Deans Discussion Group Meeting 7-2002

Meeting 7/2002 of the Deans Discussion Group was held between 4.00 pm and 8.00pm on Tuesday, 5 November 2002 in the Monash City Office, Level 11, 30 Collins Street, Melbourne.

Tony Calder, Secretary

There were present:

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 G Bouma, Acting Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research and Development)
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 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 M King, Director, Research Graduate School

In attendance:

Mr John Levine, Divisional Director, Financial Services Management

Mr Peter Marshall, Divisional Director, Student and Staff Services

Mr Stephen Davey, Divisional Director, Facilities and Services

Mr Alan McMeekin, Executive Director, Information Technology Services

Mr Reynold Dias, Deputy Director, Financial Services Management

Ms Jennifer Vero, Planning Advisor, Planning and Academic Affairs

Secretary:

Mr T Calder, Director, Secretariat and Executive Services

2. Notes

Notes of meeting 5/2002 held on 31 July 2002 were received and noted.

Professor Darvall informed Deans that an advance/retreat would not be held in 2002, however, one may be scheduled for 2003.

Mr J Levine, Divisional Director, Financial Services Management and Mr R Dias, Deputy Director, Financial Services Management  were in attendance for this item.

Introducing the budget discussion, Ms Crook outlined the background to the introduction of Strategic Cost Management (SCM) and informed Deans that all universities were facing pressures from decreasing EFTSU funding and increased costs resulting from implementation of enterprise bargaining agreements.  Further, it was noted that the tertiary education sector was not a "vote winner".  Outcomes of the pressures on University finances included declining moral amongst academics, increased student/staff ratios, divisions within the University and a greater reliance on international student fees.

In order to respond to these issues, members were informed that the responsibilities of management included the need to implement both short and long term strategies.  SCM provided the costing information to support the budget which, in turn, supported the strategic directions of the University - SCM would not drive decision making rather it was one of a range of tools to inform decision making.

Members discussed a range of issues relating to the introduction of SCM including:

• the introduction of Activity Based Costing noting that implementation of the process in some faculties had yet to commence;

• the need for further discussions on the charging for space;

• the roll out of Service Level Agreements;

• the need for a timetable setting out the steps for 2003;

• a proposal that the setting of strategic priorities be addressed at an advanced/retreat in 2003; and

• the need for a mechanism/forum to discuss major macro issues.

A document detailing faculty revenues and expenses was tabled.  Members discussed the tabled paper noting the advice of the Vice-Chancellor that the notional contribution to research support had no status and needed to be revisited.

Mr S Davey, Divisional Director, Facilities and Services, Mr P Marshall, Divisional Director, Student and Staff Services and Mr A McMeekin, Executive Director, Information Technology Services, provided members with an overview of their divisional budgets including major cost drivers, key performance indicators and service delivery objectives.

Professor Darvall thanked all participants in the discussions and noted that further discussion of the Budget 2003 would be scheduled.

Ms J Vero, Planning Advisor, Planning and Academic Affairs, was in attendance for this item.

Members were invited to comment on the draft document, Faculty Operational Plans 2004-2006 Guidelines 2002/3.  Members commented that the schematic of the strategic operational and financial planning process should emphasise the importance of faculty plans driving the process, that the planning process needed to retain some flexibility and that the 2003 advance/retreat should include a session(s) on the style, process and timetable for preparing operational plans.

Members were invited to submit comments on the draft guidelines to Professor Lindsay.

Members noted the progress report on Monash in North America and the request of Professor Le Grand, Chairman, Monash North America, to visit "preferred partner" universities if in the vicinity.

In response to questions relating to the process for allocating incentive funding, members were advised that while not finalised, the process may include a representative group with advice from Associate Deans - International, CADRES in relation to staff incentives and the Research Graduate School for student incentives.

South Africa

Members were provided with an update on the recent Council meeting held in South Africa and noted the advice that avenues for reducing overall costs and managing potential risk were being examined.

Noting the strategic role of off-shore campuses, members were advised that this issue could be further discussed at the proposed advance/retreat.

Gippsland

Members had a wide-ranging discussion on the proposed withdrawal of the undergraduate engineering course at Gippsland.

(Secretarial note: members are requested to note that the 2003 meeting dates referred to in the agenda for this meeting have been revised to the following:

The next meeting of the Deans Discussion Group will be held at 4 pm on Tuesday, 3 December 2002 in the City Office.

Vice-Chancellor and President

Deputy Vice-Chancellors and Vice-Presidents

Pro Vice-Chancellors

Deans

Director, Research Gradaute School