Committee of Deans Meeting 1-1997

Meeting No. 1/97 of the Committee of Deans will be held at 2.15 pm on Tuesday, 28 January 1997 in the Sir George Lush Room, Ground Floor, University Offices 3a, Clayton Campus.

jahn Janice H Newham

97/0025 Secretary

AGENDA

1. Welcome

2. Minutes

3. Matters arising from the Minutes not dealt with elsewhere in the Agenda

3.1 Equity Strategies for Postgraduate fee-paying courses

At meeting 12/95 of the Committee of Deans, a draft paper on equity strategies was received and a final version was foreshadowed.

A document dated 12 December 1996 prepared by Ms M Heagney, Student Equity Officer, is attached (D1/97 p5-8).

For consideration and approval of recommendations.

3.2 Funding for Payments to Non-Renewed Contract Staff

At meeting 16/96 (item 7.1) a group was established to consider strategies for funding severance payments for staff on fixed term contracts whose appointments are not renewed. A report from this group, provided by the Director, Personnel Services, is to be tabled at the meeting.

For discussion.

4. Vice-Chancellor's Business

4.1 Vice-Chancellor

4.1.1 Preparation for 1998

4.1.2 Corporate Planning and Review

Members of the Vice-Chancellor's Corporate Planning and Review Group have been invited to attend for this item.

4.2 Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research and Development)

4.2.1 Publications Re collection

4.2.2 ARC Applications

4.2.3 IT Policy

4.3 Deputy Vice-Chancellor (International and Public Affairs)

4.3.1 International Student Fees

At meeting 16/95, the Committee of Deans noted that international student fees were to be indexed rather than remain at the same level for the duration of a student's enrolment.

The Board of the Faculty of Business and Economics holds the view that this policy will discourage international applicants for courses because they will be unable to predict the cost of their study. In a memorandum dated 17 January 1997 the Faculty Registrar seeks approval for the Faculty setting its international course fees taking account of likely CPI increases over the course duration, and then maintaining that fee for the course duration.

Item for consideration.

4.4 Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Academic and Planning)

4.4.1 Enterprise Bargaining

4.4.2 Redeployment and Redundancy

4.4.3 Centre for Higher Education Development (CHED)

4.5 General Manager

5. Matters Raised by Deans

6. Other Business

6.1 Occupational Health & Safety Policy Committee

The Committee of Deans is informed that Deputy Vice-Chancellor Professor P LeP Darvall has again delegated his responsibility for chairing the Occupational Health & Safety Policy Committee to the Dean of Medicine, Professor R Porter.

The Dean of Engineering, Professor M L Brisk, has agreed to continue to represent Deans on the Occupational Health & Safety Policy Committee. It should be noted that there remains a problem with the identification of a Head of Department to serve on the Committee.

Deans are asked to consider an appropriate means of receiving information from time to time about various significant Occupational Health and Safety issues.

Item for noting and discussion.

7. Meetings for 1997

The dates of meetings for 1997 will be as follows:

1/97 Tuesday, 28 January 2.15 pm Sir George Lush Room

*2/97 Thursday, 27 February 2.15 pm Sir George Lush Room

4/97 Tuesday, 15 April 2.15 pm Sir George Lush Room

5/97 Tuesday, 6 May 2.15 pm Sir George Lush Room

6/97 Tuesday, 27 May 2.15 pm Sir George Lush Room

7/97 Tuesday, 17 June 2.15 pm Sir George Lush Room

8/97 Tuesday, 8 July 2.15 pm Sir George Lush Room

9/97 Tuesday, 29 July 2.15 pm Sir George Lush Room

10/97 Tuesday, 19 August 2.15 pm Sir George Lush Room

11/97 Tuesday, 9 September 2.15 pm Sir George Lush Room

12/97 Tuesday, 30 September 2.15 pm Sir George Lush Room

13/97 Tuesday, 21 October 2.15 pm Sir George Lush Room

14/97 Tuesday, 11 November 2.15 pm Sir George Lush Room

15/97 Tuesday, 2 December 2.15 pm Sir George Lush Room

* Please note that these dates have been changed since the provisional list was circulated.

Distribution
(Hard copy):
Vice-Chancellor
Deputy Vice-Chancellors
Deans
General Manager
Executive Assistant to Vice-Chancellor

Committee of Deans 1/97
28 January 1997
Item 2.1
D1/97

MONASH UNIVERSITY

Equity Plan Consultative Committee

MEMORANDUM

To: Professor M I Logan, Vice-Chancellor

C.C. Mrs J Newham, Secretary, Committee of Deans

From: Ms M Heagney, Student Equity Officer

Subject: Equity Strategies for Postgraduate fee-paying courses

Date: 12 December 1996

At meeting 3/96 held on October 10, members of the Equity Plan Consultative Committee noted that the University was required to report in its Equity Plan the arrangements for equity places in postgraduate fee-paying courses. It was agreed that the following proposals for the development of equity places in postgraduate fee-paying courses be forwarded to you to place before the Committee of Deans for their consideration.

