docs-edu.govcms.gov.au · based compact with the Commonwealth for a period which includes that...

CONTENTS

Context 4

A. Policy Setting 4

B. The Purpose and Effect of this Compact 4

C. Establishment of the Compact 4

D. The Principles of Commonwealth Funding Support 4

E. The Structure of this Compact 5

Part One: Focus & Mission 6

Part Two: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Access and Outcomes 10

Part Three: Innovation and Engagement 13

Part Four: Teaching and Learning 22

Part Five: Research and Research Training 34

Part Six: General Provisions 41

This compact is between

The Commonwealth of Australia (Commonwealth) represented by and acting through:

The Minister for Tertiary Education, Skills, Science and Research

Assisted by the Department of Industry, Innovation, Climate Change, Science, Research and Tertiary Education (DIICCSRTE)

ABN 77 599 608 295

Of

Industry House

10 Binara Street

Canberra ACT 2601

And

Monash University

ABN 12 377 614 012

A body corporate established by the Monash University Act 2009, Vic.

Of

Wellington Road

Clayton

Victoria 3800

Australia

(University)

CONTEXT

A. Policy Setting

The Australian Government believes all Australians are entitled to a productive, fair and prosperous life and our higher education system is crucial to achieving this. Universities impart the skills and knowledge Australians need to realise their personal and professional aspirations and contribute to the broad economic and knowledge base of our society including the cultural, health and civic wellbeing of the community.

Over the term of this mission-based compact (compact), Australian universities will confront a range of opportunities and challenges in fulfilling their social and economic remit. These opportunities and challenges include, but are not limited to, changing national and international educational markets, dynamic global financial arrangements including the rise of the Asian Century, new approaches to teaching and learning, rapidly changing information technologies and evolving priorities for research and innovation.

Australia’s universities are well equipped to harness the opportunities and meet these challenges that lie ahead. The 2014-16 compact supports this process by articulating the major policy objectives and the diverse approaches and commitments universities will adopt to achieve these strategic goals over the term of the agreement.

B. The Purpose and Effect of this Compact

This compact is an agreement between the Commonwealth and the University. Entering into a compact is one of the quality and accountability requirements which a higher education provider must meet under the Higher Education Support Act 2003 (HESA) as a condition of receiving a grant. Specifically, subsection 19-110(1) of HESA requires Table A and Table B providers must, in respect of each year for which a grant is paid to the provider under HESA, enter into a mission based compact with the Commonwealth for a period which includes that year.

The compact demonstrates the Commonwealth and the University have a shared and mutual commitment to provide students with high quality educational experiences and outcomes and to building research and innovation capabilities and international competitiveness.

The compact recognises the University is an autonomous institution with a distinctive mission, operating within a state or territory, national and international higher education environment.

The purpose of this compact is to provide a strategic framework for the relationship between the Commonwealth and the University. It sets out how the University’s mission aligns with the Commonwealth’s goals for higher education, research, innovation, skills development, engagement and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander access and outcomes.

The Commonwealth and the University agree this compact will be published on Commonwealth websites and may be published on the University website.

C. Establishment of the Compact

The Commonwealth and the University agree the Term of this compact is from 1 January 2014 until 31 December 2016.

D. The Principles of Commonwealth Funding Support

The Commonwealth articulates its vision for the higher education sector, through Transforming Australia’s Higher Education System (available at the DIICCSRTE website), and the role of universities in driving our national innovation system, through Powering Ideas (available at the DIICCSRTE website).

http://www.innovation.gov.au/HigherEducation

http://www.innovation.gov.au/Innovation

In supporting Australia’s universities, the Commonwealth seeks to promote:

academic freedom and institutional autonomy;

a diverse and sustainable higher-education sector;

opportunity for all;

access to university based on merit;

world-class teaching and learning that advances the international standing of Australian education;

world-class research and research training that advances knowledge, critical thinking and Australia’s international standing; and

responsiveness to the economic, social and environmental needs of the community, region, state, nation and the international community through collaborative engagement.

To ensure Australia’s higher education system remains robust and of high quality in a globally connected and competitive world, the Australian Government has adopted and implemented a number of system-wide quality measures including establishing the Higher Education Standards Framework, and the Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency (TEQSA).

E. The Structure of this Compact

Part One provides for the Commonwealth’s focus for the compact and a description of the University’s Mission Statement and Strategic Priorities.

Part Two provides for matters related to improving access and outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. It contains Commonwealth objectives, university strategies and performance indicators and targets.

Part Three provides for matters related to innovation, industry and skills and engagement. It also contains Commonwealth objectives, university strategies and performance indicators and targets.

Part Four provides for matters related to teaching and learning including student enrolments, quality, equity and infrastructure. It contains Commonwealth objectives, university strategies and equity targets.

Part Five provides for matters related to research and research training including research performance and research capability. It contains Commonwealth objectives, university strategies, performance indicators and targets.

Part Six provides for general provisions of the compact including compact review, privacy, confidentiality and information sharing, changing the compact and notices.

PART ONE: FOCUS & MISSION

The Commonwealth’s Focus for this Compact

The Commonwealth's ambitions for higher education include:

providing opportunities for people from all backgrounds to participate to their full potential and be supported to do so. This includes supporting the aspirations of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people through improved access and support arrangements. The Commonwealth is committed to ensuring the rate of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people participating in undergraduate and higher degrees by research (HDR), as well as staffing and academic representation, reaches population parity;

providing students with a stimulating and rewarding higher education experience;

producing graduates with the knowledge, skills and understanding for full participation in society and the economy;

better aligning higher education and research with the needs of the economy, and building capacity to respond to future changes in skills needs;

increasing universities’ engagement with all parties and linkages between universities and Australian businesses in particular;

playing a pivotal role in the national research and innovation system through the generation and dissemination of new knowledge and through the education, training and development of world class researchers across a wide range of intellectual disciplines;

improving knowledge transfer and commercialisation outcomes;

consistent with the Asian Century policy framework, ensuring education is at the forefront of Australia’s engagement with Asia; and

being amongst the leading Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries in terms of participation and performance.

In support of these objectives, the Commonwealth encourages universities to consider the following important measures in their planning and delivery:

developing partnerships with schools and other organisations to improve the participation of people from disadvantaged backgrounds in higher education;

working with business, industry and Vocational Education and Training (VET) providers to provide the Australian economy with the graduates it needs;

the suite of performance measurement tools being developed through the Advancing Quality in Higher Education initiative, work on quality in research training, and a feasibility study on research impact assessment (including the possible implementation of a mechanism, separate from Excellence in Research for Australia, to evaluate the wider benefits of publicly funded research);

applying the principles and procedures required to support a continuous improvement model for intellectual property; and

the National Research Investment Plan, including the need for a strategic outlook to address Australian Government priorities and principles at a national level.

1 THE UNIVERSITY’S MISSION AND STRATEGIC PRIORITIES

1.1 The purpose of the University’s Mission

The University's Mission sets out its values and aspirations, what it does and how it can best serve the interests of its students, staff and key stakeholders. The Commonwealth and the University recognise the University's Mission may evolve.

The University and the Commonwealth recognise the University is an autonomous institution which is responsible for the determination of its Mission and for its aspirations and strategies for their achievement.

1.2 The University’s Mission and Strategic Priorities

Current Circumstances Monash University is the largest university in Australia, with over 63,000 students in 2012. It is a comprehensive university undertaking research and teaching in science and technology, engineering, health and medical sciences, humanities and social sciences, and the creative arts.

Monash University spans four continents, with eight campuses, a centre in Prato, Italy, a joint research training program in Bombay, India and strategic alliances with the University of Warwick in the United Kingdom and Southeast University in China. In Victoria, Monash has three metropolitan campuses at Caulfield, Clayton and Parkville and two outer urban campuses at Berwick and Peninsula and a regional campus at Gippsland. Monash has international campuses in Malaysia and South Africa.

We measure ourselves against international benchmarks and rankings, which are becoming increasingly well-regarded globally. Monash is ranked in the top 100 institutions worldwide according to the Times Higher Education World University Rankings (2012-13) and the Times Higher Education World Reputation Rankings (2013); 61st in the world according to the 2012 QS World University Rankings; and in the top 150 according to the Academic Ranking of World Universities, compiled by Shanghai Jiao Tong University.

Long-term strategic priorities Monash University's future directions are articulated in our new top-level plan, Monash University: The next ten years, which was developed during 2012 to chart our course over the next decade. This is the successor to Monash Directions 2025. It sharpens our focus by crystallising the University's ambitions: to be the best university in the Asian-Pacific region; to be a truly global university, both physically and intellectually; and to be among the strongest research universities in the world. It reinforces the University's commitment to providing students with an excellent educational experience and to creating graduates that are sought after by employers.

Monash University will act on this commitment by strengthening its academic community, further increasing research performance and enhancing our educational model. We will continue to build on our global networks across communities, industries and governments, with particular focus on further strengthening research connections with countries in our region.

Monash will leverage global strategic alliances to advance student learning and research. Amongst the most important of these are our partnerships with China’s Southeast University (a Joint Graduate School and Joint Research Institute), our Joint Research Academy with the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay (IITB) in Mumbai. These initiatives build upon our longstanding presence in Malaysia and will help to deliver the Asian Century policy framework, ensuring education and innovation are at the forefront of Australia’s engagement with Asia.

Medium-term strategic priorities. The Strategic Plan 2011 – 2015: Delivering Monash Futures supports the long-term strategy laid out above and sets out the milestones we must reach in the next three years in order to achieve our long term goals.

Our plan aims for transformational improvement across the full range of Monash University's education, research and administration activities. Considerable progress will continue to be made in this comprehensive program of improvement and reform. The key focus continues to be academic strengthening. Other key considerations are the operation of our campus network and the improvement of internal processes to support the academic enterprise.

Increasing Participation and Social Inclusion Monash University aims to attract, select and retain a diverse range of the most capable students and to provide opportunities for people from all backgrounds to participate to their full potential and be supported to do so.

In line with the Commonwealth’s agenda to increase the proportion of 25-34 year old Australians with bachelor level qualifications to 40% by 2025, Monash will continue to grow domestic enrolments.

Monash is committed to increasing the level of participation of students recruited from lower socio-economic status (SES) backgrounds and ensuring that low SES students are well represented across all fields of study and campuses. Monash has in place a number of programs to encourage and support access to and participation in higher education by people from low SES backgrounds. The University’s Social Inclusion Strategy outlines key targets and strategies to increase access and participation. Monash has succeeded in increasing low SES participation from 11.01% in 2009 to 11.33% in 2011, exceeding the compact target. The combined indicator data is not yet available for the 2012 low SES compact target of 11.65%.

We aim to increase education and employment opportunities for Indigenous people at Monash through a coordinated engagement with Indigenous communities and to promote a culturally-safe and welcoming environment in which to study and work.

Excellence and Relevance in Education and Research Monash University aspires to increase its contribution to educational, social and economic advancement. Monash will enhance excellence in education and research and ensure our education and research is responsive and relevant to the needs of society.

Over the life of the compact Monash will advance its aspirations through a number of priorities and initiatives. We will build on our current strong performance in research and education and strengthen our capacity to respond to future challenges. Our education and research strategies will continue to focus on: attracting and retaining excellent students and staff from diverse backgrounds and supporting them to succeed; investing in leading edge education and research technology and infrastructure to support our academic aspirations; and building interdisciplinary research teams. We will develop more collaborative partnerships with employers, schools, industry, government and the broader community to deliver impact. Excellence in learning and teaching will be enhanced through clear performance standards, targeted support and development, and an academic staffing profile that supports the strategic goals of the University. Monash aims to provide students with a comprehensive educational model that prepares them to be responsible and effective citizens and critical and creative scholars. Investment in blended learning will enrich the face-to-face educational experience for students.

