Murdoch University Senate

The next meeting of the Senate will be held in the Senate room on Monday 23  February  2004 at 4.30 pm. Afternoon tea will be available in the foyer of the Senate Suite from 4pm. You are asked to wear your name badge.

After the meeting members are invited to have dinner in the Banksia Restaurant. The guest speaker on this occasion is Professor Ralph Simmonds, Foundation Dean of Law, who will take up his appointment as a Justice of the Supreme Court of WA earlier that day. Prof Simmonds will be accompanied by his wife, Francine Giguere.

If you will be unable to remain for dinner, please advise my personal assistant Janis Wittber by 9.30am this Friday morning, so we can finalise catering numbers. [The University is billed for the dinner based on the numbers advised then.] Her number is 9360 2173.

Any Senator who would like additional information on any agenda item, or who has a motion or changes to recommendations which could be included in a supplementary agenda, is encouraged to contact me beforehand via e-mail a.bain@murdoch.edu.au. If you intend to speak to a particular item, please let me know in advance; this will assist the Chancellor in running the meeting.

Andrew Bain
University Secretary
17 February 2004

1.       MEMBERSHIP

Attached is the list of current members of Senate. Dr Jim Macbeth rejoins Senate after an interval of three months since his previous term expired.

The Chancellor has made two appointments to Senate committees:

          Environmental Committee             Ms Carolyn Jakobsen

          Governance Working Party           Mr John Pease (General Counsel)

[Note: At the end of 2002, Senate committee members were appointed for the period 2003-5.]

2.      APOLOGIES

Mr Richard Lester has recorded his apologies for this meeting, as he will be overseas. Any apologies received after circulation of the agenda will be reported to the meeting.

3.       DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST 

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

Senate resolved that at its first meeting each year, Senate receive from the Vice Chancellor an address on the State of the University (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.

This year the address will be in two parts. The first will be a presentation focusing on strategic issues from 2003 and important issues for 2004. The second part will be a presentation of statistical data and a detailed environmental analysis. It will be given at the March meeting of Senate, when more up-to-date statistical information will be available.

The Vice Chancellor will report orally with a powerpoint presentation.

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. The meeting is asked whether there are any key strategic issues Senators wish to discuss this year.

5.       SENATE PRIORITIES 2004

Senate has determined that each year it will set its priorities for the coming year, that is those goals for Senate that are additional to any for the University. This involves consideration of those issues Senate needs to address in order that Senators can fulfil their fiduciary duties and best add value to the University. These priorities should reflect where Senate can act; there must be a correlation with the priorities for the University, although some may be Senate-specific.

In consultation with the Vice Chancellor, the Chancellor provides the following suggestions as a starting point for discussion:

• Murdoch University Foundation
  To support the growth of the Foundation through their own networks and experience.

• Commercial Income
  To assist management in the strategic growth of commercial income and to direct its application.

• AUQA Audit
  To engage with the preparation for the University’s AUQA Audit likely to be scheduled for 2005 to ensure a successful audit is conducted with no significant unexpected outcomes.

Note: Senate's priorities for its work in 2003 were:

• select a new Chancellor

• position the University in the changed higher education context after the federal Government makes decisions arising from the Crossroads review

• ensure that the University budget does not go into deficit for 2003 or 2004, and broaden the University’s sources of funding

• develop strategies for regional campuses

• develop a vibrant campus life

• complete the MasterPlan for the South Street Campus

PART B - OTHER ISSUES FOR DISCUSSION

6.       VICE CHANCELLOR'S REPORT

7.       AUDIT AND RISK MANAGEMENT

The terms of reference of Audit and Risk Management Committee require it to report to Senate once a year “to provide an overview of audit and risk management matters”. Attached is the first such annual report. The Chair of the Committee (Sir William Heseltine) will introduce the report.

The report includes a recommendation to change the terms of reference of the Committee.

8.       CHANCELLOR’S COMMITTEE

The Chancellor’s Committee will be meeting immediately prior to Senate. The Chancellor will report orally on its deliberations.

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.

