Committee of Deans Meeting 1-2004

Meeting 1/2004 of the Committee of Deans was held between 4.00pm and 7.56pm on Tuesday, 10 February 2004 in the Monash City Office, Level 11, 30 Collins Street, Melbourne.

Professor R Larkins AO, Vice-Chancellor

Professor S Parker, Deputy Vice-Chancellor

Professor A Lindsay, Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Academic)

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 T Sridhar, Dean, Faculty of Engineering

Professor R Weber, Dean, Faculty of Information Technology

Professor A Freiberg, Dean, Faculty of Law

Professor E Byrne, 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

Professor M Liddell, Pro Vice-Chancellor, Malaysia Campus

Professor John Anderson, Pro Vice-Chancellor, South Africa

Mr T Pollock, Vice-President, International

Mr T Calder, Director, Executive Services

Professor Larkins welcomed Professors Freiberg and Weber to their first meeting of the Committee of Deans.

The minutes of meeting 8/2003 of the Committee of Deans held on 25 November, 2003 were approved.

Notes of meeting 10/2003 of the Deans Discussion Group held on 17 December 2003 were approved.

Professor Larkins provided an outline of the major features of HESA including that the maximum HECS-based student contribution had been set at 25% above current rates, fee-paying domestic undergraduate level set at 35%, introduction of a deferred loan scheme with an up-front fee rather than interest and a range of equity provisions including raising the HECS repayment threshold to $35,000.00.

Members were informed that Mr David Phillips, Managing Director of Phillips Curran Pty Ltd, would provide co-ordinating and advisory support to the Pricing, Positioning and Equity Working Party.

Outlining progress of the Working Party, Professor Lindsay informed members that the Working Party had met four times and a number of potential strategies had emerged, however, some of the earlier strategies relating to campuses and scholarship initiatives were being reconsidered following receipt of tax advice.

Members discussed a range of issues including the inter-relationship between full and partial scholarships and Centrelink benefits, HECS exemptions by year level, provision of subsidised accommodation, students identified as educationally disadvantaged often mapped to socio-economically disadvantaged regions, indexation and the disappointing number of new places allocated to Victoria.

Concluding the discussion, Professor Larkins noted that members would welcome the report being prepared by the Pricing, Positioning and Equity Working Party.

Prior to the meeting, a Senior Management Organisational Chart and Position Description – Deputy Vice-Chancellor and Vice-President, were distributed to members.

Professor Larkins introduced the topic advising members that the discussion was intended to clarify Professor Parker’s role and the reporting lines of a number of staff.

Outlining Professor Parker’s portfolio, the Vice-Chancellor advised that while the title did not include a bracketed descriptor, his role would include responsibility for a range of major initiatives including international development, planning and quality related activities, Acting Vice-Chancellor during absences of the Vice-Chancellor and as alternate for the Vice-Chancellor on a range of matters.

Commenting on the organisational chart, members were advised that there was no suggestion that the reporting lines of Deans would be changed. Deans would continue to report, and have direct access to the Vice-Chancellor.

The Vice-Chancellor introduced a related discussion as to whether it was opportune to introduce a limited number of Pro Vice-Chancellor positions at Monash. During a wide-ranging discussion where no consensus on the introduction of additional Pro Vice-Chancellors was reached, a number of matters were raised for future consideration including:

• nomenclature – the use of the title Executive Dean could be introduced. Further, the use of Executive Director, Director, Divisional Director, Manager etc did not appear to follow a discernable pattern and was confusing;

• the need to progress the issue of promotion to professor; and

• issues relating to split appointments.

The most recent version of Excellence and Diversity was tabled at the meeting.

Professor Larkins informed members that the document now incorporated a "Statement of Purpose" and a brief description of Monash in 2008 and that any further suggested amendments could be forwarded to his office.

Introducing attachment 3 Draft Planning Framework from 2005, Professor Parker informed members that it was an attempt to diagrammatically represent the planning architecture including Monash’s commitment to an Annual Plan.

Elaborating on the Annual Plan, Professor Larkins noted that both central and faculty targets would be incorporated, however, the process would ensure that Monash remained responsive to the environment it operated within.

Providing an overview of the program for the University Planning Conference, members were advised that both the Higher Education Support Act and Excellence and Diversity would be key components of the program with a focus on outcomes that could be incorporated into the Annual Plan.

During the discussion on planning-related issues, members provided the following comments:

• the timing and timelines for preparation of faculty operational plans and financial plans required some refinement;

• further discussion was required on the process for allocating strategic initiative funding;

• campus impact statements required refinement along with matrix issues that impacted across both faculty and campuses; and

• campus urban plans would be progressed following prioritisation of infrastructure development on each campus.

Professor Larkins informed members that the review was progressing according to schedule. Further, enrolment levels for 2004 were not yet available.

Following discussion, members supported a criteria-based procedure for appointment to Sir John Monash Distinguished Professorships and the removal of the limit of three chairs provided the uniqueness and prestige of the appointments was retained.

Members noted the advice that the report on Promotion to Professor was progressing.

The next meeting of the Committee of Deans will be held at 4.00 pm on Tuesday, 23 March 2004 in the City Office.

Vice-Chancellor

Deputy Vice-Chancellor

Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Academic and Planning)

Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research)

Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Resources)

Pro Vice-Chancellors

Deans

Vice-President (International)

Director, Research Graduate School