05 Part A Council Minutes 16.10.17 Confirmed.pdf

Council Minutes

4:00pm

16 October 2017

Present:
Mr St John (Chair), Professor McCutcheon (Vice-Chancellor), Sir Ralph
Norris, Mr Daniell, Ms Dawson, Mrs Dunphy, Mr Ferrier, Associate Professor
Kawharu, Mr Kiely, Associate Professor Sims, Ms Tarrant, Mr Matthews
In Attendance:
Mrs Cleland, Professor Morrow, Ms Davila, Mr Gudsell, Mrs Verschaeren

PART A – Open Minutes
1.
APOLOGIES
No apologies

2.
DISCLOSURES OF INTEREST BY COUNCIL MEMBERS
With regards to Item 7.2.3: Mr Matthews pointed out that as President of the Auckland
University Students’ Association (AUSA) he had a conflict of interest for matters related to
AUSA  funding and also for the Report and breakdown for the Compulsory Student Services
Fee (CSSF). He also declared that his younger brother might start his studies at the
University next year.
Mr St John, Mr Daniell and Mrs Dunphy disclosed that they had family members who were
current or prospective students and might be affected by Item 7.2.3.
It was agreed that none of these conflicts should preclude the members participating in the
discussion and voting on those issues.

RESOLVED (Chancellor/Vice-Chancellor): That the disclosures be noted

and the action taken be endorsed.
3.
CONFERMENT OF DEGREES

With the authority of Council, the Chancellor conferred the degrees as per the schedule
provided to the meeting.

4.
AWARD OF DIPLOMAS

With the authority of Council, the Chancellor awarded the diplomas as per the schedule
provided to the meeting.

5.
COUNCIL MEETINGS

5.1
Council, Draft Minutes (Part A), 21.08.17

RESOLVED (Chancellor/Ms Dawson): That the Minutes (Part A) of the

Council meeting held on 21.08.17 be taken as read and confirmed.

5.2
Matters arising from the Minutes (Part A), 21.08.17 not elsewhere on the Agenda.

With regards to Item 11.1, Council noted that Diligent software had now been used for

the Audit and Risk Committee and that it would be used for Council

itself from March 2018.

Council Minutes 16.10.17
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6.
VICE-CHANCELLOR’S REPORT

  The Vice-Chancellor’s report was taken as read.

With regards to Health and Safety, the Vice-Chancellor reported that, in the period covered
by the Report, there had been no serious accident. However, since then a serious event
had occurred: a staff member of Property Services fell off the edge of an access ramp
because of poor delineation of the ramp’s edges and the slippery surface. This will be
included in the next Health and Safety Report.

RESOLVED (Chancellor/Mr Ferrier): that the Vice-Chancellor’s Report be

noted.

7.
REPORTS OF COUNCIL COMMITTEES
7.1    CAPITAL EXPENDITURE COMMITTEE


7.1.1
Minutes (Part A), 19.09.17

RESOLVED (Chancellor/Ms Tarrant): that the Capital Expenditure

Committee Minutes (Part A), 19.09.17 be received.

7.2  FINANCE COMMITTEE

7.2.1
Minutes (Part A), 27.09.17


RESOLVED (Chancellor/Mr Daniell): that the Finance Committee


Minutes (Part A), 27.09.17 be received.

7.2.2
Financial Performance to 31 July and Forecast for 2017

The Chief Financial Officer, Mr Peter Gudsell presented this item.

Council noted that the reasons why UniServices fell short of the 2017

Budget  included:
1.  A substitution between the public and private good grants had taken
place: while the public good revenues had been doing quite well, the
interest in seeking private good grants had diminished among
academics.
2.  The willingness of New Zealand companies to engage in funding research
activity had been quite depressed after the Global Financial Crisis and
companies had not been renewing their contracts.



These factors had contributed to the difficulty experienced by UniServices in


generating  commercial revenues onshore. This was also the reason for


investing in offshore activities.

RESOLVED (Chancellor/Mr Daniell):  that the Financial Performance to 31

July and Forecast for 2017 Report be received; and that Council note the

Finance Committee report that the University’s forecast performance

against  budget, TEC financial risk criteria, the University’s own financial

management parameters, Strategic Plan objectives related to financial and

resource management and debt-related and other external covenants are

satisfactory.

7.2.3
Domestic Student Fees 2018 and International Student Fees 2019

This Item was presented by the Vice-Chancellor. The following was

highlighted:

Council Minutes 16.10.17
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With regards to domestic students:
It was proposed that the fees increase for 2018 would be at the maximum
increase of 2% allowed by the Government. This increase equated to an
additional $123 per year for a full-time domestic student and an overall
additional revenue of $3.5 million.