9.     MINUTES

9.1     Confirmation of Minutes

Senate is asked to confirm the minutes of the meeting held on 24 November 2003.

9.2     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.

10.     ACADEMIC COUNCIL

Attached are the minutes of the meetings of Academic Council held on 3 December 2003 and 28 January 2004. The following items contain recommendations to Senate:

          AC/4/2004               Statute No. 5 – Academic Council
          AC/14/2004             Master by Coursework Degree Regulation 1(1)

Legislation Committee has endorsed the form of the legislative changes proposed.

Attached to the minutes are summaries of the reports of the external reviews of three Schools: Information Technology; Media, Communication and Culture; and Veterinary Biology and Biomedical Science.

11.     RESOURCES COMMITTEE

Attached are the minutes of the meeting of Resources Committee held on 10 February 2004. The following items contain recommendations to Senate:

          RC/1/2004               Phoenix Project
          RC/2/2004               Lake View Apartments
          RC/3/2004               Payments

12.     AUDIT AND RISK MANAGEMENT COMMITTEE

Attached are the minutes of the meeting of Audit and Risk Management Committee held on 3 February 2004. There is one recommendation to Senate; this will be considered as part of agenda item 7 above.

13.     LEGISLATION COMMITTEE

Attached are the minutes of the meeting of Legislation Committee held on 11 February 2004. The following items contain recommendations to Senate:

          LC/1/2004               Statute No. 5 – Academic Council
          LC/2/2004               Master by Coursework Degree Regulations
          LC/3/2004               By-law 42
          LC/4/2004               Student Discipline Statute
          LC/5-6/2004            Fees Regulations

14.     ENVIRONMENTAL COMMITTEE

Attached are the minutes of the meeting of the Environmental Committee held on 26 November 2003. There are no recommendations to Senate.

15.     HONORARY AWARDS AND CEREMONIAL COMMITTEE

Attached are the minutes of the meeting of the Honorary Awards and Ceremonial 5 December 2003. There are no recommendations to Senate.

16.     UNIVERSITY GOVERNANCE

The third National Conference on University Governance was held in Melbourne on 15-16 November. The University was represented by the Chancellor and the University Secretary. This was followed by a national meeting of Chancellors. The Chancellor advised the November meeting of Senate that they will circulate a brief written report. This will be distributed prior to this meeting of Senate, or tabled at the meeting.

17.     ACADEMIC PROMOTIONS

Attached is a report on academic staff granted promotion with effect from 1 January 2004.

18.     SENATE MEETING DATES 2004

The Chancellor has approved two changes to Senate meeting dates for this year:

• the early April meeting date has been brought forward by one week, to Monday 29 March. This is because both the Chancellor and Pro Chancellor will be away on the date set initially.

• the September meeting has reverted to the date initially approved: Monday 27 September. Senators were notified on Christmas Eve that this had been brought forward a week as a result of a clash with a long weekend. This arose because when entering the Senate dates in their diaries, several Senators found that it clashed with the Queen's Birthday holiday. However, it has now been confirmed that the holiday has been proclaimed for 4 October, not the date printed in diaries, so Senate can revert to its initial intention.

Senators were notified of the above by email on 5 February. Senate is asked to endorse the Chancellor’s action in changing these meeting dates.

The full schedule of dates for Senate meetings in 2004 is:

                    Monday 23 February
                    Monday 29 March
                    Monday 17 May
                    Monday 5 July
                    Monday 16 August
                    Monday 27 September
                    Monday 22 November

It is anticipated that the July meeting will be held at the Rockingham Campus and the September meeting in Mandurah.

19.     OFFICIAL SEAL

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 Settlement with Tim Ryan concerning his postgraduate project and intellectual property

• Memorandum of Understanding with Wesfarmers Energy Ltd concerning agreement for construction

• Agreement with other members of the AJ Parker Centre to appoint the University as an agent for the joint venture

• Agreement for Provision of Investment Management Services, with Murdoch Ilo Pty Ltd and Murdoch Ventures Pty Ltd

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Senate meetings will be held at 4.30 pm on the following dates: