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Deans Discussion Group Meeting 5-2003

Meeting 5/2003 of the Deans Discussion Group was held on Tuesday, 29 July 2003 in the Monash City Office, Level 11, 30 Collins Street, Melbourne.

NOTES

1. Attendance and apologies

There were present:

Professor P LeP Darvall, Vice-Chancellor

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

Professor G Bouma, Acting Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research and Development)

Professor S Parker, Deputy Vice-Chancellor and Dean, Faculty of Law

Professor M Liddell, Pro Vice-Chancellor, Monash University Malaysia

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 T Sridhar Dean, Faculty of Engineering

Professor G Gupta, Deputy 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 M King, Director, Research Graduate School

Mr T Pollock, Vice-President, International

Mr P Marshall, Divisional Director, Student and Staff Services

Ms M Jackson, Executive Director, Marketing and Public Affairs

Professor Chris Browne, Associate Chair, Academic Board

Apologies:

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

Professor Brian Mackenzie, Pro Vice-Chancellor, Monash University Gippsland

Professor J Rosenberg, Dean, Faculty of Information Technology

Secretary:

Mr T Calder, Director, Secretariat and Executive Services

2. Notes

Notes of meeting 4/2003 held on 24 June 2003 were received and noted.

3. Matters arising from the Notes of meeting 4/2003

3.1 Monash Identity

Members were informed that the revised Monash Identity including brand attributes and brand architecture had been launched and would be rolled out progressively with the majority of aspects implemented by September.

4. Strategy discussions

4.1 Growth Projections – Professor Stephen Parker

Professor Parker introduced the item noting that attachment 2 Growth Projections and related tables 1 and 2 detailed growth projections by student source where the growth was projected on a straight line basis. Tables 3a to 3d, prepared by Monash International, provided an overview of projected international student demand including a load projection out to 2013.

Members were advised that some discrepancies existed between the two sets of documents due to the treatment of on and offshore students, inclusion of Malaysia and South Africa campus students and the currency/starting point of the data.

Concluding his introduction, Professor Parker advised that while the data provided in the attachment was intended to provide a context for the discussions to be facilitated by Professor Lindsay, members should note that projected straight line growth in EFTSU would result in Monash having 50,000 EFTSU by 2013 with the main driver being demand by international students – particularly from China.

Members noted the following issues should also be considered during the discussion:

  • volatility of student demand would result in variable demand over time;

  • student demographics and how DEST respond to future demographic statistics and its effect on planning;

  • while the supplied data was set at the University level, members noted that disaggregated data at faculty/campus level be of great assistance. Members were informed that this had been the initial intention, however, it became too complex given the time available leading up to the meeting;

  • a strategic objective of Monash was to become less dependent on DEST income; and

  • given the high projected growth rates, was there a lower percentage growth rate that Monash would be prepared to adopt that would defy the projected growth given the ramifications this would have on revenue streams.

4.2 Size, internal discipline mix and the student experience – Professor Alan Lindsay

Introducing the major item for discussion, Professor Lindsay noted the contradiction between the increasing need to plan for the short to medium term while academic planning in areas such as course development often occurred over a longer time span. Further, resource planning was dependent on the University having a clear view of its current and projected teaching and research activities. Outlining a possible planning framework for Monash, Professor Lindsay suggested that a devolved University such as Monash must have a tight planning process based on an approved strategic direction that encompassed all areas of planning including campus and international issues.

Size

Noting that some decisions such as DEST load were to a large degree outside the control of the University, Professor Lindsay suggested that one approach to the issue was that decisions on issues such as international student numbers, size of GPG load, campus issues and research activities would, to a large extent, determine the "size" of Monash.

Opening the topic for discussion, members noted that in response to a statement that Monash had not met its planning target of 10% HDR load, it was suggested that projecting the growth of a cohort of students in percentage terms might not be the most appropriate approach, rather the target should be expressed in a numerical context.

Further comments in relation to HDR student numbers included the need to emphasise those discipline areas that could attract increased numbers of HDR students, the use of international student fees to underpin HDR scholarships, the need to ensure that HDR enrolments were maintained at a suitable level as this helped support the research culture of a faculty, the importance of the HDR experience and the need for a critical mass in a discipline to make the program viable, the price differential between HDR and GPG coursework programs, completion times and the importance of scholarships in attracting domestic and particularly, offshore HDR applicants.

Commenting on some of the issues raised during the discussion, members noted the following:

  • a 1% growth in revenue via increased tuition fees provided a better yield to the University than an increasing focus on student numbers;

  • the "market positioning" of the University was critical to the recruitment of students;

  • the balance of a faculty might be affected by its capacity to attract international students;

  • given the importance of the revenue stream from international student enrolments, it was noted that the preferred campus of destination was not evenly spread across all Australian campuses;

  • a further approach to sharing more evenly the international revenue stream could include revisiting how we "break up" knowledge and determine the discipline boundaries of faculties;

  • the statistical information available for planning purposes was initially designed to assist with DEST reporting, not Monash planning processes;

  • the need to use international fee income to assist with building research capacity within the faculty;

  • it was imperative that the planning process considered all the consequences of a decision including University, faculty and campus ramifications;

  • the staffing implications of higher student numbers and the existing difficulty of attracting quality staff at some campuses/disciplines; and

  • an increase in international student numbers, some with just adequate English language skills, had a resultant effect on classroom teaching style.

Campuses

Professor Lindsay noted that there were several views of campuses including:

  1. The Melbourne Campus – a distributed campus on five sites;

  2. hub and spoke model with Caulfield and Clayton as the hub;

  3. a network of equal campuses; and

  4. a notion of tiered or hierarchy of campuses.

Members discussed the appropriateness of some campuses being demand-driven which would result in a number of "mini Monashs" with a wide range of offerings. Further, members discussed the appropriateness of concentrating discipline areas on campuses, such as Health Sciences at Berwick campus, and the need for theory/model for the campus structure of Monash.

Options for Growth

Members reinforced the view that Monash could not survive on DEST load, particularly given the lack of indexation, and that a modelling exercise was required to provide a range of data including the amount of growth that was required to maintain the current range of activities.

Members also noted that while increasing revenue was important, Monash must reduce costs in all areas, some faculties move into offshore partner-supported programs as this provided a mechanism to improve infrastructure and resource levels even if the offshore program only broke even, profit margins in partner-supported postgraduate programs may not be as attractive as equivalent undergraduate programs and reputational issues relating to Monash involvement in partner-supported programs.

Concluding the discussion, Professor Lindsay suggested that a targeted growth strategy by faculty was required, informed by a range of issues raised during the discussion with two major elements being financial yield per student and reputational issues.

Monash Student Experience

Commenting on the document The Monash Student Experience: Qualities and Values derived from "Leading the Way: Monash 2020", members noted the following:

  • entry to Monash and exiting from Monash should not be conflated to a single issue;

  • the "student experience" included a specific "faculty experience" and a more shared campus experience;

  • the importance of reputational issues to prospective students;

  • the need to clearly identify what we are trying to market and who are our competitors;

  • students were becoming even more selective when selecting a University;

  • most students now work and study "part time";

  • to be an international University involved multi, not uni directional international study options;

  • while Monash provided many opportunities for students to obtain an international experience, funding was the constraining factor to expanding the program; and

  • the process of defining how students experienced Monash at both faculty and campus-level needed to be clearly defined and evidence of that "experience" needed to be systematically collected, disaggregated and analysed in a meaningful way.

Concluding the discussion, Professor Lindsay thanked members for their contributions and suggested that a way forward might be to set the outside parameters for the balance and shape of a future Monash, work through the decisions and consequences while noting the need for a multi-dimensional approach to planning.

Summarising some of the major outcomes of the discussion, Professor Parker noted that the issue of offshore partnerships and mapping the student experience would need to be reassessed when members met to revisit Leading the Way: Monash 2020.

5. Next Meeting

The next meeting of the Deans Discussion Group will be held at 4 pm on Tuesday, 5 August 2003 in the City Office.

The next meeting of the Committee of Deans will be held at 2.15 pm on Tuesday, 2 September 2003 in the Sir George Lush Room.

Distribution

Vice-Chancellor

Deputy Vice-Chancellors

Pro Vice-Chancellors

Deans

Director, Research Graduate School

Vice-President (International)

Deputy Dean, Faculty of Information Technology

Divisional Director, Student and Staff Services

Executive Director, Marketing and Public Affairs

Associate Chairman, Academic Board