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Governing and Managing the University

Governance

 

The Act

The University of South Australia was established by an Act of the South Australian Parliament in 1990 (amended 1996). The Act outlines the functions and powers of the University, and establishes a framework for the good governance and management of its activities.

The Council

The University’s principal governing body is the Council. The powers of the Council are assigned in Part 3 (Division 1) of the University of South Australia Act and include:

Meet the University Council

The Chancellor

The Act stipulates that the University will have a Chancellor and Deputy Chancellor. By convention, the Chancellor is the honorary, titular head of the institution and the presiding officer of the Council. Since its establishment, four people have occupied the position of Chancellor of the University of South Australia. The inaugural Chancellor was the late Mr John McDonald, the second, the Hon. Dr Basil Hetzel, the third was Mr David Klingberg AM and the current Chancellor is Dr Ian Gould.

The Deputy Chancellor is Ms Alice McLeary.

Delegations

The Council has the discretion to delegate any of its powers or functions to either

Committees of Council

The Council has delegated authority to a number of standing committees to provide advice and to assist in good governance of the institution. Among the Standing Committees of Council are Academic Board, Finance Committee, Immediate Business Committee, Audit Committee, Staff Remuneration Committee and Senior Academic Promotions Committee. A full list of committees and their reporting relationships can be obtained at Committees of Council website. Among the most active committees of Council:

Finance Committee

The Finance Committee has responsibility for the provision, to Council, of expert advice on both the University’s financial performance in the current year and also the financial implications of any future plans.

Audit and Risk Management Committee

The primary function of Audit Committee is to assist the Council in exercising due care, diligence and skill in discharging its oversight and monitoring responsibilities. Its membership primarily consists of nominated external Council members. Its defined responsibilities include liaison with the external auditors and overview of the risk management and internal audit processes.

Academic Board

The Academic Board has three broad functions

Council Secretariat

The Council and many of its sub-Committees are supported, in their work, by a secretariat located within the Chancellery. The principal manager of information to and from the Council is the Director: Council Services and Chancellery, Dr Penny Moore. Advice on Academic Board matters is provided by the Executive Officer to the Board, Mr Peter Cardwell.

The Vice Chancellor

The Vice Chancellor of the University of South Australia is the Chief Executive Officer and is responsible for the overall management and administration of the University. The Vice Chancellor is appointed by, and reports to, the University Council.

Management Authority

Along with the delegation of some authority to its standing committees, the Council also delegates to the holder of the office of Vice Chancellor such powers and functions as are reasonably required to enable the Vice Chancellor to undertake, personally or through properly authorised staff, the management and administration of the University.

The Vice Chancellor, in turn, directly authorises staff occupying standard management positions in the University to undertake functions to give effect to the good management and administration of the institution’s affairs. The details of these cascading powers and responsibilities for each type of management position are outlined in the Vice Chancellor’s Authorisations (staff access only).

Senior Management

A series of managers, at various levels of responsibility, assist the Vice Chancellor with the administration of the University’s activities.

The names of, and information on the role of each of the senior managers can be obtained at the following site. Meet the Senior Management Group. The group meets weekly and agendas and notes of their meetings are available on the web for all staff. A structure of management is in place that report to this group of executive staff.

Management Groups

A series of management groups have been formed over the years to facilitate communication and to provide structured advice to managers on areas of activity within their authority. Principal among these is the regular meeting of the Senior Management Group that provides a forum

Other working groups provide advice to individual, Deputy Vice Chancellors, Pro Vice Chancellors, Executive Directors or other managers or Heads of School.

An outline of the structure of management and reporting relationships can be found at Senior academic and administration structure page.

Student Ombud

The role of the Student Ombud is to ensure that all students receive fair and equitable treatment within the University. Although an employee of the University, the Student Ombud operates independently and considers all sides of a dispute in an impartial and objective way. The Ombud is not a student advocate.

The Student Ombud is there to provide advice and, if appropriate, independently investigate students' complaints to determine whether they have been treated fairly and that all the correct policies and procedures have been followed. The Student Ombud is a 'last resort' who can be approached when all other avenues for assistance within the University have been exhausted, except in cases of alleged unlawful discrimination or harassment. In such cases students may go directly to the Student Ombud.

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