Cdu Annual Report 2009 1 Darwin (Casuarina) Nhulunbuy Palmerston Jabiru
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CDUANNUAL REPORT 2009 COVER IMAGE The north-facing entrance to The Chancellery, Casuarina campus, Darwin. Charles Darwin The Hon. Dr Chris Burns mla University Minister for Education and Training Annual Report 2009 I have the honour to present to you, for tabling in the Northern Territory Parliament, the Annual Report of the Council of Charles Darwin University for the year ended 31 December 2009, furnished in accordance with the reporting provisions of the Charles Darwin University Act, 2003. The Hon. SALLY THOMAS AM Chancellor 30 June 2010 cdu annual report 2009 1 Darwin (Casuarina) Nhulunbuy Palmerston Jabiru Katherine Tennant Creek Alice Springs Yulara 2 cdu annual report 09/10 CDUANNUAL REPORT 2009 04 Letter to Stakeholders 31 Research with Global Reach Powerful Partnerships 08 Organisational Structure 38 Quality and Sustainability 09 Principal Officers 43 Summary of Financial Statements 10 2009 Snapshots 48 Governance 20 Strategic Plan 54 Acronyms 21 A Unique Learning Environment 59 Contacts 25 A Leader in Indigenous Education 60 cdu annual report 2009 3 LETTER TO StaKEHOLDERS Delivers benefits to the whole community Charles Darwin University (CDU) continued to evolve in the dynamic tertiary education environment during 2009. In December 2008, the Review of Australian While there have been cycles of planning Higher Education final report was released. improvements and initiatives over the past Using this Review as a blueprint, the several years, foundation components of Australian Government began a major reform the CDU approach to living the Mission of the tertiary education sector in 2009. and Vision and delivering benefits to the community remain constant: CDU found itself in the positive position of having a vision and approach to tertiary > As the highest institutional priority, education strongly aligned with Government achieving quality teaching and learning reform objectives. Many of the Government outcomes for the unique student tenets relating to increased attainment demographic that CDU serves; and low socio-economic status (SES) > Supporting an improvement in the quality participation in a high-quality, sustainable of life of Indigenous people; delivery model resonate at a fundamental level with CDU ideals and aspirations. > Actively using partnerships with other institutions to pursue scale and broaden As a young institution working with modest offerings and opportunities for the resources in a challenging environment and Northern Territory population and circumstances, CDU assesses and improves CDU students broadly; and strategic plans and approaches on a regular basis. > Engaging in research and educational activities that are focused and enriched by the needs and cultural and natural endowments of the Northern Territory. Regional community CDU is one of the most “regional” universities, being the tertiary institution with a mandate to support the intellectual, professional, social, cultural and environmental well-being of the Northern Territory and surrounding regions. The success of the University in supporting This phenomenal level of engagement is the regional community is reflected in a achieved year-on-year. The most recent variety of high-level statistics. For example, in Government benchmarking shows access 2009 the University enrolled 21,236 students and participation rates of regional HE across Higher Education (HE) and Vocational students at CDU to be around three-times Education and Training (VET), an increase the sector norm. For students from remote of 13.3% on the previous year. Allowing for a locations, these rates are more than 10-times percentage of non-Territorian students, it is the sector norm. For Indigenous students, clear that around 10% of Territorians 15 years the rates are around three-times the sector and older enrol at the University each year. norm. The Territory Government supports CDU in a number of ways. 4 cdu annual report 2009 Territory Government assistance as a Government, establishing a framework proportion of revenue is around seven-times for cooperative research, academic and the sector norm for State investment in training activities, and expanded research higher education institutions. This assistance infrastructure focused on development of is essential in making tertiary education tropical marine resources. As part of the and research accessible to Territorians. Australian Government’s Super Science The Australian Government, likewise, Marine and Climate initiative, $5.5 million strongly supports the University in its major is being directed towards the Arafura Timor role in the development of the regional Research Facility to support this partnership. community. Overall, the quality of research at CDU was Partnerships with other providers have recognised widely in 2009, including in the become increasingly important in the Spain-based SCImago Institutions 2009 University’s approach to serving the regional World Report where CDU was ranked in the community. In May 2009, the Australian top five Australian universities. Government announced it would provide The University’s collaborative activities $27.8 million in infrastructure funding to with the Batchelor Institute of Indigenous support the establishment of a full medical Tertiary Education (Biite) took on a new program in the Northern Territory, run in scale in 2009 with the announcement of the partnership between CDU and Flinders Australian Centre for Indigenous Knowledge University. Supporting this program, CDU and Education, a partnership between the is introducing new medical science courses, two institutions supported by more than including the Bachelor of Clinical Sciences $30 million of Commonwealth funding. and the Bachelor of Medical Laboratory The collaborative venture will provide a Sciences. step-change expansion in the expertise and The Government also provided $4.5 million resources brought to bear on educational and for purpose-built community and health other academic-related matters, and needs training facilities in Alice Springs and important to Indigenous communities. The Katherine. These facilities will improve the Centre will also provide a stronger northern delivery of community services, aged care, Australia voice in formulating the national and allied health programs, especially for agenda. Indigenous people in the Northern Territory. Skills shortages are a perennial challenge in The Menzies School of Health Research was northern Australia. As the largest provider granted $34.1 million in the 2009 Federal of HE and VET in the Northern Territory, Budget for the construction of a purpose- the University plays an important role in built research facility at its current location programs addressing skills shortages. on the Royal Darwin Hospital campus. Growth in HE student numbers of almost Health-related training overall expanded 12% and VET student numbers of 14% in by around 5% across both HE and VET in 2009 was a highlight. The University is 2009, a trend that will continue in 2010 and planning for further growth in the coming beyond. years to move VET delivery to at least 15,000 Partnerships to support science that students and HE student load to 5000 EFTSL. focus on improving understanding and The University is proud of its role in working management of the region’s natural assets with our regional community and looks have a similar high priority. In 2009, the forward to supporting the community into Federal Minister for Innovation, Industry, the future. Science and Research announced a landmark Memorandum of Understanding between CDU, the Australian Institute of Marine Science (AIMS), the Australian National University and the Northern Territory cdu annual report 2009 5 Students Students are the key stakeholder group for the University. Student numbers grew by 13.3% in 2009, continuing a general trend over the past five years. The manner in which students engage VET numbers continue to grow with a 14% with the University has changed markedly increase in students in 2009. Underneath in recent times. One of the more notable this growth is a gradual movement towards changes has been the movement to flexible higher-level qualifications. online delivery with the aim of better Course completions in 2009 increased accommodating the work / study / life at the Certificate III level by 5.6%, and at balance needs, particularly of HE students. the Certificate IV level by 24%. Diploma In 2009, external delivery accounted for completions also increased from five in around 60% of HE unit enrolments at CDU. 2008 to 128 in 2009. Moving forward, the Most Northern Territory students who study University’s dual-sector model will be externally do so through CDU, emphasising enhanced to better support the Australian the role that online delivery plays in lifestyle Government’s participation ambitions. choices. Supporting this change in student In particular, the dual-sector advantage of needs, in early 2009 CDU received $2.9 simplified pathways and articulation between million from the Australian Government’s VET and HE will be used in encouraging Diversity and Structural Adjustment Fund to engagement with tertiary education by non- facilitate a University-wide project targeting traditional and target SES student groups. best practice delivery of flexible education, with a focus on enhancement of teaching and learning quality in this changing student landscape. Staff The University is one of the largest employers in the Northern Territory. A key aim for CDU is to be an employer of choice for current