30 April 2008 - Senate Minutes

Present:	Mr Terry Budge (Chair) Prof John Yovich (Vice Chancellor) Mr Brian Aitken Ms Janice Bowra Prof Nick Costa Ms Alison Gaines Mr Gerry Georgatos Mr Russell Gibbs Mr Reece Harley Mr Steve Harris Mr Philip Hocking Dr Marian Kemp Dr Jacqueline Phillips Dr Lyndy Scott Ms Eva Skira Dr Stewart Washer
Secretary:	Mr Jeremy Rigg
Observers:	Mr Ian Callahan (DVC – Corporate) Prof Gary Martin (DVC – Faculty, Enterprise & International) Prof Jim Reynoldson (DVC – Research) Prof Jan Thomas ( DVC – Academic) Prof Michael Borowitzka Mr John Pike Mr Robin Lees
Apologies:	Mr Garry Hunt Mr Tony Iannello Mr Darren Munday

1. MEMBERSHIP
2. APOLOGIES
3. DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST (MURDOCH UNIVERSITY ACT s17A)
4. VICE CHANCELLOR'S REPORT
5. ANNUAL AUDIT & RISK MANAGEMENT COMMITTEE REPORT
6. JOINT SENATE AND ACADEMIC COUNCIL REVIEW OF ACADEMIC COUNCIL REPORT
7. SENATE RETREAT AND JUNE MEETING DATE
8. CONFIRMATION OF PREVIOUS MINUTES
9. ACADEMIC COUNCIL
10. HONORARY AWARDS AND CEREMONIAL COMMITTEE
11. AUDIT & RISK MANAGEMENT COMMITTEE
12. OFFICIAL SEAL
13. SENATE MEETING DATES FOR 2008

1.MEMBERSHIP

The Chancellor informed the Senate Dr Jacqueline Phillips and Mr Darren Munday had recently elected to Senate as academic and non-academic staff representatives, and welcomed Dr Phillips to the meeting, noting that Mr Munday was unable to attend.

The Chancellor also welcomed Mr Russell Gibbs and Mr Reece Harley to their first meeting of Senate.

It was noted that as a result of the election process Mr Phil Hocking was no longer a Senate member and it was agreed that the Chancellor would formally express Senate’s thanks to Mr Hocking for his commitment to both Senate and Resources Committee where he actively participated in and contributed to University issues.

The Chancellor highlighted the fact that it was the last meeting for the Deputy Chancellor, Ms Alison Gaines and warmly thanked her for her outstanding devotion to University affairs during her 9 years as a Senate member.  It was noted the significant commitment that Ms Gaines had made included working on the Review of Senate and its functions in 2001, the Governance working party in 2004, as Chair of the Legislation Committee since 2006 and Deputy Chancellor since 2006.  More recently, Ms Gaines had Chaired the Review Panel for Academic Council, the report of which is tabled before Senate at this meeting.

Ms Gaines thanked the Chancellor and Senators for their kind words and provided an overview of significant achievements that Senate and the University had completed during her tenure. These included the opening of the Peel campus, successful AUQA audit outcomes, the introduction of HECS, the commitment of resources to address the asbestos roofing issues, significant improvements made to the University’s governance structures, the establishment of the Murdoch Foundation and associated fund raising initiatives, and the development of significant key partnerships.  Ms Gaines added that she was pleased to see that Senate was operating in a more collegial manner and less driven by constituencies.   

Ms Gaines thanked past and present members of Senate and University management for their support, and indicated that she hoped to continue being involved with and contributing to the future development of the University.

Resolved: S/10/2008

that the Chancellor, on behalf of Senate, write to Mr Hocking to thank him for his contribution during his time as a member of Senate.

2.APOLOGIES

Mr Garry Hunt, Mr Tony Iannello and Mr Darren Munday were apologies for the meeting.

3.DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST (MURDOCH UNIVERSITY ACT s17A)

There were no declarations of interest. 