Institutional reorganisation Monash has recently reconfigured the responsibilities of senior management in order to align with the areas of key focus as outlined in our strategic vision. This now enables the Vice-Chancellor to focus and drive a holistic external engagement agenda whilst ensuring that our academic endeavour remains properly managed through the introduction of the Provost role. In this new structure we will continue to review the effectiveness of our current education and research strategies and the impact of the investment in these strategies and also to realign our international strategy.

Undertaken together, we believe these strategies and priorities will make possible substantial change across Monash.

In 2013 Monash University and the University of Ballarat are working towards forming an expanded regional university, by joining the current Monash Gippsland campus with the University of Ballarat. If the proposition is approved by state and federal governments, the new university will take responsibility for the campus at Churchill and will operate under a new name following amendments to the University of Ballarat act. Monash courses, except for the MBBS, will be gradually phased out, and Monash assets will be gifted to the new entity.

The two university councils have endorsed this proposition. Monash has committed funds for 2014-2015, intellectual property in course materials, and other resources, to ensure that the development is successful. It is anticipated that the proposal will substantially improve access to higher education in the Gippsland region and better focus research on regional circumstances. Current planning is for the change to occur at the commencement of 2014.

PART TWO: ABORIGINAL AND TORRES STRAIT ISLANDER ACCESS AND OUTCOMES

2 ABORIGINAL AND TORRES STRAIT ISLANDER ACCESS AND OUTCOMES

Part Two recognises the important role universities play in supporting Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people’s personal and professional aspirations through the provision of accessible and supportive higher education programs. Increasing Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander higher education participation and success is important given the direct benefits for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander individuals and communities and broader economic and social benefits for all Australians. Universities are asked to detail their strategies and targets to improve Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander access and outcomes over the compact period in this section. Principal Performance Indicators are compulsory and institutions may voluntarily nominate Optional Performance Indicators and targets considered reflective of individual institutional goals. The Commonwealth recognises that universities have diverse missions and, consequently, targets and performance will vary between institutions. Each university should develop performance indicators and targets to reflect its individual performance and strategic direction.

2.1 Commonwealth Objectives The Commonwealth is committed to enhancing the participation and outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in higher education consistent with the Closing the Gap initiative addressing Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander disadvantage. In realising this objective, the Commonwealth has set an aspirational national parity target for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students and staff in higher education. The parity target equates to the proportion of the population aged between 15 and 64 years which is currently 2.3%. To help achieve this aspirational national target, the Commonwealth has introduced a new focus on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander reporting in the compact as recommended by the Review of Higher Education Access and Outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander People. Universities should report high level Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander student and staffing plans and strategies in this part of the compact including performance targets for student enrolments, completions and numbers of general and academic staff. Universities may also report on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander initiatives under the Innovation and Engagement, Teaching and Learning and Research and Research Training parts of the compact.

2.2 University Strategies Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander university employment and education strategies

Monash University recognises and values Indigenous Australian knowledge as a significant contribution to other bodies of knowledge and acknowledges the skills and experiences Indigenous people bring to the University as students and staff.

Indigenous student and staff outcomes are given high-level recognition as an institutional priority in the University’s Education Strategic Plan: 2011 – 2015, ensuring a whole-of-University approach is adopted in this area.

Monash’s long-term strategic objective is to achieve parity with the 15-64 year old Victorian Indigenous population in each of the performance areas. The performance targets in this compact are based on historical trend data and are projected to provide the University's forward targets. To achieve those targets, in late 2011 the University’s Indigenous Advisory Council (IAC), initiated development of a new overarching Indigenous Strategic Framework, which is underpinned by four integrated and detailed strategic plans:

Advancing Indigenous Employment Strategy: 2010 - 2013

Reconciliation Action Plan 2013-2014

Indigenous Education Plan 2014-2016

Community and Partnerships Plan 2014-2016.

These plans adopt a strengths-based approach and draw upon the recommendations of the Review of Higher Education Access and Outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander People. The Advancing Indigenous Employment Strategy, which is currently in its second iteration, will be reviewed early in 2013 in line with the recommendations of the National Indigenous Higher Education Workforce Strategy.

Current approaches aimed at achieving improved access and outcomes for Indigenous students and staff at Monash are as follows:

Establishment of an Indigenous Adjunct Appointment strategy to expand the range of Indigenous people with a direct, honorary link with the University. This includes links with public and private sector organisations and professional bodies.

An annual Elders’ Day is at the centre of the University’s strong community liaison and engagement program. In 2011, as a direct result of Elders’ Day the first Elder-in-Residence was appointed to the Yulendj Indigenous Engagement Unit (Yulendj) and the Monash Indigenous Centre, to provide ongoing leadership to our community liaison and engagement program.

Student support networks, scholarships and professional development programs Yulendj facilitates a range of face-to-face and virtual student support networks, including a dedicated Yulendj Facebook page and on-campus events hosted at the University, campus, faculty and course level.

In 2011 two new on-campus Halls of Residence were named in honour of two Victorian Indigenous women, Aunties Geraldine Briggs, AO and Merle Jackomos, OAM, exemplifying to the Monash community Victoria’s strong history of Indigenous leadership. Five Indigenous leadership bursaries are offered annually to provide on-campus residence for students.

Yulendj, in concert with Monash faculties, coordinates an annual ‘Hands on Monash’ Indigenous summer camp and the Monash Indigenous Experience Day, for Indigenous secondary school students. In 2012, 26 students from years 9 to 12 attended the three day camp and 63 students attended the Experience Day.

A Cultural Safety program developed by Yulendj and delivered through the University’s central professional development unit is available to all staff on all Australian campuses. Since commencing in late 2012 the program has delivered 11 workshops to 122 staff.

Yulendj coordinates well-supported, alternative access pathways including an Indigenous Enabling Program and Indigenous Non-Award Pathway program, which prepare mature-aged and non-school leavers for success at University.

The number of Indigenous scholarship awardees at Monash has increased significantly over the last five years, from nine Indigenous undergraduate awardees in 2006 to 63 in 2011. As well as financial support, many scholarships incorporate mentoring, leadership and lifestyle packages to support student success.

Yulendj has a dedicated on-site wellbeing support consultant to provide programs for Indigenous staff and students to support them in achieving their educational and employment goals.

The University’s Early Career Development Fellowship (ECDF) program offers postdoctoral candidates two-year fellowships, incorporating professional development and mentoring, to support and encourage their development as researchers and/or education-focused academic staff. Three fellowships are earmarked for Indigenous candidates. The first Indigenous ECDF was appointed in 2012, in the Faculty of Education.

Mentoring and leadership initiatives The Australian Indigenous Mentoring Experience (AIME) program is delivered to local Indigenous secondary school students (years 9 to 12), throughout the South East region of Melbourne. The program is provided on three of the University’s metropolitan campuses and tutor squads provide regular support through a network of AIME Learning Centres located at key schools.

Academic mentoring and transitional support are provided through centrally coordinated programs including Peer Assisted Study Support (PASS), the Student Success Advisors contact project for First Generation in Family students, the Alumni student mentoring program and the Indigenous Tutorial Assistance Scheme (ITAS).

An Indigenous staff-mentoring program delivered through the Yulendj Indigenous Engagement Unit provides ongoing peer mentoring to all Indigenous staff. Staff who volunteer to mentor an Indigenous staff member receive mentor and cultural safety training.

High-achieving Indigenous students are selected for participation in the University’s Leadership program, Ancora Imparo. The first two Indigenous participants completed the program in 2012.

In partnership with State Government and Indigenous organisations, Monash has established the inaugural Year 12 Indigenous Graduation Award ceremony in the South East metropolitan region.

Monash collaborates with other Victorian universities, through the Toorong Marnong initiative, under the auspices of the Victorian Vice-Chancellor’s Committee to achieve better educational outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students.

2.3 Performance Indicators and Targets

The purpose of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander performance indicators and targets is to assist the University and the Commonwealth in monitoring the University’s progress against the Commonwealth’s objectives particularly its contribution to reaching national parity. The University will aim to meet the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander targets set out in the following tables. Note: All calendar year references below refer to the previous year’s data collection.

Principal Performance Indicators

Baseline 2012

Progressive Target 2013



Target 2016

Number of all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander student enrolments1

141 155 162 170 179

Number of all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander student completions2

17 28 29 31 32

Number of all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander professional/general staff3

20 23 26 29 32

Number of all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander academic staff4

<10 <10 <10 <10 <10

Optional Performance Indicators

Baseline 2012




Target 2016

Undergraduate Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander student enrolments

92 109 114 120 125

HDR Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander student enrolments

18 17 18 19 20

1 Refers to total undergraduate, postgraduate and HDR students by headcount 2 See footnote 1 for definition 3

Refers to number by headcount 4 See footnote 3 for definition

PART THREE: INNOVATION AND ENGAGEMENT

3 INNOVATION AND ENGAGEMENT

Part Three recognises the important role of universities in our national innovation system, in boosting economic productivity contributions to improved social and environmental outcomes and growth, and in engaging, advancing and inspiring their communities. It also recognises that universities make an important contribution to building connections and partnerships that broaden and deepen Australia's understanding of Asia.

Under three themes: Innovation; Industry and Skills; and Engagement; universities are asked to detail their strategies and targets over the term of this compact. Principal Performance Indicators are compulsory and institutions may voluntarily nominate Optional Performance Indicators and targets considered reflective of individual institutional goals.

The Commonwealth recognises that universities have diverse missions and, consequently, targets and performance will vary between institutions. Each university should develop performance indicators and targets to reflect its individual performance and strategic direction.

3.1 Innovation

3.1.1 Commonwealth objectives

The Commonwealth seeks to build an innovation system that ensures Australia can meet the challenges and grasp the opportunities of the twenty-first century. The Commonwealth encourages innovation by supporting industry-led research, promoting knowledge-transfer activities and the commercialisation of research.

3.1.2 University strategies

Knowledge transfer to industry, communities and other end-users The recent senior management reorganisation has seen Monash’s industry engagement and commercialisation function move under the direct control of the Vice-Chancellor. This signals the centrality of innovation to Monash’s agenda. The organisation of this function is currently under review and changes will be implemented during 2013 to optimise organisational structures and resources to improve knowledge transfer to industry, communities and other end users. A key consideration of this review will be to ensure Monash is optimally aligned to the Commonwealth’s Industry and Innovation Statement and an active participant in the Industry Innovation Precinct Strategy.

Improved economic, social and environmental outcomes As outlined in Monash University: The next ten years, one of our goals is to focus on research that has a high impact on the world. One of the ways in which we aim to accomplish this is by engaging with local communities and industry to ensure we are meeting the challenges they face. Our Research Strategy (2011-2015) outlines in more detail Monash's commitment to assisting its researchers to become more outwardly engaged, better connected, more influential and entrepreneurial so that the research agenda is informed by continual dialogue and feedback, thus generating greater impact.

Monash entities and partnerships which deliver social, economic and environmental impacts include:

The Institute for Safety, Compensation and Recovery Research - http://www.iscrr.com.au/

The Institute of Railway Technology (IRT) - http://www.eng.monash.edu.au/railway/

The Monash Accident Research Centre -http://www.monash.edu.au/miri/research/research-areas/transport-safety/

The Monash Sustainability Institute – ClimateWorks Australia, Behaviour Works, Green Steps and Water for Liveability - http://www.monash.edu.au/research/sustainability-institute/

http://www.monash.edu.au/miri/research/research-areas/transport-safety/

http://www.monash.edu.au/miri/research/research-areas/transport-safety/

Improved commercialisation outcomes Monash University is committed to translating research into real-world solutions that make a difference. Our approach includes sustainable partnerships with industry, CSIRO and other research organisations, jointly enhancing our coverage of the R&D value-chain. Examples of this include:

CSIRO and Monash have entered into a strategic relationship to establish the Australian Manufacturing and Materials Innovation Precinct at Clayton. The Clayton Precinct will harness the two organisations' strengths to support an innovative and sustainable future for Australian manufacturing by focusing on advanced materials and clean manufacturing technologies. Through translational research and liaison with industry, it will enhance the competitiveness of the manufacturing sector.

