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Committee of Deans Meeting 4-2003Meeting 4/2003 of the Committee of Deans was held between 2.15pm and 4:55pm on Tuesday, 3 June, 2003 in the Sir George Lush Room, ground floor, University Offices Building 3a, Clayton campus. Tony Calder, Secretary MINUTES1 There were present: Professor Peter Darvall, Vice-Chancellor Professor Alan Lindsay, Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Academic & Planning) Ms Alison Crook, Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Resources) Professor Stephen Parker, Deputy Vice-Chancellor and Dean, Faculty of Law Professor Brian Mackenzie, Pro Vice-Chancellor, Gippsland Campus Professor John Redmond, Dean, Faculty of Art and Design Professor Homer Le Grand, Dean, Faculty of Arts Professor Sue Willis, Dean, Faculty of Education Professor Tam Sridhar, Dean, Faculty of Engineering Professor John Rosenberg, Dean, Faculty of Information Technology Professor Colin Chapman, Dean, Faculty of Pharmacy Professor Rob Norris, Dean, Faculty of Science Professor Max King, Director, Research Graduate School and Deputy Dean, Faculty of Business and Economics Professor Leon Piterman, Deputy Dean, Faculty of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences Mr Tony Pollock, Executive Director, Office of International Development In Attendance: Mr John Levine,
Divisional Director, Financial Resources Management for item 4.1.1 Ms Amanda Lazar, Deputy University Solicitor, Solicitor’s Office for item 4.3.2 Ms Elissa Ashton-Smith, Copyright Officer, Production and Distribution Admin Unit, CeLTS for item 4.3.2 Mr Peter Marshall, Divisional Director, Student and Staff Services Division for items 4.3.3, 4.3.4, 4.4.2 Professor Chris Browne, Associate Chair, Academic Board for items 4.3.3, 4.3.4, 4.3.5 Professor Merran Evans, Director, Planning & Academic Affairs for item 4.3.5 Ms Mary Ingamells, Director, Organisational Development, Office of the DVC (Resources) for item 4.4.1 Apologies: Apologies were received from Professor Gill Palmer, Dean, Faculty of Business and Economics, Professor Nick Saunders, Dean, Faculty of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences and Professor Gary Bouma, Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research and Development). 2 Minutes The minutes of meeting 3/2003 of the Committee of Deans, held on 15 April 2003, were confirmed. The Vice-Chancellor agreed to a request that the unconfirmed Minutes of meeting be distributed electronically to members as soon as practicable after each meeting. 3 Matters arising from the minutes 4 Vice-Chancellor’s Group 4.1 Vice-Chancellor Issues 4.1.1 Our Universities: Backing Australia’s Future Documentation was distributed. (Attachment 2) Professor Darvall introduced the item, noting the agenda papers included the AVCC Higher Education News-National Budget Summary and copies of Fact Sheets issued by the Department of Education, Science and Training (DEST). Members were advised that the AVCC Response to the Higher Reforms in the 2003 Budget was available at the following URL: www.avcc.edu.au/news/budget/2003/response.htm Further, members were informed that the published information supplied by DEST on the level and eligibility of regional campuses to apply for a regional loading for students had used incorrect criteria. While many aspects relating to the budget initiatives have yet to be clarified, DEST had indicated that the criteria would be the EFTSU of the university, not the regional campus. Mr Levine tabled a document (Attachment 21) titled Changes to Monash resulting from the recent Federal Budget. Members noted that if Monash retained the current mix of programs through to 2005 the estimated change in funding in 2005 would be an additional $3.2 million. Following discussion of the proposed budget initiatives, Professor Lindsay noted that a number of strategic issues would need to be further explored in order to identify those initiatives that best suited Monash’s strategic direction. 4.1.2 Reviews 2002: An Update Documentation was distributed. (Attachment 3) The Vice-Chancellor, noting that the document referred to reviews completed in 2002, requested that Deans verify the accuracy of the data in the distributed tables. On the advice of Deans that the schedule of reviews was incomplete, Professor Darvall requested that Deans contact Professor Webb, Director, Centre for Higher Education Quality with an update on the status of 2002 reviews, any completed and/or scheduled reviews of Faculty Research Centres and details of reviews completed prior to 2002. 4.2 Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research and Development) 4.2.1 Publications Grants Committee Documentation was distributed. (Attachment 4) Following discussion, the Vice-Chancellor noted the advice of members that while the Publication Grants Committee fulfilled an important role in promoting scholarly work, the role of the committee, including funding decisions, should be devolved to faculties. Secretarial note: Following the meeting this matter was referred to Professor Bouma and Professor Fox for further action. 