Meeting 4/2000 of the Deans Discussion Group was held between 4.00 pm and 7:45 pm on Tuesday, 30 May 2000 in the Monash City Office, Level 11, 30 Collins Street, Melbourne.

Professor D A Robinson, Vice-Chancellor and President (Chair)

Mr P Ramler, Deputy Chancellor

Professor P LeP Darvall, Deputy Vice-Chancellor and Vice-President (Research and Development)

Professor A W Lindsay, Deputy Vice-Chancellor and Vice-President (Academic and Planning)

Ms A Crook, Deputy Vice-Chancellor and Vice-President (Resources)

Professor J Anderson, Pro Vice-Chancellor, South Africa

Professor R White, Pro Vice-Chancellor, London

Professor J Redmond, Dean, Faculty of Art and Design

Professor H Le Grand, Dean, Faculty of Arts and Acting Dean, Faculty of Science

Professor A Russell, Acting Dean, Faculty of Business and Economics

Professor S Willis, Dean, Faculty of Education

Professor M L Brisk, Dean, Faculty of Engineering

Professor J Rosenberg, Dean, Faculty of Information Technology

Professor N Saunders, Dean, Faculty of Medicine

Professor C B Chapman, Dean, Faculty of Pharmacy

Mr S Dee, Executive Director, Public Affairs

Mr S Abdurazak, Development Manager, Public Affairs

Mr Phillip Siggins, University Secretariat

An apology was received from Professor S. Parker.

The notes of meeting 3/2000 of the Deans Discussion Group held on 11 April 2000 were received.

The Vice-Chancellor welcomed Mr Paul Ramler, Deputy Chancellor, Professor Dick White, Pro Vice-Chancellor, London and Professor Susan Willis, Dean, Faculty of Education (to her first meeting). The Vice-Chancellor also welcomed Mr Stephen Dee, Executive Director, Public Affairs and Mr Serhat Abdurazak, Development Manager, Public Affairs who were in attendance for item 3.1.

The Vice-Chancellor advised that the order of the agenda was amended with item 3.2 Budget Framework to be discussed first.

The Vice-Chancellor invited Mr Ramler to introduce this topic.

Mr Ramler, in introducing the topic, noted that one of the most significant activities for the University was fundraising. There was a clear need for this activity to be adopted as part of the corporate culture of the University. Fund raising had been under consideration for many years but an integrated and coordinated approach across the University had not been in place. However, the presentation before the Deans Discussion Group would enunciate a plan that represented a full and detailed approach to fundraising which included fundamental principles and elaborated the protocols for this activity. Mr Ramler emphasised the need for a collective approach and to break with past practice. He noted recent successes which had arisen from the initiatives taken by areas of the University with the guidance and assistance of Mr Dee and Mr Abdurazak. Mr Ramler commended the proposed fundraising strategy to the Deans Discussion Group.

Mr Stephen Dee presented the proposed strategy. In doing so, he outlined the key factors for success, the protocols and guidelines for the operation of the strategy, the tools available and key elements of the program.

Mr Dee defined fundraising as a process of careful cultivation of relationships. He identified the general cycle of development which included identifying prospects, developing the prospects’ awareness and sympathy, inviting the prospects to become involved and presenting them with well targeted opportunities for support and investment. Once donors became significantly involved, it was frequently the case that they would help to identify new prospects.

Mr Dee outlined the conditions for successful fundraising. Integral to this process was the reputation and image of Monash. Monash must build and maintain a high public profile and must present itself as a strong, dynamic and united organisation that consistently achieved the highest possible standards. Internally, a culture would need to be inculcated in which staff understood and took responsibility for the quality of external relationships. There was a need for staff to be well informed about the greater Monash and to communicate with colleagues.

Mr Dee commented on the need for internal discipline. All campaigns would require University endorsement. Campaigns would be managed strategically and approaches to prospects would be well targeted. Any presentations would be conducted professionally and enhanced internal communication would be necessary.

Fund raising protocols were presented. To be successful campaigns would need to be consistently of a high standard with duplications eliminated and donors and sponsors properly acknowledged. The University would need to look and act as one institution and with all campaigns receiving University endorsement. Mr Dee then presented three protocols as follows:

Endorsement would depend upon a strong case being presented, the availability of strong leadership, potential clashes (both internal or elsewhere) eliminated and the establishment of the likelihood of a successful outcome.

Integral to the campaign strategy was the establishment of a campaign committee, a thorough list of prospects, development of appropriate campaign material, consideration of naming rights or other benefits to be offered to the prospect and the establishment of a timeline for the campaign.

This protocol required the reporting of all approaches, both successful or otherwise.

Mr Dee commented on the existing database and noted that it contained a very strong prospects module. It was imperative that anyone contemplating fundraising would need to know who else was in contact with the prospect. The development unit, through the database, was in a strong position to coordinate approaches.

Mr Dee commented on the role of the development office which could provide training, support and advice, information on prospects, campaign coordination, a registry of donors and the management of donations. The development office was constantly researching information and Mr Abdurazak was available to act as executive secretary to campaign committees.

