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Policy areas: More information

Honorary appointments - Professional staff

Council approval

Council may approve an honorary appointment, including an appropriate title, to recognise an association with the University by a person who is not a member of the staff of the University. Honorary Professional staff related appointments may be approved for a person associated with an activity which comes within Monash Directions 2025 or a person of sufficient standing in the community.

Title

The title conferred shall be appropriate to denote the honorary appointment and status.

Procedure

The Head of the Administrative Unit refers the proposed appointment to the Dean/Divisional Director for approval. On receipt of an authorised appointment proposal Monash HR will issue an invitation for appointment.

Eligibility criteria

A recommendation for an honorary appointment shall specify the role and responsibilities of the position.

The role description shall specify the principal accountabilities of the honorary position, and shall contain details of the nature of the professional commitments and contribution expected to complement the work of the University.

Honorary appointments may include:

  • professional practitioners of standing who can share their expertise and provide related professional services to students and staff of the University;
  • persons able to provide auxiliary services of value to students and staff of the University such as chaplaincy or in association with, for example, art or music;
  • qualified persons wishing to gain experience, often, but not always, as part of a requirement for professional certification and registration, and who, in return, contribute to the activities of students and staff; and
  • in any other circumstances as recommended by the Head of the Administrative Unit and referred to the Dean/Divisional Director for approval.

Advertising and/or appointment procedures

Honorary appointments will be advertised if appropriate, but in all circumstances shall be approved by the Divisional Director (Monash HR) before any invitation of honorary appointment is issued. A formal invitation is to be made through Monash HR.

The length of appointment will normally be one year but may be up to a maximum term of three years dependant upon the nature of the service, hours of attendance, full-time or fractional basis of the proposed appointment. Any incidental associated expenditure and campus location(s) shall be included in the recommendation from the Head of Administrative Unit to the Divisional Director (Monash HR). Appointment may be subject to probation.

An identity card shall be raised upon request from the person accepting the honorary appointment, showing the term of office of the honorary appointment and SAP identity number and is to be used only for identification and library purposes.

Honorary appointments may be terminated by the Divisional Director (Monash HR)when it is considered to be in the University's interests to do so.

Privileges

No salary attaches to an honorary Professional staff appointment. However, persons accepting honorary appointments may be reimbursed for reasonable out-of-pocket expenses with prior approval by the Head of Administrative Unit incurred in fulfilling their roles. These will normally be agreed at the time of the honorary appointment being offered and as incurred later in the appointment term with prior endorsement by the Head of the Administrative Unit and approved by the Divisional Director (Monash HR). The associated financial liability shall be borne by the budget of the Administrative Unit concerned.

Where the work at the University requires particular access to car parking, the matter needs to be referred to Security and Traffic with endorsement by the Head of the Administrative Unit.

Accommodation

Appropriate office accommodation may be provided, with secretarial support (according to the type of service performed) at the expense of the Administrative Unit or funded through donation or extraneous funds made available to the unit for this purpose.

Obligations of honorary appointees

Honorary appointees are not covered by WorkCover provisions and shall be required to carry appropriate personal professional indemnity insurance or to specify how they are covered in the event of professional indemnity claims. The University's public risk indemnity insurance policies provide cover for the Professional aspects of honorary appointments.