Board of Trustees Resolutions

UWS Board of Trustees

Annual Strategy Day Resolutions

 

Preamble


The University has a legislative mandate to achieve academic excellence in higher education and in the conduct of research “having particular regard to the needs and aspirations” of the community of Greater Western Sydney.  It prides itself on its commitment to social justice and equal opportunity, opening its campuses to those who would not traditionally have had access to a university education.

These objectives underpin the University’s strategic planning and frame its response to the increasing opportunities for growth.  The University has already experienced substantial expansion since 2009.  At the same time UWS has achieved significantly higher levels of student demand and student satisfaction, improved student retention, increasing productivity and scale in research as well as encouraging outcomes in the first Excellence in Research Australia (ERA) assessment.

With the ‘uncapping’ of Commonwealth funded places in 2012 the Board of Trustees has determined that UWS will adopt an ambitious but managed growth strategy – where the opportunities, challenges and risks of growth are carefully examined and prudently managed.  Our goal is to widen participation in our University, to continue the transformation of UWS as a highly respected institution and to ensure that the quality of the academic program is not compromised.  It is in this context that the Board of Trustees passed the following resolutions to guide the University’s activities in the next year.

Resolution 1:

To build on earlier decisions of the Board of Trustees by:

  1. confirming the ongoing relevance and currency of the Making the Difference Strategy 2010-2015 as the guiding planning framework for the University; and
  2. noting that the underlying plans and frameworks will be refined to reflect the Board’s decisions as set out below.

Resolution 2:

To continue to give life to the University’s strong commitment to providing greater higher education opportunities to the communities of Greater Western Sydney, growth in student load will be addressed by:

  1. targeting growth in selected disciplines;
  2. selectively making campuses more comprehensive in their academic offerings;
  3. providing greater academic flexibility in course design and delivery and enhancing student choice; and
  4. the rigorous and equitable allocation of research, teaching and administrative responsibilities.

Resolution 3:

To pursue its commitment to social justice and educational access the University will:

  1. progressively expand UWSCollege;
  2. diversify entry pathways;
  3. increase participation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students from our region;
  4. continue to improve access to students with a disability by ensuring high standard support services; and
  5. continue to advocate for public transport accessibility to the University’s campuses.

Resolution 4:

To pursue greater scale, impact, critical mass and strength in research, as achieved through the previously established Hawkesbury Institute for the Environment and the Institute for Culture and Society, the University will:

  1. establish the Institute of Human Communication Science (or similar name);
  2. establish an Institute in Infrastructure Engineering, subject to further development of the proposal (or similar name); and
  3. continue the planning of a Western Sydney Institute of Health.

Resolution 5:

To continue to build excellence in the student experience and in the quality of our teaching and research, the priorities for expenditure in 2012 will be:

  1. increasing the number of academic staff to meet teaching demands and reduce casualisation;
  2. ensuring adequate professional staffing and resources to support students and academic staff;
  3. investing strategically in high achieving researchers;
  4. building honours, doctoral and postdoctoral programs;
  5. seeding new and expanded graduate coursework programs;
  6. developing the ‘Horizons 1000” concept; and
  7. undertaking essential capital refurbishment, IT infrastructure and building development.

Resolution 6:

To maintain the University’s leadership in community engagement in 2012 UWS will:

  1. engage eminent international leaders in university engagement to review our achievements in regional engagement, partnerships and sustainability and to provide expert advice on ways in which the University can remain a global leader in serving its communities;
  2. consult widely with community, industry and government bodies in Greater Western Sydney to inform its future programs, plans and initiatives;
  3. further develop a strategic framework for collaborative engagement over the next 5 years; and
  4. develop a blueprint for a centre for Western Sydney urban and social research which would be the major authority on the development of Greater Western Sydney.

Resolution 7:

To improve student engagement and success and to support research, academic programs and business requirements, UWS will develop a contemporary, efficient and effective IT environment across its campuses to:

  1. enhance our e-learning and e-research capability and capacity;
  2. minimise internal investment in facilities that are better provided externally; and
  3. invest strategically to achieve continuous improvement in IT services.

Resolution 8:

To fund essential University campus facilities and infrastructure the University will aim to achieve an operational surplus of 5% of revenue in 2012 ($30m on revenue of $600m).

Resolution 9:

To fund necessary capital developments to enable growth (where this cannot be achieved by using our buildings, equipment, facilities and resources more effectively and efficiently) the University will use:

  1. accumulated annual operational surpluses;
  2. external capital grants;
  3. commercial income from campus developments; and
  4. borrowings, primarily for income-earning projects, but only when supported by well developed and robust business cases.

Resolution 10:

To advance the standing, reputation and image of the University a revised branding strategy will be developed for consideration by the Board of Trustees to:

  1. include integrated promotion of the University by and with its affiliated entities such as research institutes and centres, CADRE, Whitlam Institute and TVS; and
  2. require that any distinct branding and logos for institutes, centres and entities must be approved by the Vice-Chancellor in accordance with this policy.

Resolution 11:

To provide more and diverse opportunities for students and to enhance educational opportunities in the Greater Western Sydney region the University will undertake a comprehensive review of its relationships with TAFE and assess:

  1. further opportunities for articulation agreements between UWS and TAFE;
  2. the development of new and innovative collaborative partnerships with TAFE which will benefit students;
  3. leveraging the advantages of the co-location of TAFE colleges and University campuses;
  4. the integrated provision of joint educational programs for key industries, community and demographic groups, mobilising the strengths of both sectors.

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