Murdoch University Senate

SENATE AGENDA
17 MAY 2004

The next meeting of the Senate will be held in the Senate room on Monday 17 May 2004 at 4.30pm. Afternoon tea will be available in the foyer of the Senate Suite from 4pm. You are asked to wear your name badge.

1.       MEMBERSHIP

Attached is the list of current members of Senate.

Executive Council is in the process of appointing two members of Senate. They will fill the existing vacancy for a person nominated by the Leader of the Opposition (previously Mr Buxton) and the impending vacancy of a person nominated by the Premier (currently Dr Cawley). [see item 14 below]

Dr Cawley’s departure will create a vacancy in the Chair of Equity and Equal Opportunity Committee. The Acting Chancellor will bring a recommendation to the meeting.

2.      APOLOGIES

The Chancellor, Ms Pat Allen and Ms Alison Gaines have recorded their apologies for this meeting. In the Chancellor’s absence, the Acting Chancellor will chair the meeting.

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.

4.       IDENTIFICATION OF CONFIDENTIAL MATTERS AND PART D MATTERS FOR DISCUSSION 

Senators are asked to identify:

v       any matters they wish to have considered in committee, and

v       any matters in Part D which they wish to reserve for discussion

This will assist the Chancellor in managing the meeting so that agenda items receive sufficient time for discussion.

PART A - MAJOR ISSUES

5.       REGIONAL ENGAGEMENT

Standing Orders provide that Senate will receive an annual review of performance against the strategies in each of the Operational Plans in the University’s Strategic Plan. These reports are to include performance on key performance indicators; comparative data for the university sector; risk management; and a discussion paper on key issues for the University in that area. They are designed to enable Senate to exercise oversight of the strategic direction and performance of the University.

Attached for consideration is the annual report on the Regional Engagement Operational Plan. It will be introduced by the Pro Vice Chancellor (Regional Development), Professor Kateryna Longley, who will give a powerpoint presentation.

These are issues for Senate to discuss and critique, rather than to reach decisions. Subsequently the issues may return to Senate with recommendations from management for decision by Senate.

6.       HECS TOP-UP FEES

The March meeting of Senate received, as part of the report of the President of Academic Council, an outline of the consultations being undertaken by the working party which is considering the principles with respect to top-up fees. The working party has since reported to Academic Council at its April meeting. Council resolved:

• to recommend to Senate and the Vice Chancellor that Murdoch University implement HECS top-up fees as permitted under the Higher Education Support Act 2003.

• to defer further consideration of implementation principles for top-up HECS fees until the Council has received data and recommendations from the Consultative Committee on the Murdoch Funding Model discussing:

• the equity issues involved;
• the level of the fee and its distribution at 0%, 10%, 15%, 20% and 25%;
• the effect of these levels up until 2008; and
• our market position.

The relevant part of the Academic Council minutes is attached.

The Consultative Committee has met since the Academic Council meeting and has developed the outline of an equity strategy in collaboration with the Equity Office. Further financial modelling is being undertaken to meet the requirements of the second part of the Academic Council resolution. The Consultative Committee will report in full to the June meeting of Academic Council. Its final report and Academic Council's recommendations will then come to Senate’s July meeting.

The recommendation made at Council’s April meeting therefore will be held over till the 5 July meeting of Senate, when it can be considered along with the additional information requested by Council and Council’s response to that.

This meeting is asked to give preliminary consideration to the matter, so that Senators are well prepared for the July debate. This meeting is asked to identify any issues it wishes to see considered, and any matters on which it wishes to receive further information. Substantive debate will be held over till the July meeting.

The discussion will be introduced by a powerpoint presentation from the President of Academic Council, Assoc Prof Michael Borowitzka.

PART B - CONFIDENTIAL ITEMS

Senate will move in camera for this part of the meeting.

7.       POSITION OF PRO CHANCELLOR

Senate will move in camera for this item. The Acting Chancellor will withdraw from the meeting, which will need to elect an Acting Chair for this item.

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The term of the current Pro Chancellor (Judge Kate O’Brien) expires on 9 July 2004. The Murdoch University Act states that "the Pro-Chancellor holds office for the term of 2 years from the date of his election and is eligible for re-election." [s.11(2)]

By convention, the Pro Chancellor has always been one of the lay members of Senate. Usually the position is held for one term, though similarly there is no Senate resolution to that effect. When the term was discussed by Senate in October 1998, there was support for rotating the position among Senators after two years, while retaining the flexibility for a longer term if on occasion this seemed appropriate.

The Chancellor has taken soundings among members of Senate: all Senators were emailed on 6 May to invite expressions of opinion on who should be elected Pro Chancellor. They were asked to respond at latest by 9am on Monday 17 May. Based on this feedback, the Chancellor will make a recommendation on the process to be followed in filling the position. Alternatively, if there is strong support for one name, he will report that to Senate for consideration.

A report from the Chancellor will be tabled at the meeting.

8.       LAKEVIEW APARTMENTS

Recent developments require reconsideration of the settlement offer for the Lakeview Apartments. An explanatory paper will be emailed to Senators before the weekend.

