Prior to the meeting a number of general staff and Senators met informally. The staff members got to know a little more about the workings of Senate.
We discussed the upcoming Centenary and it was noted that it needs to be not only a celebration of the past, but of the future.
Issues raised in the Vice-Chancellor's address to staff of 19 March (which followed a Senate Strategic Planning Retreat 14-15 March) were discussed. This included the commitment that staff make to UQ and the fear of burnout, particularly amongst younger staff. I was able to report that the Senate has asked for and is contributing to development of a HR strategy. The draft strategy document recognises the commitment of staff and proposes "using a staff engagement survey to identify the drivers of staff motivation and contribution and incorporate results into the HR Strategy". I and Senator Andrew Bonnell (elected by and from the academic staff) will pursue this initiative.
If you would like to participate in an informal meeting with Senators, email me.
Prior to the formal meeting of Senate itself, Senators enjoyed a presentation from the Director of the UQ Art Museum on his plans for making the Museum more accessible to the public.
I rose to congratulate the V-C on the initiative of his recent interactive session with staff on four campuses where he spoke of his and Senate's vision for UQ today and tomorrow. I went on to request that it be an annual event, and Professor Greenfield replied that he intended to schedule such sessions annually.
Andrew Bonnell pointed out to the meeting that the Federal Government is abolishing the National Governance Protocols that led to the downsizing of Senate and the change to its composition (fewer elected representatives). Andrew said that this provides an opportunity for the University, subject to the State Government Act, to revisit the composition of Senate once the NGPs are repealed.
The Federal Government recently called for submissions in response to a discussion paper on the impact of VSU on student services, amenities and representation. UQ made a submission and it was tabled for the information of Senate.
The submission says that although not all campus facilities are used by all students, their very existence enhances the environment in which all students live and study. In UQ's view, all students should contribute something towards the availability and upkeep of these facilities. UQ would support a funding model which recognises this principle either through a modest direct charge on students or through a combination of charges, university and government grants.
The submission goes on to say that UQ supports the existence of a strong, effective student union, independent of the University and with democratically-elected officers and representatives. UQ does not favour any increase in government regulation.
A draft of the report was noted by Senate. Like all annual reports, the remuneration of executive officers is shown in a table. The total for the 6 executives rose from $3.347M in 2006 to $4.563M in 2007 - a rise of 36%. In particular, the Vice-Chancellor's package was shown in 2006 to be in range $1,040,00-$1,049,999, but then jumped to $1,980,000-$1,989,999 in 2007. It was explained that a lot of the jump had to do with the payout of unused recreation and long service leave at the expiry of Prof Hay's contract at the end of 2007. It was suggested that a footnote go on the table to explain this.
Senate noted a review of ORPS conducted in August 2007 and the response of the Director. I rose to say that I hoped that some of the issues raised in the report to do with the lengthy delays in getting research contracts passed by the lawyers, in getting research accounts created, and in even getting someone to answer the phone sometimes, would be addressed. I feel that the generally poor response times in parts of RRTD are unlikely to be solely a factor of customer service standards, but more likely to do with shortage of staff. Hence I said to the meeting that it would be interesting to see the correlation between the rising volume of work RRTD has to handle and increase (if any) in staff resources.
Other business was routine in nature - reports from the various sub-committees of Senate for noting, etc.
