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

Professor J Anderson, Pro Vice-Chancellor, South Africa Campus

Professor B Bignall, Pro Vice-Chancellor, Malaysia Campus

Professor H Le Grand, Dean, Faculty of Arts

Mr T Calder, Director, Secretariat and Executive Services

Mr Jerry Ellis, Professor Peter Darvall, Dr June Hearn, Ms Wendy Peter, Ms Eleina Tava and Mr Tony Calder left the meeting at 11.15 am. The meeting continued with Mr Paul Ramler AM as Chairman.

An apology was received from Ms Jenny Samms and Professor Gary Bouma, Acting Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research and Development) advised that he would not be in attendance for this meeting.

Council approved requests for special leave for meeting 7/2002 (11 November) for the Chancellor, Mr John Hutchinson and Mr Glenn Barnes and approved requests for special leave for meeting 8/2002 (9 December) for Mr Paul Ramler AM and Mr Glenn Barnes.

Items 1.1 Apologies, 1.2 Special Leave, 1.3 Starring of Items, 1.4 Approval of Non-Starred Items, 2 Confirmation of Minutes of Previous Meeting, 3 Chancellor’s Business, 4 Vice-Chancellor’s Business, 5.1 Update on the selection of a Vice-Chancellor, 7 Report of the Audit Committee, 8.1 Physical Resources Sub-Committee and 11 Report of Equal Opportunity Committee were starred and discussed at the meeting.

Council resolved on the motion of the Chancellor:

‘that all items on the agenda not starred be adopted without discussion, and the action recommended be taken or the information therein noted’.

RESOLUTION CL/6/2002/141

Council received and noted the report of meeting 2/2002 of the Membership Committee of Council held on Sunday, 13 October 2002.

RESOLUTION CL/6/2002/142

Council will recommend to the Minister that Mr John Hutchinson be reappointed as Governor-in-Council appointee and Mr Glenn Barnes and Ms Penny Hutchinson be reappointed as Council appointees for further terms commencing 1 January 2003 and ending 31 December 2005.

RESOLUTION CL/6/2002/143

Council noted the ranked short list of nominees and authorised the Chancellor to approach the nominees, in ranked order, to ascertain their willingness to be nominated to membership of Council to fill the Governor-in-Council vacancy for a term commencing 1 January 2003 and ending 31 December 2005.

(Files RMO1998/2753, RMO1998/2752)

RESOLUTION CL/6/2002/144

Council appointed Mr Paul Ramler AM as a Director of Monash University Foundation Pty. Ltd.

(File RMO1998/2685)

RESOLUTION CL/6/2002/145

Council appointed Mr John Laurie, Mr Peter Carre and Mr Tony Rogers as Directors of Monash Commercial Pty Ltd.

(File RMOR2000/106)

RESOLUTION CL/6/2002/146

Council noted the report of the Vice-Chancellor dated 25 September 2002 on the affixing of the Common Seal to documents executed under Seal pursuant to Statute 8.1, Section 2.1.5.

(File RMO1997/0889)

Authorised observers were admitted to the meeting following confidential items.

RESOLUTION CL/6/2002/147

Council confirmed the Minutes of meeting No. 5/2002 held on Monday, 2 September 2002 subject to the following amendment:

7.1 Process for the Selection of a Vice-Chancellor

That the "proposed composition and membership of the Vice-Chancellorship Selection Committee" be amended as follows:

The Minutes of meeting 4/2002 held on 24 June 2002 were confirmed at meeting 5/2002 held on 2 September 2002. At meeting 6/2002 held on 15 October 2002, a member requested an amendment to the Minutes of meeting 4/2002, however, as the Minutes had been previously confirmed, Council agreed that the matter be resolved at the next meeting of Council.

A paper titled Monash South Africa – 10 Year Financial Projections was tabled at the meeting.

The Chancellor invited Ms Alison Crook, Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Resources) to speak to the report.

Ms Crook introduced the report and informed Council that Appendix A detailed 10 year financial projections based on rapid growth in student enrolments whereas Appendix B was based on a more gradual growth in enrolments with the likely enrolment level expected to fall between the two scenarios.

Noting the advice of Professor Anderson that enquiry levels were significantly higher than at the same time last year and that 270 applications had already been received, of which 50%-70% might result in confirmed enrolments, Ms Crook informed Council that the projections included provision for the construction of an additional seminar/tutorial building and a general purpose building, the current and future costs and income arising from on-campus student accommodation facilities and the removal of projected income from short courses.

Noting the importance of exploring all avenues for reducing overall costs and managing potential risk, Ms Crook advised Council that four possible scenarios were being examined. These were:

1. selling part of the land or jointly developing it – not a preferred option;

2. sale and lease-back of buildings – taxation issues would need to be resolved;

3. funding present and future buildings via an Australian domiciled property trust – further investigation required; and

4. development of a partnership with a South African company/fund.

While noting that option (iv) would diminish Monash’s return in the long term, significant benefits would accrue via increased ‘security’ in the event of political change or disruption, it would significantly reduce the deficit in the early years, provide an incentive and support for increased enrolment of high quality students and assist in establishing the campus as an integral part of the country’s education sector.