4.VICE CHANCELLOR'S REPORT

The Vice Chancellor informed Senate of several matters not covered in his written report, including:

• As an update to the asbestos re roofing project matter raised at the previous meeting of Senate, remedial work had been completed and Veterinary and Biological Sciences building was now re-occupied.
• Alcoa has provided significant funding over 3 years for a Chair of Sustainable Water Management.
• The IIID fund raising campaign is progressing well, with a number of sizeable donations now confirmed

The Vice Chancellor spoke to the following items in his report:

• The Investment Committee has recently approved a distribution from the Endowment Fund to support the cost of eight positions to provide research leadership capacity within the new research governance model for a 3 year period. The new model creates eight institutes that represent areas of research excellence which should enable greater leverage of cross disciplinary expertise.
• The WA government has confirmed its endorsement for the State Centre of Excellence on Climate Change and Woodland and Forest Health. As a result Murdoch will receive $2.3M over a 5 year period as well as a $7.7M from collaborating institutions through in-kind support.

It was agreed that Senate would pass on its congratulations to the Hon Fred Chaney AO upon his receipt of the inaugural Sir Ronald Wilson Award in recognition of his leadership in the areas of social justice and human rights.

Following the recommendation of the Murdoch University Veterinary Trust, the Senate also resolved to re-appoint Mr Steve Meerwald, Mr Richard Alder and Professor Jim Reynoldson to the Trust. It was also noted, that in addition to Ms Gaines and Prof David Hill, a number of Murdoch students were involved in the recent 2020 Summit and it was hoped that feedback from all of these Murdoch participants would be included in coverage of the Summit in Murdoch’s internal publications.

The Vice Chancellor also tabled a paper on 2007 Organisation Performance and presented slides on the “State of the University”, outlining progress against the University’s strategic plan. Key points covered by the presentation included:

• Dependency on Commonwealth Grants Scheme funding alone is no longer sustainable for Murdoch.
• Maintenance of existing student load levels in an environment of declining applications to enter University is a strong performance by Murdoch.
• While research income shows an upward trend since 2001, Murdoch will need to work much harder to achieve continued growth as competition intensifies for a static pool of funding.
• Murdoch has maintained its position as having the highest amount of research funding per FTE among the IRUA group of Universities, but its relative performance is declining as competition catches up.
• The incoming Federal government has flagged that there will be no significant increase in available funding until 2010.
• Murdoch’s cost of operations has been increasing at a greater rate than its revenue. The Murdoch 2010 project has identified approximately half of its cost saving target through changes to administrative functions, with the other half to be achieved through changes to the teaching and academic profile.
• Key decisions still need to be made, and the implementation of any change needs to be in the context of Murdoch’s values to ensure that we maintain our points of difference as identified through our recent branding initiative.

Members of Senate discussed the implications of the presentation for the upcoming Senate retreat. The Chancellor noted that while significant changes may be on the horizon, there were many positives for the University and he encouraged management to continue along the current strategic direction.

Resolved: S/11/2008	that the Chancellor, on behalf of Senate, formally congratulate former Chancellor the Hon Fred Chaney AO for his receipt of the inaugural Sir Ronald Wilson Leadership Award.
Resolved: S/12/2008	that Senate approve the re-appointment of Mr Steve Meerwald, Mr Richard Alder and Professor Jim Reynoldson as trustees to the Murdoch University Veterinary Trust effective immediately for a term expiring on 31st December 2010.

5. ANNUAL AUDIT & RISK MANAGEMENT COMMITTEE REPORT

The Committee Chair, Ms Eva Skira briefly highlighted the following issues regarding the annual 2007 Audit and Risk Management Report tabled before Senate:

• Over the course of 2007, the Committee was Chaired by Her Honour Judge Kate O’Brien and the report reflected the work of the Committee under her stewardship.
• The considerable work and commitment made by Committee members should be acknowledged.
• Following the resignation of Mr Andrew Burchfield in November 2007, a new Director of Internal Audit & Risk Management, Mr Brent Godfrey has now been appointed.
• A review of the University’s risk management processes conducted by KPMG is currently underway, and it is expected that the outcomes of that review will be reported at the next meeting of the Committee.

