|
*Please note that some Faculties refer to this Committee as the Faculty Visiting Committee.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Preamble
It is University policy that Faculties establish Faculty Advisory Committees to draw upon external expertise and to aid the Faculties in expanding their networks of professional and community relationships. The Committees will operate in an advisory capacity and are expected to meet between two and four times each year. some members may be asked to assist individually at other times in relation to particular tasks.
The Committees will aim to ensure that the Faculties will continue to offer courses and undertake research at the forefront of those offered by Australian Universities. They should seek the maximum possible understanding and integration of that work in the community.
Terms of Reference
The fundamental function of each Advisory Committee, amplified in the following more detailed statements, is to strengthen the reputation and quality of the Faculty. Advisory Committees are expected to:
- regularly review undergraduate and postgraduate subjects and courses offered by the Faculty and advise on desirable developments and improvements;
- promote the enrolment of well-qualified undergraduate and postgraduate students, and their subsequent employment after graduation;
- advise on opportunities for the development of research activity within the Faculty;
- assist in locating and recruiting the best possible staff for the Faculty;
- develop closer relations between the Faculty, business, industry and employers by all possible means including university-industry research arrangements, courses sponsored by industry and/or other arrangements;
- secure financial assistance for the Faculty including benefactions, grants and research funding;
- enhance the reputation of the Faculty and the University in every way possible; and
- advise the Vice-Chancellor on future plans for the Faculty, on the Faculty's success in meeting appropriate objectives and on desirable future objectives
The above functions are the minimum requirements for each Advisory Committee. Faculties may add to these if they wish.
Membership and Proposed Procedures for Establishment
The size of committees may vary depending on the size of the Faculty involved. In smaller Faculties the membership should be between twelve and fifteen people while the larger Faculties should comprise twenty to twenty five persons. The intention is to achieve a broad representative membership of persons who will work with and for the good of the Faculty and, hence, of the University.
The membership of each Committee should come predominantly from persons external to the University. Nominations should be made to those with relevant expertise in the professions, government and industry, including relevant professional bodies. Other nominations might include persons with related skills or those simply interested and willing to contribute to the work of the Committee. No more than two Wollongong academics, including the Dean, are to be formally members of a Committee, although relevant departmental personnel should of course act as advisers and resource persons.
The members should be prominent persons held in the highest esteem in their field. A balance should be sought between members from the local area who fit such criteria and persons from outside the area. Expense minimisation will always be a factor in the latter case. Previous staff and/or graduates will often by very suitable.
Committees are free to co-opt additional members to subcommittees or specialist working groups to the extent consistent with the general considerations of extending the network of community involvement and limiting expense.
- The Dean of each Faculty will initially provide to the Vice-Chancellor a draft list of nominees for membership of the respective Faculty Visiting Committee, providing as much detail as is known about each nominee; up to this point, no person will be approached (formally or informally) about membership of the Committee.
- After consultation between the Vice-Chancellor and the Dean, a more formal list will be drawn up which will include details of qualifications, membership of professional associations and work experience.
- The Vice-Chancellor will determine the final list of members and inform Council of the names of the proposed chairperson and other persons who will comprise the different Committees.
- The Chair of each Committee will be held by a member external to the University.
General
- The Dean on each Committee will be responsible for:
(i) calling Committees together at least twice annually and at other times in accordance with emerging needs; and
(ii) providing secretarial assistance and relevant information via the Faculty Officer.
- Each Committee may convene subcommittees or working groups as needed (within available funds). The Faculty, through the Dean, may also seek the involvement and assistance of individual members for particular purposes. Members should be made welcome on campus and in the Faculty and involved in Faculty activities and discussions.
- The Dean shall be responsible for all correspondence emerging from the Committee, including that relating to the convening of all meetings and the submission of reports and related documentation.
- Each Committee should submit a brief report on its activities during the year to the Vice-Chancellor by December of that year.
Departmental Advisory Committees
Some Departments/Schools/Programs already have Advisory Committees. The University welcomes the formations of such committees, which should have a composition and function related to the Department/School/Program, but otherwise broadly similar to the Faculty level Committee, though possibly smaller in size. Where Departmental/School/ Program committees are established they should have some common membership with the Faculty Committee. The costs of Departmental/School/Program committees are to be borne by the Department/ School/Program and Faculty primarily, although a copy of any report made in that way should also be made available to the Vice-Chancellor.
|
|
