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Murdoch University Senate |
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The next meeting of the Senate will be held in the Mandurah City Council chambers, Mandurah Terrace on Monday 14 April 2003 at 4.30pm.
In accordance with Senate resolution, attached is a list of all current Senators. The Nominating Committee recommends that Senate co-opt Sir William Heseltine for a term of three years, commencing when his current term expires on 24 July 2003. The background to this is explained in the report of the Committee, at agenda item 14 below. [Sir William will not join the meeting until after this item.] Ms Gaines and Dr Strawbridge have recorded their apologies for this meeting. Any further apologies received after circulation of the agenda will be reported to the meeting. The Chancellor will ask whether any Senators have an interest to declare concerning any items on this agenda. Senate has adopted the following statement on conflict of interest: Senators have a duty to place the interests of the University before their own personal advantage (financial or otherwise) and the advantage of any other person or organisation (including the group that elected or appointed the Senator). Possible conflicts of interest include: v employment by, shareholding in or directorship of a company dealing with the University v membership of a body that is in competition or conflict with Murdoch University v for Murdoch staff members, out-sourcing or restructuring of their work sections v any matter under discussion that would result in personal financial advantage v government officials who are responsible for an aspect of policy or operations which affects a matter under consideration by the University A matter which arises from membership of the group qualifying the Senator for election to Senate, and which is not otherwise special or personal to the Senator, is not a conflict of interest. (Examples could include students voting on assessment policy, or staff voting on a salary increase for all staff.) At the start of each meeting of Senate and its committees, Senators must declare the nature, character and extent of any conflict of interest. In case of doubt, it is best to acknowledge possible conflict of interest. When conflict of interest is identified the Chair (subject to the views of the meeting) may ask the Senator to leave while the item of business is discussed; to participate in the discussion but withdraw from the meeting before the vote; to stay but not participate in the debate; or to stay with full rights to debate and vote. Where there is a significant conflict of interest, future papers on this matter might not be made available to the Senator concerned. All declarations of interest shall be minuted, along with any ensuing action. In addition, if any member of staff presenting a proposal to Senate or one of its committees has a conflict of interest, the person must declare that interest at the meeting. PART A - MAJOR ISSUES 4. STATE OF THE UNIVERSITY ADDRESS The February meeting of Senate resolved that at its first meeting each year, Senate receive from the Vice Chancellor an address on the State of the University (as at present, using agreed indicators and highlighting successes and challenges) and a report on any changes to the University's external environment. This assists Senate fulfil its role of focusing on strategic issues. The Vice Chancellor will report orally with a powerpoint presentation. An updated environmental analysis will be distributed at that time. Senate also resolved that at the same meeting, Senate identify any key strategic issues which it wishes to discuss during the coming year, and allocate responsibility for preparing discussion papers on them. 5. HIGH LEVEL RISK MANAGEMENT PLAN In October 2002, Senate requested a report on what is required to fast-track implementation of the Risk Management Plan. On the advice of Audit and Risk Management Committee, the November meeting of Senate
Attached is the report arising from this review. The recommendations are listed on page 2. The February Senate meeting considered the report of consultant Maggie Cox who had interviewed Senators and senior executives for their views on the performance of Senate. The report contained 24 recommendations. Several matters were raised in discussion: redrafting recommendation 6, as Senate should not be seeking to influence elections; querying recommendation 8, as Senate would be a rubber-stamp if it is not permitted to debate matters considered by Senate committees; and whether the role of a board in usefully stirring means that sometimes it may have to get involved in operational issues.
Subsequently two Senators conveyed their views to the University Secretary for transmission to the working party. The working party met on 24 March. Its report is attached. PART B - OTHER ISSUES FOR DEBATE 7. VICE CHANCELLOR'S REPORT 8.1 Statute No. 5 - Academic Council The last meeting of Senate approved the attached changes to Statute No. 5 - Academic Council. Notice of the proposed Statute changes has been displayed within the University in accordance with the provisions of section 25 of the Murdoch University Act. At the time of the preparation of this agenda the University Secretary has received no objection to the amendments. Senate is asked to ratify the Statute changes. In accordance with s.25 of the Murdoch University Act, this requires an absolute majority (13 members). 8.2 Statute No. 20 - Examinations This Statute contains a reference to a section of Statute 23 - Student Discipline that changed when that Statute had a major rewrite in 2001. Legislation Committee has recommended that s.6(3) of the Statute be amended by deleting "s.1.2.1" and in its place inserting "s.1.1": In accordance with s.25 of the Murdoch University Act, approval of the Statute change requires the support of an absolute majority of members of the Senate. 8.3 Statute No. 4 - Degrees, Diplomas and Certificates and Statute No. 23 - Student Discipline Last year a case arose of a student who was caught cheating and then withdrew from the University. The University's lawyers advised that the University cannot take action under the Student Discipline Statute against a former student for misconduct, even where the disciplinary action was initiated prior to the student's withdrawal or cessation of enrolment. In order to address this deficiency, Legislation Committee has recommended the attached changes to two Statutes: v Statute No. 4 - Degrees, Diplomas and Certificates: to allow revocation of a degree, diploma or certificate v Statute No. 23 - Student Discipline: to allow disciplinary action to be taken against former students who did not graduate. In accordance with s.25 of the Murdoch University Act, approval of the Statute changes requires the support of an absolute majority of members of the Senate. 