Senate was advised that although the agenda papers indicated the report was for approval, this had not been Senate’s past practice for previous reports and it was in fact only tabled for noting.

6.JOINT SENATE AND ACADEMIC COUNCIL REVIEW OF ACADEMIC COUNCIL REPORT

The Deputy Chancellor, Ms Alison Gaines, as Chair of the Review Panel, spoke to the recommendations in the report, and the President of Academic Council (PAC), Professor Michael Borowitzka responded. It was noted that there was strong support for the role of Council as part of a tripartite, cooperative governance structure along with Senate and the Vice Chancellor’s office, and that the report examined the culture of Council, as well as its functions and structure. It was also noted that Council is a statutory function under the Murdoch University Act 1973 that is critical to the University’s self-accrediting status, and is generally held in high regard.

Key points raised for the attention of Senate included:

It was further noted that the reforms to be made to the committee structure of Council were timely, given the recent change from Divisions to Faculties, and the current efforts of the Murdoch 2010 project.

Council had considered the report and recommendations at its April meeting, and had endorsed the report but is yet to make a formal response to it.  It was noted that, pending Council’s formal response, the matters raised for Senate’s attention would be likely to be referred to the Governance & Nominations Committee.

Senate resolved to formally express their appreciation to Ms Gaines for her time and effort in Chairing the Panel and preparing the report which succinctly outlined a wide range of complex issues.

Resolved: S/13/2008

that the Chancellor, on behalf of Senate, formally thank Ms Gaines for her efforts as Chair of the Joint Senate and Academic Council Review of Academic Council.

7.SENATE RETREAT AND JUNE MEETING DATE

The revised next meeting date of 15 July was noted. The Chancellor noted that he now expects to be able to attend and Chair this meeting.

The Chancellor advised Senate that any comment on the proposed content and objectives of the retreat should be provided in writing to the University’s General Counsel and University Secretary who would collate the responses and review them with the Chancellor and senior management.

8.CONFIRMATION OF PREVIOUS MINUTES

The minutes of the meeting held on 7 February 2008 were discussed, with reference to the sequence of events and detailing of the discussion of the en bloc items immediately prior to the closing of the meeting due to evacuation of the building in response to a fire alarm.  It was agreed that amendments would be made and a revised version of the minutes tabled before Senate for approval.

9.ACADEMIC COUNCIL

Senate noted the minutes of the Academic Council meeting held on 5 March 2008. It was also resolved that Senate affirm the resolution passed at the April meeting of Council, endorsing the Apology made by the Federal government to the First Nation Peoples of Australia.

Resolved: S/14/2008	to note the summary of the panel report from the School of Nursing review as attached.
Resolved: S/15/2008	to endorse the resolution of Academic Council made on 16 April 2008 affirming the Apology to the First Nation Peoples of Australia as delivered by the Prime Minister of Australia, Kevin Rudd, on February 13, 2008 and in recognition of this, the holding of a ‘Welcome to Country’ ceremony by Council at the commencement of its June meeting.

10.HONORARY AWARDS & CEREMONIAL COMMITTEE

Senate noted the minutes of the meeting held on 1 April 2008.  There were no recommendations to Senate arising from the meeting.

11.AUDIT & RISK MANAGEMENT COMMITTEE

Senate noted the minute by circulation effective from 14 April 2008 of the Audit & Risk Management Committee in relation to the Annual Report.  This report was considered at Item 5 of the agenda.

12.OFFICIAL SEAL

Senate noted the official seal report provided in accordance with resolution S/51/2007.

13.SENATE MEETING DATES 2008

The dates for the remaining meetings for 2008 were noted

The meeting concluded at 6:20pm