Mr Dee identified some development "tools". These included the prospects database, the MCG box, race day and venues such as 30 Collins Street, Robert Blackwood Hall, the Alexander Theatre, Monash University Gallery, Monash House and the Art and Design building. These venues provided very suitable settings for fundraising occasions. Other elements that might be utilised strategically were protocol staff, publications and Monash artists including the string quartet.

The role of the Public Affairs Division in fundraising was outlined. Mr Dee concluded his part of the presentation with describing elements of the development program. These included the revival of targeted annual giving, faculty/centre/project fundraising, bequests, the capital campaign, international fundraising and corporate/government networking.

Mr Dee concluded that the process of fundraising involved, via the cultivation of relationships, educating people in philanthropy which was increasingly essential to the University’s future.

Mr Abdurazak was then invited to comment on the fundraising strategy and he provided an overview of current activities including a program of meeting with Deans to ascertain their needs and appropriate targeting for the faculties.

Mr Ramler closed the presentation commenting that fundraising supports/increases the University’s self-reliance and offers a path to future activities. He emphasized the need for Deans and their staff to take ownership of the process and to acknowledge the need for central co-ordination of the process.

Discussion following the presentation dealt with a range of issues including the role of Faculty Foundations (these were seen as an essential platform for fund raising efforts), the "seeding" of campaigns, the need for Deans to be closely involved and have oversight of fundraising activities in their faculties and mechanisms to respect and reward the efforts made by the faculties. There were also comments on the need to bring staff along with the leaders in these campaigns and to enter into dialogue with people at the top of institutions and to be mindful of what Monash could offer to such prospective donors.

At the conclusion of discussion, the Vice-Chancellor thanked Mr Ramler, Mr Dee and Mr Abdurazak for the presentation.

Ms Crook spoke to this item and reported that the introduction of the new financial management model would be phased in progressively over 2001 and the next 2 years. Faculties would be asked to give consideration to establishing the revenues necessary for their operations. Simultaneously, charging for costs such as space usage would be introduced. When real costs and revenues had been identified, profits could be identified and appropriately deployed. There would be supplementation of some faculties/centres and initiatives but the process would be transparent.

The current model would be used for the 2001 budget but there would be opportunities to pilot new courses and the process of identifying central support services would be underway. Costing exercises would start in 2000 and the introduction of nominal charging would commence in 2001. The model should be fully functional by 2003.

With regard to the Budget for 2001, Mr Levine and Mr Dias would be consulting with Deans over the next few weeks.

Ms Crook explained that the new financial management model was intended to bring greater transparency to the budgetary process and to facilitate the easier funding of cross-faculty programs and initiatives.

Members commented on relative teaching weights noting that as such they had been established to reflect the true costs of funding the different programs of the University.

Ms Crook advised that a discussion of the merits or otherwise of the relative funding model would have to take place.

In response to a question about the cost of infrastructure replacement and renewal, Ms Crook advised that this would be given consideration, but the first step would be to establish running costs. Funding of campuses would also be modified under the new financial management model and would be based on an understanding of their infrastructure, staffing and other needs. Discussion turned to the particular needs of the Gippsland campus, and the Vice-Chancellor advised members of the appointment of the incoming Pro Vice-Chancellor (Gippsland)

Members were enthusiastic about the capacity to mobilise behind cross faculty programs. Criteria for such programs were discussed and the following were suggested. Cross faculty programs would:

Members endorsed the criteria and agreed to give further consideration to this at later meetings.

The Vice-Chancellor reported that the role of Associate Deans had arisen as an issue in different quarters. The Vice-Chancellor had determined that the agenda for Associate Deans (International) must not overlap with that of CADeTS as teaching, learning and course matters were under the aegis of CADeTS. Associate Deans (International) were to focus on international relationships and progress with international initiatives but not on course approval matters. It was timely to give thought to the overall contribution of Associate Deans.

General observations were that:

Concluding the discussion, the Vice-Chancellor noted that Professor Lindsay and Professor Darvall would give further consideration to the roles of the Education Committee and the PhD and Scholarships Committee structures respectively particularly in relation to postgraduate coursework and propose appropriate modifications to them in relation to the roles of Associate Deans.

Professor White reported that he had been impressed by the enthusiasm of the Monash staff for London developments. He had communicated widely at Kings about Monash and the advantages of links with Monash. He asked Deans to encourage staff to consider what they could contribute in terms of courses including flexible programs supported at distance. The meeting noted that Professor White would present a report at the next meeting of Academic Board (7 June).

In closing the meeting, the Vice-Chancellor thanked Professor Allen Russell for his contribution to both the Committee of Deans and Deans Discussion Group in his capacity as Acting Dean, Faculty of Business and Economics.

The meeting closed at 7.45 pm.

The next ordinary meeting of the Committee of Deans will be held at 2.15 pm on Tuesday, 4 July 2000 in the Sir George Lush Room.

The next meeting of the Deans Discussion Group will be held at 4.00 pm on Tuesday, 25 July 2000 in the City Office.

Vice-Chancellor and President
Deputy Vice-Chancellors and Vice Presidents