14 June 2016

The Board of Trustees met on 14 June 2016 in the Heritage Room, InterContinental Hotel, Sydney. A summary of matters discussed in the open session of the Board meeting is provided below.

The minutes of the meeting held on 6 April 2016 (PDF, 187.6 KB) (opens in a new window)  were confirmed at the meeting.

Main Items Considered by the Board

Chancellor's Report

The Chancellor provided the Board with a brief overview of the University's Fast Forward program. This is a program that operates in high schools across Western Sydney and aims to advise students from Years 9-12 about the opportunities to receive a university education and the varied pathways available.

The Foundation Council has been successful in attracting philanthropic donations to support the University's scholarship program, and the Chancellor thanked the Council members for their efforts in helping to achieve these commendable results. The Town and Gown Dinner will be held on 29 October and this event is also anticipated to generate some funding towards scholarships.

Vice-Chancellor's Report

The Vice-Chancellor briefed the Board on the range of policy issues contained in the Federal Government's Higher Education Reform Options Paper, including reform of the HELP debt, partial deregulation and cuts to HEP funding. 

The Securing Success dashboard has been updated to reflect challenges in regard to load and this will be one area of focus at the Strategy Day.

Board Membership

The Board appointed Mr Peeyush Gupta as a member of the Board and of the Board's Finance and Investment Committee (FIC) for a term of four years. Mr Gupta's extensive experience in financial services will be a great asset and he joined the Board for its Strategy Day held on 15 June 2016. The Board also re-appointed both Mr Michael Pratt and Ms Gabrielle Trainor as Board members for an additional four-year term.

Scholarships for Asylum Seekers

The Board discussed the policy framework for the awarding of scholarships to asylum seekers. The scholarships will target those students who have a reasonable chance of being able to study in Australia and will also enable access to education for students wishing to upgrade their existing qualification for recognition in the Australian context.

Institute for Infrastructure Engineering

The Board endorsed the recommendation that the Institute of Infrastructure Engineering be re-designated as the Centre for Infrastructure Engineering.  The Centre will be aligned with the School of Computing, Engineering and Mathematics  to  provide greater focus for research activities.

Red Tape Taskforce

The Board noted the report of the Red Tape Taskforce. A range of e-forms are being introduced to streamline business processes, and a review of the plagiarism detection software Turnitin is also underway.

School of Education Performance Report

The Dean of the School of Education, Professor Michele Simons, presented on the School's successes and challenges. She highlighted the work that is being done through regional and rural placements in collaboration with the Pro Vice-Chancellor (Engagement and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Education). The School successfully weathered the trend in the downturn in enrolments in teacher education nationally and Professor Simons was congratulated for this excellent achievement. The Dean acknowledged the outstanding efforts of her staff in the School and for their role in helping to produce quality teachers for Western Sydney and beyond.

Refugee Action Support Program

Associate Professor Loshini Naidoo (School of Education) presented on the program that links pre-service teachers with refugee students. This program places students in schools to provide individual tutoring for refugee students in the areas of language, literacy and numeracy and is now active in over 30 primary and high schools across urban and rural NSW.

Board Strategy Day

The Board held its annual strategy day on 15 June 2016. The Board discussed in detail the Transforming Western Sydney University plan that covered five themes:  People, Structures (Curriculum ), Systems, Environment and Research.

Helen Fleming
University Secretary