The R&D collaboration between GlaxoSmithKline Australia (GSK) and the Monash Institute for Pharmaceutical Science (MIPS) was established in 2009 with $3.3M initial funding from the Victorian Science Agenda (VSA) Investment Fund and GSK. Last year GSK announced an investment of $60M to expand its Victorian operations and create a pilot scale industrialisation facility for the development of new powder and sterile liquid pharmaceutical products that will support the continuation of GSK's successful R&D collaboration with the MIPS. This partnership leverages MIPS unique skills in pharmaceutical science and nanotechnology with the industrial know-how and world-class medicine development capabilities of GSK Australia.

Les Laboratoires Servier, a leading European pharmaceutical company and MIPS entered into a 3 year collaboration agreement in 2012 for drug discovery and research on G Protein- Coupled Receptors (GPCRs). MIPS has developed GPCR expertise comprising technology, research facilities and world leading scientists that enable it to conduct fundamental research, drug discovery and preclinical drug development activities on GPCR targets with therapeutic potential.

Further improvement of commercialisation outcomes over the next few years is a key driver of the Vice-Chancellor’s commitment to renew the Industry Engagement and Commercialisation function under his direct control.

Innovation-focused partnerships in Asia Monash has for many years enjoyed good relationships with Asia and is developing these further by, inter alia, establishing graduate academies and pursuing Asia-relevant research agendas.

In India, for example, Monash has partnered with Indian Institute of Technology Bombay (IITB) to establish the IITB-Monash Research Academy. The Academy aims to deliver effective, high-impact solutions to many of the leading research issues of international relevance, partnering with industry to build pathways to adoption and impact. The Academy’s research themes cover Advanced Computational Engineering, Simulation and Manufacture, Infrastructure Engineering, Clean Energy, Water, Nanotechnology and Biotechnology and Stem Cell Research. The Academy currently has 105 PhD students – building to up to 200 students by 2016 – working on projects in these areas under the joint supervision of academics from Monash and IITB.

In China, Monash has partnered with Southeast University in Suzhou to establish a Joint Graduate School and Joint Research Academy. This venture is located in the Suzhou Industrial Park (SIP) – one of the largest innovation precincts in China and home to more than 100 Fortune 500 companies and 15 international universities and research institutes. The Graduate School will accept 350 masters students and 150 PhD candidates each year, building to an expected capacity of more than 1400 by 2017.

These institutional initiatives add to strong partnerships at research-team level such as the international Eliminate Dengue Program, which is managed from Monash University and includes partners in China, Vietnam and Indonesia. Monash plans to continue to support and enable high-impact research like this program that brings world-leading expertise to important challenges in the region.

Principles and procedures supporting a continuous improvement model for intellectual property Monash is committed to continuous improvement of commercialisation generally. During the life of the compact, the University’s IP Policy will be reviewed to ensure that it is supporting best practice IP protection and commercialisation. There will also be further simplification of our processes and agreements around commercialisation and improved networking with entrepreneurs, funding sources and expert consultants.

3.1.3 Performance indicators and targets

The purpose of the innovation performance indicators and targets is to assist the University and the Commonwealth in monitoring the University's progress against the Commonwealth's objectives and the University's strategies for innovation.

The University will report principal performance information and aim to meet the innovation performance indicators and targets set out in the following tables.

Note: All calendar year references below refer to the previous year’s data collection.

Principal Performance Information5 2012

Number of patent and plant breeder’s rights families filed, issued and held

Filed

45

Issued

9

Held

140

Number of all active licences, options or assignments (LOAs)6 executed and income derived

No.

8

Value($)

$727,383

Number and value of research contracts and consultancies executed7

No.

243

Value($)

$36.8M

Investment in spin-out companies during the reporting year and nominal value of equity in spin-outs based on last external funding/liquidity event or entry cost

Investment ($)

$0

Value($)

$2.7M


Principal Performance Indicator

Baseline 2012




Target 2016

Category 4 Income $7.3M $6.6M $7M $7.3M $7.7M

5 This set of performance information does not require targets. Universities will be asked to advise their baseline performance and will report on their future performance in the context of the Institutional Performance Portfolio Information Collection commencing in 2013. Patent and plant breeder right family refers to a group of patent or plant breeder rights applications or grants emanating from a single filing. Note: this question only concerns patent and plant breeder rights families, and is not in reference to families of other forms of registered IP (i.e. trade marks).

6 A LICENCE agreement formalises the transfer of technology between two parties, where the owner of the technology (licensor) grants rights to the other parties (licensee). An OPTION agreement grants the potential licensee a time period during which it may evaluate the technology and negotiate the terms of a licence agreement. An option agreement is not constituted by an Option clause in a research agreement that grants rights to future inventions, until an actual invention has occurred that is subject to that Option. An ASSIGNMENT agreement conveys all right, title and interest in and to the licensed subject matter to the named assignee.

7 Please use the definition of contracts and consultancies utilised in the National Survey of Research Commercialisation (NSRC). A copy of the survey is available at this URL: http://www.innovation.gov.au/Section/Innovation/Pages/TheNationalSurveyofResearchCommercialisation.aspx

3.2 Industry and Skills


The Commonwealth encourages universities and employers to work together so that courses meet the needs of employers, where relevant. This may include integrating work and learning, meeting professional accreditation requirements and involving employers in course development and delivery.


Employers’ demand for higher education graduates Monash will continue to develop collaborative partnerships and engage with employers and industry and we will continue in our curriculum development work to respond to the needs of employers and demand for higher education graduates.

Industry advisory boards will continue to inform us of the changing needs of industry, to discuss the kind of attributes they value in graduates and to ensure our courses are producing graduates whose skill sets are highly valued.

Course development takes into consideration evidence of course demand, local and international labour market needs, both current and future. Industry placements, case studies, industry projects, and guest lectures are included in a wide range of curricula.

Students are provided with information about areas of employer demand and skills requisites throughout their course.

Undergraduate and postgraduate career development learning opportunities are provided through a wide range of activities relating to career planning, and job identification and application.

Faculties provide optional or selective programs such as leadership and ambassador programs, for example, the Monash Engineering Research and Industry Training (MERIT) program.

Australian workforce needs in the development and revision of courses Monash coursework reviews include an external review panel with representation from a relevant professional, industry or employer group. The University course review process provides students, graduates and employers with the opportunity to discuss their experiences and perceptions of quality of the course with the members of the external review panel. The University also requires that Graduate Destination Survey and Course Experience Questionnaire data is considered in course reviews. Monash has a set of graduate attributes that are incorporated in the learning outcomes of Monash award programs.

Professional accreditation requirements are integral to the design of relevant courses including accounting, education, engineering, information technology, law, medicine, psychology and many allied health courses. Monash actively seeks accreditation of its courses with a range of professional accrediting organisations and the University currently has professional accreditation of courses with 47 individual professional accrediting bodies. Most Monash faculties have professional accreditation of courses that are recognised in Australia and in many cases recognised internationally.

We also aim to ensure that graduates can meet the future needs of outer metropolitan and rural locations. We have particular regard to demographic trends, local labour market data and future development plans. For example, a number of new courses commenced at the Berwick campus in 2012 specifically aimed at the needs of the South East region of outer metropolitan Melbourne, including the Bachelor of Nursing (Community Health) and the Bachelor of Education (P–10).

Australian workforce needs in deciding the number of students the University admits to each course including priority disciplines for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students The University is cognisant of workforce needs in relation to admissions and the requirements for clinical and practicum placements are taken into account. For example, all medical students must spend at least four weeks in a rural location during the course of their degree. Education students must complete teaching practice, which consists of a minimum of 45 days of satisfactory supervised school experience.

In Monash’s coursework course accreditation approval process, prioritisation is given to key areas of importance to the University including to courses that respond to or anticipate changing national or global workforce needs.

The Council of Australian Governments' (COAG) Closing the Gap commitments in the areas of early childhood, schooling, health, economic participation, safe communities, and governance and leadership will require vast increases in the numbers of skilled and professional Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people to work across the many areas of the Australian workforce linked to these commitments, including, but not limited to, health, education, law and justice, business, engineering and technology. Accordingly, Monash has set University-wide Indigenous enrolment targets with the aim of achieving parity with the Victorian 15 – 64 year old population.

Consultation arrangements with employers and employer involvement in student learning and teaching The University works with employers to ensure that all our offerings are fit for purpose, provide students with opportunities to link with a range of employers and include work-based experiences. In keeping with this, Monash has developed a range of mechanisms for local, regional and international employers to interact with students through the online portal Career Gateway, on-campus events such as Careers Fairs, information sessions, student forums and career-focused student societies.

Linkages available through international campuses provide a wide range of opportunities for Monash graduates in the global employment market.

Monash is continually evaluating and implementing emerging online methodologies for student and employer interaction.

Monash is proactive in its engagement with professional associations and industry bodies and facilitates industry scholarships and work-integrated learning opportunities including clinical rotations. This is an area of focus we wish to enhance over the next few years.

Monash intends to increasingly incorporate industry placements into our educational offerings. Our students currently have a number of internship and placement opportunities: examples range from legal service to the local community via our long-standing partnership with the Monash-Oakleigh Legal Service, to a range of work-integrated learning and professional practice units available to our students across various disciplines, through to our partnership with Oxfam to support internships in South Africa. Monash intends to actively continue to develop these opportunities for students. As part of our new learning and teaching strategy we are therefore committed to developing an innovative outward looking curriculum, which has a major focus on workplace skills development for all of our students no matter which course they are undertaking. In addition we aim to offer all students, where appropriate, a defined and relevant placement or internship as part of their learning journey. Each placement will not only be focused on providing an opportunity for students to demonstrate and develop various skills and attributes but will also have the aim of providing students with real insight into what is required in a particular industry or workplace environment. We believe such opportunities will provide our students with career competitiveness and will meet the desires of employers.

In recognition of the need for enterprise wide management of these placements, the University is currently scoping a system which will enable a common approach to managing placements and relationships with placement providers, in order to grow the activity. This is particularly pertinent

to the management of complex patterns of placement with health care providers as part of the Monash MBBS, in a climate where there is competition for these opportunities across universities; and management of relationships with schools for mutual benefit as part of Faculty of Education activities.

Primary Industry is also a focus of work integrated learning activity. For example within the Faculty of Science, the Science – Industry Student Research Placement Program places highly motivated students with the Department of Primary Industries as part of the Monash Passport program.

Monash’s engagement to employer groups includes two leading mining companies - Newcrest Mining Limited and MMG Limited becoming founding supporters of Monash University’s new Division of Mining and Resources Engineering. The establishment of the new division is a response to industry requests to Monash. The flagship program of the division is the Bachelor of Mining Engineering (Honours), with student enrolments commencing in 2013.

Monash has significant engagement with the health sector. The Monash Health Translation Precinct (MHTP) is considered a flagship project for the University and demonstrates the University’s commitment to engagement with its clinical partners to contribute to translational research with better health outcomes for the community. The MHTP is a partnership between Monash University, Monash Health, Monash Institute of Medical Research and the Prince Henry’s Institute. It will become a nexus of research, technical and clinical excellence, producing tangible patient outcomes through the translation of its research. In addition, the proposed Children’s Hospital at the Monash Medical Centre will be well placed to take advantage of research developments and advances in clinical care emanating from the strong maternal and child health program underway at the Precinct.

Monash Partners Academic Health Science Centre is a collaboration to facilitate the translation of basic scientific discovery into better healthcare. Monash’s partners in this important initiative include the Alfred Hospital, Baker IDI, Cabrini Health, Monash Health, Epworth, Prince Henry’s Institute and Macfarlane Burnet. Building on the MHTP, Monash Partners is an innovative Australian health industry, research and educational collaboration and promises tangible health outcomes for the community through research, technical and clinical excellence.

