Mr Brian Aitken, Associate Professor Jim MacBeth, Dr Lyndy Scott and Dr Stewart Washer and Mr Garry Hunt.  Leave of absence was sought by Mr Garry Hunt, given his absence for two consecutive meetings, and was duly granted.
Bereavements
The Chancellor advised that the Hon. Kim Beazley Snr, a previous Federal Minister and Senator (1977- 1985 including 4 years as Pro-Chancellor), had recently passed away and the University had extended its condolences to the Beazley family.  A Honorary Degree had been awarded to Mr Beazley in 1991 to recognise his service to the University.
Members were also advised that Maureen Bickley, a previous Senator from 1982 to 1991 had also passed away recently.  She had been a Pro – Chancellor from 1988 to 1990.  It was agreed that the Chancellor, on behalf of Senate, should forward condolences to the Bickley family.

The Vice Chancellor preceded his report with a presentation of WA tertiary admissions application data from 2004 to 2007.  Members reviewed the relative performance of Murdoch against its local peers and discussed the differing strategies that Universities have developed to attract students.

Total numbers of applicants continue to decline, and while the impact is being felt by some universities more than others, the decline in applicants for Murdoch was consistent with the trend for the overall pool of applicants. Of note was the fact that Murdoch is performing well in holding its share of the mature age applicants.

It was also noted that the increased TER cut off score results in tougher competition for a smaller share of the applicants, although this appears to be balanced by the positive influence the increase has had on the perception of Murdoch among prospective students.  Given Murdoch’s relative performance in this difficult environment, the current strategies in relation to branding, advertising, wider availability of information for prospective students and alternative entry pathways will continue.  Preliminary 2008 enrolment data should be available at the end of January 2008. 

The Vice Chancellor spoke to his written report. Key points made during the discussion included the following:

• $3M has been provided by the Federal Government from the Capital Development Pool to develop improved facilities to support clinical training for veterinary science undergraduates.   
• The award of funding from the Learning and Teaching Performance Fund 2008 has been the subject of vocal criticism within the University sector.  Although Murdoch was not as successful as for 2007, the University remains as part of an elite group to have received funding in each of the three years it has been operating.
• The University has had its most successful result ever in the students Australian University Games, finishing in 25th place out of 42 universities in the Doug Ellis trophy.
• The inaugural winners of the Vice Chancellor’s Awards for Excellence for Support Services were Mr Graeme Knowles and Ms Helen Makeham, who each received $4,000 grants for professional development.  The awards are a new initiative to recognise support services staff who provide outstanding contributions to the University community.
• Australian Research Council Grants totalling just over $3M have been won by the University under various Australian Research Council funding schemes.
• Professor Cassandra James was runner up in the WA Inventor of the Year 2007, Development category, for the invention of a biomarker for vaccines that will allow birds infected with avian influenza to be differentiated from vaccinated birds.

After much internal consultation, the names for the new faculties have been agreed and proposed for Senate approval.  Mr Georgatos requested that his vote against Resolution S/45/2007 which was approved by all other Senators, be minuted.

The meeting considered amendments to the statute and which had been previously considered by Academic Council and Legislation Committee.
Senate was informed by the General Counsel and University Secretary that that the Interpretations statute changes (Statute no 8) presented to Senate varied slightly from what had been presented to both Academic Council and Legislation Committee, and is the version as recommended by the relevant Academic Council Working Party. 

The changes include a decision to use the term “Faculty Board” instead of “Faculty Executive Committee”, to replace Divisional Boards, and to not introduce two new definitions (“Academic Advisor” and “School Dean”).  This version is in keeping with the philosophy agreed to by the Working Party of making the minimal changes required for the introduction of the new Faculties. An earlier version had been tabled in error at Academic Council.  Both the President of Academic Council and the Chair of Legislation Committee have been advised of this error prior to preparation of the Senate agenda, and agreed that it be corrected.

The Deputy Vice Chancellor (Research) updated Senators with the annual report on the University’s research efforts and future plans in the context of Murdoch’s 2010 project and the implementation of the new Research Quality Framework (RQF) which will concentrate on measuring the impact and relevance of future research. 
The key ingredients to future success are the four objectives to be met from the strategic plan, namely;

Ensure greater strategic relevance to the allocation of research funding;

• Identify and maximise the various funding sources available, collaborating with third parties where appropriate;
• Expand and improve upon our areas of research excellence on an international basis;
• Ensure that the value of Murdoch’s research commitments (and resulting intellectual property) are maximised, utilising relevant experts and partners as and when required;

• Murdoch has retained its per capita research performance within the top 8 Universities in Australia and in the world top 500 (Shanghai Jiao Tong University index).
• Recognition that many research teams and centres are small and historically have acted in isolation. This can result in inefficiency and in missed opportunities.  Consequently new initiatives are being developed to encourage communication across cognate disciplines, cross-fertilisation of ideas and research concepts as well as to generally share experiences from which others may benefit.  The strength in greater numbers will increase the strategic leverage when funding and partnership opportunities arise, and reduce the number of small, ad hoc requests made.  It is also proposed to organise teams and centres within a structure that aligns with the RQF groupings.
• Continuing to replenish and refresh the research leadership teams to allow for natural demographic changes that were identified several years ago.
• Establishment of a Commercialisation Office to focus on recognising and prioritising projects that offer commercial opportunities.  MurdochLink, the University’s research consultancy arm, has continued to grow and is providing crucial links and interaction with industry to help develop relationships in areas where the University has positioned itself.
• The DVC Research has an established a small strategic fund for research and which will be available to teams that demonstrate a nexus with Murdoch’s research aspirations. This initiative will provide another example to the research community that Murdoch is willing to commit to projects that meets its research criteria for investment.   

It was noted that members of Senate may have a role to play in assisting with attracting funding from external partners in emerging areas of research, and it was agreed this was a topic for future discussion.

Senate noted the minutes of the meeting of the Academic Council held on 19/09/2007.  The President of Academic Council clarified for members of Senate that he will nominate the members of the Joint Review group and put to both Academic Council and Senate for their endorsement.  Senate resolved in accordance with the recommendations of the Council as follows:

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