These proposals were developed by a working party established by the Equity Plan Consultative Committee. They were first submitted to the Committee of Deans in September 1995 when the Committee of Deans agreed to the principle of equity places in fee-paying courses but requested that the proposals be developed further to include a wider range of equity place options.

Early in 1996 Professor Chipman and myself consulted Faculty Deans, Sub-faculty Deans and Campus Directors on a set of revised proposals. The proposals were then amended to incorporate their advice. As the consultative process is now complete, I submit the following draft proposals for consideration:

1. That faculties include in their Code of Practice and Associated Guidelines for fee-paying courses (as recommended in the Graduate Studies Policy approved by Council, Meeting 8/95) provision for meeting the objectives of the Equal Opportunity Policy in relation to fee-paying courses. This policy states that :

   Monash University supports government policy commitments to removing barriers to the full participation of disadvantaged groups in higher education, and will take positive steps through its Equity Plan to increase access and promote conditions conducive to success for disadvantaged groups under-represented as students in higher education. Recognising that educational disadvantage is linked to factors such as ethnic origin, social or economic circumstance, sex, disability, age or residence in a rural or isolated area, the University undertakes to take action to enable disadvantaged people to overcome these barriers.

2. That faculties consider phasing in a target of a number of equity places equivalent to 10% of the total number of fee-paying places.
3. That faculties adopt appropriate options from among the following:

   3.1

   allocate HECS-liable places

   3.2

   establish equity bursaries

   3.3

   apply to the Monash Development Fund for joint-funding of equity bursaries.(Assistance in writing submissions for funding may be requested from the Equal Opportunity Unit)

   3.4

   explore options for external funding of equity bursaries

   3.5 adopt any other measure which will facilitate achievement of the objective.

4. That the following special arrangements be made for specific targeted equity groups:

   4.1

   Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander People who qualify for admission to a postgraduate fee-paying course will automatically be offered a DEETYA-funded place.

   4.2

   Students from Rural and Isolated Areas who apply for admission to a postgraduate fee-paying course will be given additional weighting in the selection process. Special arrangements may be made by faculties for DEETYA-funded places to be available to such students in professions where country practitioners are in short supply, e.g medicine, nursing, pharmacy.

   4.3

   Women applying for places in Non-Traditional courses (i.e. courses where the representation of women is below 40%) will be given additional weighting in the selection process for equity places.

   4.4

   People with Disabilities who qualify for admission to postgraduate fee-paying courses will be eligible for support under the Monash University Disability Support Program, whether or not they obtain an equity place.

5. That the Postgraduate Equity Committee be established to implement these recommendations. The Committee will report progress to the Vice-Chancellor. Its membership will be as follows:

   Vice-Chancellor or nominee (Chair)
   Equal Opportunity Manager or nominee
   Director of Student Services or nominee
   A nominee of the Monash Postgraduates Association
   A nominee of Monash Federation of Student Associations
   Director of the Centre for Development of Higher Education or nominee
   A nominee of Education Committee

   The Committee may co-opt up to two additional members with appropriate expertise. The functions of the proposed Postgraduate Equity Committee will be:

   to assess applicants and recommend award of equity places;
   to monitor progress of students;
   to report regularly to the Deputy Vice-Chancellor with responsibility for equal opportunity and equity;
   to liaise with Faculties;
   to recommend changes to the scheme;
   to approve proposed hardship criteria and modify as necessary;
   to ensure that information about equity places is included in fee-paying course advertising material such as newspaper advertisements, application forms, Open Day advertising and faculty handbooks;
   to approve appropriate flexible financial arrangements for individual students on application.

Responses to the proposed Equity Strategies

1. All those consulted agreed that equity places in fee-courses should be developed, and that the current economic climate made the issue urgent. There was very strong support for establishing a Postgraduate Equity Committee to consider applications for equity places and to apply the hardship criteria which had been drafted. There was general agreement that the processes of admissions to fee-courses and awarding equity places should be kept separate, and that most faculties did not have the facilities to award equity places.
2. Special arrangements for members of targeted equity groups which faculties could chose to suit faculty circumstances were strongly supported. Support for students of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander backgrounds would be cost neutral as funding for Aboriginal education is already distributed to faculties.
3. Considerable support was expressed for offering equity students HECS places in fee-courses and for offering equity bursaries. However there was little agreement on how the bursaries should be funded; some felt they could be funded from the Monash Development Fund, while some thought industry funding should be sought.
4. There was no consensus about how equity places should be funded. Several deans suggested that if and when they had fee-courses in their faculty, they would offer HECS places to students on equity grounds. One dean who does have considerable numbers of postgraduate fee-courses suggested that HECS places must be allocated from the university administration budget, and that faculties would contribute to equity by foregoing fees income.

This item will remain on the agenda of the Equity Plan Consultative Committee

Margaret Heagney

Student Equity Officer

12 December 1996

Distribution

(Hard copy):

Vice-Chancellor
Deputy Vice-Chancellors
Deans
General Manager
Executive Assistant to Vice-Chancellor