Education Committee Meeting 5-2007

Meeting No. 5/2007 of the Education Committee was held on Wednesday 5 September 2007, in the Sir George Lush Room, Building 3a, Clayton campus, between 2.15pm and 2.54pm.

There were present:

Professor Phil Steele (Acting Chair), Professor David Arnott, Ms Sue Bell, Associate Professor Gary Codner, Professor Mark Davison, Professor Tony Dingle, Associate Professor Brenton Doecke, Ms Caitlin Grigsby, Ms Glenda Key, Mr Terry Masocco, Associate Professor Louise McCall, Professor David Murphy, Ms Alexandra Phelan, Ms Kate Roth, Professor Peter Stewart, Dr David Taylor, Dr Cristina Varsavsky, Professor William Young

By invitation:

Mr Con Moraitis (for Ms J Tyler)

Apologies:

Professor Merran Evans (Chair), Ms Cathrine Harboe-Ree, Ms Robyn Harris, Professor Owen Hughes, Associate Professor John Hurst, Associate Professor Sally Joy, Professor Max King, Professor Tony Luff, Associate Professor Pam O’Connor, Professor Mark Peel, Dr Julie Roberts, Professor Adam Shoemaker, Ms Joanne Tyler, Professor Graham Webb

In attendance:

Ms Samantha Jacob (for Mr Peter Yates), Ms Madeleine Soederberg (Secretary)

Observer:

Mr Kendall Williamson

MINUTES

PART A PROCEDURAL MATTERS

*1. MEMBERSHIP, ATTENDANCE AND APOLOGIES

Professor Steele, Acting Chair, welcomed members and informed the Committee that Professor Evans was unexpectedly not available to chair the meeting.

*2. ARRANGEMENT OF AGENDA AND STARRING OF ITEMS

Additional starring of item 9.4 was proposed. A new item, Progress Report on the Academic Programs Offered from Multi Campuses Policy, was added to the agenda as item 13.1.

RESOLUTION 5-2007/1:

Education Committee noted that some items had been starred as requiring discussion, and approved the recommendations for all items other than those starred.

3. MINUTES

RESOLUTION 5-2007/2:

Education Committee confirmed the Minutes of Meeting 4/2007 held on 8 August 2007 to be a true and accurate record.

PART B POLICY & COMMITTEE MATTERS

4. MATTERS ARISING FROM THE MINUTES

*5. ITEMS FROM ACADEMIC BOARD

The Committee noted that Academic Board Meeting 5/2007:

approved the revised Credit (including RPL) Policy and noted the Credit Transfer Procedures;
approved the revised Academic and Administrative Complaints and Grievances Policy and noted the accompanying Procedures; and
approved the definition of zero credit point coursework units.

6. MATTERS ARISING FROM BOARD OF STUDIES OF MONASH SOUTH AFRICA

RESOLUTION 5-2007/3:

Education Committee received and noted the minutes of the Board of Studies meetings 2, 3 and 4/2007.

For Action/Information: Ms Zine Nzuza

7. MATTERS ARISING FROM ACADEMIC ADVISORY BOARD (MONASH UNIVERSITY MALAYSIA)

RESOLUTION 5-2007/4:

Education Committee received and noted the minutes of the Academic Advisory Board meetings held on 27 March and 2 July 2007.

For Action/Information: Ms Sharada Krishnan

8. MATTERS ARISING FROM EDUCATION POLICY AND PROGRAMS COMMITTEE (EPPC)

RESOLUTION 5-2007/5:

Education Committee received and noted the report of meeting 5/2007 of the Education Policy and Programs Committee.

For Action/Information: Ms M Soederberg

9. MATTERS ARISING FROM COURSEWORK ADMISSIONS AND SCHOLARSHIPS COMMITTEE

9.1 Receipt of Report

RESOLUTION 5-2007/6:

Education Committee received and noted the Report of Meeting 3/2007 of the Coursework Admissions and Scholarships Committee held on 9 August 2007.

