Review of the Council & Boards Secretariat (CABS) - Office of the Vice-Chancellor
Terms of reference
Background
The University has identified in its strategic Plan, ANU by 2020, the need for effective organisational structures and clear policies and procedures to underpin their activities. As such, it intends to interrogate its administration structures to ensure they are fit for their purpose.
The Council and Board Secretariat (CABS) is located within the Office of the Vice‐Chancellor and supports the governance of the University. Its core responsibilities include provision of executive support to Council, the Chancellor and a range of key University committees; management of elections to Council, University committees and student representative groups; ensuring statutory compliance with legislation; and, administering the selection process for a number of University and national scholarships and awards. CABS is also responsible for maintaining the principal dates calendar and the University’s delegations of authority register and website and is involved in arrangements for conferring of awards ceremonies and other ceremonial occasions.
Purpose
- Determine if there is alignment of goals of CABS with that of the University’s Strategic Plan.
- Review the CABS’s fitness for purpose, that is, the quality, efficiency and effectiveness of services and communication between the Unit and the University community to enable the University to meet its strategic plan.
- Review the success of CABS’s current continuous improvement strategies and assess capacity of future strategies to deliver improvements to strategic priorities and services, and the overall contribution to the University’s culture of continuous improvement.
- Review the effectiveness of CABS’s strategies for staff recruitment, retention and development (including workforce planning) to meet the core business needs.
The review will report to the Executive Director (Administration & Planning) and will be undertaken by Ms Julie Rowland, who is currently completing a PhD at Deakin University on the role of the academic board in the contemporary Australian university and was formerly Head of the Governance Unit at Deakin University, and Ms Julie Gorrell, Senior Projects Manager, Administration & Planning Office, Office of the Vice-Chancellor. The reviewers will engage with relevant stakeholders throughout the process.
The review will be undertaken during January 2012, including site interviews on 24 and 25 January, and will report no later than 27 February 2012.
Making a submission to the review
The reviewers of the Council & Board Secretariat, Office of the Vice‐Chancellor, will conduct interviews with key personnel on the 24 and 25 of January 2012.
The reviewers would also welcome written submissions to the review.
If you would like to make a submission, could you note the following:
- There is no specific template, but please frame submissions around the Terms of Reference.
- Submissions should be no longer than 2 pages and should be saved in portable document format (PDF).
- Submissions are not confidential documents, and should not contain information that could be considered personal or private.
- To ensure inclusion in the review process, submissions should be emailed to admin.reviews@anu.edu.au by Wednesday, 18 January 2012.
- Information or enquiries about the review should be addressed to: admin.reviews@anu.edu.au