With regards to International students:

It was proposed that the fees for international students would go up by an

average 4.1% in 2019. The fees increase for international students was

not capped by the Government; however, market constraints needed to

be taken into account and the proposed increase was considered

appropriate in relation to the increased costs experienced by the

University and its position in the market.

Table 4 on p. 4 of the papers showed that, even with the 2% increase

there would be a shortfall of about $12.0m.

The student/staff ratios were essentially locked in, student-related income

was quite tightly limited while costs related to staffing and assets were

rising. The room for movement with regards to professional staff was

getting tight and it was appropriate to forewarn Council that the moment

to consider cutting services was coming nearer.

With regards to the student services levy, a very positive consultation process

had taken place and the Vice-Chancellor acknowledged Mr Matthews, President

of AUSA and his team for their engagement with this professional consultation.

Council noted that most of the higher ranked universities were located in very

densely populated areas and were therefore better known in the world. To

increase its ranking it would be necessary for the University of Auckland to

increase its international recognition. Steps had been undertaken to achieve

this.



RESOLVED (Chancellor/Sir Ralph Norris): that the Report on Domestic

Student Fees 2018 and International Student Fees 2019 be received; and

THAT Council:
(a)
Approve the attached Domestic Fees Schedule for 2018. (Mr
Matthews dissented and Associate Professor Sims abstained);

  (b)
Approve the attached International Fees Schedule for 2019; (Mr


Matthews dissented);

(c)
Authorise the Vice-Chancellor to assign any new programmes, or


programmes becoming newly available to international students in


2019, to an appropriate band to enable offers to be made during


the recruitment cycle, and report these decisions back to Council;
(d)     Authorise the Vice-Chancellor to set fees for University

programmes delivered offshore and to report those to the Council

meeting immediately following;

(e)
Authorise the Vice-Chancellor to authorise faculty Deans to award


bursaries (effectively a discount) on international fees on the


understanding that this should drive volume, that the published fee


remains at the approved rate and that standard University


overheads are not compromised; and


(f)
Approve the Compulsory Student Services Fee at $6.78 per point


(GST inclusive), and

(g)
Approve the attached Other Fees Schedule for 2018.


7.3  AUDIT AND RISK COMMITTEES

7.3.1
Minutes (Part A), 20.09.17


RESOLVED (Chancellor/Ms Tarrant): that the Audit and Risk Committee


Minutes (Part A), 20.09.17 be received.
Council Minutes 16.10.17
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7.4  NAMING COMMITTEE REPORT, 28.09.17

RESOLVED (Chancellor/Associate Professor Kawharu): that Council note

that Naming Committee has approved the  naming of the new catered hall

located at 35 Whitaker Place “Waipārūrū Hall” and the new family

apartments located at 44 Symonds St “Waikohanga House”

8.
SENATE MATTERS
8.1
Report of Senate, 25.09.17

The Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Academic), Professor Morrow, introduced the Report of
Senate.

Part A, 1-10:        Policy and other matters requiring Council approval

Part B, 1:
Matters for noting by Council

Part C, 1-3:
Matters handled under Delegated Authority

He commented that, reviews took place of the Department of Computer Science and
the Department of Information Science and Operations Management. A common
theme in both report, which was mirrored in the implementation plans, was the focus
on Māori and Pacific student pass rates and retention. A retention strategy would be
submitted to Education Committee in November 2017. Both reviews also focused on
the role and career opportunities of Professional Teaching Fellows. There was a need
for Departments and Faculties to take a more concerted responsibility for teaching
delivery in collaboration with Faculties’ Teaching and Learning Committees.
There was a comment about the issue of plagiarism in the Review of the Department
of Computer Science The DVC(A) was concerned that not many of these instances of
plagiarism had been reported to him to be dealt with by the University Discipline
Committee. Unless the cases of plagiarism were minor indiscretions, they should be
dealt with by the Discipline Committee and he had asked the Department for a report
to clarify this.
With regards to the Department of Information Science and Operations Management,
Research Committee had noted a comment in the report that there had been low
conversion of conference papers to journal articles. There was also a need for the
Department not to solely rely on course evaluations to resolve issues, but to
proactively engage in ongoing monitoring.

RESOLVED (Chancellor/Sir Ralph Norris): that the recommendations in

Part A of the Report of Senate, 25.09.17 be adopted, and Parts B and C be

noted.

9.
CORRESPONDENCE REFERRED BY THE CHANCELLOR

No items received.

