MONASH UNIVERSITY ACADEMIC BOARD
Meeting No. 1/2015 held on 25 February 2015
CHAIR’S REPORT TO COUNCIL
Deputy Chancellor, Mr Shane Buggle was in attendance
RECOMMENDATIONS BY ACADEMIC BOARD
There are no matters arising from this meeting of the Academic Board requiring adoption or approval by
Council.
MATTERS CONSIDERED BY ACADEMIC BOARD
Specific matters dealt with by Academic Board Meeting 1/2015 are highlighted below for Council to note,
as necessary.
1.
Coursework Course Architecture (CA) - 2016 Undergraduate (UG) Course Portfolio
Council Meeting 8/2013 approved the Monash Course Architecture (CA). Since then, Academic
Board has reported on steps towards its implementation on several occasions.
Council will recall that the CA represents a simpler and more elegant narrative of Monash’s
Education offerings – providing a consistent framework for Monash courses, setting out how the
course portfolio is composed, how courses are designed and interface with each other, thus
reducing complexity and simplifying student choice.
Academic Board Meeting 1/2015 considered the complete course portfolio of undergraduate
entry courses (including specialisations/majors/minors) to be offered at the Australian campuses
in 2016 and the associated degrees to be awarded. It approved the Academic course descriptions
for all the single degree courses as the basis of a common starting date AB1-2015 (25 February
2015) for the new portfolio and in so doing noted that:
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Except for a small number of courses to be discontinued/transitioned in 2017 (due to
external accreditation requirements), all UG courses were now CA-approved.
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Course descriptions had been rewritten into a consistent and coherent format and
structure.
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The academic course descriptions presented to and approved by the Board would become
the foundation edition/control version for all UG course descriptions, thus facilitating
quality control.
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The Portfolio represented a major collaboration across the University, with considerable
hard work, enthusiasm and display of goodwill by all involved.
(http://youtu.be/Te2UKjSSXlg is the link to the YouTube video of “Monash Comprehensive and
Specialist Courses Explained”.)
2.
Research Institutes
Academic Board considered the proposals for establishment of two new research institutes – the
Monash Biomedicine Discovery Institute (BDI) and Institute for Cognitive and Clinical Neurosciences
(ICCN) - enabled by the evolution of the Monash Discovery Precinct and which, in concert with the
Australian Regenerative Medicine Institute (ARMI) would constitute a three-institute model for
driving research excellence.
In endorsing the proposals for establishment of the research institutes, the Board noted:
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The compelling case for establishment of BDI and ICCN, in particular, that they would enhance
the Faculty’s global competitiveness, raise the profile of the disciplines concerned, enable
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leverage of existing and development of new strategic partnerships and introduction of a
range of innovative research programs.
3.
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Enhancement of the research-led teaching and training environment, which was expected to
improve the student experience and increase numbers undertaking Honours, Masters and PhD
courses. Members observed that education had flourished under the MIPS/PPS relationship
(on which these proposals had been modelled).
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The exciting potential, consequent on establishment of the three-institute model, for engaging
in significant inter-faculty collaborations.
Committee Reports
A previous report to Council referred to one of the Board’s priorities for 2015 on “reforming the
manner in which standing committees report their business to Academic Board, with a view to
enabling more strategic reporting, raising the profile of the Board’s standing committees and visibly
assuring the Board that Committees are playing their role in ensuring quality/high standards.”
Academic Board received the first of these reports, from Professor Pauline Nestor, Chair of the
Monash University Research Committee (MRC).
The Board observed that:
4.
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The Committee’s remit charged it to “support the development and review of the University's
research strategy and monitor its implementation.”
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A crucial part of this responsibility was to ensure sound communication both between the
centre and faculties, and within the faculties themselves, thus enabling timely identification of
issues and challenges and, importantly, sharing of best practice. The Committee had therefore
instituted a cycle of presentations on the development of faculty research strategies, followed
by presentations on their implementation.
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The Committee was now looking to take this reporting to a further level of maturity, requiring
a full and frank assessment of strategic directions and clear identification of opportunities for
improvement. MRC is therefore looking to move beyond its formal Terms of Reference, insofar
as it seeks to play a significant role in fostering a culture of performance expectation, and
providing a crucial link between the Centre and faculties in communicating the University’s
research strategies.
Monash South Africa (MSA)
In its Report of Meeting 5/2014, Academic Board advised Council that issues relating to academic
standards of Monash programs delivered at MSA had been raised, and that a range of actions
relating to, inter alia, admissions requirements relating to students in the Foundation Program
were being considered.
In early January 2015, and following significant work by members of the Steering Committee of
Academic Board and senior members of the Monash community, Steering Committee (acting
pursuant to the Board’s delegation) considered and determined to approve waiver of the
University's minimum entry requirements in respect of a named list of students in Monash South
Africa foundation programs as a result of the incorrect publication of admission standards for
Monash University degrees. In so doing, a range of conditions were imposed, including appropriate
advice to affected students, provision of additional academic skills support, and regular reporting to
the Board over the next triennium.
Academic Board received the report of the Steering Committee resolution and the first of the
required reports from MSA and, in so doing, noted that imposition of the range of conditions is
designed both to maximise student chances of success, but also to ensure that mechanisms are in
place to monitor application of Monash standards and ensure the quality of its offerings.
Professor Ben Canny
Chair, Academic Board
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