1.

The Size of Senate and Guild Representation

Recommendations in light of the National Governance Protocols:

  1. That the number of student representatives on Senate within the MurdochUniversity Act remain at three.
  1. In the place of the Guild President's ex-officio membership of Senate, the MurdochUniversity Act should be amended to allow for the Guild Secretariat to elect one of its members to Senate to represent the Student Guild's position.
  1. That the Guild President remain a voting member on all relevant Senate committees and working parties.
  1. In order to be compliant with the National Governance Protocol, the size of Senate should be amended to 22 members.
  1. In reaching a membership of 22, reductions should firstly come from the political nominees and Ministerial appointment and if required then come from co-opted Senator places.

Trustee vs Representation Models of Senate Membership

The Senate's Governance working party, as a part of the National Governance Protocols, is recommending that Murdoch undertake a shift from a Senate membership based upon a representative model to that of a trustee based model.

Whilst there may well be logical governance reasons justifying such an ideological shift towards a trustee based model, the nature of the MurdochUniversity community necessitates staff and student consultation through participation within Senate's decision making processes.

As long as there are student, staff and convocation members of the Murdoch Senate, a trustee model of Senate can never be realised in practice. As the need for having these types of Senate members is not in question, Murdoch necessarily will have a hybrid membership model in which tensions will exist between the trustee and representative approaches to governance. Such an ongoing tension is rather healthy for the University and should be considered as a benefit to the governance of the University

Guild President's status as ex-officio

In order for Murdoch to be compliant with the Federal Government's National Governance Protocols, and not be financially penalised by the Federal Government, the Murdoch University Act has to be amended such that the Guild President is no longer an ex-officio member of the Senate.

The importance of having a Guild voice on Senate is widely accepted within Senate and specifically within the Act itself. The Murdoch University Act describes the Guild as "the recognised means of communication between students and the Senate" [S20(2)]. There can be no more appropriate student spokesperson to the Murdoch Senate than the Guild President, who currently sits on all Senate committees and working parties bar the Chancellor's Committee.

Nevertheless in light of the political need to comply with the National Governance Protocol it seems that Murdoch must make its Act compliant by no longer having the Guild President ex-officio (unless there is a subsequent change to the Federal Government!).

By way of a counter proposal, the Guild suggests that instead of the Guild President being ex-officio on Senate, the Murdoch University Act be amended to allow for the Guild Secretariat to elect a voting Guild representative to Senate.

Such a change reflects the intentions of the Murdoch University Act and does not contravene the National Governance Protocols. It is similar to the manner in which Curtin University Guild currently nominates its student representatives to its governing Council, and to that which UWA intends to amend its Act in light of the need to remove the Guild President from being ex-officio.

In the case of Murdoch, it is therefore suggested that the Guild appoint a representative to Senate replacing the currently ex-officio Guild President, with the other two currently elected student representatives to Senate remaining the same.

Furthermore, because of the important role that the Guild President has played within the Murdoch Senate's committees and working parties, the Guild believes that the Guild President must remain a voting member on all relevant Senate committees and working parties regardless of the changes to the membership of the Senate.

Student Representation on the Murdoch Senate

The recommendations of Senate's Governance working party appear to have assumed that, with the removal of the Guild President as ex-officio to Senate necessitated by the National Governance Protocols, there is no need to replace the important communicative role that the Guild President fulfilled as an ex-officio member of Senate.

Based on such an assumption, it seems to have been further presumed that the removal of the Guild President's position was the most logical starting point in reducing the size of Senate towards the maximum of 22 also necessitated by the Protocols. In no uncertain terms, the Murdoch Student Guild disputes the validity of these assumptions.

As previously argued, within the scope of making changes to the Murdoch University Act to comply with the National Governance Protocol, removing the Guild President's ex-officio membership of Senate, necessitates their replacement by another student member of Senate nominated by the Guild Secretariat. Such a Guild representative within Senate is required in order for the Guild to maintain the communicative voice between students and the Senate required by the Murdoch University Act.

Importantly, whilst the Guild is arguing that the changes forced upon MurdochUniversity require the creation of such a Guild nominated Senate position, this should not be at the loss of another student voice on Senate. That is, there should continue to be three student representatives within Senate, unless there is a major rationalisation of numbers across all of the other forms of Senate membership.

If anything there is a compelling case for the need for more diverse student membership within Senate. For example at the moment there is little chance of ever having regional campus students and postgraduate students represented as members of Senate. Given this and the fact that that the National Governance Protocols necessitate a reduction in size, Senate should not reduce the number of student representatives but rather adapt the Protocol to the unique situation at Murdoch.

That is, in the place of the Guild President's ex-officio membership of Senate, the Murdoch University Act should be amended to allow for the Guild Secretariat to nominate a voting member to Senate to represent the Student Guild's position.

Size of Senate

Any question of which membership group(s) should be reduced to 22 or less members is inevitably a political one. As such, by Senate choosing what is an appropriate new size and composition for Senate there will be both winners and losers.

In regards to any change to Senate size or composition, the Guild sees the following principles as being important in framing the terms of debate:

  • There should continue to be three student representatives within Senate, unless there is a major rationalisation of numbers across all of the other forms of Senate membership. The ex-officio Guild President position should be replaced with a nominee of the Guild Secretariat;
  • The President of Academic Council should not be made an ex-officio member of Senate under any circumstances that lead to a reduction in student or staff representation within Senate. The President of Academic Council should also not replace any staff representative on the Senate;
  • Any reduction in the number of Senate convocation members is a matter of concern to the Guild. Convocation members come from a diversity of professional backgrounds with strong connections to MurdochUniversity (although not necessarily ongoing) that other lay senators do not have. The fact is that convocation members already care about the fate of Murdoch. At a time when the University is rebuilding the Alumni, any reduction in the number of convocation members is ill advised.
  • The number of academic staff represented on Senate should remain the same unless Senate decides that there is going to be a major rationalisation across of all membership categories.
  • The number of general staff members on Senate should remain at one.
  • The National Governance Protocols require a minimum of 50% of Senate to be lay members. The Senate should not lock itself in to maintaining the current 64% of lay Senators. For example a reduction in 3 lay Senators produces a Senate of 22 members made up of 59% lay Senators, well within the guidelines of the National Governance Protocols.
  • Political appointees to Senate do not have a strong connection to Murdoch University. Rather, their connection is to the political party that has appointed them and this can lead to biased voting on issues that arise from a given political agenda. As such, their position on Senate is not necessarily one that reflects the best interest of the University, especially in situations where major changes have been made to higher education. In this sense, such political appointees to Senate are not necessary and should be considered expendable in any rationalisation of Senate size and composition.

Mal Bradley

President

Guild of Students

23 June 2003