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Council changeover pending
7 November 2009
The final meeting of the fifth University Council will be held on December 8th and last week the final round of committees of Council began, with reports feeding into the December meeting.
On Thursday the Foundation Board with its current membership met for the last time. It marked the end of a 12-year association with the University for Tim Fairfax AM, who has served as Deputy Chancellor and Chair of the Foundation Board. He has been a wonderful supporter of the University and has been an equally wonderful person to work with. He will be sorely missed.
At present we await the outcome of State Government processes which result in six members being officially appointed.
There are also University elections taking place to determine staff members of the new 18 member Council.
Two students have already been determined.
When the Council membership is being considered, we as a Council try to influence the balance of members with respect to gender, professional experience, regional location and potential contribution to committee work, but ultimately the pattern is set by the State Government’s six appointees, leaving a further four for the Council to appoint as additional members during 2010, for a four year term of the Council.
The Council is chaired by the Chancellor and all members serve in an honorary capacity. The Council meets six times a year and there are Planning and Resources, Audit and Risk, and Foundation Board committees whose work feeds into each Council meeting. And of course there is also the Academic Board which reports to Council.
The main roles of the Council are spelt out in the State Act and include making university statutes or rules, policy development, adopting the University’s annual budget and approving the expenditure of donated funds. All the major financial and property matters are monitored by Council.
Council is also directly involved in the establishment of senior staff positions, and is responsible for the appointment of the Vice-Chancellor.
The University owes a considerable debt to the positive, constructive councillors who have populated the successive Councils of the University.
The business of a University is like no other and is a hybrid between the private and public domains, and coming to terms with that form of environment is a difficult task.
I am sure I speak on behalf of all staff and students in thanking the members of this fifth Council for their important contribution in oversighting the development of the University during this period of strong growth.
Professor Paul Thomas AM is Vice-Chancellor and President at the University of the Sunshine Coast.