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Strategic Plan Workshop

EnablersFriday, 20 May 2016, Mt Lawley Campus

Session One: Key Messages from the Current State of Enablers

Participants considered a list of 16 issues identified across Staffing Profile, Infrastructure and Governance in the pre-reading material, as listed below:

ENABLERS OUTCOMESECU, Strategic Plan Workshop, 20 May 2016, Mt Lawley Page 1

Focus Question One: “What are the four most critical issues from the identified staffing, infrastructure and governance issues?”

Focus Question Two: “What is one other critical issue that needs to be addressed?”

Overall Response

The top four issues were:

Improving the technology for the design and delivery of online teaching and on campus teaching; (Infrastructure)

Gaining staff engagement in University-wide approaches to improve our industry partnerships and incentivising good practice; (Staffing profile)

Incentivising and rewarding staff excellence and maintaining recruitment competitiveness, while managing overall salary costs; (Staffing profile)

Ensuring decision making on enabling issues is driven by academic imperatives and supports the academic functions of the University appropriately.

(Governance)

Detailed Input

Note – Participants used the ‘like, dislike and comment’ function to give an indication of the priority issues and their reasoning for the priority.

Listed Issues

Idea Comments Likes Dislikes

J Improving the technology for the design and delivery of online teaching and on campus teaching;

o Poor equipment, slow internet, software accessibility means lots of barriers in decision-making processes for staff and students;

o Currently in maintenance mode, need for more innovation given progression to online delivery and learning and our reputation as a youthful University;

o To meet University priorities, including further work with internationalisation, an improvement across technology is paramount, particularly across online teaching and learning;

o Capability to deliver online courses is imperative, meeting the lifestyle choices of our students which will help the local market;

8 0


o Agility to continuously improve our technology requirements and infrastructure;

o Technology is important, but we also need the human element, and the 'value add' to attract students,

F Gaining staff engagement in University-wide approaches to improve our industry partnerships and incentivising good practice;

o Both professional and academic staff need to be collegial;

o Future funding is going to be based upon relevance to industry and a University wide focus on this is critical for sustained success;

o Lack of engagement with academia outside of immediate roles and responsibilities. Lack of willing or perceived capacity to extend themselves.

4 0

G Incentivising and rewarding staff excellence and maintaining recruitment competitiveness, while managing overall salary costs;

o Reward and promote based on excellent performance rather than loyalty. Current performance management system is inadequate and different areas or managers give staff different experiences and development opportunities across the University;

o Making the process easier to recognise and reward staff,

4 0

M Ensuring decision making on enabling issues is driven by academic imperatives and supports the academic functions of the University appropriately;

o This should be the key way to facilitate decision-making as we drift away from core business;

o A key issue is improving and streamlining communication and decision making across the different areas of the University. We need to be being aware of other imperatives (ie: financial and regulatory). Then the issues need to be properly evaluated and shared so people are aware what is happening across the University;

o Too much duplication of processes happening between Schools and centres. There needs to be an understanding that decision making happens at the School level;

o Remove the reference to 'academic' from functions to reflect a University wide focus.

4 0

A Capability of research academic staff – improved publication output, research grants;

o Reputation and mulitcampus options, particularly South West campus student and staff attraction.

3 0

B Supervisor capacity – the proportion of academic staff with doctorates, experience in and training for supervisor

o We lack supervisor capacity at multiple levels. From the higher level supervisor who can attract the student, to the expertise to supervise

3 0


roles; to successful completion;o Concern with number of qualified

supervisors and current supervisor capacity limits;

o Includes professional as well as academic staff.

L Improving the efficiency and effectiveness of business support software and processes, to better support School administration, research administration and service centre functions;

o Integrated systems that work, are reliable and support decision making. These systems must also facilitate external relationships and partnerships (ie: can be accessed offshore or interstate, etc.);

o Support activities need to be efficient to enable maximum investment of funds in core teaching, learning and research.

3 1

E An appropriate balance between the overall academic and professional staff cohorts;

o A greater proportion of staff in academic roles;

o Deliberate discussion about what the right balance is for ECU. We shouldn't necessarily compare directly to others in the sector;

o Staffing needs to consider ECU strategy, how we provide services and support to key areas, not just ratio of academic / professional staff.

2 0

H Providing teaching spaces that meet current needs of academic programs, future needs, increased student numbers;

2 0

I Improving the utilisation of teaching spaces [how do we compare on TEFMA measures?;

o We need greater data capacity to understand space utilisation and proportion it better for academic use. Avoid block booking;

o ECU utilisation is 50% of sector average and this has a direct effect on our bottom-line.

2 0

O Increasing requirements of regulatory and accreditation bodies on University operations, particularly in the academic delivery and decision making;

o Balance between reducing bureaucracy and being compliant.

2 0

D Gender imbalance within STEMM and the University profile overall, particularly with reference to attracting and retaining more women in science;

1 0

N Achieving better integration between business and customer service orientations;

o We need to develop both an internal and external customer focus.

