Meeting 8/2001 of the Committee of Deans was held at 2.15 pm on Tuesday, 20 November, 2001 in the Sir George Lush Room, ground floor, University Offices Building 3a, Clayton campus.

• Professor D A Robinson, Vice-Chancellor and President

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

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

• Professor B Mackenzie, Pro Vice-Chancellor, Gippsland

• Professor J K Redmond, Dean, Faculty of Art and Design

• Professor H Le Grand, Dean, Faculty of Arts

• Professor G Palmer, 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 S Parker, Dean, Faculty of Law

• Professor L Piterman, Deputy Dean for Professor N Saunders, Dean, Faculty of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences

• Professor C B Chapman, Dean, Faculty of Pharmacy

• Associate Professor Michael Page, Associate Dean, Teaching for Professor Robert Norris, Dean, Faculty of Science.

• Professor Merran Evans, Director, Planning & Academic Affairs for item 4.1.2

• Mr Tony Pollock, Executive Director, Office of International Affairs for items 4.1.3 & 4.1.4

• Mr John Levine, Divisional Director, Financial Resources Management Division for item 4.4.1

• Mr Reynold Dias, Deputy Director, Financial Resources Management Division for item 4.4.1

• Ms Bronwyn Shields, Faculty manager, Faculty of Arts for item 4.4.1

• Mr Peter Lawford, Faculty Manager, Faculty of Education for item 4.4.1

• Dr David Whitehead, Faculty Business Manager, Faculty of Engineering for item 4.4.1

• Mr Andrew Patterson, Faculty Manager, Faculty of Law for item 4.4.1

• Mr Steven Scroggie, Manager, Finance & Resources, Faculty of Science for item 4.4.1

• Ms Mandy Cheng, Resources Manager, Faculty of Information Technology for item 4.4.1

• Mr Ian Hesse, Finance Manager, Victorian College of Pharmacy for item 4.4.1

• Ms Janelle Zahmel, faculty Manager, Faculty of Art & Design for item 4.4.1

• Me Janet Kemp, Director of Resources, Faculty of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences for item 4.4.1

• Mr Ken Hobbs, Director of Administration, Faculty of Business and Economics for item 4.4.1

• Ms Michelle Waters, Coordinator Work Life & Family, Equity & Diversity Centre for item 4.4.2

Apologies were received from Professor Nick Saunders, Dean, Faculty of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences and Professor Robert Norris, Dean, Faculty of Science.

The minutes of meeting 7/2001 of the Committee of Deans were confirmed.

A document was attached (Attachment 2).

Professor Darvall informed members that the attached document was compiled from responses following a letter from the Vice-Chancellor to all full professors appointed since 1 January 2000 and all applicants for 2001 ARC grants inviting them to reflect on their experiences and to comment on how best Monash might improve its research performance.

During discussion the following matters were raised:

A document was attached (Attachment 3)

Professor Merran Evans, Director, Planning and Academic Affairs was in attendance for this item.

The Vice-Chancellor informed members that Council, as part of the annual reporting process, had considered the attachment titled University-wide Performance Indicators 2001. During discussion by Council it was suggested that faculties might want to align the performance indicators included in their Operational Plans to better reflect the University-wide Performance Indicators where practicable.

Further, Professor Parker informed members that a component of the Quality Audit would most likely focus on how faculties are utilising the performance indicators.

The Vice-Chancellor requested that Professors Evans and Parker and the Secretary to the Committee of Deans bring to a meeting in early 2002 a report on faculties use of performance indicators and their alignment with University Performance Indicators.

A paper was attached (Attachment 4).

Mr Tony Pollock, Executive Director, Office of International Affairs was in attendance for this item.

The Vice-Chancellor informed members that he hoped that the attached document included all the points raised in previous discussions. Further members were advised that the Global Development Framework would be published in hardcopy as it would remain largely unchanged for a number of years however the Global Development Plan 2002 – 2006 would be included on the Monash website and updated as required.

Mr Tony Pollock, Executive Director, Office of International Affairs was in attendance for this item.

Mr Pollock introduced the discussion paper titled Monash in China: an engagement policy noting the high level of China focussed activity around the Monash community and the restatement of the university’s global development framework. Noting that the overall strategy for China was outlined in the Global Development Plan: 2002 – 2006 Mr Pollock advised that Monash seeks to engage in China on three levels. These are:

Following discussion on the utility of establishing an East Asia forum/steering group, Mr Pollock was requested to contact all Deans and seek their views.