10.  OTHER MATTERS FOR DECISION OR NOTING

10.1   SEAL

Since the Council meeting on 19.10.16 the seal had been applied to the

following documents in accordance with the Council resolution of 18.02.1991:

(1)
Deed of Assignment of Lease : Crème Café Premises, 55 Park Road, Grafton :

East Sun Limited and The University of Auckland
(2)
Deed of Surrender of Lease and Performance Bond Deed : 18 Causeway Road,

Waiheke Island: Black-Storm Limited and  The University of Auckland

Council Minutes 16.10.17
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  RESOLVED (Chancellor/Mr Matthews): that the affixing of the seal to the
above documents be noted.

10.2  DEGREES AND DIPLOMAS STATUTE

Memorandum  from Andrew Kellett, Calendar Editor, with regards to an update of the
Degrees and Diplomas Statute 1991 following the approval of new qualifications by
CUAP for 2018.

RESOLVED (Chancellor/Associate Professor Kawharu): that the
Memorandum be received and the update of the Degrees and Diplomas
Statute 1991 be approved.

11.  ELECTION OF CHANCELLOR AND PRO-CHANCELLOR FOR 2018
(a)    Election of Chancellor for 2018

The Registrar assumed the chair.

Nominations were called for the position of Chancellor.

  One nomination only was received, for Mr Scott St John (Sir Ralph Norris/Mr Ferrier).

There being no other nominations, the Registrar declared Mr St John elected as

Chancellor  for a term for a period starting on 01.01.2018 and ending 31.12.2018.

Carried by acclamation.

The Chancellor assumed the Chair.

(b)    Election of Pro-Chancellor for 2018

Nominations were called for the position of Pro-Chancellor.

One nomination only was received, for Ms Jan Dawson (Chancellor/Sir Ralph Norris).

There being no other nominations, the Chancellor declared Ms Dawson elected as Pro-

Chancellor for a term for a period starting on 01.01.2018 and ending 31.12.2018.

Carried by acclamation.

12.  GENERAL BUSINESS

  None

13.  LEAVE OF ABSENCE (for Council meeting of 11 December 2017)

Sir Ralph Norris and Ms Tarrant advised that they would not be able to attend the Meeting of
11 December 2017.

Council Minutes 16.10.17
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PART B
PUBLIC EXCLUSIONS
RESOLVED  (Chancellor/Professor  McCutcheon):  That  the  public  be  excluded  from  Part  B  of  this
meeting.
The general subject of each matter to be considered while the public is excluded, the reason for
passing this resolution in relation to each matter, and the specific grounds under section 48(1) of
the Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act 1987 for the passing of this resolution
are as follows:
General subject of each matter to be considered:

Item No. 14.1
Council Meeting Minutes (Part B), 21.08.17

Item No. 15.1
University of Auckland Biological Safety Committee, 28.09.17

Item No. 15.2
University of Auckland Human Participants Ethics Committee, 28.09.17

Item No. 15.3.1
Capital Expenditure Committee, Minutes (Part B), 19.09.17

Item No. 15.4.1
Finance Committee, Minutes (Part B), 27.09.17

Item No. 15.4.2
University of Auckland Inventors Fund – Investment Policy

Item No. 15.5.1
Audit and Risk Committee, Minutes (Part B), 20.09.17

Item No. 15.6
University Honours Committee Report, 04.10.17

Item No. 16.1
Draft Statement of Shareholder Expectations for Uniservices
Reason for passing this resolution in relation to each matter:

The protection of the interests mentioned below.
Grounds under section 48(1) for the passing of this resolution:

Those in Section 9 of the Official Information Act 1982 namely:
i)
To  protect  the  privacy  of  the  persons  referred  to  in  the  recommendations  and  to
maintain the confidentiality of those recommendations;
ii)
To enable the University to carry on without prejudice or disadvantage negotiations;
and
iii)
To  prevent  the  disclosure  or  use  of  Official  Information  for  improper  gain  or
advantage.
AND THAT Adrienne Cleland, Professor John Morrow, Peter Gudsell, Gabriella Davila, and Wendy
Verschaeren be permitted to remain for this part of the meeting, after the public has been excluded,
because  of  their  knowledge  of,  or  need  to  be  briefed  about,  the  matters to  be  discussed.    This
knowledge, which will be of assistance in relation to the matters to be discussed, is relevant to
those matters because it relates to aspects of the administration of The University of Auckland for
which those persons are responsible.
The Meeting moved into Public Excluded Session at 5.10pm
The Meeting closed at 5.40pm

Approved as a true and correct record.

_____________________           ________
Scott St John, Chancellor                       Date
Council Minutes 16.10.17
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