Professor M Evans, Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Education)

Professor S Fahey, Deputy Vice-Chancellor (International)

Professor E Cornish, Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research)

Mr P Marshall, Vice-President (Administration)

Mr D Pitt, Vice-President (Finance)/Chief Financial Officer

Mr T Calder, Director, Executive Services

Ms L Chatfield
 

Mr Shane Buggle declared a conflict of interest in relation to item 5 Monash University Borrowings: 2007-2008

1.1  Apologies

Mr Jerry Ellis was an apology.

Mr Ron Fairchild was unable to attend the meeting.

1.2  Special Leave

The following Council Members have been granted special leave:

Name	Special Leave
	Meeting No.	Date
Ms Louise Adler	5/2007	6 August 2007
Mr Ian Pyman	5/2007	6 August 2007
Ms Lesley Boston	5/2007	6 August 2007
Mr Peter Redlich	6/2007	7 September 2007
Mr Charles Curwen	6/2007	7 September 2007
Professor Sue Davis	6/2007	7 September 2007
Mr Shane Buggle	6/2007	7 September 2007

1.3  Starring of Items

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 State of the University and 5 Monash University Borrowings: 2007/2008 were "starred" for discussion.

1.4  Approval of Non-Starred Items

Council resolved on the motion of the Chairman that all items on the agenda not starred be adopted without discussion, and the action recommended be taken or the information therein noted.

1.5  Confidential Items

1.5.1  Use of the University Seal

RESOLUTION CL5/2007/133

Council noted the report of the Vice-Chancellor dated 27 July 2007 on the affixing of the Common Seal to documents executed under Seal pursuant to Statute 8.1, Section 2.1.5.

1.6  Admission of Observers

Authorised observers were admitted to the meeting following confidential items.
 

2.1  Minutes of Meeting No 4/2007

A Council Member suggested that the table of 50^th Anniversary activities did not have sufficient focus on academic type activities.

The Vice-Chancellor suggested that the Council Member convey his suggestions to Mr Fairchild and that the Council Member may wish to be added to the membership of the Taskforce.

RESOLUTION CL5/2007/134

Council confirmed the Minutes of Meeting No. 4/2007 held on Monday, 16 July 2007.
 

The Vice-Chancellor spoke to the following matters:

DEST reportable research revenue had risen from $145m in 2005 to $186m in 2006 with total reseach income (2005 to 2006) up by 38%. The category of National Competitive Grants income had shown good improvement in the same period – increasing by 28%. Other achievements included a rise of 25% over 5 years in DEST funded infrastructure grants, Monash ranked 4^th in the Group of Eight in weighted publications and 5^th in HDR completions.

University key performance indicators set a target of Monash being in the top 3 of the Group of Eight. While still having some way to go, Monash had achieved many commendable outcomes and this was a tribute to Professor Edwina Cornish and her staff, Deans and the Monash research community.

Unit evaluation, key feedback on the student experience had risen to 4000 unit evaluations each semester with a response rate of 47%. The University’s performance across the eight quantitative measures, on a time series 2005-2007, indicated progressive improvement. The Monash Experience Questionnaire, with a response rate of approximately 35% also returned improved outcomes in all scales (between 2003 – 2005). The Monash Experience Questionnaire will be administered again in August 2007.

Benchmarking student experience with two other Group of Eight universities indicated that Monash has now overtaken one and was nearing the other comparator university. This data is also a good indicator of the likely outcomes in the future Course Experience Questionnaires (CEQ) administered to students who have completed their course.

Other achievements included an increase from 12.5% (2003) to 33% (2007) in the top 5% of VTAC entrants enrolling at Monash – the improved outcome may have been influenced by the introduction by the University of Melbourne of the ‘Melbourne model’ and the introduction of new health sector related courses at Peninsula campus – in 2006, Monash performed better than the two-year moving average in the CEQ Good Teaching Scale, achieved a marked increase in CEQ Generic Skills and following a performance plateau between 2003-2005, showed marked improvement in the CEQ Overall Satisfaction scale.

