7 December 2011

The Board of Trustees met on Wednesday 7 December 2011, in the Boardroom, Building AD, Werrington North campus. A summary of matters discussed is provided below.

Confirmation of Minutes

The minutes of the 21 September 2011 (opens in a new window) meeting of the Board of Trustees were confirmed and can be downloaded from this page.

Main Items Considered by the Board

Chancellor’s Report
The Year in Review – Vice-Chancellor’s End of Year Report
Vice-Chancellor's Report
PVC Education - Professor Kerri-Lee Krause
Teaching Models in Education
Revised Academic Governance Policy
The UWS Academic Structure – The Future of Science Teaching and Research
Institute of Infrastructure Engineering
Hawkesbury Campus Biobank Site
2012 Budget
Student Services and Amenities Fee
Commercial Activities Guidelines
Delegations for New Structure in 2012
Term of Office, Chair of Audit and Risk Management Committee
Voluntary Code of Best Practice for the Governance of Australian Universities
2011 Board Strategy Day Resolutions Action Plan
Entity Board Matters
Student Non-Academic Misconduct Appeals Committee
Other Reports and Items Considered by the Board
Date of Next Meeting

Chancellor’s Report
Professor Shergold’s recent activities as UWS Chancellor included participating in graduations and UWS Scholarships awards; giving the opening address to the Medical Deans of Australia and New Zealand conference; attending the opening of the Blacktown Clinical School; attending the Golden Key Honour Society, attending a professoriate dinner and a Whitlam Institute seminar.

The Year in Review – Vice-Chancellor’s End of Year Report
This report will be available to the UWS community on line in due course.

The key areas of focus for 2012 reflect the Making the Difference Strategy, the Board’s priorities, the outcomes of the AUQA audit, thematic and functional plans and the Schools’ plans. The key areas of focus will be shaped by the resolutions arising from the Board’s 2011 Strategy Day:

  • Positioning for growth in the student cohort
  • Learning and teaching
  • Research positioning
  • Continuing focus on quality and return from postgraduate programs
  • Rejuvenating the academic staffing profile
  • Improving alignment between planning, delivery and review
  • Reviewing the University’s Community Engagement strategy and practices.

Vice-Chancellor’s Report
The Vice-Chancellor's regular report to the Board of Trustees included the following items:

  • Blacktown/Mt Druitt Clinical School Opening
  • UWS successes in research fellowships, grants and awards
  • Parramatta Campus Square Official Opening
  • Academia: A Scholarly Life Conference
  • Hawkesbury Environment Network
  • Young Tall Poppy – Associate Professor Hilary Bambrick
  • The Vice-Chancellor has been appointed Convenor of the NSW/ACT Vice-Chancellor’s Committee for two years

PVC Education - Professor Kerri-Lee Krause
Professor Krause was introduced to the Board and spoke briefly about her new portfolio at UWS, including that:

  • The University needs to be ‘situated and strategic’ in its approach and to ensure that national policy developments in education are brought into the University’s work;
  • Her role will have strong synergies with the PVC Students, particularly in relation to student engagement and retention;
  • Her work needs to be evidence based and she will be liaising with the Director, Strategy & Quality with regards to University data;
  • Deeper analysis is required about what ‘flexible course delivery’ really means;
  • She will be working strategically to improve the articulations and pathways already in place.

Teaching Models in Education
Professor Steve Wilson, Head of the School and Dean-elect of the School of Education and Dr Bronwyn Cole, Associate Pro Vice-Chancellor (Education) and previous Head of Program (Primary Education), spoke to the Board about the 1+1+1 teaching model that has been implemented in the School of Education since 2008.

Professor Wilson explained the key drivers for the changes in delivery of units and some of the outcomes for staff and students. Dr Cole provided examples of the ways in which the model was implemented.

Revised Academic Governance Policy
The Board of Trustees approved the revised Academic Governance Policy, providing for changes to the terms of reference and membership of Academic Senate effective from 1 January 2012. The revised policy will be available on the Policy DDS (opens in a new window) in due course.

