From now on, a brief report on the discussions and decisions made by the Institute’s Board of Directors will appear in the news section of MIT’s website. The aim is to keep both staff and students aware of the Board’s activities.   The following is a summary of the highlights of the Board’s activities for the year so far up to the month of May:

Policies and Procedures approved

Revised ELICOS Policy and Procedure

Revised Enrolments Policy and Procedure

Revised Continuing Professional Development for Professional Staff Policy and Procedure

Student Welfare Policy and Procedure

The policies are now on MIT’s website.

Self-assessment of the performance of the Board of Directors

Each 12 months, the Board of Directors undertakes a self-assessment of its performance against its Terms of Reference. This covers a number of areas, including Strategic Direction; Risk Management and Compliance; Finance; Academic Governance; Corporate Governance; Board Committees and Processes; and, Stakeholder Communication.

Whilst the Board assessed that it had met its obligations under its Terms of Reference, it identified a number of areas for improvement. These included: placing more emphasis on monitoring of performance and compliance, an emphasis on longer-term strategies, improving its approach to risk management and compliance including academic risk and compliance, improving the approach to reviewing its performance against the Higher Education Standards Framework, and its communication with stakeholders. The Board approved an action plan to implement the improvements. The Board will conduct its next review in early 2020.

The Academic Board

The Board of Directors was delighted to welcome Mr. Warwick Spargo to membership of the Academic Board in the role of industry representative in the business disciplines.

Risk and Risk Management

Following a review of the Strategic Risk Register by the Audit and Risk Management Committee, the Board approved revisions to the Risk Management Plan, the Risk Matrix and the Risk Register.

MIT Information Technology Infrastructure Review

The Board received an external report commissioned by MIT on its IT infrastructure. The report was accepted by the Board and MIT will progressively implement the recommendations contained in the report.

Academic Freedom and Freedom of Speech

The Board received Justice French’s Review of Freedom of Speech in Australian Higher Education Providers and an accompanying paper from Emeritus Professor David Battersby. In the light of the review and Professor Battersby’s paper, the Board approved revisions to the Board and Directors’ Code of Conduct and referred the Review and discussion paper to the Policy Committee for advice and guidance.

Annual review of Student and Staff Complaints/Misconduct and Critical Incidents

The Board considered the review and was gratified to note the low number of formal complaints and the fact that student complaints were often resolved at an informal stage. The Board was satisfied that MIT’s Student Complaints and Grievances Policy and Procedure is being implemented effectively.

Report on and Review of the Implementation of MIT’s Delegations Policy

The report from the Group General Manager was accepted by the Board following the endorsement of the recommendations contained within it by the Audit and Risk Committee.  Arising from those recommendations, minor revisions were made to the policy.

 

The Board of Directors

Emeritus Professor Wayne Robinson (Chair)

Emeritus Professor David Battersby (Deputy Chair)

Dr Shesh Ghale (Chief Executive Officer)

Ms Jamuna Gurung (Owners’ Representative)

Emeritus Professor Doug Grant (Chair of the Academic Board)

Mr James Joughin (Appointed member)

Dr Patricia Stewart (Appointed Member)

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