The Graduate Destination Survey (GDS) measure of the percentage of Monash graduates employed 4 months out from course completion had been decreasing however in 2006 indicated a marked improvement. The GDS indicator measuring Monash graduates undertaking full time/part time further study shows a decrease between 2005 to 2006.

Key performance indicators, benchmarking Monash’s performance against other Group of Eight universities, highlight that Monash started a long way behind but all indicators, as at 2006, show improvement.

Achievements include the establishment of the Monash Academy of Performing Arts, improved relationships with government as reflected by grants for ARMI, Electron Microscopy and others, the establishment of business and industry liaison groups and the appointment of the Pro Vice-Chancellor (Engagement and Commercialisation).

International student commencements peaked in 2004, declined in 2005 with a gradual recovery since. Monash’s numbers have flattened with a focus on the quality of student intake rather than growth in numbers.

The Faculty of Business and Economics has the greatest share of commencing international students (54%) with students from China and Hong Kong providing 39% of commencing students.

The new Monash Malaysia campus will accommodate 4500 students (stage 1) with improved research facilities. Enrolments at the campus have shown a steady increase with the campus returning a surplus since 2003. The surplus is largely put back into the campus, however given recent events in the region the University could face some reputational risk given the activities of other universities in the region.

Monash South Africa – student enrolment exceeded target and is now over 1700. Over the past three years the campus has bettered the budget target – a diminishing deficit – while the site of the campus is an appreciating capital asset. The new Campus Centre and Learning Commons building opened in February 2007.

The Prato Centre has experienced growth in a number of areas including course delivery, international conferences and workshops held on-site and improved collaboration with universities in the region.

London Office – the shopfront office on the Strand has been closed with the Kings College relationship to be mediated through the Menzies Centre. While changes to the Centre’s operations result in decreased costs, the changes will broaden the university’s involvement with Kings and the University’s of Nottingham and Newcastle.

IITB – Monash Research Academy – the legal structure supporting the partnership is still under development. The first 3 PhD students have been selected and the membership of the Advisory Board includes Sir Gustav Nossal and a number of other eminent persons.

China – further establishing the important relationship with Sichuan University, 32 Deans and senior administrators from Sichuan are attending Monash for a Leadership Program. The Partnership with Shanghai Jiao-Tong University was progressing in selected areas.

The dissolution of Monyx was nearing completion with the outcome resulting in both the University and students getting greater value for their dollars.

A detailed presentation on the outcomes of the second staff Attitude Survey will be provided at meeting 7/2007 however Council was informed that overall satisfaction improved significantly in 2007 compared to 2005. Highlights included an increase in the response rate by 8% (42% in 2007), improvements were achieved in 9 of the 10 benchmark categories and Monash performed better than 73% of organisations when compared with the all industry benchmark.

• continued increase in the % of women in senior positions;

• number of students registering with the Disability Liaison Unit continuing to increase;

• Monash continues to perform well in commencing students across most equity groups;

• attracting and enrolling indigenous students continues to remain relatively static. Professor Evans is leading a taskforce to review the University’s approach to attracting indigenous students.

With the exception of 2002, the University’s consolidated accounts have been in surplus and consolidated net assets now at $1.526m.

Analysis of revenue streams confirms that Commonwealth Government Operating Grants – not adjusted for inflation - are no longer dominant over other major forms of revenue such as HECS and fee income from full fee students.

Student fee income (all sorts) had now replaced government operating grants as the major source of income to the university. Of the consolidated student fee revenue, international student fee revenue made up 75% of the total. Council was invited to note that the outcome of the next Federal election could result in all Australian public Universities being unable to continue to enrol domestic fee-paying students.

In reference to the University’s operating result, excluding the Foundation, companies and offshore campuses, Council was advised that while in 2006 the university continued to achieve a positive result (2006 = $29.6m), improved surpluses were required in order for the University to achieve its objectives.

