These included statements by the Acting Chancellor, Vice-Chancellor and President of the Academic Board on routine matters, PPL changes, reports from Senate committees, workplace culture progress report, Student Strategy progress report, and a Customs House update.
As foreshadowed at the previous Senate meeting, a paper from the student group, Fossil Free UQ, was made available to members, but was tabled rather than included in the agenda papers. Being a 27 page document, it was impossible to digest in the meeting. I asked why it hadn't been included in the agenda papers circulated a week ahead of the meeting. No reason could be given and the Acting Chancellor eventually apologised for not having circulated it earlier. A member proposed that discussion of the item be deferred to the August meeting, and this was agreed.
Management wants the Finance sub-committee of Senate to discuss the matter before it returns to Senate in October. As the August Senate meeting precedes the next Finance Committee meeting, this timetable is still achievable. One wonders, why the delays?
Senate was also told that the University's investment policy is being reviewed and a draft will come to the August meeting. The investment policy framework is a matter reserved for Senate.
The Issues Paper for the restructuring of Finance & HR services was in the agenda papers and noted. The implementation of organisational change is regarded by Senate as an operational matter for management, rather than something for Senate. Basically it was on the agenda because ESS in general has been on the agenda for a while, in terms of the philosophical objectives of ESS of shifting expenditure from professional services functions to academic functions, which is supported by Senate.
The VC and COO essentially reported that the Issues Paper was out and the first forum had been held. They said the reception from staff at the forum had been good with good questions, but the COO observed that the hard stuff is ahead of us. One Senator (external) observed that the model in Exhibit E of the Issues Paper (centralisation of reporting lines) is a big step to take from where we are now in terms of our organisation. Another (external) expressed concern that org units would have responsibility for financial and HR results for their org unit, but would not have control over the staff delivering same. The response to these comments was that autonomy would still rest with the org units and that the �business partner relationship� between the org unit and the managers of the HR and finance functions would need to be robust � ie, the org unit managers would liaise with the functional managers to get what they need. A 'dotted line' representation on the org charts was not ruled out.
One of the reasons given for centralisation is that it makes it easier for the organisation to cope with future change, such as that delivered by digital disruption.