9. VICTORIAN GOVERNANCE REPORT On the recommendation of the working party on University companies and consultancies, the October 2002 meeting of Senate resolved to request the University Secretary to review the full Victorian Review of University Governance report and advise Senate of the extent to which the recommendations contained in the report have been considered and/or adopted by the University. Attached is a report from the University Secretary. [This was held over from the agenda of the last Senate meeting, so it could be considered when the chair of the working party is at Senate.] He has concluded that the recommendations that are not in place at Murdoch are # 1, 5-6, 8, 12, 14-16, 18 & 22. Senate is invited to consider whether it wishes to take any action on any of these matters. Those Senators interested in seeing the full Victorian governance report can see it on the web, at: PART C - OTHER ITEMS The Chancellor will put these as a single item for noting and for the acceptance of any recommendations contained in them. Senators may indicate any of these items they wish to reserve for discussion. 10.1 Confirmation of Minutes Senate is asked to confirm the minutes of the meeting held on 24 February 2003. 10.2 Action on Resolutions of the Last Meeting The attached action sheet records the resolutions of the previous meeting and action that had been taken to implement them. It also updates Senate on outstanding action items from previous meetings. Attached are the minutes of the meeting of the Academic Council held on 19 March 2003. The following item contains recommendations to Senate: AC/32/2003 New Courses Legislation Committee has endorsed the form of the legislative changes proposed, subject to modifications outlined in its minutes (see agenda item 13 below). The President of Council has accepted these modifications on behalf of Council. Senate is asked to approve the recommendations, as modified. Attached are the minutes of the meeting of Resources Committee held on 1 April 2003. The following items contain recommendations to Senate: RC/9/2003 Campus Chilled Water Upgrade RC/10/2003 WA Treasury Loan Application - Law Building RC/11/2003 Payments above $100,000 RC/12/2003 Membership of Resources Committee Attached are the minutes of the decisions taken by circulation by Legislation Committee on 7 April 2003. These contain the following recommendations to Senate: LC/7/2003 Guild Regulations 46, 51 and 54 LC/8/2003 Certificate Regulations 1(c) and 1(d) LC/9/2003 Diploma Regulations 1(c) LC/10/2003 Master by Coursework DegreeRegulations 1(1), 2(1) & 2(2) LC/11/2003 Statute No. 20 - Examinations LC/12/2003 Statute No. 4 - Degrees, Diplomas and Certificates and Statute No. 23 - Student Discipline The President of Academic Council (on behalf of Council) has accepted the Committee's proposed changes to Council's recommendations to Senate. The Statute amendments are listed for discussion under agenda item 8 above. Attached are the minutes of a matter considered by circulation by Nominating Committee. There is one recommendation to Senate: NC/1/2003 Co-option to Senate Membership This is listed for discussion under agenda item 1 above. 15. HONORARY AWARDS AND CEREMONIAL COMMITTEE Attached are the minutes of the meeting of the Honorary Awards and Ceremonial Committee held on 21 March 2003. There are no recommendations to Senate: Attached are the minutes of the meeting of the Environmental Committee held on 26 February 2003. There are no recommendations to Senate. 17. PERFORMANCE OBJECTIVES OF THE SENIOR EXECUTIVES In August 2001 Senate resolved [S/70/2001] that Senate be informed of the performance objectives set for the senior executives by the Vice Chancellor. The setting of these objectives and the performance appraisal of senior executives rests with the Vice Chancellor; the Vice Chancellor's performance objectives include the appointment and management of an effective senior executive team. These resolutions were on the recommendation of the Senate processes working party, which gave the following rationale: Senate should also be involved in the performance management of the executive. Currently the Chancellor's Committee sets the performance objectives for the Vice Chancellor, and reviews his performance annually. [The Chancellor's Committee comprises the Chancellor, Pro Chancellor, Chair of Resources Committee and at least two other lay Senators appointed by the Chancellor.] The Vice Chancellor does likewise for the senior executive (Deputy Vice Chancellor, Pro Vice Chancellors, Executive Deans and Principal of the Rockingham Campus); Senate is not involved at all. It is suggested that the Chancellor's Committee recommend to Senate on the performance criteria set for the Vice Chancellor. The Vice Chancellor should set the performance criteria for the senior executives and inform Senate of the criteria as these signal the priorities and directions of management, which need to be aligned with those of the governing body. Attached is a report from the Vice Chancellor on performance objectives for the senior executives. This is for information. In accordance with resolution 90/85, the Official Seal of the University has been applied to the following documents since the last meeting of Senate -
- Deed of Licence with S.M.E. Severgnini re licensing the student's intellectual property - Deed of Licence with Mr Travis Woodward re licensing the student's intellectual property - Lease Agreement with Somerville Baptist College Inc. for continuing lease of part of the Murdoch Campus by the College. [Expiry date June 2010] - NHMRC Research Funding Schemes Deed - Deed of Novation with the Minister for State Development and the Minister of Science concerning the State of WA taking over the obligations and rights of the Minister for State Development with respect to funding contracts for the Environmental Technology Centre and the Centre for Organic Waste Management - Deed of Novation with the Minister for State Development, the Minister of Science and Curtin University concerning the State of WA taking over the obligations and rights of the Minister for State Development with respect to funding contracts for the WA Biomedical Research Institute, the Centre for Intelligent Process Operations Management and the Centre for High-throughput Agricultural Genetic Analysis - First Deed of Variation with Environmental Solutions International Ltd - Deed of Agreement Variation with NHMRC --- Senate meetings will be held at 4.30 pm on the following dates:
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