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Date of meeting: / Wednesday, 12/09/2007
Present: / Mr Terry Budge (Chair)
Prof. John Yovich (Vice Chancellor)
Ms Janice Bowra
Prof. Stuart Bradley
Prof. Nick Costa
Ms Alison Gaines
Mr Gerry Georgatos
Mr Steve Harris / Mr Philip Hocking
Mr Garry Hunt
Mr Tony Iannello
Mr Lloyd Johnson
Assoc. Prof.Jim Macbeth
Judge Kate O’Brien
Dr Lyndy Scott
Secretary: / Mr Jeremy Rigg
Observers / Mr Ian Callahan (DVC – Corporate)
Prof. Gary Martin (DVC – Enterprise & International)
Prof. Jim Reynoldson (DVC – Research)
Mr John Pike
Mr Robin Lees
Mr Reece Harley (Items 4 and 5 only)
Apologies / Mr Brian Aitken, Mr Garry Hunt and Dr Stewart Washer
Meeting commenced at: 4:35pm
1. / Membership
1.1 / The Chancellor informed the Senate Assoc Prof. Jim Macbeth’s term is to expire at the end of October and this would be his final meeting.
2. / APOLOGIES
Mr Brian Aitken, Mr Garry Hunt and Dr Stewart Washer
3. / DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST (Murdoch University Act s17A)
There were no declarations of interest
4.
/
VICE CHANCELLOR'S REPORT
The Vice Chancellor spoke to his report. Key points made during the discussion included the following:
Significant improvement is evident for Murdoch in the measure of graduate employment of choice in the 2008 Good Universities Guide. The efforts of Professor Jan Thomas are to be commended in helping the University achieve this improvement.
The application for nearly $4.5M in funding from the Workplace Productivity Programme was successful. This was the exact amount applied for, and ensures that the Murdoch 2010 programme is fully funded.
The Innovative Research Universities Australia (IRUA) group has been strengthened with the enrolment of JamesCookUniversity bringing membership to seven.
Stage 2 of the Peel campus was officially opened by the Hon Julie Bishop MP, Minister for Education, Science and Training on 3rd September 2007. Congratulations were offered to the University’s Commercial Services team led by Ms Lisa Spiers who brought the project to fruition on time and on budget. The facility has been a standout success with exceptional architectural and design features complemented with spacious work areas and a 250 seat lecture facility rarely seen in outlying regions.
The mid-year recruitment drive resulted in 1,614students enrolling for Semester 2, a new record. The recent open day was a great success and it was encouraging to learn that many staff members had shown a heightened interest over previous years and were already assembling new ideas to roll out next year.
University academic and general staff were included among seven citations were received from the Carrick Institute for learning and teaching in higher education, and a Carrick Institute Competitive Grant 2007. It was resolved that formal letters of congratulations on behalf of Senate be sent to each recipient.
The Vice Chancellor also spoke to the following additional items:
An exercise has commenced to look at the University’s sub-brands ie a a multitude of centres, schools, research programmes that have adopted their own logos, marketing and identity. Mr Steve Harris has kindly offered to provide some resources and time to initiate a review to consider the synergies that may be obtained from a combined approach to branding.
The University will be the home of the Western Australian headquarters of the newly established Royal Institution of Australia (affiliated with the Royal Institution of Great Britain). The Institution is a hub for science education and promotion and has a prestigious standing in that arena.
The Vice Chancellor also discussed his report to Senate on the three key Strategic Risks, including a presentation focused upon considering how a change to TER cut off scores may impact upon efforts to meet DEST student load targets. By way of background, a summary of various statistics was provided, including:
Composition of student load categories for the five year period to 2007;
Student intake for 2007 grouped by their Tertiary Entrance Rankings (“TER”)and the impact of increasing the hurdle rate.
2007 budget income categorised by income type showing approximately 65% of revenue emanate from the Commonwealth Grants Scheme.
2007 Semester 1 admissions profile breaking out the various entry pathways.
Senate members engaged in a lengthy discussion on this topic, and the following points were made:
the TER cut off score is commonly used by the general public as a proxy for quality, and increasing the score maytherefore enhance the perception of the University;
that the breadth of entry routes into the University helps mitigate some of the risk around TER cut offs;
growth of student numbers needs to be carefully measured against the capacity of existing infrastructure, as increases in student loads also increases costs;
the Murdoch 2010 project should assist management determine optimal load which may ultimately end up with a maximum student cap to ensure the quality of the student experience is also optimal;
ultimately, increasing income from non-government and non-student derived sources will become increasingly important to sustainability in the higher education sector.
