Council Summary
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University of Wollongong COUNCIL SUMMARY 190th Council Meeting: 23 June 2006 The following matters, which may be of interest to the staff and students of the University, were considered by the University Council at its meeting of 23 June 2006. Vice-Chancellor’s Report Centre for Transnational Crime Prevention The Federal Budget included $12 million in government funding for UOW to establish a Global Centre of Excellence for Transnational Crime Prevention to be based at the Innovation Campus. The initial funding announcement was made by the Federal Minister for Education, the Hon Julie Bishop at UOW. This was followed by a visit by the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade, the Hon Alexander Downer MP, who gave the inaugural lecture on National and International Security at the University on 16 May and announced a further 60 AusAID scholarships worth $3 million over the next three years for overseas students to study at the Centre. Further information: http://media.uow.edu.au/releases/2006/0504a.html http://media.uow.edu.au/news/2006/0517a/index.html Carrick awards for Teaching and Learning In the latest round of the Competitive Grants Scheme 156 submissions were received for the whole of Australia. Only five proposals were approved with UOW involved in two of them. The Leadership Grants Scheme, announced earlier this year, attracted 63 applications. Nine were approved and 21 were invited to move to the next stage including one from UOW led by Dr Gerry LeFoe in CEDIR, in conjunction with University of Tasmania, based around UOW's Faculty Teaching & Learning Scholars Program. Research • The audited figures on research income for 2005 show that total research income was $30.01M compared with $23.22M in 2004. The increase in research income reflects on our standing, research block grants, and scholarships and is a significant achievement. • Professor Gordon Wallace has been awarded a prestigious Federation Fellowship, the first such award for UOW. These Fellowships are only awarded to researchers who are world leaders in their chosen field and represent the pinnacle of achievement in the Australian research sector. The Fellowship carries over $1.5 million in funding over the next five years from the ARC. Council congratulated Professor Wallace on his fellowship. Further Information: http://media.uow.edu.au/releases/2006/0511a.html • UOW recently signed a five year contract worth more than $850,000 with the NSW Department of Environment and Heritage to jointly establish a UOW Centre for Environmental Risk Management of Bushfires (CERMB). The Centre's Director is recently appointed Prof. Ross Bradstock. • An NHMRC development grant worth $184,500 has been awarded to Professor John Bremner and his team from the Department of Chemistry in the Faculty of Science. This is a great achievement considering that UOW is not a major player in NHMRC funding as yet. The UOW team was one of three successful Development Grants awarded in NSW, and was the only regional University to receive funding in NSW • The Federal Minister for the Ageing, Senator Santo Santoro, has announced that the University of Wollongong will lead a partnership of four academic institutions and four industry partners to host an Eastern Australia Dementia Training and Study Centre. Further information: http://media.uow.edu.au/news/2006/0605a/index.html • UOW continues to excel in cancer research. The Vice-Chancellor thanked Professor Anatoly Rozenfeld for his work in the field of prostate cancer research. Further information: http://media.uow.edu.au/news/2006/0607b/index.html http://media.uow.edu.au/news/2006/0526b/index.html UOW success in Graduate Careers Survey A survey by Graduate Careers Australia, reported on the front page of the Sydney Morning Herald, showed graduates from the University of Wollongong have a far better chance of getting a job than their colleagues from more traditional sandstone universities. UOW came top in NSW and second nationally to the University of Western Australia. UOW Racing Car The University of Wollongong’s Faculty of Engineering is celebrating after its Formula SAE racing team finished a close second (after Texas A&M University) in an international championship in the United States. Formula SAE is a competition between teams of university students who design, build and compete in racing cars. Further information: http://media.uow.edu.au/news/2006/0623e/index.html Business from Council Committees Audit Management & Review Committee Mr Peter Fitzgerald was appointed Chair of the University’s Audit Committee from 1 September 2006. Council thanked Dr Brian Hickman for his outstanding contribution as chair of the Audit Committee over the past 9 years. For further information about the Audit Management & Review Committee: http://www.uow.edu.au/governance/auditmanagement.html Administrative Committee Council received the minutes of the 16 May 2006 Administrative Committee Meeting. For further information about the Administrative Committee: http://www.uow.edu.au/governance/admin.html Council Innovation Campus Oversight Committee Council received the minutes of the 24 May 2006 Council iC Oversight Committee meeting and a progress report on the innovation campus. For more information about the innovation campus: http://www.innovationcampus.com.au/ Student Equity Progress Report In February 2005, Council allocated an additional $1 million each year over three years (2006- 2008) from additional HECS revenues to fund student equity initiatives. The Dean of Students made a presentation to Council on a review of equity that has taken place and set out UOW's student equity initiatives. For further information on the EdStart equity initiative: http://media.uow.edu.au/releases/2006/0628b.html Strategic Planning Council received the 2005 review reports and the 2006 planning priorities for the University Core functions of Teaching and Learning, Internationalisation and Community Engagement. For more information about strategic planning at UOW: http://www.uow.edu.au/about/stratplan/ New and amended policies approved by Council Intellectual Property Policy Framework Council approved a new intellectual property policy framework for the university consisting of the following policies and guidelines: • Intellectual Property Policy: http://www.uow.edu.au/about/policy/ippolicy.pdf • Student Assignment of Intellectual Property Policy: http://www.uow.edu.au/about/policy/studentassignmentippolicy.pdf • Commercialisation Revenue Policy: http://www.uow.edu.au/about/policy/commercialisationrevenuepolicy.pdf Policy on Cotutelle Agreements: The Policy on Cotutelle Agreements provides for PhD students from UOW to study at French institutions and for French PhD students to study at UOW: http://www.uow.edu.au/about/policy/cotutelleagreementspolicy.pdf Consequential amendments to the General Course Rules were also made to provide for Cotutelle study arrangements: http://www.uow.edu.au/handbook/courserules/thesis_researchdegrees.html Amendments to the General Course Rules: The Course Rules, Award Rules and Rules for Undergraduate Admission were amended to provide for the introduction of Graduate Medical School courses. These amendments will not take effect until 1 January 2007. UOW Environmental Policy This Policy formalises the University’s commitment to supporting the principles of environmental sustainability. It can be accessed at: http://www.uow.edu.au/about/policy/environmentalpolicy.pdf Amendments to the Rules for Student Conduct and Discipline The Rules for Student Discipline and Conduct were amended to take into account recommendations for the improved operation and management of student misconduct made by the Council Committee of Appeal (Student Discipline) and the Academic Senate. The Rules are currently subject to review as part of the Senate’s Academic Integrity Project. The amended Rules for Student Conduct and Discipline are available at: http://www.uow.edu.au/handbook/generalrules/rulesforstudentconductdiscipline.pdf Occupational Health & Safety The Occupational Health and Safety Report was noted by Council. For further information on OH&S: http://staff.uow.edu.au/ohs/ 2005 University Annual Report The 2005 Annual Report was received by the Council. The Annual Report is available online at: http://www.uow.edu.au/about/annualreports.html Reports from Controlled Entities Mid year progress reports were received from the controlled entities of the University: ITC, UniCentre, URAC and Enikos Pty Ltd and 2005 Annual Reports were provided by the ITC, UniCentre and URAC. Further information about the ITC: http://www.itc.com.au/ ITC Annual Report 2005: http://www.uow.edu.au/about/annualreports.html Further information about the UniCentre: http://unicentre.uow.edu.au/ UniCentre Annual Report 2005: http://unicentre.uow.edu.au/about/annualreport/ Further information about URAC: http://www.uow.edu.au/urac/ The next University Council meeting is scheduled to be held on Friday, 18 August 2006. .