Deans Discussion Group Meeting 9-2003

Meeting 9/2003 of the Deans Discussion Group was held at 4.00 pm on Tuesday, 4 November 2003 in the Monash City Office, Level 11, 30 Collins Street, Melbourne. 

NOTES

1. Attendance and apologies

There were present:

Professor R Larkins AO, Vice-Chancellor

Professor A 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 S Parker, Deputy Vice-Chancellor

Professor B Mackenzie, Pro Vice-Chancellor, Gippsland Campus

Professor M Liddell, Pro Vice-Chancellor, Malaysia 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 T Sridhar, Dean, Faculty of Engineering

Professor G Gupta, Acting Dean, Faculty of Information Technology

Professor H P Lee, Acting Dean, Faculty of Law

Professor L Piterman, Acting Dean, Faculty of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences

Professor C Chapman, Dean, Faculty of Pharmacy

Professor R Norris, Dean, Faculty of Science

Mr T Pollock, Vice-President, International

Ms M Jackson, Executive Director, Marketing and Public Affairs

Apologies:

Professor M King, Director, Research Graduate School

Secretary:

Mr T Calder, Director, Secretariat and Executive Services

2. Notes

Notes of meeting 8/2003 held on 7 October 2003 were received and noted.

3. Matters arising from the Notes of meeting 8/2003

3.1 Strategic Framework - 2003-2008 - Professor Richard Larkins

Members welcomed the opportunity to provide input to the document Monash University - Excellence and Diversity and provided a range of suggestions and editorial comment.

Noting that the document would be presented to the 15th December meeting of Council, Professor Larkins requested that further comments and editorial suggestions be forwarded to his office.

4. Strategy discussions

4.1 Leading the Way:  Monash 2020 and Global Development Framework - Professor Richard Larkins and Professor Stephen Parker

Professor Parker introduced the item noting that members had endorsed the general direction of Leading the Way:  Monash 2020 at Cape Schanck and recently endorsed a five year strategic framework.

Noting that a document on matrix management would be presented at a future meeting, Professor Parker invited feedback on the proposal to bring Leading the Way:  Monash 2020 and the Global Development Framework together as a single strategic document under the provisional title of the University Development Framework - Monash 2020.

Professor Larkins invited members to comment on the concept of the University Development Framework - Monash 2020, whether it should replace Leading the Way:  Monash 2020 and the suggestion the Global Development Framework be subsumed into the University Development Framework - Monash 2020.

The general view of members was that the two strategic documents should be incorporated into one strategic document as not only had three years elapsed since Leading the Way:  Monash 2020 was released but it also enabled Monash to reinforce those areas of strategic intent and temper other areas where Monash's intent may have diverged since 2000.  Further, a revision of the content would facilitate the inclusion of areas of strategic importance that were not sufficiently emphasised in the original document such as the addition of a section on management of a multi-campus institution.  It was suggested that the naming of the document could also be part of the creative process.

During the discussion of attachment 4, University Development Framework:  2020, members provided the following comments:

• a stronger statement on the intellectual building blocks of Monash was required (page 2);
• statements on the quality of education and research in Leading the Way could be strengthened;
• during discussion of the three defining themes, Internationalisation, Innovation and Engagement, members provided a range of suggestions including the addition of equity and the use of excellence and diversity or excellence in diversity.  The discussion also explored the appropriateness of the themes as it was suggested that Monash could not claim uniqueness in these areas, although, Monash was unique in that it was both 'multi-campus' and a member of the Go8.  Commenting on the utility of retaining defining themes, members suggested that themes should focus on points of difference with other entities that enabled Monash to differentiate itself from other universities.  Other suggestions included that excellence and quality were fundamental aspirations of a university and that themes should be selected that characterised Monash, and that the themes be incorporated into the Statement of Vision;

Secretarial note: following preparation of the Notes, there was discussion as to whether it was agreed or otherwise to omit the defining themes.  It has been suggested that this matter be further discussed at the first meeting in 2004.

