Academic board
September 2005
by Peter Cardwell
Developments and priorties in the Division of Business
The Pro Vice Chancellor: Business, Professor Gerry Griffin, gave a special presentation on developments and priorities for the division.
The division has 5500 domestic students, 1400 international onshore students and 4300 transnational students studying in a number of countries. Approximately 7150 students are enrolled in undergraduate programs, 3750 students in postgraduate awards and 300 in research degrees.
There are 140 academic staff members and 125 general staff. Staff from the division comprise some 20 nationalities.
The division’s total revenue is $43 million, which is up from $38.7 million in 2002. A breakdown of revenue reveals that $9.4 million comes from international offshore sources, $13.2 million from international onshore fee-paying student income, $5.4 million came from domestic fee-paying postgraduate student income, and $9.7 million from the Department of Education, Science and Training (DEST) Teaching Allocation.
The division has a strong international focus, and operates in seven countries from Taiwan to Switzerland.
The Master of Business Administration (MBA) is offered in Mandarin in four countries. The international focus brings with it many opportunities, but also threats and there is a need for strong risk management strategies.
The division’s research performance has improved markedly in recent years. Research income is about $26,000 per academic staff member at level B and above, and publications are around 1.2 per academic staff member. Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) completions are estimated to be 42 in 2005.
Almost 50 per cent of staff now have PhDs, which is from a low base of 19 per cent in 2000.
The division’s first research institute, the Ehrenberg Bass Institute for Marketing Science, has recently been established, and divisional staff are also involved in the Hawke Research Institute for Sustainable Societies.
CRC involvement is concentrated in the areas of Sustainable Tourism, Integrated Asset Management, Irrigation Futures and Water Quality and Treatment.
Currently there is one University-recognised Research Centre and it is planned to expand this to three by 2006, with one being a Centre for Law and the other being a Centre for Comparative Water Policies.
Other developments include the offering of the MBA in Malaysia from 2005, a new Master of International Business, a new Graduate Certificate in Entrepreneurship, a new Master of Human Resource Management and a new Master of Professional Accountancy all due to commence in 2006.
A new Master of Management and new double degree programs are also planned for introduction in 2007.
Fee-paying programs for movement to CGS in 2006
Academic Board approved a proposal to shift a number of the University’s postgraduate coursework programs from domestic fee paying (FPPS) to Commonwealth Government Supported load (CGS) from 2006.
CGS load targets will continue to increase over the next three years, placing further pressure on the University’s demand and intake profile.
In response for this year, the University increased the mid-year intake which will contribute to increased load in 2005.
The Pro Vice Chancellor: Organisational Strategy and Change, Professor Hilary Winchester, reported that as a longer term strategy, Senior Management Group (SMG) has also identified programs that will move from FPPS to CGS in 2006.
Load in these programs will contribute to the University’s CGS target, and students will pay HECS rather than the current program fee.
The Division of Education, Arts and Social Sciences has identified nine programs, Information Technology, Engineering and the Environment has identified 17 programs, and Health Sciences has identified three programs.
No programs have been identified in the Division of Business.
The reasons for shifting these programs to become Commonwealth-supported include improved equity access, increased capability to meet increasing DEST CGS targets through transferring these places to CGS, increased capability to grow load in these programs through replacement of the program fee with HECS, and an increase of revenue to the University.