Committee of Deans Meeting 3/98

Meeting 3/98 of the Committee of Deans was held at 2.15 pm on Tuesday, 17 March 1998 in the Sir George Lush Room, Ground Floor, University Offices Building 3a, Clayton Campus.

Tony Calder
Secretary
97/0025

An apology was received from Professor J Maloney, Deputy Vice-Chancellor - International and Public Affairs and Professor J Redmond, Dean - Faculty of Art & Design.

Associate Professor Bernard Hoffert attended for Professor J Redmond.

Ms Melissa Banks, Manager - Projects, Monash International was in attendance for item 3.1; Dr Gail Ellis, Planning Advisor - Academic Planning Support Unit and Associate Professor Merran Evans, Chair - Teaching & Learning Plan Working Party were in attendance for item 4.3.1; Mr Peter Summers, Director - Planning Support Unit was be in attendance for item 4.3.2 and Mr Peter Marshall, Assistant General Manager - Personnel Services was in attendance for item 4.3.3.

The minutes of meeting 1/98 and 2/98 were confirmed.

Ms Melissa Banks, Manager - Projects, Monash International was in attendance for this item.

The Vice-Chancellor introduced the matter by advising the Committee that Council had noted the progress made in relation to Monash University Sunway Campus Malaysia and noted that Resources and Finance Committee had considered a series of papers on the matter at its meeting of 9 March 1998.

In addition the Vice-Chancellor advised the Committee that:

• the Sunway Campus was not a separate entity to Monash University;
• twinning program students had indicated that they still wanted to come to Australia after completion of their first year;
• both staff and students would benefit from Monash’s involvement in the Malaysian tertiary sector, and
• the academic programs offered on Sunway campus will be governed in the same manner as existing Monash programs.

Referring to tabled paper D14/98, the Vice-Chancellor advised the Committee that the Academic Program Implementation Plan (Attachment 3) was still being revised, that Attachment 4 provided information on the implementation process for the initiative and that Attachment 7 was now out of date due to revised projections of student numbers and the increased student interest.

Ms Banks advised the Committee that courses commencing in July 1998 were being finalised and that Monash International was currently consulting with faculties on the programs to commerce in 1999.

During extensive discussion of the matter, the following points were noted:

• given the importance of the issue, Education Committee submission deadlines would be relaxed to ensure that all academic programs can be submitted for the appropriate approvals;
• the role of the Off-Shore Quality Assurance Committee was still under discussion,
• Mr Robert Cochrane - Monash International is the Project Manager for matters relating to Indonesia and Malaysia;
• Professor Warren, Pro Vice-Chancellor - Monash University Sunway Campus Malaysia, will liaise with Deans on staffing appointments;
• an Academic Staffing Advisory Committee is to be established;
• Professor Darvall will meet with Deans on research matters; and
• external advise was being sought on the matter of expatriates.

Professor Darvall requested that Deans ensure that proposals to establish Centres conform to the guidelines contained in the Research Policy.

During a further discussion on PC ownership, Professor Darvall agreed to prepare a paper on the matter taking into account the needs of distance education students and other equity related issues.

Document D12/98 was attached.

Dr Gail Ellis, Planning Advisor - Academic Planning Support Unit and Associate Professor Merran Evans, Chair - Teaching & Learning Plan Working Party were in attendance for this item.

Following an introduction by the Vice-Chancellor, Professor Lindsay advised the Committee that the document would be launched on Thursday 26 March and that the next phase of the project would focus on implementing the strategies specified in the plan.

Following extensive discussion of the document, it was noted that the plan was part of the strategic planning cycle and that faculty input to the ongoing development of the plan was essential and welcome.

Document D13/98 was attached.

Mr P Summers was in attendance for this item.

Professor Lindsay advised the Committee that the intent of the document was to clarify and more fully explicate the role of Campus Directors.

During discussion of the document, the following matters were raised:

• recommendation 4, dot point 2, should include a reference to consultation with Deans where appropriate;
• during discussion on the role of Campus Directors in the allocation/provision of teaching space, the Committee was advised that Campus Directors could enable/facilitate a solution via the Assistant General Manager, Mr J Trembath. In addition, the Committee was advised that the Physical Resources Subcommittee was currently reviewing the matter; and
• recommendation 7, point (vi) be amended to include mention of campus aesthetics.

In conclusion, it was noted that a Campus Director could refer any matter pertaining to a campus to the relevant person(s) and set in train discussions that would lead to the effective resolution of an issue.

Mr Peter Marshall, Assistant General Manager - Personnel Services, was present for this item.

Mr Marshall provided an update on the status of the enterprise bargaining process for academic and general staff.

Mr Wade advised the Committee that Mr John Matthews, Assistant General Manager - Finance, had completed negotiations with the State Government to enable Monash University to lease computing equipment under the government’s computer purchasing arrangements.

The Vice-Chancellor advised the Committee that the Chancellor, Mr D W Rogers, would not be seeking a further term of office and that Deans could forward suggestions of suitable replacements to his office.

The next scheduled Committee of Deans meeting will be held on 7 April at 2.15pm in the Sir George Lush Room.

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