Annual Report 2004 Contents ■ Highlights 2004 ................................2 ■ Vice-Chancellor’s Message ................4 ■ Key Statistics .....................................7 ■ Organisation .....................................8 – Functions of the University – Organisational chart/lines of responsibility – Charter, Values, Mission ■ Corporate Governance ....................12 – Council – Senior Management – Committees – Legal Change – Risk Management – Recommendations of Ombudsman or Auditor General – Freedom of Information – Privacy ■ Teaching and Learning ....................26 ■ Research and Research Training .......36 ■ Our Students ...................................44 ■ Our Staff .........................................56 ■ Our Community ..............................66 ■ Organisational Performance ............72 The Honourable Carmel Tebbutt MLC – Performance Report for 2004 Minister for Education and Training – Environment New South Wales Parliament House – Waste Management Macquarie Street Sydney NSW 2001 – Energy Management – Promotion and Publications – Physical Infrastructure & Land Disposal ■ Diversity, Access and Equity .............80 28 February 2005 – Summary Information – Ethnic Affairs Priority Statement Dear Minister, ■ Donations ......................................82 On behalf of the Council of the University of Newcastle, we have the honour of ■ Financial Performance ....................86 transmitting to you, pursuant to section 10 and Commercial Activity of the Annual Reports (Statutory Bodies) Act – Controlled Entities 1984, a report on the work and activities of ■ Financial Report and Statements .....90 the University of Newcastle for the twelve months ended 31 December 2004. ■ Compliance Index .........................156 ■ Access and Printing Costs .............156 Conjoint Professor Trevor Waring AM Communication Objectives Chancellor Whilst this Annual Report has been written to comply with statutory reporting requirements it also aims to demonstrate the University of Newcastle’s commitment to its strategic objectives as described in the Strategic Plan 2003 – 2006. The report describes the University’s operational framework, Professor Nicholas Saunders reviews activities for 2004 and offers a view to Vice-Chancellor and President plans for improvement. Feedback We would like to hear your suggestions for the Annual Report. Please send any comments to the Director, Corporate Governance, the University of Newcastle. Highlights 2004 Further information about each of the highlights noted here can be found in the relevant chapter in this report. Teaching ■ Graduate Certifi cate in the Practice of Tertiary Teaching established and 51 academic staff enrolled and Learning ■ Academic integrity reinforced through policy development, appointment of Student Academic Conduct Offi cers and use of new software for plagiarism prevention ■ Academic Quality Assurance Committee established ■ Network for Innovation in Teaching and Learning established to pursue excellence in teaching and learning Research ■ Placed in the top ten publicly funded research universities in Australia and Research ■ Increase in external research income of nearly 20 percent from $28 million to $33.5 million Training ■ Awarded a second prestigious Australian Research Council Federation Fellowship ■ Over 60 percent increase in research higher degree graduates leading into 2005 ■ Nine University Postdoctoral Research Fellowships funded for 2005 ■ The University of Newcastle currently employs 850 research staff who work with 1,250 research higher degree students across a wide range of disciplines Our ■ Eight of the University Medallists in the 2004 graduation ceremonies commenced their studies in either Students Open Foundation or Newstep ■ Higher starting salaries for University of Newcastle graduates than the national median ■ The University of Newcastle’s average level of Indigenous students has risen each year since 1999 and remains consistently above the national average Annual Report 2004 ■ International students at the University of Newcastle number 3,524 from 88 different countries ■ New scholarships system established to enable online scholarships information and application ■ 5,013 graduates received their awards, a University record ■ 45 Aboriginal students graduated, the largest cohort on record The University of Newcastle The 2 Our ■ Appointment of Professor Nicholas Saunders as Vice-Chancellor and President Staff ■ Appointment of Dr Sue Gould as Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Services) ■ 56 percent growth in Indigenous staff numbers between 2000 and 2004, continuing to exceed the NSW Government target ■ Two of our Professors named in Australia’s Top 100 Most Infl uential Engineers by Engineers Australia Our ■ The University of Newcastle’s Science and Engineering Challenge gains funding to take the program nationwide Community ■ The University of Newcastle and partners Hunter Health and the Hunter Medical Research Institute, gain funding to build a high speed fi bre optic network within the Newcastle region which initially will support biomedical research ■ The University of Newcastle signs a Memorandum of Understanding with Great Lakes College to provide enhanced opportunities for Higher Education in the upper Great Lakes region including future opportunities for accelerated learning for gifted and talented students ■ The University of Newcastle launches an Indigenous alumni chapter at Wollotuka’s 21st anniversary celebrations ■ A vibrant year for the University of Newcastle performing arts, fi ne arts and public lecture programs The University of Newcastle The Organisational ■ The University of Newcastle continues to be a ‘fi rst choice university’ for students, attracting nearly 12 percent of fi rst Performance preferences to the NSW/ACT Universities’ Admissions Centre (UAC) ■ UAIs for approximately half the programs at the University increased from those of 2003 and the following programs required a UAI of 90 or more: physiotherapy, occupational therapy, medicine, biomedical science, speech pathology and all combined degrees ■ 640 tonnes of quality paper and cardboard captured through the University’s recycling program Annual Report 2004 ■ Average growth in energy consumption between 1999 and 2004 was -0.1 percent 3 Report from the Vice-Chancellor and President 2004 has seen some major changes for the University of Newcastle as well as some impressive achievements. I took up the position of Vice-Chancellor and President of the University in early October 2004 and look forward to building on past successes and developing new areas of strength with the enthusiastic staff and students that constitute this University. Much has changed in the twelve years since I last worked at the University and I have spent my fi rst few months here endeavouring to learn as much as possible about our position. A number of open meetings have been held for staff and students in which I had the opportunity to hear about all the good things that have been happening at the University as well as answering questions and concerns raised by those who attended. I am pleased to report that our research achievements have been impressive. This year we won new grants totalling approximately $16.5 million from the Australian Research Council (ARC) and the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) to support research over the next three years. This, taken together with ARC and NHMRC funding won in earlier years, means that in 2005 alone we will spend more than $20 million for research supported by these agencies. The Research Centre for Gender and Health received a large Commonwealth grant to continue the Australian Longitudinal Study on Women’s Health and, more recently, the School of Medical Practice and Population Health and partners launched an important longitudinal study of the over 50s in our region. The Hunter Medical Research Institute, a partnership between Hunter Health, the University and the community, continues to go from strength to strength. And our partnerships with industry continue to grow. The University of Newcastle Industry Scholarship Scheme (UNISS) grew to 83 scholarships in 2004 with 11 UNISS scholars graduating in 2004. Our research has continued to attract signifi cant commercial interest. A new joint venture between Ampcontrol, a provider of innovative power and electronic products and services, and the University has established ResTech, a company aiming to become a market leader and centre of excellence in engineering and research Annual Report 2004 services for the key markets of heavy industry, mining, power distribution and defence. The biotechnology company Psiron Ltd has linked with the University through TUNRA to commercialise research fi ndings in an effort to produce new anti-cancer treatments. The University of Newcastle The 4 Our community service activities have been varied and highly The end of year defi cit for the University, for 2004, is considerably successful, ranging from delivering legal services on the beach larger than expected. The fi nancial challenges we face are signifi cant last summer to opening an innovative health clinic in Cessnock in and will involve a number of effi ciency measures to be implemented October. We have also worked with the Newcastle City Council and in 2005. Work commenced in 2004 on reviewing our administrative the Hunter Writers Centre to restore the Newcastle Poetry Prize this processes and our academic programs to ensure that the University year, with the Newcastle Region Art