Members of Senate were supportive of executive managementdetermining an appropriate level of increase for the TER cut offwithin the parameters discussed above. Further, Senate weresupportive of management continuing efforts to find the correct balance between quality versus quantity, focusing on
absolute student numbers
income streams
alternative pathways
The Chancellor encouraged Senators to provide any further comments to management via the Secretariat.
Resolved:
S/39/2007 / The Chancellor, on behalf of Senate to send letters of congratulations to the following individuals or teams, in respect to their citations for outstanding contribution to student learning:
(i)Merrilee Albatis, Pam Matthews, Margaret Solosy and Soun Wong (Library)
(ii)SCALES Clinical Legal Education Team from the School of Law
(iii)Dr Marian Kemp from the Teaching & Learning Centre
(iv)Associate Professor Robert Mead from Biological Sciences & Biotechnology
(v)Dr Phillip Nicholls
(vi)Dr Rob Phillips from the Teaching and Learning Centre
(vii)Dr Jaqueline Phillips from Veterinary and Biomedical Sciences
Additionally, Dr Jenny Silburn is to be sent a letter of congratulations for successfully applying for a Carrick Institute competitive grant.
S/40/2007 / To note the Vice Chancellor’s report to Senate on Strategic Risks.
5.
/
UPDATE ON INTERNATIONAL COURSE DEVELOPMENTS
The Deputy Vice Chancellor (Enterprise & International), Professor Gary Martin, providedSenate with an update on the delivery of MurdochUniversitycoursesin offshore locations. Senate was informed that the model for course delivery with offshore education providers is that:
The partner provides infrastructure, on-site management, teachers, student support and student recruitment.
Murdoch’s contributions centreon admissions, quality assurance issues, licensing of intellectual property.
In this way, Murdoch keeps to its core competencies and skills and is reliant on the partner to provide the capital for student infrastructure and support services.
It was noted that the Australian Universities Quality Agency report has commended Murdoch commended for the development of effective and close engagement with its offshore partners, and had recognised the significant improvements made in addressing quality assurance issues, especially during the contracting phase. Additional points of discussion included:
From 2003 through to 2007, both student load and the income derived from offshore courses had increased by over 180%.
Murdoch’s overseas presence provides and opportunity to raise brand awareness in these countries, which enables growth in both offshore student numbers as well as in the numbers of international students at the Perth campuses;
The launch of a new look and feel for MU International Study Centres will provide a uniform approach to Murdoch’s brand presence in the relevant countries.
Additional benefits have also been seen with increased industry, research and alumni network linkages internationally.
Finally, it was noted that work was progressing in relation to a new educational partnership opportunity in Dubai, initially with a focus on media and communications, but with plans to broaden offering over the longer term.
6. / Minutes
Senate confirmed the minutes of the meetingheld on01/08/2007. It also noted a report of action taken to implement previous resolutions of Senate.
7. / Academic Council
Senate noted the minutes of the meeting of the Academic Council held on 08/08/2007and resolved in accordance with the recommendation of the committee as follows:
Resolved:
S/41/2007 / To note the summary of the panel report from the School of Law review.
Secretary’s note:All legislative amendments will be dealt with by the Legislation Committee on 28 September 2007.
8. / Audit & Risk Management Committee
Senate noted the minutes of the meeting of the Audit & Risk Management Committee held on 21/08/2007.There were no recommendations requiring a Senate resolution.
10. / Environmental Committee
Senate noted the minutes of the meeting of the Environmental Committee held on 09/08/2007. There were no recommendations requiring a Senate resolution.
11. / RESOURCES COMMITTEE (papers & discussion commercial in confidence)
Senate noted the minutes of the meeting of the Resources Committee held on 29/08/2007 and resolved in accordance with the recommendation of the committee as follows:
Resolved:
S/42/2007 / To approve an amendment to the financial delegation of the Vice Chancellor to permit the Vice Chancellor to approve all payments in excess of $500,000 where such amounts have effectively been authorised by Senate through:
(i) / other Senate endorsed projects and/or
(ii) / are otherwise of a statutory nature
Resolved:
S/43/2007 / To approve the attached payments for the period 21/05/2007 to 21/08/2007 inclusive
Senate noted the official seal report provided in accordance with resolution S/54/2004.
12. / OTHER BUSINESS
Assoc Prof. Jim Macbeth expressed his gratitude for the learning experience that his Senate membership had provided over the past 7 years. He commented that the University is lucky to now have the strongest management team it has had during this time and acknowledged the level of contribution that is made by external members of Senate.
The Chancellor formally thanked Assoc Prof. Jim Macbeth on behalf of Senate for his contribution as a member.
Meeting concluded at: 6:35pm
Signed as a true record of the meeting of the Senate held on 12/09/2007.
Mr Terry Budge - Chair
Dated: / October 2007

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