Meeting 4/2002 of the Deans Discussion Group was held between 4.00 pm and 8.20 pm on Tuesday, 4 June 2002 in the Monash City Office, Level 11, 30 Collins Street, Melbourne.

Professor D A Robinson, Vice-Chancellor and President, Presiding

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 AO, Deputy Vice-Chancellor and Vice-President (Resources)

Professor B Mackenzie, Pro Vice-Chancellor, Gippsland Campus

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 Brisk, Dean, Faculty of Engineering

Professor J Rosenberg, Dean, Faculty of Information Technology

Professor N Saunders, Dean, Faculty of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences

Professor C Chapman, Dean, Faculty of Pharmacy

Professor R Norris, Dean, Faculty of Science

Professor Stephen Parker, Dean, Faculty of Law

Mr Tony Pollock, Executive Director, Office of International Development

Mr John Levine, Divisional Director, Financial Resources Management

Mr Martin Doulton, General Manager, Sport

Mr Graeme Ivey, Chief Technical Officer, ITS Technical Support Unit

Mr T Calder, Director, Secretariat and Executive Services

Notes of meeting 3/2002 held on 7 May 2002 were received and noted.

Mr Martin Doulton, General Manager, Sport, provided members with an overview on current and future directions including the ‘one Monash membership’, sporting alliances that enabled competing at the highest level to be combined with achieving academic excellence, the possible establishment of a Monash University Academy of Sport, further development of sports related research and educational opportunities, and the aim of seamless access to sporting opportunities within the ‘Greater Monash’.

During discussion, the following issues were raised:

Mr John Levine, Divisional Director, Financial Resources Management informed members that Strategic Cost Management was the progressive implementation of a new financial model that supported the University’s strategic and operational plans.

During discussion, members noted the need for an equal emphasis on research and teaching expenditure in the financial planning template, requested a presentation by Ms Melany Blackwell on Service Level Agreements at the next meeting of the Committee of Deans, and noted that the Strategic Cost Management process was a progressive implementation.

Ms Alison Crook, Deputy Vice-Chancellor and Vice-President (Resources) introduced the Financial Management Policy relating to International Entities noting that the policy would be considered by Council at its meeting on 24 June 2002. Presenting an overview of the document, Ms Crook informed members that the policy aimed to establish a financial management framework based on a transparent costing process that would capture the cost of all phases of an offshore development.

Following an outline of the background and recent activities of the Monash Abroad program, Professor John Redmond, Dean, Faculty of Art and Design invited comments from Deans on the future development of the program.

During discussion, the following issues were discussed:

Concluding the discussion, the Vice-Chancellor thanked Professor Redmond noting that Monash Abroad was a significant success story.

Deans were advised that further consultation was underway to ensure that an appropriate framework was adopted for any future discussion in relation to Singapore.

Mr Graeme Ivey, Chief Technical Officer, ITS Technical Support Unit demonstrated the recently installed audio/visual equipment.

This item was added to the agenda. The Committee approved the proposal of the Faculty of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences to fill the position of Professor and Director of Infectious Diseases.

During a wide-ranging discussion on campus developments, members commented on the role of metropolitan, regional and feeder campuses, the need for a coherent statement detailing the role of each campus, research activities, the need for an appropriate set of programs for each campus, the role of information technology – now and in the future, international students and a range of general and specific issues for Monash campuses.

The Vice-Chancellor thanked members for their contribution and noted that many of the issues raised would be developed over the next twelve months.

The next meeting of the Deans Discussion Group will be held at 4 pm on Wednesday, 31 July 2002 in the City Office.