3.3 Engagement


As part of its social and economic remit and as an important precursor to innovation, the Commonwealth encourages universities to engage with all levels of government, other universities, businesses, schools, the vocational education and training sector, employers, the professions, research institutions and the wider community including international partners particularly those in the Asian region.


New collaborations and partnerships and engaging end-users in research activities Monash will continue to use Commonwealth funding to support new collaborations and engage end users in research activities. Partnerships and collaborations with the Publicly Funded Research Agencies is a key priority for the period covered by the compact. Responsibility and accountability for maximising collaboration with CSIRO, ANSTO, DSTO and AIMs rests with the Pro Vice-Chancellor (Research and Research Infrastructure). He is working with these organisations and Monash faculties to identify and support the development of high impact collaborations. Over the life of the compact we expect that this investment will lead to deepening of collaborations and further development of the Clayton Innovation Precinct.

During the life of the compact new collaborations will also be catalysed as two major infrastructure investments, New Horizons and Green Chemical Futures come on stream. Both initiatives were supported through EIF funding and provide state of the art research infrastructure

for interdisciplinary research that addresses major societal and industrial challenges. More information is available:

New Horizons (refer to section 5.1.2 and http://www.eng.monash.edu.au/news/new-horizons for more detail )

Green Chemical Futures (refer to section 5.1.2 and http://fsd.monash.edu.au/capital-major-works/projects/green-chemical-futures for more detail)

Over the life of this compact Monash intends to continue to invest in Cooperative Research Centres. Two recent major commitments to this scheme are:

Cooperative Research Centre (CRC) for Water Sensitive Cities - Monash University is the site of the largest research hub in the CRC for Water Sensitive Cities, a major initiative to bring together inter-disciplinary research expertise and thought-leadership to undertake research aimed at revolutionising water management in Australia and overseas. Monash’s involvement in this project builds on long engagement with water utilities and industry both nationally and globally in areas including stormwater capture and biofiltration and urban water governance.

Cooperative Research Centre (CRC) for Alertness, Safety and Productivity - Monash University is a key participant in this recently announced CRC which will be dedicated to reducing the avoidable burden of poor alertness on the safety, productivity and health of all Australians and involves industry, government and university sectors in a coordinated, output-driven program. The CRC will develop and deploy the next generation of shift scheduling and workplace design techniques, alertness assessment devices, individualised programs for better sleep health, and a range of innovative strategies to reduce fatigue with the aim of improving alertness, performance and efficiency and reducing workplace injuries.

Current partnerships to develop new collaborative research activities Successful translational research requires strong and productive relationships that evolve over time. As outlined in earlier sections the University has existing partnerships with Industry, Publicly Funded Research Agencies, Global Organisations and Community Groups. These relationships will continue to have a central role in Monash’s research and innovation strategies that aim to create value and have impact in the key domains of:

Health

Manufacturing

Sustainable Development.

Leveraging our existing relationships in health has enabled the University to partner with Southern Health and the Prince Henry's Institute to realise an ambitious project to create a Translational Precinct. Attracting significant government funding, this Precinct will provide the nexus between research, training and clinical excellence, producing tangible patient outcomes through the translation of its research. In addition Monash has been actively pursuing the development of an Academic Health Sciences Centre. The University recognises the potential for such Centres to facilitate the translation of basic scientific discovery into better healthcare.

Monash and CSIRO will be key partners in supporting the Commonwealth’s Innovation and Industry objectives to establish the Manufacturing Precinct in the south east of Melbourne. The precinct aims to foster innovation in product design and development, manufacturing techniques, and organisation and management. The strategic relationship with Monash and CSIRO provides a strong commitment to harnessing the two organisations' strengths to support an innovative and sustainable future for Australian manufacturing by focusing on advanced materials and clean manufacturing technologies. Through translational research and liaison with industry, it will enhance the competitiveness of the manufacturing sector. The two organisations will work together in manufacturing innovation and provide support for local, national and international industry. In addition the planned co-location in the New Horizons Building (due to open in 2013) will further strengthen our close collaborative relationship. The Melbourne Centre for Nanofabrication (MCN) and the Australian Synchrotron are also located at Clayton, combining forces to work on joint grant submissions in materials and manufacturing. Refer to section 3.1.2.

The Chairman of our Monash Sustainability Institute has been invited onto the Leadership Council which oversees the work of the United Nations Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN). Monash is being appointed as the first Regional SDSN Centre for the Australia/Pacific region. Going forward we will be considering how we internally align to the sustainability goals and maximise our role as the Regional Knowledge Centre. Outreach activities including those that support Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander access and outcome (refer to Part 2 for more detail)

Impact of research to the broader community including industry We aim to demonstrate our level of engagement and the impact of our research to the broader community through a range of communication initiatives including our Monash Magazine (http://monash.edu/monashmag/), distributed both nationally and internationally which has showcased some of our advanced global capabilities in research and education and the 'future-building' that we are undertaking with our many international partners; we are a founding member of The Conversation (http://theconversation.edu.au/) which is an independent source of news and views, sourced from the academic and research community; and we are a member of the Australian Science Media Centre (http://www.smc.org.au/) which is an independent, not-for-profit service for the news media, giving journalists direct access to evidence-based science and expertise. Another demonstration of our commitment to impact has been our Breakfast Seminar Series, which has been running since 2011. These breakfasts are designed at mixing today's great thinkers and doers by providing a platform for innovation in business, government and society.

The fact that we are delivering outcomes and impact to industry is probably best illustrated by our level of contract research income. Monash has the highest level of such income from Australian industry ($31.2M in 2011) of all Australian universities. We are in the top three for contract research income with international industry ($8.5M in 2011). Case studies illustrating our research impact will be increasingly used in our communications with the community, business and government.

Movement and exposure of staff and students to industry and community sectors Monash supports staff and student movement, both across our campus and partner network and also more broadly, and we have a framework of policies in place that reflects this commitment. As part of the partnership with the University of Warwick, a series of joint appointments will be made across the two institutions. Students are already moving between institutions, a trend that will become more pronounced once joint programs are established. Staff are encouraged to take up visiting academic appointments with international universities/companies to further both education and research agendas.

Monash University and Oxfam Australia have come together to provide student volunteer placement opportunities. Students work for local community-based organisations in South Africa. Students gain a deeper understanding of the issues relating to community development, build invaluable skills and knowledge for their ongoing study and future career and the work is rewarding and builds maturity.

Opportunities for Australian students to study in Asia Monash plans to expand these opportunities. We rank first in the Australian higher education sector for the provision of international study experiences to students: 37% of these students study in Asia, above the Go8 average of approximately 31% 8. The University will engage strongly with the Australian Government’s Asia Bound Program to develop opportunities for students, and create additional integrated opportunities within degree programs to study at a Monash or partner location in Asia.

8 ‘Outgoing International Mobility of Australian University Students: Analysis for Group of 8 Universities 2011’, Australian Universities International Directors’ Forum, October 2012

http://monash.edu/monashmag/

http://www.smc.org.au/

Philanthropy and industry investment Given the need to diversify the sources of revenue for the University these are areas that have become increasingly important in recent times. Indeed, the Vice-Chancellor is giving these areas prominence by taking management oversight of philanthropy, industry engagement and international engagement. This move not only signals their importance to both internal and external communities, it also leverages the overlaps between these areas. We have had some success in this domain, not least the recent announcement of a Division of Mining and Resources Engineering underpinned by industry investment.

Quality of engagement locally, regionally, nationally and internationally The structural reform outlined above should enable Monash's strategy of broadening its engagement at all levels by leveraging and deepening existing partnerships as well as establishing new ones. A prime example of this strategy is our depth alliance with the UK’s University of Warwick, which is centred on building the quality of our engagement both locally and internationally. This is being undertaken in several ways. For example, the universities are making joint appointments of leading international researchers to link research teams across the institutions and accelerate research. Fields currently include sustainable chemistry and polymer technology. These initiatives will be expanded to other fields (and locations) where the universities can jointly build impact, including through partnerships with industry and community organisations.

Another example is the South East Asia Community Observatory (SEACO). This demonstrates Monash's ability to provide a hub into which many international and industry partners can dock. The Observatory is focused on population health, bringing together the various disciplines that bring insight to this area (http://www.seaco.asia/about-us/).


The purpose of the engagement performance indicators and targets is to assist the University and the Commonwealth in monitoring the University's progress against the Commonwealth's objectives and the University's strategies for engagement.

The University will aim to meet the engagement performance indicators and targets set out in the following table.



Baseline 2012




Target 2016

Number of active collaborations9 with industry and other partners in Australia

1,989 1,984 2,080 2,190 2,300

Number of active collaborations10 with industry and other partners overseas

332 400 420 440 460

Category 3 Income $78.7M $69.9M $73.4M $77.1M $80.9M

9 Collaboration involves active joint participation with other organisations, by contributing resources such as intellectual property, knowledge, money, personnel or equipment, with the aim of obtaining a shared goal or objective. Straight fee-for-service arrangements, such as contracts and consultancies, are deemed not to be collaborative and are therefore excluded. Collaboration with Cooperative Research Centres (CRCs) is also to be excluded. This definition is in line with the ABS and OECD definitions of collaboration.

10 See footnote 8 for a definition of collaboration.

http://www.seaco.asia/about-us/

PART FOUR: TEACHING AND LEARNING

4 TEACHING AND LEARNING

4.1 Student enrolments


The Commonwealth is committed to expanding higher education to provide high quality opportunities for people of all backgrounds to participate to their full potential. An expanded higher education system will educate the graduates needed for Australia's future economy, which will be based on knowledge, skills and innovation.

The main objectives of the Commonwealth are to ensure that: by 2025, 40 per cent of all 25 to 34 year olds will hold a qualification at bachelor level or

above; by 2020, 20 per cent of undergraduate enrolments should be students from low socio-

economic backgrounds; national parity for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students and staff is achieved over

time; and universities are producing graduates that meet the nation’s skills needs.

These objectives are supported through the Commonwealth Grant Scheme and, in particular, the demand driven funding of students in bachelor level courses.


University student enrolment planning To support the Commonwealth Government’s ambitions to increase the proportion of 25 to 34 year old Australians with bachelor level qualifications to 40% by 2025 and to increase the proportion of students recruited from lower socio-economic status (SES) backgrounds, Monash is committed to growth in domestic undergraduate enrolments.

In 2012 the total Commonwealth Supported student load profile was 26,934 EFTSL and this is estimated to grow to 27,878 EFTSL in 2013. In 2012, the first year of the demand driven system, Monash’s commencing undergraduate Commonwealth Supported student load increased by 4.6% from the previous year.

To contribute to increasing tertiary participation, Monash is working with the Government and other stakeholders to differentiate its offerings at the outer-suburban and regional campuses and better align with demand. Monash is continuing work to develop the optimal set of educational offerings at the Berwick campus. DIISRTE and the Minister for Tertiary Education, Skills, Science and Research have been consulted by the Vice-Chancellor on possible future options for the Gippsland campus. Monash continues to support increasing student load at the Peninsula campus in Nursing and Allied Health courses, which is in line with the Health and Wellbeing theme of this campus.

University strategies contributing to managing sustainability and quality with increasing participation include a program of academic strengthening; developing and monitoring of performance development standards in education; curriculum reform and renewal at unit and course level; and enhancing the on-campus student experience with the adoption of pedagogies and technologies through blended learning. These improvements will contribute to student outcomes, including attainment, retention, completion and transition to employment and further study. Monash will continue to monitor student cohorts across different programs and pathways to ensure academic standards and quality outcomes.

Commonwealth policy changes around international student visas, such as streamlined processing and the provision of post study work options, are expected to contribute to an improvement in

international student enrolments over time. Monash anticipated some further downturn in international student commencements in 2013, however our enrolment numbers show stabilisation in the overall recruitment volumes for semester one. Current plans in relation to the international education market at our Australian campuses include some continued growth in international postgraduate coursework commencements in 2014 and beyond. The undergraduate international enrolment projections are flatter. Monash relies on the strong performance in recruitment from China however several other source countries are expected to show moderate growth. Monash’s presence in China, India and Malaysia supports the University to strategically engage with industry in research, education and training.