PART C - OTHER ISSUES FOR DISCUSSION

9.       VICE CHANCELLOR'S REPORT

10.     2003 ANNUAL REPORT

Attached is the main text of the draft Annual Report of the University for 2003. The Vice Chancellor’s overview chapter will be emailed to Senators prior to the Senate meeting. The key performance indicators appear in the following agenda item, while the financial statements were included in the agenda papers for the March Senate meeting and so are not repeated here.

Senate is invited to consider the content of the report and approve it for submission to the Minister, with any amendments Senate makes.

In addition, if any Senator notices any editorial or typographical errors, it would be appreciated if he or she could email these to the editor of the annual report (at r.lees@murdoch.edu.au) or annotate her or his copy of the draft and pass those pages to the University Secretary at the Senate meeting.

The Murdoch University Act states that “The Senate shall include in its annual report a summary of the work, researches and investigations carried out by the University during that year.” [s.34(2)]

The Financial Administration and Audit Act stipulates:

66. Accountable authority to report to Minister

(1)  The accountable authority of a statutory authority shall cause to be prepared and submitted to the Minister, within 2 months after the end of the financial year of the statutory authority, an annual report containing --

(a)  financial statements for the financial year;
(b)  performance indicators and such other information as may be directed by the Treasurer's Instructions;
(c)  a report on the operations of the statutory authority during the financial year; and
(d)  such other information as the Minister may direct in writing.

Senate is the accountable authority for the University.

11.     KEY PERFORMANCE INDICATORS FOR 2003

The Financial Administration and Audit Act requires the University’s annual report to contain performance indicators as directed by the Treasurer's Instructions. These KPIs are determined by the Office of the Auditor General for use by all four public universities in WA. They are not the same as those used by the University in assessing performance against the Strategic Plan. [see note below]

Attached is the draft report on KPIs for 2003. These cannot be finalised at this time of the year, hence the recommendation that Senate resolve:

	(a)	to endorse the draft Key Performance Indicators (attached to the Senate agenda) for inclusion in the draft 2003 Annual Report;
	(b)	to authorise the Vice Chancellor to submit the final Key Performance Indicators to the Auditor-General when they become available.

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Note: When Senate received the annual KPI report for 2001, some Senators requested an explanation of why progress on some KPIs has been unsatisfactory; greater use of national averages as a basis for comparison when reporting KPI data; and inclusion of targets. The May meeting of Senate received a report in response to these issues. This highlighted the complexity of selecting and interpreting performance indicators. The University uses a wider set of indicators for monitoring its strategic plan, and for managing its operations. (see http://wwwplan.murdoch.edu.au/pi/)

When Senate considered the KPI report for 2002, the Deputy Vice Chancellor advised that national data is not available for most of these indicators, but is included where available. If relevant national graduate employment indicators are available, they will be included from 2003. The Vice Chancellor suggested that the new grouping of six universities will help with this benchmarking.

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The choice of KPIs for the Annual Report differ in several respects from those for the Strategic Plan, which were tabled at the last Senate meeting:

• there are 11 common performance indicators

• the Annual Report also has ratios of EFTSU per teaching staff FTE, successful EFTSU per teaching staff FTE, and the percentage successful load of total load. These are not included in the Strategic Plan KPIs.

• the Strategic Plan KPIs include five that are not part of the Annual Report:

• share and percent of TISC 1st preference application pool before TEE results released 2001-2004
• percentage of 1st preference TISC enrolments by broad field of education year & WA university 2001-2004
• higher education participation rates
• regional research
• income by source

12.     CAMPUS MASTER PLAN - VISION STATEMENT

13.     STATUTE CHANGES

13.1     Ratification of Statutes

The last meeting of Senate approved the following amendments to Statutes:

Statute No. 11 - Admissions

2.

The Deputy Pro Vice Chancellor (Academic) shall will be responsible for determining the levels of admission quotas and targets for the entire University, for levels of study and for parts of the University. The Deputy Pro Vice Chancellor (Academic) shall will exercise this power only after consultation with the Executive Deans

Statute No. 24 - Research & Development Board

8.	A casual vacancy of more than six months shall will be filled by a new appointment or election for the balance of the term as follows:
	-	staff members: Academic Council will appoint a replacement member.
	-	elected student member: the Secretariat of the Guild of Students will appoint a replacement member from among those students eligible for election to the position.

The University Act requires that these be ratified by a second Senate meeting before being submitted to the Governor for approval. 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 (12 members).

