Chancellor had written to the Minister for Education in Malaysia
explaining the University's intention to assist in developments in medical
education.
58. Acting Vice-Chancellor's Report
58.1 Deficit accumulated in the Faculty of Professional Studies
Professor Chubb informed members of the steps taken to manage the
accumulated deficit during the process of relocating parts of the Faculty.
He said there would be three stages of discussion and that the impact of the
deficit on the receiving faculties would be minimalised.
In relation to the Sub-faculty of Nursing, it was recognised that budget
planning for retrieval of the deficit would depend on decisions yet to be
made by DEET about EFTSU load and total funding for undergraduate nursing in
1994 and beyond. Professor Porter agreed to provide Professor Chubb with a
brief note about the impact of Casemix RP Funding of health services in
Victoria on the arrangements for clinical teaching in the Faculty of
Medicine.
Mr Wade advised members about his intention to discuss with them
formalised procedures to monitor faculty budgets, but in a way which
preserved the virement structure. 58.2 Information to the Committee of Deans
The Acting Vice-Chancellor said that the Committee would be kept informed
of events and activities in the five divisions of central PBW administration
by means of a regular summary. He asked members to let him know by 16 July
if they wanted particular information included in these summaries.
58.3 Report on Capital Building Program
The appended report was tabled in response to a question raised by
Professor Bellamy at the previous meeting (minute 54.1). Mr Wade spoke
briefly to the document, which members found informative. He was asked if he
would consider providing additional information in future reports, such as
simple sketch maps to show the location of PBW each building, an indication
of the stage of progress of the tender process in each case, inclusion of
the Menzies Building refurbishment and plans for Parkville campus.
58.4 Academic staff appraisal for development
Professor Chubb informed the Committee that discussions with the unions
were continuing on the matter of academic staff appraisal. He mentioned the
ambiguity of the role of heads of department in the process and his view
that they be given a central role as occurs in other schemes around
Australia.
58.5 Department of Physics
Professor Chubb informed members of a budget problem in the Department of
Physics which would necessitate action under the redundancy provisions of
the academic award. He said that deans should expect to be contacted by
Professor D Jones from Deakin University, who had been engaged by Monash to
develop and discuss options for the Physics department such as deployment,
fractional appointments and early retirements.
58.6 Quality
Professor Chubb apologised for possible confusion between two projects on
quality in which faculties had been asked to participate concurrently. He
distinguished the enquiries being made by Dr Baldwin and Dr Fyfield in
relation to internal distribution of National Priorities Research Funding,
from Professor West's work which was an input to the preparation of a
portfolio for the federal government. Professor Chubb said that, to avoid
duplication, Professor West's approach to faculties had been halted for the
time being, and that the information collected by Fyfield/Baldwin would be
fed into the portfolio exercise.
59. Urgent Matters
59.1 RMIT City Premises
Mr Wade informed members that the Bourke Street building recently
purchased by RMIT had originally been offered to Monash but had been
rejected because of the prohibitive costs of refurbishment.
59.2 Medical School Accreditation Report
Professor Porter spoke about the recently published accreditation report,
highly supportive of the Medical School. (Copies circulated JAD with the
minutes.) Professor Porter agreed to circulate to all deans details of RP
seminars to be held at Monash Medical Centre, Clayton and the Alfred
Hospital.
60. Research Matters
Professor Darvall reported on a number of matters including impending ARC
and NH&MRC visits, a draft CADRES statute, work on the Research Management
Plan, a submission for the Senate enquiry, and the commencement of the new
Research Manager on 13 August. Professor Chubb asked deans to encourage
their staff to attend the seminar to be given by Max Brennan on Tuesday 20
July, on the subject of ARC funding. Mr Wade informed members that $375,000
had been received as the first part of a bequest to Monash. He suggested the
possibility of using the money for a Monash graduate scholarship fund.
61. Examination System
As foreshadowed at the previous meeting, Professor Bellamy had submitted
the appended Reform of the Monash Examination Data Processing System -Report
from an Interested Group, `which was prepared in the belief that we could do
better'.
Deans were generally supportive of the direction of the paper - faculties
taking greater responsibility for their own examination system - but
questioned some of the conclusions and their practicality. It was mentioned,
for example, that not all faculties PBW could abolish Boards of Examiners.
Mr Wade agreed to provide for the following meeting (and then for
circulation to faculties) an implementation strategy paper from Student
Services.
62. The Role of Faculty Assistant Registrars
Professor Chubb outlined the major points for discussion in the appended
paper. Having reaffirmed the transfer of faculty assistant registrars to
deans' staff from 1 August, members discussed the questions of title All and
role. The following strategy was agreed, with the aim of fairness Deans to
the current FARs and acknowledgement of real differences between faculties:
- Transfer date of 1 August to faculties.
- Each faculty begins a reclassification process, deciding on a suitable
time scale.
- Each faculty decides on an interim job title and makes suitable
structural arrangements.
- Faculties may choose to advertise the position, but if it has shifted
in level through a re-organisation, advertising is mandatory.
- If the current occupant is not appointed, that person will be
transferred elsewhere in the University.
63. Other Business
63.1 Schools liaison and admissions matters
Professor Pargetter tabled the appended documents and spoke briefly on
the following topics: the Year 13 Pilot Project; success of the recent
seminar conducted for 300 principals and careers teachers; a planned
analysis of the performance at Monash of the first cohort of students
selected from the new VCE curriculum; seminars to be run for Monash staff on
selection topics; the coming press promotion of "the teaching university of
the year"; and a proposal for a Graduate Certificate in Employment Skills.
In relation to the Graduate Certificate, Professor Pargetter outlined the
needs, as perceived by employers, of graduates for transition skills.
Members were informed of the reservations about the proposal which had been
expressed by the Steering Committee of Academic Board.
It was noted that the Board was to consider the proposal on 14 July.
Next Meeting
It was noted that the next meeting of the Committee was scheduled to be
held at 2.15 pm on Tuesday, 3 August, in the Eighth Floor Conference Room of
the Tower Building, at the Caulfield campus.
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