For Action/Information: Ms J Perdriau

9.2 Revised Membership Structure

RESOLUTION 5-2007/7:

Education Committee approved the revised CASC membership structure.

For Action/Information: Ms J Perdriau

*9.3 Recruitment of Top 5% Students

The Chair invited members of the Committee to comment on the report on recent CASC discussions regarding increasing the Monash market share of top 5% students.

A comment was made that the report did not outline specific strategies to improve performance.

Associate Professor Codner briefed the Committee on the Faculty of Engineering Excellence Awards which includes both scholarships and a leadership program in collaboration with industry.

A student representative made the comment that they would welcome the removal of full fee places.

RESOLUTION 5-2007/8:

Education Committee received and noted the report on CASC discussions regarding the recruitment of top 5% students.

For Action/Information: Ms J Perdriau

*9.4 Coursework Scholarships Policy and Procedures

Members raised concerns in relation to where responsibility lies for the administration of scholarships, in particular industry based faculty scholarships.

RESOLUTION 5-2007/9:

Education Committee referred the Coursework Scholarships Policy and Procedures to EPPC for further discussion in particular relating to industry based scholarships and further clarification.

For Action/Information: Ms J Perdriau, Ms Kate Duyvestyn

10. MATTERS ARISING FROM EMPLOYMENT AND EMPLOYABILITY OUTCOMES COMMITTEE (EEOC)

RESOLUTION 5-2007/10:

Education Committee noted the report from the Employment and Employability Outcomes Committee.

For Action/Information: Ms Joanne Tyler

PART C OTHER ITEMS

*11. GOOD UNIVERSITIES GUIDE

A briefing paper on Monash University’s rating in the Good Universities Guide 2008 Edition had been sent out with the agenda. A paper was tabled at the meeting, providing further explanation and sources of the ratings.

During discussion members requested further information on:

How data for ‘staff qualification’ is collected
Faculty figures in relation to table 4 (if available)
How data for the Good Universities Guide is collected and verified
Implications of the ratings in the Good Universities Guide

RESOLUTION 5-2007/11:

Education Committee requested further information about the data collection process and background figures used for the ratings. Moreover, the Committee requested comments as to what the implications of these figures are for the University and Faculties respectively.

For Action/Information: Professor M Evans

*12. LEARNING AND TEACHING PERFORMANCE FUND 2008 – MONASH RESULTS

RESOLUTION 5-2007/12:

Education Committee noted the report on the Learning and Teaching Performance Fund 2008.

For Action/Information: Professor M Evans

*13. OTHER BUSINESS

13.1 Progress Report on the Academic Programs Offered from Multi Campuses Policy

The Chair reminded Faculty representatives of the Committee to send in reports in regards to the implementation of the policy. Reports are needed before 14 September.

13.2 Graduate Attributes Implementation Group

Professor Murphy informed the Committee that the Graduate Attributes Implementation Group had been formed and the first meeting is to be held soon.

13.3 Unit Guide Template

Professor Murphy informed the Committee that a policy guiding the use of the Unit Guide Template had been submitted to the Learning, Teaching and Quality Committee for consideration.

PART D FACULTY REPORTS

*14. BIANNUAL FACULTY REPORTS ON APPROVED COURSE AND UNIT DEVELOPMENTS

The Chair informed the Committee that, in the absence of Professor Evans, a discussion about the reporting arrangements would be held at a later occasion, either via email or at a later meeting.

RESOLUTION 5-2007/13:

That Education Committee note the reports received from Faculties.

PART E NEXT MEETING

15. NEXT MEETING

Final submissions for the agenda for Meeting 6/2007 are due by Wednesday, 26 September 2007. Meeting 6/2007 will be held on Wednesday 10 October 2007 at 2.15pm in the Sir George Lush Room, Building 3a, Clayton Campus.