13.2     Approval of Statutes

Legislation Committee has recommended amendments to two Statutes:

Statute No. 1 - Official Seal

The Committee supported a transfer of custody of the Official Seal from the University Secretary to the General Counsel, to ensure that there is a sole point of responsibility for the University’s contractual undertakings. The Committee recommends that Senate amend the Statute by deleting “Secretary” wherever it appears in clauses 1-3 and substituting “General Counsel” in its place. Statute No. 4 - Degrees, Diplomas and Certificates

Statute No. 4 - degrees, Diplomas and Certificates

The Statute authorises the Deputy Vice Chancellor to charge with misconduct someone who has been awarded a degree, diploma or certificate by the University. This needs amending to reflect the new executive structure. Legislation Committee recommends amending s.7(3) by deleting “Deputy Vice Chancellor” and in its place inserting “General Counsel”. The proposed transfer of authority matches a similar arrangement in the Student Discipline Statute, which Senate has already recommended amending so that it is the General Counsel who "may charge a student with misconduct and refer the charge to the Board of Discipline".

Senate is asked to approve the above amendments to these two Statutes. In accordance with s.25 of the Murdoch University Act, this requires an absolute majority (12 members).

14.     RETIRING SENATOR

This is the last Senate meeting for Dr Sally Cawley, whose term on Senate expires on 31 May.

Dr Cawley has served on Senate since August 2000. She is Chair of the Equity and Equal Opportunity Committee, and served on the Vice Chancellor Search and Selection Committee.

PART D - OTHER ITEMS

15.     MINUTES

15.1    Confirmation of Minutes

Senate is asked to confirm the minutes of the meeting held on 29 March 2004.

15.2    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.

16.     ACADEMIC COUNCIL

Attached are the minutes of the meeting of Academic Council held on 14 April 2004. The following items contain recommendations to Senate:

          AC/56/2004          2005 Academic Planning - Amendments to Regulations
          AC/60/2004          HECS top-up fees
          AC/67/2004          Graduate Attributes

Legislation Committee has endorsed the form of the legislative changes proposed, subject to one modification outlined in its minutes (see agenda item 18 below). The President of Council has accepted these modifications on behalf of Council. Senate is asked to approve the recommendations, as modified.

The recommendation on HECS top-up fees is listed for discussion under agenda item 6 above.

17.     RESOURCES COMMITTEE

Attached are the minutes of the meetings of Resources Committee held on 4 May 2004, along with papers that went to it concerning controlled subsidiary companies. The following items contain recommendations to Senate:

          RC/8/2004          Campus Master Plan – Vision Statement
          RC/9/2004          Campus Master Plan - Beeliar Regional Park
          RC/10/2004        Approval of Payments

The first of these items is listed for discussion under agenda item 12 above. The second item is being held over till the July meeting of Senate, when further information will be available.

18.     LEGISLATION COMMITTEE

Attached are the minutes of the meeting of Legislation Committee held on 6 May 2004. The following items contain recommendations to Senate:

          LC/17/2004           Constitution of Legislation Committee
          LC/19/2004           Statute No. 4 - Degrees, Diplomas and Certificates
          LC/20/2004           Murdoch University Act
          LC/21/2004           University Seal

The Statute changes are listed for discussion under agenda item 13 above.

19.     ENVIRONMENTAL COMMITTEE

Attached are the minutes of the meeting of the Environmental Committee held on 31 March 2004. There are no recommendations for Senate.

20.     GOVERNANCE WORKING PARTY

Attached are the minutes of the meetings of the Governance Working Party held on 8 and 27 April 2004. The following items contain recommendations to Senate:

          GWP/5/2004           Equity and Equal Opportunity Committee
          GWP/6/2004           Summer Committee
          GWP/7/2004           Role of Senate
          GWP/8/2004           Terms of Reference of Nominations Committee
          GWP/9/2004           Role of Senate

21.     ENROLMENT TRENDS

In October 2003, Senate resolved that it be kept fully informed on enrolment trends of both local and overseas students, by means of twice-yearly reports that include comparative data for the whole Western Australian university sector. The Pro Vice Chancellor (Academic) plans to report on first and second semester enrolment trends to Senate’s May and November meetings each year; meaningful data would not be available earlier.

Attached is the first half-yearly report.

22.     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 –

• Extension of Memorandum of Agreement with the University of Wollongong re Australian Consortium for In-Country Indonesian Studies

• Deed of Confidentiality of Thesis Examination, with Prof Lyn Abbott, Emeritus Prof Peter Bergquist and Dr Peter Franzmann

• Educational Services Agreement with CM Management (Sarawak) Sdn Bhd and State Government of Sarawak

23.     MATTERS FOR NOTING

The Chancellor has introduced this section of the agenda to assist Senators with background information. From time to time, this may contain reports from the Chancellor, relevant newspaper articles, information on conferences, important diary dates, etc. Senators are welcome to forward to the University Secretary any suggestions of material they would like included.

Attached are

☼	Australian Universities Quality Agency, Report of an Audit of The University of Western Australia, April 2004. The conclusions are printed here, plus the section on Senate. The full report can be seen at http://www.auqa.com.au/qualityaudit/sai_reports/index.shtml
☼	A DEST summary of the new Backing Australia’s Ability science and innovation package, which was announced by the Prime Minister on 6 May. It shows directly the new programs and the ones that have been cut back.
☼	A calendar of reports to be made to Senate each year. [This document is also available to download from the Senate website http://senate.murdoch.edu.au/]

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