A paper was distributed prior to the meeting.

Professor Willis introduced the item and outlined some of the issues contributing to the ongoing discussion of the Graduate Certificate in Higher Education. These were:

1. The workload of newly appointed academic staff is high particularly as they must complete the Graduate Certificate within their probation period while at the same time establish their research profile.

2. The Enterprise Bargaining Agreement (2000) requires that all academic staff appointed at levels A – D be placed on three years probation. Further, newly appointed academic staff will not know until they have taken up their appointment whether they have been granted a waiver (on the basis of equivalence) or recognition of prior learning for some or all of the Certificate..

Professor Willis noted that the proposals detailed in the paper addressed the above issues in the following manner:

1. Unless granted a waiver, newly appointed staff should be required to complete a minimum of two units of the Certificate during their three year probation period. The remainder of the Certificate would need to be completed within five years with Deans reporting annually to the DVC (Academic & Planning) on the completion status for those academics whose period of probation is concluded and those who have completed five years of service with the university.

2. If a Selection Committee is of the opinion that a successful applicant should not have to undertake the Certificate the Chair of the Selection Committee should submit a report to the Dean who, if satisfied, forwards the report to the University Teaching Qualification Committee (UTQC) for consideration.

In cases where the Chair of UTOC determines that a clear case has not been established then the report will be circulated to members (via email) who will be expected to respond within 48 hours.

Where the Dean or UTOC does not support a waiver the applicant would need to apply for RPL.

In concluding her introduction, Professor Willis requested in principal agreement to the revised process that would be further refined and brought back to a future meeting of the Committee of Deans.

During discussion members raised the following matters:

In concluding the discussion, the Vice-Chancellor thanked members for their contribution and requested that Professor Willis prepare a further paper, taking into account the issues raised at the meeting, for further discussion at the next meeting of the Deans Discussion Group.

A paper was attached (Attachment 5)

Following discussion, it was proposed that the composition of Associate Professor Appointment Committee(s) be:

Minimum number on the panel = 8

A paper was tabled at the meeting (Attachment 10).

Mr John Levine, Divisional Director, Financial Resources Management Division and Mr Reynold Dias, Deputy Director, Financial Resources Management Division were in attendance for this item.

Mr John Levine, Divisional Director, Financial Resources Management Division informed the meeting that the tabled papers provided a comparison of the operating results of faculties for 2000 under the current model and the new financial management process. Mr Levine noted that attributes of the new financial management process included faculties receiving 100% of gross revenues including the assignment of DETYA income on the same basis on which it had been "earned", actual faculty expenses remained unchanged and that central support costs were based on the Activity Based Costing exercise which had examined the costs of the 103 activities performed by the central support areas.

Following an overview of the implications of the new financial management process for each faculty, Mr Levine outlined a proposal to explore the impact of "bundling" related services/activities together in order to have a more manageable set of activities that would also allow comparison to be made between faculties in relation to key cost drivers.

Following discussion, the Vice-Chancellor informed the meeting that ongoing discussions with key faculty staff would continue and that a memorandum on the Strategic Cost Management would be sent to all Deans within the next 48 hours.

A document was attached (Attachment 6)

Ms Michelle Waters, Coordinator Work Life and Family, Equity & Diversity Centre was in attendance for this item.

Ms Waters outlined the proposed implementation of the Work Life and Family Strategy with the objectives of providing flexible employment arrangements that create a working environment that attracts high achievers and which establishes Monash as a preferred employer and that creates an environment where commitment to equity and the principles of gender equity and equal employment opportunity are given practical effect throughout Monash.

Ms Waters requested the support of the Deans of faculties to incorporate the principles of the Work Life Family Strategy into faculty operational plans and structures and advised that she would be pleased to assist with any implementation issues or related issues if requested.

The Committee endorsed the proposal to establish and fill the position of Chair in Linguistics in the School of Languages, Culture and linguistics

The Committee endorsed the proposal to establish and fill the position of Research Professor in the School of Political and Social Inquiry

The Committee endorsed the proposal to establish and fill the position of Professor/Director of Cardiovascular Medicine

The next meeting of the Deans Discussion Group will be held at 4.00pm on Tuesday 4^th December 2002 in the City Office.