Appendices C and D provided draft financial projections based on a possible partnership with a 25% or a 40% stake.

Following discussion of other potential income streams, campus developments and linkages with business, local government, the community and other Monash campuses, members were invited to comment. During a wide-ranging discussion, members provided a range of comments including:

Noting Council’s governance responsibilities, members commented that the role of the campus in South Africa and its relationship with Australian campuses needed to be more clearly articulated, a set of clearly defined key performance indicators covering all areas of performance and risk be put in place, a "worst case scenario" or allowance for a disruption/shock be included in future projections and that Council continue to closely monitor the risks associated with the campus.

Following the campus visit and meetings with students, staff and business and community representatives, members noted the following:

Thanking members for their comments, the Chancellor summarised the discussion noting the importance of Council continuing to focus on the governance issues raised during the discussion and while noting that universities, in this instance Monash, need to balance altruism with sound management practice, Council must ensure that Monash’s role in South Africa is clearly stated. Further, Monash must attempt to mitigate all types of risks in all its ventures.

Concluding the discussion, the Chancellor requested that Council continue to receive further updates, including risk reviews.

Council thanked Professor Anderson and the students and staff at the campus for their contribution to establishing the campus and for meeting with members of Council.

RESOLUTION CL/6/2002/148

Council received the report and noted the advice of the Chancellor, Ms Alison Crook, Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Resources) and Professor John Anderson, Pro Vice-Chancellor, Monash South Africa.

(File RMOR2001/050)

Professor Bob Bignall, Pro Vice-Chancellor, Monash Malaysia, provided Council with an update on recent developments at the Malaysia campus noting that since its first intake of students in July 1998, 2,900 students had enrolled in programs offered by the campus. Noting that the high profile of the campus had resulted in increased demand for courses, Professor Bignall informed Council that not only was the campus generating a surplus but also contributing via payment of a royalty and the movement of fee-paying students from Malaysia to Australia campuses.

Highlights of the past year included:

Commenting on planning for 2003, Council was informed that the campus was continuing to invest in essential development of its infrastructure and facilities, including development of two new undergraduate science laboratories, while continuing with the feasibility study for development of a proposed new campus to cater for the projected growth in enrolments.

During discussion, members raised the following issues:

Noting the importance of tailoring programs for locations, Professor Lindsay agreed to bring to a future meeting of Council, a report on internationalising the curriculum.

The Chancellor, on behalf of Council, congratulated Professor Bignall, the staff and students of Monash University Malaysia for the steady development of the campus.

RESOLUTION CL/6/2002/149

Council received the report and noted the advice of Professor Bob Bignall, Pro Vice-Chancellor, Monash Malaysia.

(File RMOR1998/042)

Professor Le Grand, Chairman, Monash North America, informed Council that Monash was seeking to establish a number of comprehensive partnerships with North American universities and/or research organisations.

Professor Le Grand outlined to Council the benefits of establishing partnerships with leading institutions, the criteria for progressing discussions and progress to date.

Matters discussed included:

Concluding discussions, Mr Paul Ramler advised that further progress reports would be brought to future meetings of Council.

RESOLUTION CL/6/2002/150

Council received the report and noted the advice of Professor Le Grand.

(File RMO2002/1366)

Professor Tam Sridhar provided an update on the selection of a Vice-Chancellor and informed Council that Mr David Pumphrey of Heidrick and Struggles had met with Vice-Chancellor’s Group and other senior staff. During discussion of the composition of expert panels, Council was informed that the Chancellor proposed that the four expert panels would include a number of academic staff.

RESOLUTION CL/6/2002/151

Council noted the advice of Professor Tam Sridhar.

(File RMOR1999/064)

RESOLUTION CL/6/2002/152

Council received the document presented and noted the advice.

(File RMO1998/0037)

The Executive Committee of Council, acting under its delegation from Council, met on 1 October 2002 and approved an offer of appointment as Professor and Director, Monash University Bendigo Clinical School, Faculty of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences as detailed in the document circulated to members of the Executive Committee.

RESOLUTION CL/6/2002/153

Council noted the approval granted by the Executive Committee of Council at its meeting held 1 October 2002.

(File RMO2002/1367)

A member, noting that Audit Committee had considered the recent Victorian Government Review of University Governance, suggested that further consideration be given to ensuring that boards of directors possess appropriate business skills and experience.

The matter of ensuring appropriate oversight of controlled entities was referred back to Audit Committee with a report to be submitted to a future meeting of Council.

RESOLUTION CL/6/2002/154

Council received and noted the report of meeting 2/2002 of the Audit Committee held on 9 September 2002.

RESOLUTION CL/6/2002/155

Council noted the recommendations from the recent review of University Governance by the Victorian Government.

(File RMO2001/0683)

RESOLUTION CL/6/2002/156

Council noted the proposed arrangements to ensure the currency of crisis management plans at each University campus.

(File RMO2001/0164)

Council members were invited to refer to the proceedings of the report of the Audit Committee.