Monash is currently considering a range of options for the development of quality online course offerings with the flexibility to meet the educational needs of individuals who are in the workforce and to provide opportunities to upskill the workforce.

Sub-bachelor planning Monash University sub-bachelor programs currently include the Diploma of Tertiary Studies and the Diploma in Languages. The Diploma of Tertiary Studies is a single-year pathway program leading to entry into the second year of specific degree programs, with a spread of load across multiple degree clusters. Pathways include Arts, Business, Education, Nursing and Science. Students can enrol at the Berwick, Gippsland and Peninsula campuses and articulate into bachelor degrees located on those campuses. This course meets the needs of groups under-represented in higher education and is offered in regions with people from lower socio-economic status backgrounds to increase access to tertiary education for disadvantaged students. The program was recognised in the 2012 Awards for Programs that Enhance Learning in the Australian Awards for University Teaching.

The Diploma in Languages is offered at the Clayton and Caulfield campuses to students who are concurrently enrolled in a bachelor degree that does not offer the diploma program units as a major sequence.

Monash has ceased further intakes in Associate Degrees from 2013 with previous deferments being honoured.

Bachelor degree planning In the last year, growth in Monash’s undergraduate domestic student numbers has mainly been in the faculties of Arts, Education and Engineering.

Demand is strong for double degrees, which continue to attract high-quality undergraduate domestic students. Double degree enrolments in 2012 comprised 29% of the total undergraduate load in Commonwealth Supported Places.

The Bachelor of Nursing (Community Health) and the Bachelor of Education (P-10) are new course offerings at the Berwick campus from 2012. Options are being explored for a new undergraduate business-related degree to better meet the needs of the Berwick region and increase enrolments in the economics and commerce discipline cluster to levels comparable to those previously attained at this campus.

The Bachelor of Mining Engineering (Honours) is being offered at the Clayton campus from 2013, with an expected initial intake of 20 enrolments. This may increase during the next few years. Overall numbers in Engineering are expected to increase moderately from 2014 to 2016.

Further new bachelor degree courses offered from 2013 are Communication Design at Caulfield, Nursing at Clayton and Education (Special Education) at Berwick. From 2014 a Bachelor of Education (Early Childhood) is proposed for Berwick for students articulating from the Diploma in Children's Services offered by Chisholm Institute.

Plans for the Bachelor of Science include continued increase in the Clayton campus course load over the period 2014-2016. Following a review, the Faculty of Science has some course structure changes planned, however it is anticipated that the discipline mix will not change. From 2014, the

faculty proposes to introduce a new course for highly motivated students as a partner program to the Bachelor of Science Advanced with Honours, with approximately 30 commencing places.

Postgraduate planning The University plans to remain within its maximum basic grant amount in this designated load category, as the Government’s focus is on growing uncapped undergraduate Commonwealth Supported enrolments rather than postgraduate student numbers. No discipline areas are proposed for growth. However there is an increasing reliance on postgraduate qualifications for professional entry, for example in health and education, traditional areas for social mobility.

Under the new national standards and accreditation procedures for initial teacher education programs established by the Australian Institute of Teaching and School Leadership, graduate entry initial teacher education programs must move to a minimum of two years full-time equivalent. From 2013 the Master of Teaching (Primary) is being offered at the Berwick, Peninsula and Gippsland campuses. From 2014 Monash will only be offering the Master of Teaching program as the graduate initial entry program.

The balance between fee-paying and Commonwealth-supported postgraduate student load is 71% and 29% respectively in both 2012 preliminary and 2013 planned student load. Fee-paying includes domestic and international fee-paying students.

Faculties are reviewing the postgraduate coursework programs to ensure full AQF compliance for all new course enrolments by 1 January 2015.

Medical planning Monash University has enrolment targets of 242 students into its five-year direct-entry school leaver program in Clayton and 75 students into its four-year graduate-entry program in Gippsland. We successfully reach these enrolment targets each year, and the Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery program, be it direct or graduate entry, has a very low attrition rate. Each year we enrol students in the one-year honours degree of the Bachelor of Medicine Science, and this number can vary somewhat between about 45 and 70, depending on student interest. This fluctuation can have minor effects on the number of graduating students.

Monash enjoys strong relationships with our clinical partners, and we are able to place our students in these clinical learning environments with relative ease. We have growth targets for clinical placement days with Health Workforce Australia, and have been able to easily satisfy these.

Monash has no definitive plans to vary its course of study in medicine that would have any impact on the number of domestic annual completions. Like many other universities, we are exploring the opportunities presented by a Masters Extended offering in medicine, but current thinking is that this could be introduced without any impact on annual rate of domestic completions. At present Monash does not anticipate moving its current undergraduate enrolments from undergraduate to postgraduate during the life of this compact.

4.2 Quality


A focus on teaching and learning quality underpins the Commonwealth’s vision for Australia to be one of the most highly educated and skilled nations in the world.

The Commonwealth has made a commitment to provide more autonomy to universities through the removal of funding caps on Commonwealth supported bachelor level places. In turn, the Commonwealth requires the University to participate in the higher education quality arrangements which are overseen by the Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency. The arrangements are designed to support academic autonomy while ensuring that the achievement of standards can be demonstrated and that there is a strong focus on enhancing the quality of

teaching and learning while expansion of the higher education system meets national participation ambitions.

The Commonwealth’s commitment to quality is demonstrated through initiatives such as the Office for Learning and Teaching, which provides a suite of grants, awards and fellowships to recognise quality and promote innovations in learning and teaching.

The University also has obligations under the quality and accountability requirements in Division 19 of HESA. This compact does not change those obligations.


Monash University has made a commitment to providing students with an outstanding learning experience that is student-centred in its approach and is characterised by integrating student discovery, creativity and opportunity. We believe that courses should have student choice and flexibility embedded within them, and have a built-in global perspective. As part of our learning and teaching strategy we are therefore committed to developing an innovative outward looking curriculum, which is supported by first class learning spaces, blended approaches to delivery and a portfolio of opportunities for academic, research and workplace skills development.

The University is investing in a program that involves educational change within all our faculties and supporting services. For example, our blended approach to learning, which is based on the best of face-to-face mixed with online, will be supported by a dedicated team of academic and professional staff, educational designers, and technicians and is designed to act as one of the key catalysts for change. The team will be working with faculties and associated services to provide the network of support necessary for change to be successfully enabled. Our students come first and so it is important that they also engage with this change so that we are able to provide a learning environment which enables them to meet their aspirations and the demands of society.

The enhancement of quality in our educational delivery will be measured using a range of short and longer term metrics including clear performance standards, student engagement, attainment and evaluation data as well as graduate destination information.

Staff development initiatives The Graduate Certificate in Academic Practice (GCAP) is a four-unit certificate aimed at developing teaching, research and leadership skills relevant to contemporary higher education settings. Designed for both early and mid-career academics, the certificate provides an integrated set of principles for better teaching, but is deliberately flexible enough so that participants can tailor the course to suit their needs. The course emphasises practical application of principles and frameworks within participants' own teaching and research practices. The course is open to all Monash University staff and is a requirement for newly appointed academic staff as part of their staff development plan and the subsequent probation process. In 2012 there were 67 enrolments in the GCAP.

Teaching Associates (previously known as sessional academics) undertake an induction program on university learning and teaching. The induction is commensurate with the skills and roles of Teaching Associate staff, aligned with the Monash Sessional Training Essentials Program (STEP). A dedicated website containing relevant resources and support information is provided for Teaching Associates and faculties provide intranet websites containing faculty-specific support information.

Alongside the implementation of Monash's educational change strategy we have designed a parallel initiative for staff training and development in order to act as an enabler for delivering our educational aspirations. The envisaged training programs are designed to be delivered using blended approaches and will have elements of personalisation that meet the needs of the participant. The sharing of better practice with peers is at the heart of the training strategy.

University support for good teaching practice Faculties are involved in a wide range of staff development activities that are both appropriate to their disciplines and build upon university level initiatives. For example, the Faculty of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences collaborates internationally with educators and industry to develop a collection of interactive web-based learning modules - Pharmatopia - the principal objective of which is to create a continuum of engaging problem-based, pharmacy learning/training modules, relevant to schools, universities and industry based on a shared-practice model. The Faculty of Education organises an Innovation in Education seminar series to showcase new developments and share better practice. The Faculty of Business and Economics at the Sunway campus in Malaysia has a regular series of education seminars, which focus on a wide range of educational issues linked to teaching practice.

The Peer Assisted Teaching Scheme (PATS) is a university wide program that equips academic staff with the skills and strategies to improve the quality of their units. The key objectives include improved teaching practice and student satisfaction with course quality, development of educational innovations, provision of leadership opportunities for outstanding teachers, and changing of practice towards peer coaching and mentoring approaches. Academics within a faculty are partnered and follow an informal process to discuss strategies to improve unit quality and develop educational innovations. PATS provides a structured framework for ongoing improvement of a unit and learning practice with input, assistance and guidance from faculty teaching leaders.

The promoting excellence team within the Office of the Pro Vice-Chancellor Learning and Teaching (OPVCLT) has oversight of all Office of Learning and Teaching (OLT) funded projects and awards at Monash and provides an effective conduit for embedding good practice innovation in our learning delivery. With the University Policy team also sitting within the OPVCLT, we can ensure that outcomes of all OLT projects (from across Australia) can be integrated into appropriate policies and procedures, and more importantly into the practice that our academic and professional staff demonstrate. The academic team of the OPVCLT through the Graduate Certificate of Academic Practice and our other training programs are able to act as one of the main avenues for disseminating and integrating good practice across the faculties and campuses.

Recognition and reward for good teaching practice The Promoting Excellence Team at Monash University was established to ensure that outstanding teaching practices of Monash teaching staff are recognised and rewarded nationally. Currently and in addition to National Awards and Grants, academic staff can apply for the Vice-Chancellor's Awards. These include Vice-Chancellor’s Awards for Teaching Excellence, Vice-Chancellor’s Awards for Programs that Enhance Learning, Vice-Chancellor’s Citations for Outstanding Contribution to Student Learning, Vice-Chancellor’s Awards for Excellence in Honours Supervision, and Vice-Chancellor’s Award for Postgraduate Supervision. Faculty awards align with both the Vice-Chancellor’s and National awards, thereby providing staff with a streamlined pathway that encourages applications. With the implementation of our strategy for educational change, the Promoting Excellence Team will also be charged with supporting the development of excellence across the faculties and will play a significant role in the training we provide. It is envisaged that the potential for recognition and reward will help inspire all our staff.

Teaching performance and promotion arrangements We aim to have an academic staff profile that supports our educational strategic goals. We will use a range of measures to assess the capability and contribution of staff to ensure that excellence in teaching can be recognised in a similar way to research within performance and promotion processes.

Monash is committed to supporting all staff to reach their full career potential and to achieve their work goals through the provision of professional development opportunities and effective appraisal processes. Performance development at Monash supports the provision of high quality teaching and uses a planning and review cycle that includes regular, meaningful performance conversations with the performance supervisor and a process of giving and receiving constructive

feedback; and clearly identifiable and documented performance development plans that create an awareness of the staff member’s contribution toward the educational goals of the university.

Promotion guidelines for academics are informed by reference to University-wide standards for teaching and research staff, which provide information about the responsibilities of staff appointed at each academic level and the academic performance standards. The University’s Student Evaluation of Teaching and Units (SETU) provides quantitative education indicators, ensuring that the educational experience, and the units taught in coursework programs, are subject to regular and systematic evaluation and improvement. Enhancements are under development to further increase the efficacy of SETU. In addition to student evaluations, we are developing a set of clear performance standards, which are directed at identifying effective education contributions. The inclusion of a peer-based academic evaluation instrument will also provide a means to measurably enhance teaching performance.

