Academic Board Standing Committee

General information

• Committee name: Academic Board Standing Committee
• Reporting to: Academic Board
• Contact: Ms Louise Wilson, Manager, Academic Policy and Programs
• Version (effective date): 13 (12 April 2024)
• Sub-committees: nil
• Quorum: seven
• Notes: abbreviated as ABSC, also known as Standing Committee

Terms of reference

The role of the Academic Board Standing Committee is to:

• serve as the executive of the Board;
• provide a continuing forum for advice to the President of the Academic Board and the Vice-Chancellor, and/or members of the Senior Executive;
• assist with the management of the Board's agenda;
• approve changes to the terms of reference and composition of all other committees and sub-committees of the Academic Board on behalf of the Board;
• initiate and advise on position papers on major issues of academic importance;
• consider reports and proposals from ad-hoc committees, faculties and schools and provide recommendations on such reports and proposals to the Board;
• consider proposals on major institutional reorganisations and provide recommendations on such proposals to the Board;
• support academic recruitment and hiring processes in accordance with the Recruitment, Selection and Appointment Procedure by participating on selection committees; and
• oversee the review of institutes, university centres and schools on behalf of the Board.

Higher Education Standards Framework (Threshold Standards) 2021

Academic Board Standing Committee contributes to the University meeting the requirements of the following Domains and/or Standards within the Higher Education Standards Framework (Threshold Standards) 2021 (HESF 2021):

• Domain 1 Student Participation and Attainment 
  • Standard 1.3 – Orientation and Progression 
  • Standard 1.4 – Learning Outcomes and Assessment
• Domain 3 Teaching 
  • Standard 3.1 – Course Design
  • Standard 3.2 – Staffing 
• Domain 4 Research and Research Training
  • Standard 4.1 – Research 
• Domain 5 Institutional Quality Assurance 
  • Standard 5.1 – Course Approval and Accreditation 
  • Standard 5.2 – Academic and Research Integrity 
  • Standard 5.3 – Monitoring, Review and Improvement 
• Domain 6 Governance and Accountability
  • Standard 6.1 – Corporate Governance
  • Standard 6.2 – Corporate Monitoring and Accountability
  • Standard 6.3 – Academic Governance

Composition

Ex-officio:

• President of the Academic Board (Chair)
• Deputy President of the Academic Board

Elected:

• One representative from each faculty elected by and from the Board (for a two-year term)
• One representative from the University's institutes elected by and from the Board (for a two-year term)
• Two elected staff members of the Board elected by and from the Board (for a two-year term)

Appointed (see Administrative Arrangements):

• One undergraduate student representative from the elected undergraduate student representatives on the Board
• One postgraduate student representative from the elected postgraduate student representatives on the Board

Administrative arrangements

The undergraduate and postgraduate elected student representatives on the Academic Board who received the highest number of votes in the election to Academic Board will be appointed to Standing Committee. If the elected student representative who received the most votes does not wish to accept the appointment, the elected student representative with the next highest number of votes will be appointed to Standing Committee.

Each faculty and institute representative and elected Board member is to:

• represent the Board on institute and university centre review committees (the representative allocated to a review committee will not belong to any of the faculties involved in the administration of a university centre under review);
• represent the Board on school and discipline review committees (the representative allocated to a review committee will not belong to the same faculty as the school or discipline under review);
• represent the Board on faculty selection committees for Lecturer Level B – D positions (the responsibilities being shared with former Standing Committee members) (the representative allocated to a faculty selection committee will not belong to the faculty that is conducting the selection process); and
• lead discussions at Standing Committee and Board meetings, on any matters arising from their particular faculty/institute.

Standing Committee meets as often as required but normally at intervals no longer than one month.

Any member who expects to be unable to carry out Standing Committee duties for longer than three months must seek leave of absence or resign from Standing Committee and be replaced by a co-opted or elected member at the discretion of the President.

In the event of a mid-term vacancy, the position will be filled by means of a by-election.

If the Chair is absent from any meeting of the Committee, the Deputy President will be Chair for that meeting. If both the Chair and Deputy President are absent from any meeting of the Committee, members of the Committee present at that meeting will appoint a member as Chair for that meeting.

*As on 11 July 2024