• core values - a member suggested that self-reliance be moved to another area;
• the use of the term "learning organisation" was queried along with "global" - what does global mean?
• the Vision Statement omitted some qualities that promote fairness and integrity;
• during discussion of the statement contained in the GDF in relation to Monash establishing a campus or centre on each continent, members suggested that this statement be revised to "a full or significant centre or significant partnership on each continent" or "full campus, comprehensive partnership or Centre on each continent" or a further suggestion was that "each continent" be changed to "wide-spread around the world".  It was suggested that Professor Parker develop the final wording along the lines discussed.

Secretarial note: Professor Parker has suggested that the following wording be adopted:  "campuses, centres or comprehensive partnerships around the world".

Extending the discussion to how Monash could build on its current base of campuses and centres over the next five years, the question was posed as to whether globalisation, as proposed in Leading the Way, was still the most appropriate strategy. 

Members commented that interactions with institutions in the USA indicated that Monash South Africa was seen as a genuine internationalisation and nation building initiative and the existence of the campus was of value in building relationships in the USA.  Other suggestions/comments by members included that the approach to engagement outside Australia was not well understood by some staff and this could be remedied if staff were included during the conceptual discussion phase and that Monash should identify where it intends to develop its next major centre/major partnership.  Further it was noted that a "global university" consisted of more than just bricks and mortar campuses, centres and partnerships; and

• noting that an important emerging issue would be maximising the use of existing facilities over a 52-week period, members provided suggestions/examples of ways of increasing utilisation of existing physical resources including increased numbers of short course/professional programs and identifying timetabling options that maximised the use of physical assets and enabled students to complete programs over a shorter timeframe.

Members discussed the documents, Policy on Global Developments - Cost Report and Recovery Request and Financial Management Policy Relating to International Entities.  Noting that the policy framework detailed in the Financial Management Policy Relating to International Entities enabled Monash to identify, capture and allocate costs in relation to the three phases of establishing an international entity, members were also advised that the process had an additional benefit in that it also enabled Monash to demonstrate that public funding was used only for appropriate activities.

During the discussion, members commented that the budget processes and management structures relating to off-shore campuses may need refining as while the salary costs of seconding staff to offshore campuses was met by that campus, there was an opportunity cost to the "home campus" that was not identified.

5. Discussion of process of budget setting - Professor Richard Larkins

Following an introduction by the Vice-Chancellor, members participated in a wide-ranging discussion of the recently completed 2004 Budget.  During the discussion, the view was expressed that overall the budget process had introduced a greater degree of transparency and had resulted in additional benefits including facilitating team building and assisting with the communication of the process and outcomes at faculty level.

Members offered a range of suggestions in relation to faculty and University-wide initiatives including that the process should facilitate the discussion of faculty and University-wide initiatives at the same meeting, that improved criteria for faculty initiatives should be developed with one suggested criteria being that the proposed initiative should be clearly able to demonstrate that approval and implementation would increase revenue and/or decrease costs over a short period of time, approved initiatives needed to be linked to the operational planning process, that a contingency line for mid-year initiatives be established and it was suggested that the process of voting could be revised as could the amount of money set aside to fund initiatives.

Other suggestions/comments included:

• Monash's surplus as a percentage of turnover was low;
• the budget should illustrate the benefits, both monetary and student numbers transferring to Australian campuses; and
• the budgets of related/controlled entities would also be included in the process in 2004.

The Vice-Chancellor thanked members for their contribution to the discussion, and on behalf of all concerned, extended thanks to Ms Crook and all staff involved with the process particularly Mr Levine and Mr Dias.

6. Next Meeting

The final meeting of the Deans Discussion Group for 2003 will be held at 4 pm on Wednesday, 17 December 2003 in the City Office. 

The final meeting of the Committee of Deans for 2003 will be held at 2.15 pm on Tuesday, 25 November 2003 in the Sir George Lush Room.

Distribution

Vice-Chancellor

Deputy Vice-Chancellors

Pro Vice-Chancellors

Deans and Acting/Deputy Deans

Director, Research Graduate School

Vice-President (International)

Executive Director, Marketing and Public Affairs