University qualitative education indicators are connected with examples of evidence and academic levels or level bands and are aligned with Office for Learning and Teaching (OLT) criteria for teaching excellence, specifically:

approaches to the support of learning and teaching that influence, motivate and inspire students to learn

development of curricula, resources and services that reflect a command of the field

approaches to assessment, feedback and learning support that foster independent learning

respect and support for the development of students as individuals

scholarly activities and service innovations that have influenced and enhanced learning and teaching.

The University has introduced education-focused academic roles as part of its Education Excellence Strategy, for the purpose of recognising and rewarding existing academic staff members for outstanding contributions in learning, teaching and scholarship. As well as being committed to high-quality student experiences and outcomes, education-focused academics drive educational design and innovation, and deliver educational leadership at the University, national and international level. They are expected to play a key role in the educational change strategy Monash is embarking on. In 2012, there were 184 education-focused academics staff in Levels A to D and 93% of these were successful in the most recent promotion round. By 2016 there will be 380 education-focused staff located across all faculties and campuses.

Teaching informed by research Monash is committed to ensuring that it provides the highest quality research-led education for its students and performs research which is relevant and innovative. The research intensiveness of Monash provides for an enviable pool of experts to inspire and enthuse our students and we are committed to our researchers being a key part of the educational process and helping our students recognise the need for up-to-date evidence based knowledge and provision of essential research skills and competencies. We are developing strategies as part of the blended approach to learning that ensure that the inclusion of research richness within a unit is considered as part of the curriculum development process and therefore central to the design of the learning outcomes of the unit.

The University's Outside Study Programme (OSP) provides academic staff with a period of relief from normal University duties to pursue research and other scholarly work to enhance the staff member's development, extend the body of knowledge in their chosen field and improve their research performance. Outcomes of OSP include the creation of new publications, new research grant applications, strong international research collaborations or research student and staffing exchanges, development of a relevant new field of research or scholarship, and innovations in teaching, for example major curriculum development. In addition faculties support staff in attending relevant research conferences and workshops so that they are aware of recent advances and developments in their particular field and where appropriate introduce these to the students as part of their commitment to research-led teaching.

Student engagement Monash aims to provide students with an outstanding learning experience. By using a multifaceted approach to teaching, including blended learning, there is an onus placed on students to become active participants in the learning process. Evidence suggests that such an approach, when supported appropriately and expectations are recognised, encourages and improves student engagement. A move towards interactive rather than didactic teaching and an explorative as opposed to instructional approach using innovative, effective and efficient use of online and face-to-face teaching modalities provides the opportunity for deeper and relevant learning to be realised. Such a shift also allows students to take ownership of their own learning and to develop a more personalised learning journey which involves pre-class, in-class and post-class activity, a package which we have called the Monash Blended Model (MBM).

The Monash Peer-Assisted Study Session Program (PASS) is an academic mentoring program that assists in the transition from high school to university. It enables first-year students to feel more confident in their understanding of key concepts, develop the independent study skills required for success at university, and feel part of a community of learners. Utilising an interactive, group-based approach that engages first-year students, the program is built around weekly study sessions that are peer-facilitated by undergraduate students in their second year or beyond and who have successfully completed the units themselves. 2,000 students participated in the program in 2012 and this number will rise to around 2,600 by 2015, including 100 PASS Leaders.

Student outcomes The Australian Graduate Survey student outcomes in the employability of graduates and also for further study are included in the top level institutional key performance indicators. Graduate employment outcomes are a key consideration in conducting the regular cycle of course reviews.

Monash participates in the Group of Eight (Go8) Quality Verification System to provide external, discipline-led, academic peer review of final year undergraduate student outcomes at all levels of achievement across Go8 institutions. We are developing processes to ensure that external feedback is intertwined with course development review activities and any subsequent improvements in provision will be made clearly identifiable to students demonstrating our commitment to the evolvement and bettering of our course offerings.

We believe that the development of a portfolio of skills is an essential part of the learning journey our students will make and encompasses academic, research and a series of soft skills. Monash is one of five universities leading the adoption in Australia of the Research Skill Development (RSD) Framework. RSD Frameworks incorporate the development of discipline-appropriate research skills into the curriculum. Library staff work with academic staff to provide opportunities for students to develop and demonstrate research skills in completing tasks within the context of their discipline. Further development is planned to provide for student skill development and articulation in relation to employability outcomes and this will be embedded as a distinctive part of the MBM. Monash also makes provision for students to acquire generic skills through a number of channels, for example through the co-curriculum units of the Monash Passport Program.

Work Integrated Learning is offered as a component, or is a requirement, of undergraduate and postgraduate courses. The University is reviewing its practices in this area and a Work Integrated Learning Policy and Procedures are under development. In addition, a range of curricular and co-curricular opportunities, including assessed activities, are provided to students to develop career management capacity and leadership competencies.

Note: All calendar year references below relate to projects and awards in that calendar year.


Baseline 2012




Target 2016

Number of active learning and teaching projects supported by the PELTHE11 program where the University is the lead institution

9 * 7** 7 7 7

Number of active learning and teaching projects supported by the PELTHE12 where the University is a partner institution

2 3 4 5 6

Number of citations for outstanding contributions to student learning ***

7 6 7 6 7

Number of awards for teaching excellence ****

0 1 2 2 3

Number of awards for programs that enhance excellence *****

1 2 2 2 2

* 2012 - Monash - highest grant funding allocation - 12.87% ** Funding structure altered in 2013 *** out of a possible 8 institutional nominees **** out of a possible 16 nationally ***** out of a possible 12 nationally

4.3 Equity


The Commonwealth is committed to a fair and equitable higher education system that provides equal opportunity for people of all backgrounds to participate to their full potential and the support to do so.

In particular, the Commonwealth has an ambition that by 2020, 20 per cent of higher education enrolments at the undergraduate level will be people from low socio-economic status (SES) backgrounds.

The Commonwealth expects all universities to play a part in meeting the Commonwealth's higher education participation ambitions, consistent with the objectives and regulatory requirements of Commonwealth funding.

The Commonwealth funds a range of programs to encourage and support access to and participation in higher education by people from low SES backgrounds and other under-represented groups, including the Higher Education Loan Program and Student Income Support.

The Commonwealth will monitor the University’s equity performance through the reporting requirements and evaluations of programs and initiatives. The University’s performance in

11 Promotion of Learning and Teaching in Higher Education - the program providers learning and teaching grants, awards and fellowships and is administered by the Office for Learning and Teaching.

12 See footnote 10 for definition.

meeting equity objectives will also be linked with teaching and learning Performance Funding targets.

Universities have obligations under the fairness requirements in Division 19 of HESA. This compact does not change those obligations.


Access, participation and outcomes for students from underrepresented groups Monash University strongly supports the goal of social inclusion and is continuing to diversify its student body. Monash University’s Social Inclusion Strategy (May 2010) sets out our key social inclusion targets and strategies. Since the development of the Social Inclusion Strategy, Monash has succeeded in increasing (combined indicator) low SES participation from 11.01% in 2009 to 11.33% in 2011 (above target) and to 11.65% in 2012 by Census Collection District. 11.65% is the 2012 compact target but the combined indicator data is not yet available.

Low Socio-Economic Status (SES) Monash aspires to increase University-wide low SES undergraduate participation and we are working to ensure that all students succeed and that excellent graduate outcomes are maintained.

Monash recognises that sustained effort will be needed to increase access and success in undergraduate courses by students coming from low SES backgrounds, within the context of Monash’s commitment to academic strengthening and excellence. An expanded program of actions is therefore underway, containing the following strategies:

Engage with schools: To continue to enrich the Schools Access Monash program of school partnerships and extend general schools outreach and recruitment to increase knowledge, inform aspiration and increase readiness for higher education in targeted low SES communities in the outer South East of Melbourne, Gippsland and other regions. Targeted initiatives include support for the Educational Partnerships Hub at Kurnai College in Churchill, the Hands on Health program in Greater Dandenong, and the Access Monash Mentoring Program for students in year 11 and 12 who aspire to higher education.

Engage with prospective students in communities: To build a strong University presence and work with community partners to increase knowledge about, interest in and readiness for higher education among mature aged prospective students in targeted low SES communities.

Enhance pathways: To improve options for both school-leaver and mature aged students through an increased range and more flexible pathways into and through Monash courses including through partnerships. Monash will continue to create opportunities for students articulating from TAFE. In addition, Monash seeks to develop a new Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM)-focused Diploma pathway and small enabling program to address the needs of talented mature age students in the 21-29 year age range who are seeking to pursue university study but require further preparation due to disrupted education. This initiative will focus on areas of science, the humanities and business that require quantitative skills and are not well-served by other pathways.

Seek talent: To improve the recognition of talented students amongst those who have experienced educational disadvantage through improved selection tools and special admission schemes. This will include continued commitment to offering Special Entry Admissions Scheme (SEAS) consideration to applicants who have experienced educational disadvantage and special Vice-Chancellor's and Dean’s Scholars programs for disadvantaged students. Scholarships and bursaries will also be a priority, with the Sir John Monash Community Leaders Scholarships (introduced in 2013) offering students the opportunity to work with peers in underrepresented schools while supporting their own studies.

Optimise success: To provide transitional academic support and other support for students admitted to the University through special admission mechanisms to optimise their progress,

likelihood of success and future options. Each faculty will continue to develop tailored initiatives to support their diverse student cohorts, complemented with centrally coordinated programs such as Peer Assisted Study Support (PASS) and the Student Success Advisors contact project for First Generation in Family students.

Produce high quality graduates from diverse backgrounds: To further develop Monash’s rigorous and systematic approach to monitoring the effectiveness of the program and of the quality of outcomes of students graduating from Monash University consistent with its commitment to academic excellence, producing outstanding graduates with strong employment prospects.

Monash will continue to measure the success of these strategies through the number of enrolments by students from low SES backgrounds, and the retention, student experience and graduate outcomes of these students.

4.3.3 Participation and Social Inclusion Targets

Proportion of domestic undergraduates who are from a low SES background Baseline for improvement target: To be determined

Proportion of domestic undergraduates who are from another underrepresented group Baseline for improvement target: x% (Either 2009 or average of 2008 and 2009 data)

4.4 Teaching and Learning Infrastructure


The Commonwealth is committed to the development of world class higher education infrastructure. A contemporary, technology rich, well designed and equipped campus environment has a positive influence on staff and student performance and satisfaction.

While the responsibility for capital infrastructure development and maintenance rests with the University, the Commonwealth’s commitment is demonstrated through programs such as the Education Investment Fund. Universities also utilise Commonwealth Grant Scheme funding for capital works and maintenance.

The Commonwealth will monitor the University's infrastructure performance, through the Institutional Performance Portfolio/CAMS.

Principal Performance

Indicators

2014 Reward Payment (target for 2013

students)


students)

2016 Progress target (target for 2015

students)

Excellence Target To be determined To be determined To be determined

Improvement Target To be determined To be determined To be determined

Outcome - - -

Principal Performance

Indicators


students)


students)

2016 Progress target (target for 2015

students)

Improvement Target To be determined To be determined To be determined

Outcome - - -


Renewing existing facilities for teaching and research needs and student expectations Monash University continues to reinvest significantly in the development of its campuses including investment in both existing and new infrastructure to extend capacity and enhance learning and research. These capital development plans are guided by campus master plans and appropriate governance procedures within the University. The annual investment is circa $90-$100m. Finding resources to renew, upgrade and rejuvenate the current aging infrastructure is an ongoing challenge for Monash.

Monash University has made a distinct commitment to revitalise the learning experience it offers its students. This educational change strategy requires Monash to invest in the educational infrastructure and provide facilities and technologies that promote a blended approach to learning. Such a fundamental shift in delivery will drive the prioritised upgrade, redevelopment and enhancement of our teaching and learning spaces across our campuses in line with new pedagogical approaches. In addition the further enhancement of platforms to provide digital education technologies will be key to the development of the MBM and will allow students to determine much of their own learning journey.

New research infrastructure is nearing completion in the form of the New Horizons building at the Clayton campus. This project, which received a significant Commonwealth contribution through the HEEF program, will provide scientists and engineers from Monash and CSIRO with state of the art research laboratories in an open environment conducive to collaborative multi-disciplinary research. This building will see a generational change in how research is undertaken, with built-in capabilities that will house the latest instruments, including nationally-unique visualisation facilities. Equally importantly, the facility has been designed to expose staff and over 150 postgraduate students to a modern research-intensive environment, a ‘hot-house’ of innovation.

The construction of the new Green Chemicals Futures (GCF) building, partly funded through EIF, will deliver a major new multidisciplinary innovation hub dedicated to supporting academic and industrial researchers within Australia’s multi-billion dollar chemicals sector. Refer to section 3.1.2.

In addition to these new developments a number of renewal projects are under development further strengthening the research capabilities and learning experience in pharmacy, medicine, education and science.

Improving daytime space utilisation rates Monash University actively monitors the utilisation rates of its learning space portfolio through physical audits, timetable modelling and the analysis of load planning projections across its six Australian campuses. The Tertiary Education Facilities Management Association utilisation targets are one of the indicators used to inform university strategies around improving the utilisation of its physical learning environment and the development of these assets. Monash’s teaching space enhancement strategies focus on creating innovative and flexible learning environments to meet the need of multiple pedagogical approaches and therefore will enable greater utilisation of these facilities.

Practice in relation to the cost of remedying the backlog maintenance of facilities The University is adopting a strategic asset management approach to transition towards achieving ‘good practice’ in regards to reducing the expense of backlog maintenance. Campus-specific master plans provide guidance and governance for on-site development and refurbishment activities. Condition and functionality audits are conducted periodically to inform building and precinct asset management strategies, and assist in prioritisation of annual expenditure.

The University’s capital development plan contains major activities including new buildings and infrastructure, large renovations and asset disposals. These activities are coordinated with those of rolling asset renewals and environmental sustainability improvement programs to improve the overall condition of the facility, thus improving the Facilities Condition Index score.

At an elemental level, preventative maintenance contracts are transitioning from the more traditional ‘manufacturer’s recommendation’ approach to an adjusted frequency condition based approach. It is anticipated that this approach to preventative maintenance will facilitate additional reinvestment in elemental asset renewal, thereby raising overall condition levels and reducing backlog maintenance.

Open market procurement of contractors that offer best value for money service delivery and asset renewal activities are also being conducted. Performance of these contracts and contractors is being monitored to manage best value for money expenditure for these activities, thus maximising effective use of annual budget allocations.

PART FIVE: RESEARCH AND RESEARCH TRAINING

5 RESEARCH AND RESEARCH TRAINING

A range of research and research training performance indicators and targets are proposed in this section. Principal Performance Indicators are compulsory and institutions may voluntarily nominate optional performance indicators and targets considered reflective of individual institutional goals.

The Commonwealth recognises universities have diverse missions and, consequently, targets and performance will vary between institutions. Each university should develop performance indicators and targets to reflect its individual performance and strategic direction.

5.1 Research performance and research capability


The Commonwealth encourages excellence in research performance and the strengthening of research capability. Particular objectives are to: progressively increase the number of research groups performing at world class levels, as

measured by international performance benchmarks; and promote collaboration, amongst universities, across sectors, between researchers and

industry Australia and internationally.

The Commonwealth, through the Australian Research Council (ARC), conducts the Excellence in Research for Australia (ERA) which evaluates the quality of research undertaken at Australian universities by discipline against international benchmarks. ERA is used to assist in determining funding in the Sustainable Research Excellence in Universities program administered by the Commonwealth.


The University’s primary research goal is to achieve significant research benefits for the various communities we engage with and serve, through the provision of research that is excellent, relevant, and has an impact, especially in those fields where Monash is a research leader.

Increase the number of research groups performing at world-class levels Monash University performs at a world-class level across all broad discipline groups as defined by the ERA. Of the 20 Units of Evaluation submitted by Monash for the 2012 ERA, all were ranked at or above world standard - with 35% ‘above world standard’ and a further 40% ‘well above world standard’.

Specific actions that Monash University will undertake over the 2014 - 2016 period to improve this performance include continued investment in talent enhancement initiatives, as the appointment and support of world class research leaders is integral to the success of research groups. Monash has invested in a suite of fellowships and support schemes that together form the Talent Enhancement Scheme (TES), to attract, recognise, reward and retain quality researchers. Monash will continue to invest in these initiatives, which are strategically aligned to existing research strengths, to enable development of research capacity in areas of strategic importance.

Launched in 2010, the Talent Enhancement Strategy has to date resulted in the recruitment of 40 staff through the Monash Professorial and Larkins fellowship schemes. The investment in these staff is approximately $10M per annum and future investment will be aligned to faculty and institutional strategic research priorities. In 2012, 62 Level B and C researchers were selected into the Monash Researcher Accelerator Program (MRA), which supports the acceleration of our highest performing early to mid-career researchers – the future generation of research leaders already at Monash. Approximately $4.7M of funding will support this cohort over 2013 – 2014, and we expect to see increased grant and fellowship success from this cohort.

Promote collaboration to improve research performance Monash has particular strength in interdisciplinary collaboration and in research collaborations with publicly funded research agencies and industry. For example:

In 2012, Monash led the successful CRC for Water Sensitive Cities, a $120M interdisciplinary research initiative with research hubs around Australia, and in Singapore and Rotterdam.

Similarly, Monash Water for Liveability is establishing multi-million dollar joint ventures in China (at Southeast University) and in Israel.

Monash is also a joint partner with the TAC and Worksafe in the Institute for Safety, Compensation and Recovery Research (ISCRR). Established in 2009 with $25M in partner funding, ISCRR has extended its remit with the addition of $20M from TAC for the Neurotrauma Research Program.

In the Faculty of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences Professor John McNeill leads ASPREE, a $US 50M five-year primary prevention clinical trial on aspirin use funded by the NHMRC and the US National Institute of Health (representing the largest NIH grant ever awarded to Australian researchers).

The $72.8M Green Chemical Futures facility has been established with a 2010 $29.1M Federal Government grant, and the Victorian Centre for Sustainable Chemical Manufacturing has been established with a grant of $5.8M from the Victorian Government. The new facility will house students, researchers and industry, chemists and engineers, and will allow the growth of basic science research to targeted industry driven research.

In 2013 the $175M New Horizons building, which received $89.9M from the Federal Government and $14.9M from the CSIRO, will be opened. New Horizons co-locates world-class researchers from Monash and the CSIRO to tackle some of the grand challenges in areas of research in sustainable energy, novel materials, and other fields where engineering design and synthesis can provide new solutions in biology and medical contexts.

The Monash Comprehensive Cancer Consortium is one of Victoria’s three specialty cancer research nodes, and is dedicated to bringing together researchers and clinicians to deliver better health outcomes for patients through world-class translational cancer research.

With $8M in ARC funding a multidisciplinary team at the Monash Vision Group in collaboration with Grey Innovation, MiniFAB and The Alfred Hospital is on track for the first-in-human trial of its ground-breaking multi-tile cortical implant in early 2014.

Monash University is the only non-EU partner in the €23m AMAZE project, developing Laser additive manufacturing technology that is poised to revolutionise manufacturing.

To build on our strength in developing interdisciplinary collaboration and creating new opportunities for partnerships, Monash will continue investment in the recruitment of internationally recognised research leaders, promotion of interdisciplinary research (IDR) through provision of IDR project seed funding, establishment of a Major Projects coordination and support team, and continued support for the temporary co-location of IDR project teams.

ERA and Monash’s research strategy Monash improved significantly from 2010 to 2012, with all 2-digit Fields of Research (FoRs) rating 3 or above, and only one rating below 3 for a 4-digit FoR. The ERA results will be used to help refine research strategies at all levels of the University and to identify areas of research excellence. In particular, talent enhancement initiatives will be aligned with areas of emerging and established strength. Interdisciplinary research (IDR) support and research infrastructure will also be aligned with areas of research excellence, as identified through ERA results.

The establishment of a new role in 2012, Pro Vice-Chancellor (Academic Performance), will assist in supporting the University’s aspirations across the education and research portfolios to continue to improve our academic performance and meet the education and research challenges of the future. The responsibilities of this role include supporting faculties with improving the University’s performance in the Excellence in Research for Australia initiative in particular. Monash is at present working through the implications of the ERA for our research strategy and planning.

The abilities to rapidly bring together high-quality interdisciplinary teams, attract top new talent to address any critical capability skill gaps, leverage geographic reach, existing infrastructure and relationships and secure funds to develop critical new infrastructure are all important to Monash University’s ability to deliver maximum impact from our broad base of excellent and relevant research. Underpinning our drive to achieve this and increase our number of top research groups and promote collaboration are additional initiatives, including:

Continued high levels of investment in the development and maintenance of world-class research infrastructure. Monash will identify and attract funding to provide cutting-edge infrastructure and supporting expertise; ensure stakeholder communications are a major focus in the planning, implementation and operation of major platforms; undertake a formal platform-review process from which increased external revenue targets will be set; develop a Monash Platforms Quality Framework; contribute to, engage with, and influence major national and state infrastructure investments; and develop long term strategic relationships with key industry and other research partners to underpin infrastructure goals.

Investment in joint appointments with key alliance partners University of Warwick (UK) and Southeast University (China) to lead and strengthen international collaborations.

Investment in a three-to-five-year staged business change initiative, the Research Administration Strengthening (RAS) Program, which was developed following an extensive review of research management and support services as part of the Monash Futures Improved Services agenda. The Program aims to professionalise research and research training management through identification of the most effective organisational model for the delivery of research administration and research training support across the institution, and through a series of business process and IT system improvements.

Monash will achieve its overarching research goal of impact through excellence and relevance by constantly refreshing and improving its people and infrastructure and by rapidly and effectively identifying and capitalising on opportunities to apply these capabilities.


The purpose of the research performance and the research capability performance indicators and targets is to assist the University and the Commonwealth in monitoring the University's progress against the Commonwealth's objectives and the University's strategies for research performance and research capability.

The University will aim to meet the research performance and research capability performance indicators and targets set out in the following table.

Principal Performance Indicators ERA 2010 ERA 2012 ERA 2015 Target

Number of disciplines, as defined by two-digit Fields of Research (FoR), performing at world standard or above (3, 4 or 5)

17 20 20

Number of disciplines, as defined by four-digit FoR, performing at world standards or above (3, 4 or 5)

78 89 89

Disciplines the University commits to demonstrating substantial

improvement in as defined by two-digit FoR and/or four-digit FoR

Disciplines nominated in 2011–13 Compact

Disciplines nominated in 2014–16 Compact

Two – digit FOR 11 (PAH) Medical & Health Sciences

Four – digit FOR 1117 Public Health & Health Sciences 1602 Criminology

0101 Pure Mathematics 1606 Political Science



Baseline 2012




Target 2016

Category 1 income $139.1M $155.2M $163M $171M $180M

Category 2 Income $57.3M $53.3M $56M $58.8M $61.7M

Number of joint research grants in Australia

219 230 241 254 267

Number of joint research grants overseas

151 159 167 175 184

Number of jointly supervised PhD students in Australia13

232 221 232 244 256

Number of jointly supervised PhD students overseas14

160 152 159 168 176



Baseline 2012




Target 2016

The share of joint publications co-authored with researchers from other Australian institutions*

37.4% 38.7% 39.9% 41.1% 42.4%

International research income

$29.8M $31.3 $32.9M $34.5M $36.2M

The share of joint publications co-authored with researchers internationally (out of all publications)*

39% 40.5% 42% 43.5% 45%

*Note that this information comes from Thomson Reuters Web of Knowledge. It includes all publication types: HERDC and non-HERDC eligible (articles, abstracts, reviews, book chapters, editorials, proceedings papers, letters, book reviews, corrections, books, news items, biographical items, poetry, reprints).

