The Chancellor's column

2008 year in review

My first year as Chancellor has been filled with activity. My primary role is to chair Council meetings, at which my independently minded and highly motivated fellow Councillors strive to ensure the proper governance of the University. It is my honour to be able to report to you – the alumni of the University – that governance of the University is responsible and effective. The Council’s goal in future years is to increase our role in advocacy and support for the broad objectives of the University.

Throughout the year I have enjoyed frequent discussions with my fellow Councillors, the Vice-Chancellor, senior management, staff and students. I have visited faculties and institutes, hosted delegations to the University, interacted with our supporters, met politicians, presented at conferences and participated in numerous University functions.

Of course, on top of this I have also had the pleasure of presiding over regular graduation ceremonies at our Victorian campuses and our international campuses and centres. I find that I have been inspired at graduation ceremonies by the visible pride of the graduating students and their families. When it has been impractical for me to attend, the Deputy Chancellors, Leanne Rowe and Paul Ramler, have presided superbly in my stead.

Of special note is the opportunity I have had to work with the Vice-Chancellor, Professor Richard Larkins. His professionalism and sector knowledge are outstanding. His leadership and vision have been the driving force behind the University’s successes over the last five years.

An extremely important undertaking this year was the appointment of the next Vice-Chancellor to succeed Professor Larkins. It was my honour to chair the Selection Committee and to manage the process. The responsibility to choose the Vice-Chancellor falls fair and square on the shoulders of the University Council, so members of the Selection Committee were a subset of Council, with the only exception being the inclusion of a member of the University alumni. As previously announced, Professor Larkin’s successor will be Professor Edward Byrne. I have every reason to believe that Professor Byrne will lead the University to further laudable achievements.

The academic, professional and management staff whom I have met this year have consistently impressed me with their ability and evident love of Monash University. Their broad enthusiasm for innovation and achievement is one of the most essential characteristics of Monash University.

Of course, nobody is more important than each and every one of the students. I meet them from time to time through my attendance at various activities or in random happenstances. There are many ways that our University can improve what it offers to some of them, but overall our students are enjoying their experience at Monash and working diligently to fulfil their career goals.

The year featured a degree of uncertainty as Monash University, along with all other universities, awaited the outcome of various Federal Government reviews, especially the Cutler Review of Innovation and the Bradley Review of Higher Education. At year’s end the Federal Government’s response to these reviews remained unknown. We look forward to the urgent adoption of recommendations such as full funding of research to appropriately compensate successful research endeavours.

On a favourable note, the year ended with very good news, with the award of $90 million over the next five years from the Federal Government’s Education Investment Fund for our New Horizons science and engineering research facility, which will play a key role in the Clayton Innovation Precinct.

Our commitment to education and research is high, as evidenced by numerous initiatives that have come to fruition this year. For example, we created an eEducation Centre and an eResearch Centre to bring to bear the latest education and research technologies to maximize the experience and opportunities of our students and staff.

Further, we formally established a research academy in partnership with the Indian Institute of Technology in Mumbai, and we successfully established a number of major research platforms that provide benefits to researchers across the University. These include the Monash Centre for Electron Microscopy, the Monash Antibody Technology Facility, the Australian Regenerative Medicine Institute (ARMI) Zebra Fish facility and a robotic protein crystallography facility. Our second Science Technology Research and Innovation Precinct (STRIP) building for medical research is nearing completion and will enable us to further expand our medical research and our relationships with external partners.

In 2008 we launched the Monash Passport, our fresh approach to maximizing the student experience. Under the Monash Passport, citizenship, research, international engagement and academic performance will all be optimized and customized for the maximum benefit of each student.

This year we celebrated the 50th anniversary of the establishment of the University. Our role as a respected community institution was confirmed by the strong attendance at the numerous public lectures held to celebrate our anniversary. It was also an honour for the University that the Victorian Parliament chose our Gippsland campus to hold the regional sitting of the Legislative Assembly in October 2008.

Finally, I would like to tell you how pleased I am to be the Patron of the Monash University Alumni. I have met many members and officers of our alumni groups throughout the Asia-Pacific region and have been delighted to see their commitment to volunteering their time to organise functions for their peers. It is my hope that as the years unfold you and your fellow alumni will find new ways to engage with your alma mater.

I trust that I will meet an ever increasing number of you in the next few years. Till then, I wish you all the best for a safe and successful New Year.

Dr Alan Finkel AM (BE 1976, PhD 1981)
Chancellor
Monash University