Academic Plan, Senator Carr's visit and Reconciliation

Dear Colleagues,

Last Thursday evening, JCU's Council endorsed an Academic Plan for the University. The final version will be up on the website very soon. As members of our community know, this Plan has been developed in a consultative fashion, a process led by Professor Paul Gadek, Chair of Academic Board. The Plan focuses attention on the development of specific strategies aimed at delivering excellence, relevance and distinctiveness in JCU's research and teaching. This is a five year plan, responding to the University's statement of strategic intent, itself endorsed by Council in February this year. Many in our community took the opportunity to provide comment on the Plan as it developed. The University has also developed four enabling plans - finance and resources, people and culture, physical and virtual infrastructure, international and engagement. Much in these plans responds to issues raised in last year's Staff Opinion Survey. These plans too have been available on the web in their various iterations, for comment and input. Collectively, these documents will direct our activity over the next five years. Faculties and Divisions will be asked to respond to them as part of the planning and budgeting round later in the year. My congratulations and thanks to all our colleagues were involved the development of these plans and to the many members of our community who contributed.

A couple of important events in the week just past. Senator the Hon Kim Carr, Minister for Innovation, Industry, Science and Research visited Townsville on Friday May 9. He visited AIMS earlier in the day and launched the important Great Barrier Reef Ocean Observing System (GBROOS), designed to stream data live from a network of sensors on the reef. JCU developed technology and know-how has played a part in this development. Later in the day, the Minister visited JCU's Douglas campus. We briefed the Minister on the University, our position and aspirations, and he visited the ARC Centre of Excellence in Coral Reef Studies, to be briefed on the outstanding work undertaken there. It was a useful and productive visit and we were very pleased that the Minister took time out of his busy schedule to visit us so early in his tenure as Minister.

The other important 'event' was the announcement that the Library on the Townsville campus would be renamed the Eddie Koiki Mabo Library. Eddie Koiki Mabo was a gardener at JCU whose conversation with Professor Henry Reynolds and Associate Professor Noel Loos on campus one day ended up changing Australia's history. After being told by Henry and Noel that Mer Island was not his or his people's land, but instead claimed by the Crown, Eddie Koiki Mabo commenced the heroic struggle that was to result in the High Court decision, known by the Mabo name, which overturned that position. Though he was a gardener at JCU, Eddie Koiki Mabo attended lectures and used the resources of the Library extensively during this extended period. He spoke at a Land Rights Conference at JCU describing traditional ownership on Mer Island. It is worthwhile reflecting on the fact that Australia's history was changed in the way it was because someone we'd now call a traditional owner had a conversation with two academics on the campus of a regionally-based university.

The Hon Jenny Macklin, Minister for Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs will be at JCU on May 21 to launch the University's Reconciliation Statement, name the Library in honour of Eddie Koiki Mabo and his association with the University and to deliver the annual Mabo Lecture. It will be a great day.

Cheers,
Sandra