13 Please provide the number by headcount of jointly supervised HDR students enrolled in your institution who have a supervisor from an external organisation in Australia (examples include someone from a government organisation, hospital or another university).

14 Please provide the number by headcount of jointly supervised HDR students enrolled in your institution who have a supervisor from an external overseas organisation (examples include someone from a government organisation, hospital or another university).

5.2 Research training


The Commonwealth encourages excellence in the provision of research training. Particular objectives are to: support research excellence and develop an internationally competitive research workforce

in Australia through high quality research training; develop an internationally competitive research workforce in Australia through high quality

research training; and significantly increase the number of students completing higher degrees by research over the

next decade.


The University's strategic aim by 2022 is to be the leading university in the Asia Pacific and among the strongest research universities in the world. We will be differentiated from our peers by a genuine focus on "real world" engagement and on achieving impact through research relevance and excellence. Consistent with this aim, the Superior Research Training pillar of the Monash Research Strategic Plan (2011-2015) seeks to differentiate doctoral degrees from Monash in order to attract the best research students, rank highly amongst Australian universities in terms of HDR load and completions, and ensure Monash graduates are highly sought after as academic, government, industry and community leaders.

Monash continues to follow a steady upward trajectory in its growth of HDR load, placing high in the Go8 in 2012 at approximately 3,000 EFTSL. Monash has also driven marked improvements in the numbers of HDR candidates supervised per Teaching and Research and Research Only staff member, climbing into the top ranks of Go8 institutions in 2011 with a figure of 1.16 EFTSL. Applications for HDR scholarships have increased steadily each year, trebling from 1,019 in 2007 to 2,991 in 2012.

Enhancing the quality of research training The Monash University Institute of Graduate Research (MIGR) was established in 2012 to further enhance the existing strengths of our research training and deliver an innovative and modern Monash PhD that focuses on the development of both new knowledge and the individual researcher. Between 2013 and 2015, Monash will implement new discipline-specific PhD programs across the University, which include coursework and research skills training.

Monash will also seek to optimise research training support to include honours students, HDR students, and early-career researchers, to provide an integrated approach to researcher development.

A review of Master’s by Research degrees led to re-organisation of administration and the identification of weaknesses to be addressed. In 2012, administration of Master’s by Research degrees was centralised in MIGR and supported by the introduction of new Master’s regulations and a University-wide set of policies and procedures. Common entry requirements (upper H2B) came into effect in 2012, and a common grading system for Master’s theses will be introduced, with the objective of working toward common standards across Monash.

Supporting the completion of higher degrees by research (HDR) One objective of the introduction of coursework and training to all Monash PhD programs is to better support students towards timely completion through a more structured approach to preparation of the thesis and through the creation of student cohorts. Research managers and planners will also use data-mining to constantly and critically monitor the progress of specific cohorts and inform faculty and University strategies for improving HDR completion rates and times to completion.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander research student support strategies Monash has funded and offered the Monash Indigenous Research Awards (MIRA) since 2010 to encourage and support promising Indigenous students to complete postgraduate study. The awards are offered for Doctoral, Masters or conjoint Honours/PhD study and are valued at $35,000 per annum (compared with the APA stipend of $24,653 per annum in 2013). Monash also funds HDR Abstudy top-up bursaries to ensure that all full-time Indigenous HDR students are receiving an income equivalent to an APA. Currently we have a small number of awardees for both schemes, and are looking at strategies to increase participation. We also have a "Koori Cohort" program established at the Gippsland campus to provide support to Indigenous HDR students.

Enrolling HDR students in high quality research environments All HDR supervisors at Monash must be members of MIGR. As part of the membership requirement all Monash supervisors must meet stringent research activity benchmarks and keep abreast with the latest developments in the field. They must also complete supervisor training which gives them skills to guide their HDR candidates through their candidature. All supervisors are also expected to adhere to Monash Code of Practice for supervision of doctoral and research master’s degree candidates. All these processes are put in place to support our commitment to highest standards of training for all HDR candidates and our aim of aligning research activity and excellent research supervision.

We are planning the establishment of a limited number of internationally-focused Doctoral Training Centres (DTC), with the aim of creating a world-class research environment to foster interdisciplinary research training. DTCs enable candidates to work in identified combinations of areas of research excellence that will equip them to tackle the grand challenges facing Australia today, and to prepare for future ones.

To provide our candidates with opportunities for exposure to a range of world-class research leaders and teams both locally and internationally, we will continue to identify, pursue and establish international joint-badged programs with strategic partners, and to develop strategies to enable joint-badged PhD programs with Australian Go8 universities. We will continue to support our investment in joint-badged PhD programs at the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay (IITB), the University of Warwick and Southeast University (China), as well as with other partners. The IIT Bombay program is in its fourth year and students are starting to submit their theses for examination. The degree continues to attract strong interest, with 1,700 expressions of interest for 14 places in 2012, and approximately 90 students enrolled in this award. The joint program with Warwick will commence its intake in 2013.

A recent achievement that attests to our focus on providing a high quality research training environment is the establishment in 2012 of an International Research Training group (joint PhD) program for PhD candidates with the German Research Foundation, who contributed a $3.8M grant. This program will allow 18 students to be co-supervised by researchers at Justus-Liebig University Giessen and at one of three Monash sites: the School of Biomedical Sciences, the Monash Institute of Medical Research or Prince Henry’s Institute, in a variety of research projects in male reproductive health. This is the first such grant to be awarded jointly with an Australian university.

Equipping HDR students with the skills to move beyond the academy The new PhD programs are being designed with a specific aim of better equipping today’s HDR candidates with the skills they need to move into a variety of employment contexts after graduation. Given that a sizeable proportion of HDR graduates in Australia will not find employment as academics, it is also imperative to include industry career preparation as well as preparation for an academic career. Broad skills development, including professional career-development opportunities, is becoming a key element of the doctorate on the international stage and such changes are being strongly advocated through Federal Government policies and programs in Australia. The Australian Government's research workforce strategy, 'Research Skills for an Innovative Future' has confirmed the need for universities to train increasing numbers of

doctoral students and to better align attributes acquired through research training with industry needs. Our new PhD programs are being designed in response to these movements, with the emphasis on developing candidates as researchers for the 21st century.

Supporting both new initiatives and ongoing business, the Professionalisation of Research Management pillar of the Research Strategy will also see continued development of more efficient systems to administer HDR activities (including admissions, candidature, examinations, and scholarships). MIGR will continue to lead the review and update of HDR policies and to streamline processes in line with best practice both nationally and internationally.

Monash has made a considerable investment of resources in this wholesale revision of the PhD curriculum and shift in focus from thesis to researcher-in-training, with a view to improving the quality of our programs and of our graduates. Our growth in HDR load has been consistent and impressive, and we continue to increase our collaborative award programs with universities internationally.

5.3 Performance indicators and targets

The purpose of the research training performance indicators and targets is to assist the University and the Commonwealth in monitoring the University's progress against the Commonwealth's objectives and the University's strategies for research training.

The University will aim to meet the research training performance indicators and targets set out in the following table.



Baseline 2012




Target 2016

HDR student load 2,946 3,034 3,185 3,340 3,510

HDR student completions by masters

134 102 107 112 118

HDR student completions by doctorates

501 477 500 525 550



Baseline 2012




Target 2016

Domestic HDR EFTSL enrolments

1911 2007 2107 2212 2322

HDR student publication rates (weighted DIISR points)

328 344 361 380 399

PART SIX: GENERAL PROVISIONS

6 GENERAL PROVISIONS

6.1 Compact Review

6.1.1 The Commonwealth and the University will review the compact annually. This review will be a mechanism for considering progress made towards agreed goals outlined in this compact. Compact review will aim to ensure that the Commonwealth and the University will continue to focus on key objectives and strategies and will be an opportunity to consider developments that may impact on the compact or trigger a need to change the compact.

6.1.2 To facilitate this review the Commonwealth will produce an annual Institutional Performance Portfolio and the University agrees to contribute to the annual Institutional Performance Portfolio Information Collection (IPPIC). The Commonwealth will consult with the higher education sector on the information collection requirements and any issues arising from the IPPIC process.

6.2 Privacy and information sharing

6.2.1 Subject to clause 6.2.2 below, the University acknowledges and agrees that any information it provides to the Department for the purposes of this compact, may be accessible under the Freedom of Information Act 1982 and may also be: published by the Commonwealth in any manner in accordance with any legislative

requirement; used by the Department for any purpose of the Commonwealth, including dealings with

other Commonwealth or State or territory agencies; used in reporting to or answering questions from a Minister of State of the Commonwealth

or a House or Committee of the Parliament of the Commonwealth; or disclosed where the Commonwealth is required or permitted by law to do so. 6.2.2 The Commonwealth and the University agree to carry out their roles under this compact in accordance with any obligations they have under the Privacy Act 1988 or any state or territory law relating to the protection of personal information.

6.3 Changing the Compact

6.3.1 Either party may propose changes to this compact at any time. Any variation to this compact is to be in writing and signed by the University's, and the Commonwealth’s Representatives.

6.4 Notices

6.4.1 A party wishing to give notice under a provision of this compact:

a. must do so by sending it to the other Representative set out in clause 6.4.2; and b. must, if a response is required to the notice, set out the time in which the response is

to be given;

6.4.2 The Representatives are:

a. University Representative Sue Gleeson Office of Planning and Quality Monash University Wellington Road Clayton Melbourne 3800 Tel: 03 9905 5246 Fax: 03 9905 8598 Email: [email protected]

mailto:[email protected]

b. DIICCSRTE Representative Division Head Higher Education Group Department of Industry, Innovation, Climate Change, Science, Research and Tertiary Education GPO Box 9839 Canberra ACT 2601 OR [email protected]

6.5 Dictionary

In this compact, unless the contrary intention appears:

‘Department’ means the Commonwealth Department of Industry, Innovation, Climate Change, Science, Research and Tertiary Education or any successor.

‘HESA’ means the Higher Education Support Act 2003 and includes any subordinate legislation or Ministerial determination made under that Act.

‘Institutional Performance Portfolio’ (IPP) is a report which provides an historical record of a university's performance based on information provided by the University and an analysis of the Higher Education Data Collections. An IPP will be prepared by the Commonwealth for the University annually using the latest available data.

‘Institutional Performance Portfolio Information Collection’ (IPPIC) is a set of Commonwealth instructions requesting that universities provide a submission to the Commonwealth, endorsed by the University's chief executive, that includes student, staff, financial and research information needed for the preparation of an Institutional Performance Portfolio for that university.

‘Minister’ means the Minister for Tertiary Education, Skills, Science and Research.

‘Mission’ means the University’s Mission set out at Part One of this compact as amended in accordance with the variation provisions in this compact from time to time.

‘TEQSA’ means the Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency.

‘Term of this compact’ means the period set out in Part B of the Context of this compact.

‘University’ means Monash University ABN 12 377 614 012

mailto:[email protected]

Signed for and on behalf of the Monash University

by

…………………………………………………….. ………………………… Signature Date

Professor Ed Byrne the Vice-Chancellor and President

In the Presence of:

.....................................................................................

WITNESS

.....................................................................................

Full name and occupation or profession of witness (Please print)

SIGNED for and on behalf of

THE COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA

by

…………………………………………………….. ………………………… Signature Date

Mr David de Carvalho

the Head of Division

of Higher Education Division

of the Department of Industry, Innovation, Climate Change, Science, Research and Tertiary Education

a Delegate of the Minister for Tertiary Education, Skills, Science and Research

In the Presence of:

.....................................................................................

WITNESS

.....................................................................................

Full name and occupation or profession of witness (Please print)

docs-edu.govcms.gov.au · based compact with the Commonwealth for a period which includes that...

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