RESOLUTION CL/6/2002/157

A member expressed her concern regarding the offering of naming rights before a benefaction was received. In response, Deputy Chancellor, Mr Paul Ramler, advised that it was normal practice for the offer to precede receipt of the benefaction in order to enable a firm proposal to be made.

RESOLUTION CL/6/2002/158

Council approved the Policy for Naming of Facilities as detailed in the document presented.

(File RMO2001/1445)

Council members were invited to refer to the proceedings of the report of Resources and Finance Committee.

RESOLUTION CL/6/2002/159

Council noted the proceedings of the Resources and Finance Committee meeting held on 12 August 2002.

RESOLUTION CL/6/2002/160

Council received and noted the report on Monash Commercial Pty Ltd.

(File RMOR2000/106)

RESOLUTION CL/6/2002/161

Council received and noted the report of meeting 4/2002 of the Academic Board held on Wednesday, 14 August 2002.

RESOLUTION CL/6/2002/162

Council made the legislation titled Statute 1.1 Interpretation (Amendment No 1 2002) and Faculties Regulations (Amendment No 2 2002).

(File RMO2002/1368, RMO2001/1049)

Council members were invited to refer to the proceedings of the report of the Academic Board.

RESOLUTION CL/6/2002/163

Council noted the proceedings of the Academic Board meeting held on 14 August 2002.

A member expressed her concern about the availability of postgraduate study for disadvantaged groups particularly indigenous students and the lack of assistance to enable study. Professor Bourke advised that the Equal Opportunity Committee did not have access to funding to provide support and that he could provide a paper to Vice-Chancellor’s Group which would include details of the project underway by Monash Postgraduate Association which aimed to identify models for assuring quality of experiences of women undertaking research higher degrees at Monash with a view to a report being submitted to a future meeting of Council. Professor Lindsay advised that a report be sought from Student and Staff Services on access and equity trends and initiatives relating to women postgraduates.

RESOLUTION CL/6/2002/164

Council received and noted the report of the Equal Opportunity Committee meeting 3/2002 held on 19 August 2002.

Council members were invited to refer to the proceedings of the report of Equal Opportunity Committee.

RESOLUTION CL/6/2002/165

Council noted the proceedings of the Equal Opportunity Committee meeting 3/2002 held on 19 August 2002.

RESOLUTION CL/6/2002/166

Council received and noted the reports of the Gippsland Advisory Council meetings 4/2002 held on 9 July 2002 and 5/2002 held on 3 September 2002.

RESOLUTION CL/6/2002/167

Council noted the proceedings of the Gippsland Advisory Council meetings held on 9 July 2002 and 3 September 2002.

RESOLUTION CL/6/2002/168

Council noted that the following had accepted the offer of appointment indicated below and wished to pass on his thanks to Council:

RESOLUTION CL/6/2002/169

Council noted that the following had accepted the indicated offers of appointment approved by the Special Professorial Appointments Committee of Council:

(Files RMOR1999/064, RMO1998/0036)

13.1.2.1 Professor and Director of Women’s, Children’s and Adolescent Health Services, Southern Clinical School, Faculty of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences, and Peninsula Health (Secretarial note: minute 13.2.1 refers)

13.1.2.2 Chair of Public Management, Faculty of Business and Economics and the Australian School of Government (Secretarial note: minute 13.2.2 refers)

RESOLUTION CL/6/2002/170

Council approved the establishment of the selection committees for appointments as a Professor and Director of Women’s, Children’s and Adolescent Health Services, Faculty of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences, and to a Chair of Public Management, Faculty of Business and Economics as detailed in the document presented.

(Files Personnel)

RESOLUTION CL/6/2002/171

Council approved the nomination of the Council member as Council’s nominee to the selection committee as detailed in the document presented.

13.2.1 Professor and Director of Women’s, Children’s and Adolescent Health Services, Southern Clinical School, Faculty of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences, and Peninsula Health (Secretarial note: minute 13.1.2.1 refers)

13.2.2 Chair of Public Management, Faculty of Business and Economics and the Australian School of Government (Secretarial note: minute 13.1.2.2 refers)

RESOLUTION CL/6/2002/172

Council approved the proposal to establish and fill the positions of Professor and Director of Women’s, Children’s and Adolescent Health Services, Southern Clinical School, Faculty of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences, and Peninsula Health and Chair of Public Management, Faculty of Business and Economics.

(Files Personnel)

RESOLUTION CL/6/2002/173

Council noted and ratified the nomination of Professor John Sheridan as a Director of VPAC on and from 24 July 2002.

RESOLUTION CL/6/2002/174

Council appointed Professor John Sheridan as Representative of Monash University for the purposes of Clause 9 of the VPAC Constitution, and authorised the University Solicitor to give formal notice of the appointment to the Company Secretary of VPAC.

(File RMO2001/0474)

RESOLUTION CL/6/2002/175

Council made the regulations entitled Victorian College of Pharmacy Foundation Regulations (Amendment No 1 2002).

(File RMO1998/3126)

RESOLUTION CL/6/2002/176

Council endorsed the proposed Council meeting schedule for 2003 as follows: