The President of the Murdoch University Guild, Mr Reece Harley tabled copies of a report on the Guild of Students to Senate members. The Chancellor invited Mr Harley speak to this report at the next Senate dinner.

The matter of observers at Senate and the recent amendment to the Standing Orders was discussed. The Chancellor advised that any Senate member with queries or concerns regarding this matter, refer them to the General Counsel & University Secretary for the inclusion on the next Governance & Nominations Committee agenda.

The Vice Chancellor spoke to his report and presented an overview of the University. Key points made during discussion included the following:

• The University has secured $19.5m in funding from the Department of Health and Ageing for the establishment of the Institute for Immunology and Infectious Diseases (IIID). This is the largest grant the University has received to date for a single building, and will contribute to both the credibility of ongoing fundraising, and the University’s international profile.
• The Minister for Food & Agriculture, the Hon Kim Chance MLC, confirmed in the State budget the allocation of $183m for the relocation of the Department of Agriculture & Food and new biosecurity facilities to Murdoch University. The relocation and establishment of the new facilities is expected to be completed by 2011, and to bring approximately 800 extra staff on to campus. The location of this facility will provide opportunities for a range of Schools to link with the Department in their activities. It will also be expected to encourage a very broad and inclusive research consortium, and to increase the likelihood of attracting and retaining internationally recognised specialist research staff and equipment.
• The University has received allocations from DEST’s Capital Development Pool of $3.5m allocation for Science and Engineering, and a further $1.5m for the Nursing buildings at the Peel Campus. This allocation for Science and Engineering was equal to the largest allocation received by any university.
• The most significant announcement for the Higher Education sector in the recent federal budget was the establishment of the $5bn Higher Education Endowment Fund (HEEF). The annual dividend of the fund is expected to be $300m, to be available for infrastructure and capital works on the basis of competitive applications from Universities. The ability to have matching funding available will be taken into account in the decision making process.
• In this regard, it is worthy to note that in addition to the recent establishment of Murdoch University Endowment, the Murdoch University Foundation has amassed $2.97m since its inception in 2003 and is providing over $150k in new scholarships in 2007. The Veterinary Trust also currently has assets of over $2.9m.
• Other important budget announcements included revisions to the CGS cluster groupings and funding amounts, increasing the amount of CGS funded overenrolments to 5%, removing the cap on full-fee paying students, and increasing the levels of and availability of rent assistance and youth allowance. No changes were made to indexation of CGS funding, or to the research block grant funding.
• The University achieved record research income for 2006. In addition, recent research achievements at the University have included:
  • The Centre for Research into Energy for Sustainable Transport being initially based at RISE, the Murdoch based Research Institute for Sustainable Energy. The CREST initiative is expected to have an operating budget of more than $15m over 5 years and Murdoch academics Prof. Phil Jennings, Prof David Harries and Mrs Sandie Rawnsley are all members of the CREST Steering Committee ;
  • Participation in the Western Australian Marine Science Institution. WAMSI was launched on 18/06/2007 and has funding of $21m from the State Government with a further $30m committed by partner organisations. WAMSI aims to establish a leading research capability underpinning the conservation and sustainable management of WA’s marine environment and resources; and
  • The announcement of a new research partnership with Bunnings to investigate ways of reducing the energy use and environmental footprint of their stores. An initial investment of around $500,000 over two years will be made by Bunnings.
• Recent individual achievements of Murdoch staff include:
  • Deborah Robertson awarded the Kibble Literary Award for her novel Careless;
  • Professor Peter Newman, Professor Richard Pashley and Adjunct Professor Mark Woffenden appointed to Science & Innovation Council; and
  • Professor Gary Martin elected Chair of Perth Education City.
• The new University branding is now well into its implementation, and has been received positively. Next steps include a midyear recruitment advertising programme, and launch of the new external website.
• The University’s capital works programme is progressing well. The Library Learning Common will be officially opened 06/07/2007. The new tavern will be completed by the end of July and Stage 2 of the Peel campus building will be completed in early July and open for teaching on 23/07/2007.
• In order to respond to the demands of the current operating environment, the implementation of the 2007-10 Strategic Plan includes the Review of Academic Structures and the workplace productivity project entitled Murdoch 2010. Key outcomes for these include:
  • A structure that reduces administrative burden on academic staff and enables greater opportunities for academic leadership;
  • Academic groupings that provide better profile for the University’s areas of strength;
  • Improved pathways for communication, both internally (between Schools and Senior Management) and externally (with the community and business sectors);
  • Increased accountability in the allocation of resources, and greater cost effectiveness in service delivery;
  • Improving the effectiveness of governance and of academic and business decision making; and
  • Improving the availability of detailed financial data for informing decision making on course programming, workload and resourcing.
• While there is an imperative to diversify sources of income and build the University’s resource base for operating activities, the University is well positioned to grow its presence in the sector on an international level.