Data on campus profitability (2004) supported the view that research intensive campuses (e.g. Clayton) operated at a deficit while teaching intensive campuses (e.g. Caulfield) operated at a surplus. University borrowings continued to be carefully monitored to ensure Monash achieved the best result from leveraging its assets. Over the past 3 years the borrowing program had enabled the University to continue to borrow at fine margins to fund its capital and related programs while an additional return of over $100m on investments had been returned to the University. Monash, while having the highest level of borrowings in the sector, was still well within the required borrowing benchmarks.

A summary of the University’s financial position was as follows:

• 2006 consolidated net surplus $59.7m (2005 - $51.9m)

• 2006 consolidated net assets $1.525b (2005 - $1.368b)

• Profit margin – 5.07%

• Current ratio – 0.51:1

• Debt to Equity ratio – 17.61%

Advancement activities continued to support the University’s operations with $14.5m in donations raised in the first 6 months.

Monash continues to use triple bottom line reporting in its annual report. Water saving programs have been implemented on all campuses resulting in decreased water usage.

Matters highlighted included:

• continued improvement in education and research aided by attracting and retaining the best staff;

• continued need to focus on financial independence;

• more industry engagement;

• take greater advantage of the offshore campuses;

• continued development of partnerships in India and China;

• progressive renewal of infrastructure; and

• campus differentiation.

In summary, the Vice-Chancellor advised Council that Monash continued to make excellent progress in the areas of research, education and the student experience. International initiatives were progressing well and the University was financially sound however there were still plenty of challenges ahead.

During the discussion following the Vice-Chancellors address, members requested additional information on a range of topics:

• Unit evaluation response rate had increased particularly in the Faculty of Pharmacy. Feedback to students was an area where improvement needed to occur.

• Student poverty – noting this was a significant problem in Australia, Council was informed that Universities Australia was preparing a report on the matter and the Office of the Vice-Chancellor would request Monash specific data for consideration by Council.

• Professor R Lewis – Director of the Monash Centre for Synchrotron Science would be invited to address Council at a future pre-dinner function.

• Data from Unit Evaluation would be further analysed to identify any differing trends between Australian domiciled students and international students.

• While the University achieved a lower operating surplus in 2006 – compared to 2005 – the consolidated result had been influenced by the cost of restructuring in the Faculty of Information Technology.

• While a number of benchmarks compared Monash’s performance against Group of Eight universities, Monash maintained a significant range of access programs that, while possibly adversely impacting some indicators, access programs were a special and identifying aspect of Monash’s approach to supporting students from disadvantaged backgrounds.

Most indicators show that Monash was moving in the right direction.

• The Prato Centre, while operating at a deficit, is important to Monash’s engagement with Europe and an important component of student’s international activities.

• The operating surplus (consolidated) was improving and Monash was now ranked 3^rd in the Group of Eight.

• In response to a statement that international student recruitment was a very competitive and declining market, the Vice-Chancellor advised that Monash had a strong focus on its international student recruitment activities with an emphasis on the quality of students rather than increasing the number of students.

• Monash was looking to improve its environmental performance by adopting a number of improved practices including retrofitting existing buildings with double glazed windows where appropriate and ensuring that the environmental impact of all new buildings is keenly scrutinised during the planning phase.

Improved transportation practices and other measures such as utilising video conferencing between campuses – rather than travelling – would decrease Monash’s impact on the environment.

• Ongoing areas of concern that would continue to be a management focus included the effects an avian flu pandemic in South East Asia would have on Monash’s student numbers, security issues on campuses and competitive global market for quality staff means Monash must continue to strive to be an employer of choice.

• The current staffing structure and staff numbers in the Advancement Division and level of donations was discussed.

Concluding the item, the Deputy Chancellor thanked the Vice-Chancellor for his informative and clear presentation on how the University was travelling.

