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Research & Development Management

Briefing Papers

Role of the Research and Development Board
Committees of the Board
Meeting Dates for 2008
Agendas
Meeting Procedures
Minutes
Contact People

Role of the Research and Development Board

Statute 24 (3) of the University Act states that the 'Role of the Board' is

1. making recommendations to Academic Council on University research and development policies and strategy;
2. administering candidature for postgraduate research degrees and the allocation of postgraduate scholarships;
3. the allocation of research and development funds assigned to it by the Vice Chancellor, subject to any conditions the Vice Chancellor may specify.

All Board meetings are held on a Wednesday from 2pm - 5pm.

It is advisable to write these times in your diary.

Agendas

• Three weeks before each meeting, members are emailed to ask if they have any items to be placed on the agenda.
• the Board agenda is circulated on the Wednesday preceding the meeting.
• the agenda, plus those attachments which are available in electronic format, is also published on the CWIS at http://www.research.murdoch.edu.au/Management/minutes.html
• if you have not received your agenda by the Friday afternoon prior to the Board meeting, please contact the Board Secretary on ext 6758 in order to obtain a new copy.
• the agenda is not confidential: you are entitled to consult others and seek whatever advice or information you want in preparing for the meeting.
• it is expected that members will have completed all required reading prior to the commencement of the meeting.
• the agenda is in three parts:

• confirmation of the minutes of the last meeting
• Part A: items (including acceptance of any recommendations shown) which are approved by the Board en bloc, unless any member requests that an item be reserved for discussion.
• Part B: items for discussion.

• items are listed in Part A either because they are for information only, or because the recommendation is for noting only.
• any matter to be discussed must be circulated with the agenda. (This does not prevent additional information being circulated with a supplementary agenda.
• the Board's regular business consists of reports on research grants; the status of the Board's budget; and reports on major decisions made by the RDSC.
• if you would like further information concerning any item on the agenda, you are expected to obtain this in advance of the meeting. You can obtain this either from the secretary of the body originating the agenda item, or from the secretary of the Board.
• after you receive the agenda, you wish to foreshadow a resolution or suggest drafting changes, please advise the secretary prior to the meeting.
• the secretary and the Chair are happy to advise you on the drafting of any motion you are preparing.
• if you are unable to attend a meeting of the Board, you should advise the secretary beforehand if you would like your apologies recorded. If you are absent from three consecutive meetings (or from a majority of more than three consecutive meetings), you will be asked to provide an explanation or consider whether or not you wish to remain a member. If you are an ex officio member (eg Director of the Office of Research and Development), you can nominate another person to attend in your place. (Elected members cannot send anyone else in their place.) There is no provision for proxy voting (i.e. you cannot have another member of the Board vote on your behalf as well as exercising her or his own vote).

Meeting Procedures

• a quorum of 5 members must be present before the meeting can start.
• the meeting commences with recording of any apologies, plus approving the minutes of the last meeting. It then puts Part A forward for noting and acceptance of any recommendations en bloc.
• the meeting will then move to Part B.
• if you would like to speak, you should first attract the attention of the Chair (usually by raising your hand a little) and wait for her to acknowledge that it is OK for you to speak. This procedure allows the Chair to ensure that several members don't speak at once, and that everyone who wants to speak gets their turn.
• the Board meetings normally don't follow strict rules of debate , unless the debate is complex or highly controversial, in which case the Chair may switch to a more formal debate. The Chair exercises a considerable amount of discretion in running the meeting, so as to facilitate resolution of issues.
• often the Board reaches agreement on a matter without having a formal motion moved and voted on: the Chair may simply summarise the mood of the meeting (e.g. "I take it that we are agreeing to..") and, unless anyone objects, the matter is passed and the meeting will move on to the next item.
• the Chair may request that someone move a motion, in order to focus debate. Every motion must be seconded by another member, except for motions moved by the Chair.
• an amendment to a motion must be voted on before the motion itself. Sometimes it may not be necessary to proceed with an amendment, if the mover and seconder are prepared to modify their motion accordingly. If the amendment is the opposite of the intent of the motion, then it should instead be a foreshadowed motion, which is voted on only after the original motion has been considered.
• when a motion is put, you can vote for or against, or abstain. If you strongly disagree with the motion, you can ask that your dissent be recorded in the minutes.
• sometimes the drafting of a motion is left to the secretary and/or the Chair to determine after the meeting, once the intent of the meeting is clear.
• the business of the meeting should be concluded by 4pm, however, if there is significant debate the Board can go to 5pm.
• if you have any concerns with the operations of the Board, please feel free to raise your concerns with the Chair or the Executive Officer.
• the Standing Orders of Academic Council apply to the Board and govern meeting procedures. They can be accessed at http://www.murdoch.edu.au/admin/legsln/so/acadcouncil.html. It is worth familiarising yourself with them before your first meeting.

Minutes

• the full minutes, plus those attachments which are available in electronic format, are available on the CWIS the week after the meeting, at http://www.research.murdoch.edu.au/Management/minutes.html
• members are sent a printed copy of the minutes in the week following the meeting.
• minutes are not transcripts or verbatim records, and normally individuals are not identified (though sometimes the background of the speaker - e.g. "a student member", "the DVC (R)" - is indicated where this is significant).
• not all matters agreed upon at a meeting are recorded in the minutes as resolutions.
• the minutes are not confidential.
• if you believe the minutes are inaccurate, please discuss your concerns with the secretary.

Contact People

Executive Officer:
Jennifer Davis
Division of Research and Development
ext: 6373
jennifer.davis@murdoch.edu.au

The Executive Officer is located on the fourth floor of the Chancellery building.