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Faculty Boards - Membership and Terms of Reference

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Section 1 - Establishment

Background

(1) Each Faculty of Charles Sturt University (the University) shall have a Faculty Board that is responsible for the academic governance oversight of the activities of the Faculty, on behalf of the Academic Senate.

(2) The duties of the Faculty Board shall apply to all matters associated with strategic academic governance issues pertaining to the quality of research and research training, undergraduate and postgraduate coursework programs and learning and teaching quality pertaining to the Faculty.

Purpose

(3) The Faculty Board shall undertake the duties listed under Section 4 below, to allow it to ensure quality and have academic governance oversight of the Faculty’s activities.

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Section 2 - Glossary

(4) For the purpose of this document:

  1. Board – means the Faculty Board.
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Section 3 - Membership

(5) The members of the Board are:

  1. the Executive Dean of the Faculty (Chair);
  2. the Deputy Dean of the Faculty;
  3. the Associate Deans of the Faculty;
  4. the Sub-Deans of the Faculty;
  5. the Head of Schools from the Faculty (and non-school bodies at the discretion of the Chair);
  6. three members of the professoriate (Associate Professor and Professor) elected by the Faculty who are not elected members of the Academic Senate;
  7. one academic staff member from each school elected by the School;
  8. one academic staff member from each of the other two faculties nominated by the Provost and Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Academic) in consultation with the Executive Deans;
  9. the Executive Officer of the Faculty;
  10. the Faculty Administration Manager; and
  11. one undergraduate student and one postgraduate student representative, nominated by the Student Senate.

(6) Nominated and elected members of the Board will terms of office of two years.

(7) To ensure continuity of Board operations, one half of the nominated and elected members shall initially serve for a term of one year, with all nominated and elected members subsequently serving for a term of two years.

(8) The Executive Dean will chair the Standing Committee of Faculty Board which will include a minimum of three members of the Faculty Board determined by the Chair in consultation with Faculty Board. The Standing Committee will decide urgent matters outside of scheduled meetings of the Committee, which will be noted at the following Faculty Board.

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Section 4 - Functions and Responsibilities

(9) The Faculty Board will:

  1. take a systematic overview of the quality of research and research training, the course and subject portfolio and the quality of learning and teaching, and provide recommendations to the University Research Committee, the University Learning and Teaching Committee and the Academic Senate on standards and measures of quality;
  2. exercise the Board’s academic course and subject delegations in accordance with the Delegation Schedule 09 - Academic and Course Delegations;
  3. monitor and report to the Academic Senate and its sub-committees faculty and school compliance with the relevant Higher Education Standards Framework (Threshold Standards) 2015, the Australian Qualifications Framework and the academic policies and procedures of the University; and
  4. discuss new and emerging issues / risks and risk treatments, escalating these to the Academic Senate and its sub-committees as required;
  5. oversee academic quality work in faculty and schools, including benchmarking, external advisory arrangements, student consultation, and courses delivered with partners and third party providers, including any reporting requirements;
  6. oversee the work of the Faculty and its schools on courses and subjects including:
    1. recommendation of minor changes to a course of study as detailed in the Delegation Schedule 09 - Academic and Course Delegations;
    2. the Standing Committee of Faculty Board approving Course and Subject Information Management System (CASIMS) subject documents and the Faculty’s subject profile;
  7. oversee progress of courses and subjects against the University’s Graduate Learning Outcomes (GLOs), including the number of subjects with Indigenous content;
  8. receive and review annual reports on course performance and provide a summary report to the University Learning and Teaching Committee;
  9. receive and consider minutes and annual performance reports from the Faculty Research Committee on research activities and higher degree by research students;
  10. advise the Academic Senate and its subcommittees on academic policies and procedures;
  11. oversee the Faculty’s strategic planning;
  12. receive and consider reports and minutes from the School Boards (minutes) and the Faculty Assessment Committee (summary report) including reports required by the University Courses Committee and the University Learning and Teaching Committee; and
  13. ratify decisions for which the Executive Dean has delegated authority on behalf of the Board between meetings.

Advisory Role

(10) The Board shall advise the Academic Senate on all matters relating to the quality of learning and teaching, courses and subjects and academic governance matters relating to the faculty.

(11) The Board may refer any item to the University Courses Committee, University Learning and Teaching Committee and/or the University Research Committee for discussion, consideration and/or action, and may refer relevant matters for action or noting to other committees or officers as appropriate.

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Section 5 - Meetings

Quorum

(12) A quorum for a meeting of the Board shall be a majority of the membership i.e., half of the entire membership, plus one.

Meetings

(13) Meetings will be will be published by the Office of Governance and Corporate Affairs in an annual schedule of meetings, approved by the Academic Senate. The Executive Dean may invite non-members to attend as required. Meetings are open to all members of the Faculty.

Agendas and Minutes

(14) Agendas and minutes for the meetings of the Board will be prepared by Governance Services, Office of Governance and Corporate Affairs.

Conflicts of Interest

(15) Where a member has a perceived or material conflict of interest, they must declare this to the Chair and at the Board meeting before the item of business is discussed.

Variations

(16) Variations to the terms of reference and/or membership of the Board must be approved by the Academic Senate.