The semester begins...

Dear Colleagues,

The academic year kicks off today as Orientation Week begins. I spoke with a number of parents and students on the weekend as they attended various sessions. Parents in particular were helping their student settle in as well as taking the opportunity to find out a little more about what lies ahead for their student and how they might help. Some of our colleagues put together a terrific booklet for parents and partners, full of important information as well as handy hints. It is well worth a look.

Even as the semester gets into full swing, there are other important developments that offer the prospect of a very good year ahead.

The Staff Opinion Survey results have now been disaggregated by Faculty/Division, School/Office and distributed to Faculty and Division Heads. Every staff member will have access to their own School or Office results, their Faculty/Division aggregate results and overall University aggregate results. The University level results are available at www.jcu.edu.au/vc/staffclimate/index.htm.

I know that the Heads of Faculty and Division Heads will be putting in place consultative processes to explore these results and examine options for improvement where indicated. I encourage all staff to take an active interest in this. As I indicated at the final staff forum in 2007 where we went through the headline, University level data, there are a lot of positives, but also a lot of negatives that we’ll need to work through with a view to improving staff experience at work.

At the Staff Forum on Friday, I shared with you JCU’s refreshed Strategic Intent, derived after much consultation with staff and the broader community since August 2007.

The refreshed Strategic Intent builds on the historic intent and purpose of James Cook University, with ‘Our Intent’ now summarised as “A brighter future for life in the tropics worldwide”, followed by several explanatory points. Our Purpose is to deliver “Graduates and discoveries that make a difference”, again with a number of explanatory points. Core Values and Beliefs have also been articulated, and all of this is in keeping with the key concepts staff examined and provided comment on in the second last Staff Forum of 2007. The revised Strategic Intent document can be found at www.jcu.edu.au/vc/staff_forums/JCUPRD_021328 and forms the foundation for our planning and action going forward.

I have also put some new structural arrangements in place, as described at Friday’s Forum and endorsed by Council the previous evening. The review of the Intent statement informed the development of these new structural arrangements and, as discussed, the changes were principle-based and deliberately conservative. Faculties are unchanged; there are some changes to the Divisional structure, with the key impact affecting two of the four Divisions. The new Organisation Chart is at www.jcu.edu.au/vc/staff_forums/JCUPRD_021328.

All the best for the commencement of the semester. I’m glad the students are back, bringing their liveliness, energy, passion and even their irreverence to our community once more.

Regards,
Sandra

Dear Colleagues,


Thanks for kicking off the blog in a useful way. It has been good to see others' posts.


It's a busy time getting ready for the new semester and we have some new systems in place, Student One being one of the most important, to become used to as the semester gets underway. I'm aware that a number of staff have been working very hard on this. Thanks to those staff and to others for your collegial support of them as they work to ensure the new system is operating smoothly.


Interesting for the University now to be working with two Ministers in the Federal Government. As many of you will be aware, research and science were split from the old DEST, so that two different Departments now deal with the business of universities - one focussed on education and the other on research and innovation. Deputy Prime Minister Julia Gillard, is our education Minister and Senator Kim Carr is our research and innovation Minister.


The senior executive of JCU had a chance to meet and interact with both Ministers last week at the senior staff conference of the Innovative Research Universities Australia (IRUA). For those that are not aware, JCU is a member of IRUA, an alliance of seven Australian universities: Macquarie, Latrobe, Flinders, Newcastle, Murdoch, Griffith and James Cook. All are similar in history, in age and profile. All are research universities, set up on the traditional model in the 60s and 70s, but operating in a contemporary way. Six of the seven (including JCU) are listed in the top 500 in the world according to the reputable Shanghai Jiao Tong University ranking.


Both Ministers confirmed the importance of the group and that there was an significant and on-going role for our universities. Indeed, they believe we have a very important role to play and a persuasive voice in Australian higher education. Minister Gillard chose the occasion to make some positive announcements, particularly about the need to ensure that the relationship between the Government and universities is characterised by trust and that universities will enjoy greater autonomy to direct their own paths. A diverse, world class higher education system is one of Minister's Gillard's ambitions.


Senator Carr also provided very useful commentary about the importance of IRUA universities and the importance of ensuring that research and innovation in Australia is strengthed. Minister Carr is also keen to ensure that universities, other publicly funded research agencies (eg CSIRO, AIMS) and industry are working well together. He also spoke about the Innovation review he has initiated. Both Ministers' formal addresses would be available on their websites.


Thanks for the comments on Western Courts. I'll ask Peter Hill, Director of Facilities Management Office, to provide some more information on this for you.

Regards,
Sandra Harding