Council Meeting No 7/07

A special meeting of the Council was held in the Vice-Chancellor’s Conference Room, Level 8, Raymond Priestley building Monday 30 July 2007 at 4.00pm. Following the approval of the Chancellor and not less than two thirds of the members of Council, several members (indicated by asterisk) participated in the meeting by means of telephone conferencing facilities.

Present

Members

The Chancellor (Mr I Renard) (in the Chair)
The Vice-Chancellor (Professor G Davis)
The Deputy Chancellor (Justice A Chernov)
The President of Academic Board (Professor P Pattison)
*Ms E Alexander, Associate Professor L Allen, Mr M Coyle, *Dr M Doig, Professor M Elgar, Ms J Giles, *Judge Lawson, *Mrs L Landy, Dr V Mansour, Ms M Sloss, Mr D White and Mr T Williams

Others Attending

The University Secretary (Mr L Currie)
The Deputy University Secretary (Mr J Green)

Business

1. Formal Matters

1.1 Welcome, Apologies and Leave of Absence Requests [Item A01]

The Chancellor welcomed Dr Mansour to her first meeting.

Council received apologies from Mr Johanson, Ms Ritchie and Ms Storelli.

2. Building and Estates Committee – Additional Report [Item A9]

Council received the additional report of meeting 3/07 of the Building and Estates Committee held on 27 June 2007.

2.1 University Foundation Plate – Parkville Campus

Council resolved to accept with thanks the proposal by the Committee of Convocation to donate a replica foundation plaque for erection in the Quadrangle Cloisters. Council noted that the plaque would be in the form set out as option 2 in the attachments to the report, subject to such minor changes as might be agreed between the Chancellor and the Chair of the Buildings and Estates Committee.

Council agreed to record its appreciation of the Committee’s generosity, of the painstaking work of Mr David Dodd and his Working Group, and of the assistance provided by Associate Professor Chris Mackie ( School of Classics and Archaeology) in ensuring the accuracy of the Latin text.

3. Council Protocols Review Working Group [A13(a)]

Council discussed at length the report of the Protocols Review Working Group.

3.1 Council endorsed the action of the Chancellor and Vice-Chancellor in supporting the Universities Australia response on behalf of the sector to the Review.

3.2 Council agreed to forward an additional supplementary response along the lines suggested by the Working Group, the final wording to be as agreed between the Chancellor and Deputy Chancellor Chernov (copy attached).

3.3 A member emphasised that while these decisions settled the University’s response to the Review, there was still a pressing need for it to further consider aspects of its governance structures.

4. Other Business

The Vice-Chancellor reported that he had just concluded a most promising interview for a deanship and that he wished to proceed to make a formal offer in order to begin negotiations with the applicant. Council noted that it would receive any consequent recommendation at a subsequent meeting, possibly when it met for its ‘Taking Stock’ briefing on 13 August, which should therefore be notified as a formal meeting of Council.

The meeting closed at 5.00pm