The Board of Trustees also approved:

1) the calling of elections as early as is possible to fill the positions on the Academic Senate elected by academic staff in schools and the Badanami Centre for Indigenous Education for two-year terms ending on 31 December 2013;

2) that until the time these elections are completed, the current elected members of Senate shall continue as members of the Senate;

3) the continuance in office of the current elected Chair of Academic Senate, the elected Deputy Chair of Academic Senate, and the elected undergraduate and postgraduate student members of the Senate, to the end of their current terms on 31 May 2013.

The UWS Academic Structure – The Future of Science Teaching and Research
The Board noted that the Schools of Science and Biomedical & Health Sciences will be merged into one School from 1 January 2012. Updates on the transition process are available to University staff at http://staff.uws.edu.au/staff/uws2012.

Institute of Infrastructure Engineering
The Board approved the establishment of the Institute of Infrastructure Engineering.

Hawkesbury Campus Biobank Site
The Board approved the University entering into an agreement with the Minister for Education to establish a Biobank Site on the Hawkesbury Campus.

2012 Budget
The Board approved the 2012-2014 Budget noting:

1. the final School budgets will be presented to the Board in February; and

2. the rolling budget process allows for adjustments as operational needs require. These will be reported through Finance and Investment Committee to the Board on a quarterly basis.

Student Services and Amenities Fee
Once enabled by legislation UWS will charge the full allowable student amenities fee per annum for students. The University Executive will finalise and implement a 2012 fee schedule for part-time and part-year students.

Commercial Activities Guidelines
The Board approved the changes to the University’s Commercial Activities Guidelines requested by the NSW Treasury, for final approval by the Minister for Education and Training.

The revised Guidelines will be available on the Policy DDS in due course.

Delegations for New Structure in 2012
The Board approved the revised Delegations (Administrative) Policy and Delegations Schedules, to take effect from 1 January 2012.

Term of Office, Chair of Audit and Risk Management Committee
In line with a core requirement of the NSW Treasury Policy, the Board approved the minimum term of appointment of the Chair of the ARMC increasing from two to three years.

Voluntary Code of Best Practice for the Governance of Australian Universities
The Board adopted the Voluntary Code of Best Practice for the Governance of Australian Universities from 1 January 2012. The University’s compliance with the Code will be reviewed at the first meeting of the Board each year; and its compliance with the Voluntary Code will be reported in the University’s Annual Report.

2011 Board Strategy Day Resolutions Action Plan
The Board noted the University’s plan for progressing the resolutions from the 2011 Board of Trustees Strategy Day.

Entity Board Matters
Aisha Parsons and James Majarich are appointed as student directors of uwsconnect for two years from 17 October 2011, and David Stephens, Vicki Buchanen, Tim Ferraro and Thea Seabrook are reappointed for further terms of two years.

Susan Hudson, Patricia Mullins, Kerry O’Reilly, Ellen Brackenreg, and Denise Fraser are appointed as directors of UWS Early Learning Limited. At least one external appointment will be made in the future.

Student Non-Academic Misconduct Appeals Committee
The Board appointed Dr Ken Langford as the external Board of Trustees member and the chair of the Student Non-academic Misconduct Appeals Committee; and Professor Carolyn Sappideen as a member of the Appeals Committee.

Other Reports and Items Considered by the Board

  • Student Representation and Participation Model at UWS
  • Student Services and Amenities Fee
  • New Organisation Structure – Progress Report
  • UWS Cycle 2 AUQA Audit
  • Western Sydney Institute for Health
  • Alumni Graduation Gift Appeal
  • Finance and Investment Committee Report – report of 17 November 2011 meeting
  • Strategy and Planning Committee Report – report of 10 November 2011 meeting
  • Campus Development Committee – report of 4 November 2011 meeting
  • Audit and Risk Management Committee – report of 1 November 2011 meeting
  • Academic Senate – report of 28 October and 18 November meetings
  • University Legislation
  • Staffing Matters
  • Outcome of Board of Trustees Elections
  • Admissions Process – UWS School of Medicine
  • Guidelines for Electronic Board and Committee papers
  • UWS Engagement with Greater Western Sydney Giants

Date of Next Meeting
Board’s next meeting will be held at 9am on 29 February 2012 at the University’s Werrington North Campus.