Meeting 5/2002 of the Deans Discussion Group was held between 4.00 pm and 7.50 pm on Wednesday, 31 July 2002 in the Monash City Office, Level 11, 30 Collins Street, Melbourne.

• Professor P LeP Darvall, Vice-Chancellor

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

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

• 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 S Parker, Dean, Faculty of Law

• 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 B Mackenzie, Pro Vice-Chancellor, Gippsland Campus

• Mr T Pollock, Executive Director, Office of International Development

• Ms M Jackson, Executive Director, Marketing and Public Affairs

• Mr T Calder, Director, Secretariat and Executive Services

Commencing the meeting, Professor Peter Darvall thanked Deans for their support and congratulations on his recent appointment as Vice-Chancellor and President. Commenting on the roles of the Vice-Chancellor’s Group, Committee of Deans and Deans Discussion Group, Professor Darvall informed Deans that meetings of the Vice-Chancellor’s Group would continue as previously and any Dean with an item for discussion/consideration on an agenda would be welcome to attend and contribute for the entire meeting.

Referring to meetings of the Committee of Deans and Deans Discussion Group, Professor Darvall informed Deans that he would like to see a clear delineation between the two types of meetings – Committee of Deans with a structured agenda of business whereas meetings of the Deans Discussion Group would consist of fewer items that encouraged free-flowing discussion and debate. Concluding the discussion on meetings with Deans, Professor Darvall asked Deans to agree to Professor Max King, Director, Monash Research Graduate School, attending future meetings of the Committee of Deans.

Other items discussed included the current media strategy for media articles relating to Monash, the apparent leaking of information discussed at meetings of Council to members of the press by some members of Council, and the need to ensure that Deans receive, in a timely manner, complete sets of all Council papers.

Concluding the discussion, Professor Darvall informed Deans that he proposed to ensure that effective communication was maintained with all sections of the University, particularly with Deans.

Notes of meeting 4/2002 held on 4 June 2002 were received and noted.

During further discussion of items 7 and 10 of the Notes for meeting 4/2002 of the Deans Discussion Group, the following matters were raised:

Ms Meredith Jackson presented to members an overview of outcomes taken from "A Report on Monash Brand Positioning Stage 1, Volume 1 of 2" focussing on the perception of campuses and their role within Monash.

Key findings discussed included:

Concluding the presentation, Ms Jackson informed members that all segments were positive about Monash but key brand issues needed consideration. Quality needed to be emphasised in both teaching and research, increased emphasis/clarification was required in relationship building with alumni, a clear strategy defining the position and contribution of campuses was required and the balance of vocational and academic programs needed to be clearly communicated to stakeholders.

Members discussed a range of models including the Deakin Model where there was total uniformity across campuses, the UCLA model where each campus ran virtually autonomously and the Coles Myer model where specific products were placed according to the target market eg Country Road = premium, Myer = bulk and Target = economy.

During the discussion, members raised the following issues:

Concluding the discussion, Professor Darvall suggested that it might be appropriate to have a retreat (advance) to further progress governance and campus planning issues.

Professor Alan Lindsay requested that Deans forward to his office any further input that would assist in progressing Monash’s submission to the review.

Professor Darvall informed Deans that Professor Gary Bouma would be appointed Acting Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research and Development), for a period pending other arrangements.

Following discussions with the Deans, Professor Darvall agreed that the process to select and appoint a long-term Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research and Development), not commence at this time.

Professor Stephen Parker provided an update on the recent opening of the Monash University Centre in London.

Commenting on the future of Monash in Europe, Professor Parker informed members that Professor Arthur Lucas, Principal, King’s College, had reaffirmed his support for the Monash and King’s College initiative, however, Professor Parker noted that development of the relationship may be slower than predicted as King’s College had a medium term view of internationalism which might cause some mismatch of priorities and timeframes.

Commenting on Prato, Professor Parker informed Deans that the Prato Centre was progressing well with many successful events and initiatives being held over the past nine months. Outlining the resourcing of the Centre, Professor Parker suggested that any further increase in activity might necessitate a need to increase the resources allocated to the Centre.

The Berlin Centre, where Monash was one of six partner universities, had yet to be placed in the longer term planning at Monash.

In conclusion, Professor Parker informed Deans that the Europe Steering Group was continuing to look at other areas of Europe.

Mr Tony Pollock informed Deans that, while discussions were still ongoing, the current modelling indicated that Monash would retain a large balance sheet exposure under the current conditions and that it might be appropriate to pursue other options such as the development of a campus with a partner – similar to the development of the current Malaysia campus.

Introducing the discussion, Mr Pollock noted that the preferred teaching model, following the visit by Deans, of face-to-face teaching had priced itself out of the market and that block teaching or supported distance education programs might be the preferred approach. Further, Mr Pollock noted that the proposed relationship was with the "commercial arm", the College and not with the University, and that Monash should attempt to build on existing relationships.

Noting that the faculties of Art and Design, and Arts were still looking at involvement with programs for 2003, members noted issues relating to reputation, research, the role of the Shanghai region and the desire of many prospective students resident in Hong King to undertake study outside the region.

Professor Darvall noted there had been a planning meeting with a subset of Deans to discuss projected student numbers for the proposed new campus.

Members commented on the status of the current relationship with our partner in Malaysia, the proposed sale of existing leases including the current campus site and plans for the new campus where it was proposed that Monash purchase the land and enter into a commercial arrangement for construction of the new campus.

Professor Mike Brisk informed members that the engineering degree in Malaysia had received full accreditation in Malaysia (and most likely in Australia), which had generated a great deal of interest.

The next meeting of the Deans Discussion Group will be held at 4 pm on Tuesday, 27 August 2002 in the City Office.