Staff forums and approaching year-end.......

Dear Colleagues,

This week, at Staff Forums on Cairns and Townsville campuses, we had a look at the events, issues and activities in, and affecting, our community during 2008.

Years seem to fly by and time seems to speed up as we approach the Christmas/New Year break. Certainly, it is very busy as we conclude the year, with our first graduation of this round on December 20 in Townsville. And even as parts of the University are in wind-up and acquittal mode for 2008, other parts are getting into full swing around managing marketing, offers and enrolments. Many colleagues use some of summer to get stuck into research while others in our community are still involved in teaching. There really is no down-time in universities any more and it is always good to remember that while many of us will take some time for a break over summer many others are on campus hitting peak activity levels.

2008 has been a busy year. In addition to the important, everyday work – academic and professional – there have been considerable achievements following the ‘launch’ of the university’s refreshed Strategic Intent early in the year. These achievements cross all domains: teaching and learning, research and innovation, engagement, infrastructure, marketing and media, and campus development. I identified only some of these at this week’s Staff Forums (presentation is at http://www.jcu.edu.au/office/vc/staff_forums/JCUPRD_041762.html ).

The external world has been a hectic place for higher education with many reviews at the federal level – three with particular relevance to universities. The report of the Cutler review of Australia’s National Innovation System was released in September and incorporated special mention of “tropical solutions” as an "immediate national innovation priority”. The CRC Review, lead by Professor Mary O’Kane, was one part of the Innovation review. The Bradley Review of higher education in Australia is yet to report. I expect this will be Christmas reading for many of us. In respect of both major reports, the Federal Government has committed to release their white paper responses in February. It is sensible that the responses should align as research and teaching are, and must remain, integrally linked as part of the university enterprise. The impact of VSU was also reviewed, with a solution identified permitting universities to levy students up to $250 per annum from mid 2009, with those funds to be applied to enhancing the student experience. Students will be able to defer payment of the levy as part of a HECS-style loan arrangement. Universities that decide to introduce the levy will be required to meet certain benchmarks – but we know no details as yet. This will be a matter for consideration early in 2009.

At the State level, the announcement of the Queensland Government’s Q-Tropics strategy in October is both a potent demonstration of and support for the critical opportunity inherent in the growing global tropical knowledge economy. JCU will play a strong role, a “centre-stage” role according to Minister Desley Boyle, in pursuit of the research, teaching and innovation aspects of the strategy. This new initiative builds on the strong support of the Queensland Government through partnerships and funding applied to several significant initiatives and projects in northern Queensland, but in the south too.

Locally, I continue to be delighted by the support of Local Governments, business and our broader communities who see JCU as an important asset in the northern Queensland region, and who are willing to play a role to ensure the University thrives. No doubt about it: our futures and the prosperity of both JCU and our communities are intertwined. Place is so very powerful.

During the Staff Forums, I also spoke about the year ahead. More on that next time. I’ll make one more blog post before the Christmas/New Year shut down. In the meantime, best wishes for all year-end activities.

Cheers,
Sandra

PS: The new Discussion Forum site is almost ready for use. It has been tested and I expect it will be released this week. Once released, an email with the details and the link will be sent to all staff.