At the conclusion of the Vice Chancellor’s report, the Deputy Chancellor proposed a resolution (seconded by Judge Kate O’Brien) for Senate to thank the Vice Chancellor for his significant achievements on behalf of the University.

The Chair of the Audit & Risk Management Committee, Judge Kate O’Brien spoke to the Strategic Risk Plan.

• The Strategic Risk Plan (SRP) is a critical component of good management and good corporate culture.
• The plan is generated by Senior Executive Group (SEG) and is essential for monitoring identified strategic risks that may arise over the coming financial year.
• The SRP is reviewed and updated annually by SEG and then considered by ARMC.
• The Vice Chancellor identifies top 3 risks and reports to ARMC at quarterly meetings.

Mr Brian Aitken, a member of the ARMC, formally acknowledged the excellent disaster recovery planning system for the University, prepared by Director of IT, Chris Foley, and his team, that had been presented to the most recent meeting of the Committee.

The DVC Academic, Professor Jan Thomas spoke to the Education Issues report. Key points made during discussion included the following:

• There is a complex relationship between the quality of courses offered and student demand for courses that informs the way in which the University’s course profile is evolving. There are also continuing challenges to student engagement, with low unemployment leading to flattening of demand, and increased pressures on living expenses making full-time study less attractive. Both University management and the Guild of Students are seeking to actively address these issues.
• The University’s education goal for its Strategic Plan 2003-07 is to “provide quality, contemporary education which empowers the students of today to live and work in the world of tomorrow.” Prof Thomas detailed the four Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) used to measure and reporting upon this goal.
• KPI 1 - To maintain the University’s 5 star teaching rating as measured by the Course Experience Questionnaire (CEQ). The CEQ results for the University for 2006 show:
  • the Good Teaching indicator improving at a substantially higher rate than the national average;
  • the Generic Skills Development indicator above the national average;
  • an unprecedented high in the Overall Satisfaction indicator;
• KPI 2 - To maintain the rate of student satisfaction with the quality of teaching above 80%. The University has consistently met this target since 1999.
• KPI 3 - To increase the percentage of graduates who demonstrate their commitment to lifelong learning by undertaking further study. Murdoch graduates have been enrolling in full-time studies at similar levels as graduates from the other WA Universities over the past 5 years. Recent figures show a decrease in levels as well as a decrease in the State average, an expected situation due to the State’s resources boom and resulting low unemployment.
• KPI 4 - To increase to within 2% of the state average, the percentage of graduates who are able to gain their preferred mode of employment. The University has been working considerably improving this measure, and for 2006 is 1.6% below the State mean.
• The University has been very successful in implementing its flexible learning initiative, and the target of 90% of unit coverage will be achieved by the end of 2007. Lectopia, the digital recordings of lectures accessed via the web, has been particularly popular and is used in over 120 units per semester, and is often accessed by students who have attended the lectures.
• Under the directorship of Margaret Jones, the University’s library has improved from the 3rd to the 1st quartile of university libraries using the Rodski survey. Of particular note, is that the ease of use of the library website resulted in a new national high in the university libraries benchmarking database for this measure.
• The appointment of a Director, Postgraduate and Professional Education has proven successful in building student cohorts through specific links with external stakeholders. This has assisted not only in building student load, but also in building our reputation.
• The implementation of the MasterClass (concurrent undergraduate and postgraduate intensive mode studies for top performing students) has been well received. The University is breaking new ground with this offering, and by stretching and rewarding its top students, is potentially creating a wealth of new ambassadors who are likely to have continuing engagement with Murdoch.

Senate noted the minutes of the meeting of the Academic Council held on 18/04/2007, and the minutes of the meeting of the Academic Council held on 16/05/2007 as tabled at this meeting, and resolved in accordance with the recommendation of the committee as follows:

Secretary’s note: All legislative amendments are dealt with under the Legislation Committee item.

Senate noted the minutes of the Legislation Committee (on a decision by circulation) dated 30/05/2007 and resolved in accordance with the recommendation of the committee as follows:

Senate noted the minutes of the meeting of the Resources Committee held on 29/05/2007 and resolved in accordance with the recommendation of the committee as follows:

Senate noted the official seal report provided in accordance with resolution S/54/2004.