RESOLUTION CL5/2007/135

Council noted the advice of the Vice-Chancellor.
 

Mr Shane Buggle advised Council that as an employee of the ANZ Bank he had a potential conflict of interest.

Mr Paul Ramler, advised Council that Resources and Finance Committee had received the documentation relating to this item – by circulation – and had approved the recommendation for consideration by Council.

Mr Redlich distributed a document headed ‘Argument in opposition to Monash Management’s submission for increase in borrowing the amount of $43m’

Mr Redlich advised Council that he could not support the proposed recommendation as he had concerns about the University’s level of borrowings.

The Vice-President (Finance), Mr David Pitt informed Council that:

• $12m of the borrowings would be used to rollover existing debt while $30m would be used to fund new initiatives.

• The proposal was consistent with the information provided to Council at meeting 1/2007 and reconfirmed that net new debt would reduce to zero over the next 3 years contingent on the University continuing to meet its target surplus.

• Monash had achieved an excellent result from the tender process for new borrowings.

• Borrowing benchmarks continued to be met.

• The University continued to monitor its borrowing activities including management of the debt maturity profile.

In response to questions, Mr Pitt advised that:

• While acknowledging that Monash had the highest borrowings of any university in the sector, Monash had taken a prudent approach of leveraging its assets for capital projects while most universities had not. Mr Pitt suggested that other Universities were likely to increase their borrowings in coming years.

• With a Debt to Equity benchmark of 25%, Monash’s borrowings were at 17%.

• Monash was not borrowing to invest and could liquidate assets to cover the debt if needed.

Mr Redlich informed Council that in his view Monash was out of kilter with the rest of the sector and he was uncertain as to whether Foundation funds could be liquidated to meet debt if required.

The Vice-Chancellor informed Council that a recent meeting of peak universities in U.S.A. had noted the need for Universities to leverage their assets to obtain working capital. Further, Monash’s borrowings were below international benchmarks and the University continued to meet all government parameters.

Mr Pitt defined for Council the meaning of Debt to Equity Ratio.

At the conclusion of the discussion Council noted that

• Mr Shane Buggle, an employee of the ANZ Banking Group, would abstain from any vote on the matter.

• Mr Redlich advised that he would not support the recommendation.

Council approved:

• that Monash University accept the offer of a 20 year loan facility offered by the National Australia Bank Limited.

• that any two of the Vice-President (Finance), the Divisional Director – Corporate Finance and/or Treasurer be authorised to sign all documents relating to this facility on behalf of the University.

6.1  Receipt of Report

RESOLUTION CL5/2007/137

Council received and noted the Report of Meeting 4/2007 of the Academic Board, held on Wednesday, 11 July 2007.

6.2  Legislation - Exclusion for Unsatisfactory Progress

RESOLUTION CL5/2007/138

1. Council made Statute 6.2 – Exclusion for Unsatisfactory Progress (Amendment No 1 2007).
2. Council made the Exclusion for Unsatisfactory Progress Regulations (Amendment No 1 2007).

For action or noting by: University Solicitor and Secretary, Academic Board.
 

7.  General Business

7.1  Council Meeting Dates 2008

RESOLUTION CL5/2007/139

Council approved the Council meeting schedule for 2008 as follows:

1/08	12 & 13 February (Council Conference)
2/08	31 March
3/08	26 May
4/08	14 July
5/08	18 Aug (special)
6/08	22 September
7/08	27 October
8/08	8 December

7.2  Posthumous Award

RESOLUTION CL5/2007/140

Council approved the proposal of the Faculty of Information Technology to confer a posthumous award of Master of Information Technology to Mr Andrew James Baker.

For action or noting by: Dean, Faculty of Information Technology, Faculty Manager, Faculty of Information Technology and Manager, Graduations
 

The next meeting of Council is scheduled to be held at 3.30pm on Friday, 7 September 2007 at Sunway Campus, Malaysia.