4.3 Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Academic and Planning) 4.3.1 Progress Report on Flagship/Global Online Development Program Documentation was distributed. (Attachment 5) Professor Alan Lindsay informed members that the project was making good progress and helping to improve processes and materials through its student-centred approach to development. Members were referred to Appendix 1 which outlined the progress of each project. Deans wishing to expedite progress of a specific project were requested to raise the matter with the Project Manager and/or Professor Lindsay. Further, members were advised that two to three additional projects would commence in 2004. 4.3.2 Briefing on copyright matters including compliance Professor John Harris, Director, Ms Amanda Lazar, and Ms Elissa Ashton-Smith, were in attendance for this item. Professor Harris informed members that administration of copyright at Monash had three main aspects:
Members were advised that a position had been established for a Copyright Officer and Ms Ashton-Smith had been appointed to the position. Further, a Copyright Advisory Group had been established. Ms Lazar outlined the role of the University Solicitor’s Office. Responsibilities include provision of advice on ownership of copyright and investigation of instances where Monash is alleged to have infringed the copyright of others. Matters brought to the attention of members included:
Ms Ashton-Smith informed members that a copyright website had been developed and was located at the following URL: http://www.copyright.monash.edu.au/ Ms Ashton-Smith informed members that the Digital Agenda Amendment to the Copyright Act introduced new challenges when copyright material was used on-line. These include:
To assist in complying with these requirements, the Digitisation Centre had been established; however, as on-line lecture notes were not processed by the Digitisation Centre, academic staff needed to ensure compliance with licence agreements. Concluding the presentation, Professor Harris proposed that Deans nominate a Faculty Copyright Coordinator (academic or general staff member) who would be provided with specialised/targeted training by Ms Ashton-Smith. During discussion, members raised a number of issues including:
Concluding the discussion, the Vice-Chancellor thanked Professor Harris, Ms Lazar and Ms Ashton-Smith for their presentation and noted the support of Deans in nominating a Faculty Copyright Coordinator. Secretarial note: The overheads used during the presentation are attached for the information of members 4.3.3 Revised procedures for Academic Promotion Documentation was distributed. (Attachments 6, 7 and 8) Mr Peter Marshall and Professor Chris Browne were in attendance. Mr Marshall introduced the item and informed members that Professor Lindsay had established a Working Party in late 2002 to review proposed changes to the Guidelines. Following further consultation, the proposed revised Guidelines were forwarded to the NTEU for consideration and were now presented to Deans for their comment. During discussion, the following suggestions were provided:
The proposed Guidelines state that "Candidates must allocate weightings to each of the categories of Teaching, Research, Leadership/Management and Community and Professional Service". This was a change from previous years where candidates were permitted to address three of the four categories. Further, in some instances, performance management documentation and employment contracts had been signed that included involvement in only three of the four categories. OUTCOME: Noting the wide range of issues relating to this requirement, including the need to comply with existing legal obligations, the scheduled discussion at the Deans Discussion Group on the teaching/research nexus and the need to address whether, as a teaching and research university, Monash should countenance teaching only appointments of less than 10% in teaching and research, the Vice-Chancellor summarised the outcome as follows:
An anomaly existed such that the weighting for teaching and research in this category was 40% with a minimum of 15% in both whereas candidates applying under the normal process could, if they chose, have a minimum weighting in either teaching or research of 10%. OUTCOME: The minimum weighting for either research or teaching in the section be set at 10%.
The membership of the Review Panel should not include any member that was involved in assessing the initial application (ensure natural justice principles apply). OUTCOME: Clarify the Guidelines to clearly indicate that members of the Review Panel must have had no previous involvement in assessing the application for promotion.
The inclusion of non-faculty based staff in the membership was queried as was the appropriateness of having (elected) Senior Lecturers on a committee assessing applications for promotion to Associate Professor. OUTCOME: As a consensus on the issue was not reached, Deans were advised that the issue would be reconsidered for the 2004 promotion round. 4.3.4 Proposed procedures for the accelerated appointment to Associate Professor and to appoint a Senior Lecturer to the position of Associate Professor for a fixed term. Documentation was distributed. (Attachment 9,10 and 11) Mr Peter Marshall and Professor Chris Browne were in attendance. Professor Lindsay informed members that the proposed procedures drew on experience gained from the Special Professorial Appointment Process and were intended to introduce some further flexibility into appointment processes. Following discussion, the Procedure for the Accelerated Appointment to Associate Professor and Procedure to Appoint a Senior Lecturer to the Position of Associate Professor for a Fixed Term were approved subject to some minor editorial changes. 4.3.5 Progress Report: Top 5% Strategies A confidential document was distributed. (Attachment 12) Professor Chris Browne and Professor Merran Evans were in attendance for this item. Professor Lindsay introduced the item, noting that as Deans had received an earlier version of the document, some recommendations had already been progressed. Further, following the establishment of the Working Party as detailed in the agenda papers, matters with policy implications would be returned for discussion at the Committee of Deans. During discussion, it was noted that some members had received a document scheduled to go to the next meeting of Academic Board that detailed proposed changes to university-wide and faculty-based merit scholarships. Members noted that as the recommendations had wide-ranging policy implications for merit-based scholarships, the report should have been considered at a meeting of the Committee of Deans. The Vice-Chancellor requested that the Report on university-wide and faculty-based merit scholarships be circulated to Deans prior to its consideration at Academic Board Concluding the discussion, Professor Lindsay advised members that the Working Party on Strategies for the Top 5% of School Leavers was not a coordinating body, but was intended to address those issues outside the responsibilities of faculties. 4.4 Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Resources) 4.4.1 Discussion Paper – Optimising Organisational Capability – Goal: To build a learning organisation culture A document was distributed. (Attachment 13) Ms Mary Ingamells was in attendance. Ms Crook informed members that Ms Ingamells had met with most Deans to discuss aspects of the proposed strategy and subsequently the Vice-Chancellor’s Group had considered a version of the distributed agenda paper. Ms Ingamells outlined the concept of a ‘learning organisation’ including the objectives of continually developing capacity, the need for a supported ‘Leadership Strategy’ and the alignment of work goals with processes for continuous improvement. During discussion, members provided the following comments:
4.4.2 Additional Duties / Appointments Policy Documentation was distributed (Attachments 14, 15, 16). Mr Peter Marshall was in attendance. Ms Crook introduced the item, noting that Deans had indicated areas of concern with the current Single Appointments and Additional Duties Policy. Mr Marshall informed members that the major limiting aspects of the current policy included restrictions on staff (mainly general staff) undertaking additional appointments as sessional academics and academic staff accepting work in a different discipline area as a sessional academic. Members agreed that the revised policy titled Additional Duties/Appointments Policy was an improvement; however, a member noted that the issue of supporting graduate students via a mix of tutoring appointments and some administrative work was not addressed. Mr Marshall invited members to contact him with any issues not addressed by the policy and advised that he would attempt to identify appropriate solutions. 5 Matters raised by Deans 5.1 Proposal to fill an established position of Professor/Director of Radiation Oncology Documentation was distributed. (Attachment 17) The Committee of Deans endorsed for transmission to Academic Board and Council the proposal of the Faculty of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences to advertise and fill the existing position of Professor/Director of Radiation Oncology. 5.2 Proposal by the Faculty of Business and Economics to establish and fill the following Chair positions: Documentation was distributed. (Attachments 18, 19 and 20) The Committee of Deans endorsed for transmission to Academic Board and Council the proposal of the Faculty of Business and Economics to establish and fill the following Chair positions:
6 Other business 6.1 Proposed discussions items arising from the Cape Schank Planning Days This item was added to the agenda and documentation tabled at the meeting. (Attachment 22) Professor Parker informed members that the Dean’s Discussion Planning Group had met and, noting the importance of maintaining momentum and the need to await the arrival of Professor Larkins for some topics, the tabled schedule of topics for discussion attempted to progress as many major issues as practicable in 2003. Members were advised that where necessary, the Planning Group would attempt to identify an appropriate facilitator for topics and short briefing notes would be supplied for each topic where necessary. The secretary was requested to organise additional meetings of the Deans Discussion Group for July and October. 7 Next meeting The next meeting of the Deans Discussion Group will be held at 4.00pm on Tuesday 24 June 2003 in the City Office. The next meeting of the Committee of Deans will be held at 2.15pm on Tuesday 15 July 2003 in the Sir George Lush Room. |