1 0

P New higher-education standards to take effect on 1 January 2017 imposing significant regulatory burden on teaching and academic functions – domestic and international;

1 0


K Developing a model to support global online-only course delivery. 0 0


Other Issues


Better integration of engagement, marketing and advancement / development; 3 0 Better strategies and improved processes for dealing with underperformance and

managing people out of the organisation;2 0

Governance and understanding external and internal influences and compliance requirements (why we do what we do);

2 0

Improving ALL technology; o From a student perspective, it would be great to be able to access wifi that works in all areas of the campus and can take the load of users;

o IT system has to be able to take the number of users and IT department needs to be able to service all stakeholders (not a help desk);

o Access to software to support T&L and Research.

2 0

Segmented approach to customer service to students and staff;

o Within the student and staff body there are distinct groups that require different services, at different times ('a segmented approach');

o We need to be more like commercial industry on this (not HEI industry), eg: Research students, students from specific Schools, students with specific needs are all lumped into the same system: redundant forms, non-intuitive forms.

2 0

Appropriate recognition and career paths for academics and professional staff; 1 0 Capability of the University to

deliver teaching learning and research in a flexible way, that meets the needs of the University's customers;

o Need to understand the competitiveness where students will make choices. Capability is not just about infrastructure but needs to be capability across people, process and technology.

1 0

Develop strategy to grow our own staff and nurture talent; 1 0 Encourage students’ confidence in their field and strengthen links to industries; 1 0 Impact of the reduction of HEPPP funding; 1 0 Removal of complexity and

bureaucracy from processes (both administrative and academic);

o ie: Fit-for-purpose IT security (why can't we use Skype?).

1 0

Service centres to be in sync with strategy and communicate clearly and holistically;

1 0

Governance processes at ECU are over-engineered with a low risk appetite, so nothing brave gets done.

0 1


Session Two: Suggested Initiatives

Session Two focussed on ECU’s enabling objectives to 2021.

Focus Question: “In each of the following key areas, what are the critical initiatives or actions that will significantly move ECU forward over the next 5 years?” (3 – 4):

Infrastructure;

People;

Services;

Other.

Overall Response

Across the three key areas, the preferred initiatives are:

Reward and manage performance across the University; 60

Greater culture of empowerment and accountability to innovate; 33

Review processes to remove duplication; 28

Better integration and development of staff across the University; 28

Improve service centre culture and delivery; 27

Better utilisation of space across the organisation; 24

Improvements to IT and wifi. 23

Detailed Input

Note – Participants used the ‘like, dislike and comment’ function to give an indication of the priority issues and their reasoning for the priority.

Infrastructure


Better utilisation of space across the organisation (24)

A more whole of organisational approach to space usage, with less turf wars;

o Less turf wars on data as well. 9 0

Better utilisation of space and increased technology for virtual classrooms; 5 0


Limited space results in cafe meetings that may not be appropriate; 3 0 Recruit research staff that

can utilise existing facilities;o Facility availability should not limit or

impede who we recruit if we're to continue to build research capacity. But similarly, investment should be made in infrastructure so as not to limit researchers' capacity.

3 1

Growth = greater need for student facilities and teaching space;

o Under utilised existing space;o Better timetabling of classes to avoid

overlaps, extensive gaps and distractions.

2 1

Share resources with JLP partners and others, ie: Campus West. This is essential to improving genuine mutually beneficial partnerships;

o Yes but needs to be reciprocal. 1 0

Visibility of spaces such as Ngoolark and reflection spaces. 1 0

Improvements to IT and wifi (23)

Wifi that can support all users;

o There has been large investment in this and indications are that it is meeting needs;

o There has been a large investment, however I am sitting in this room and the wifi is too slow to run this site so I am on a dongle;

o Yes, yes, yes on so many levels! Frequently have wifi failing to meet demand in some classes or facilities during high use times. Wifi blackspots are less common but still a thing;

o We're not running on the University's wireless at the moment...;

o It is meeting needs if this was 2006.

8 2

Cutting edge, slick technology for online delivery;

o This should include technology and software in on-campus classes, where appropriate, to develop student awareness of technologies that may benefit their development (eg: Trello, Loomio, GroupMap amongst others).

6 0

IT infrastructure has improved but must still be a funding priority for the future;

o We've come from a very low base, need to understand that there is still a lot to be done;

4 0

IT Infrastructure to adequately support the University; 3 0 More consolidated approach

to IT infrastructure and more reliable systems. Removal of silos and transparent information sharing.

o Let IT do the job they are paid to do which is to understand the needs of the University and design the appropriate technology solutions.

2 0



Introduce a University wide CRM to enhance collaboration internally and externally (11)

University wide CRM as a way for different areas of the University to collaborate and work with external stakeholders;

7 0

We need a sales focused CRM that enables strong relationship management and the ability to manage the sales activity (end to end).

o Not just the technology but the people and processes as well.

4 0

More empowering governance structures (11)

Less committees and more empowerment, accountability and responsibility; 5 0 Trusting and leveraging capability to let people do their jobs; 4 0 Transparent decision making, a simpler governance system that everyone can

understand so that decisions can be made and implemented quickly.2 0

Better forward planning for infrastructure (9)

Align facilities and infrastructure development to the academic needs of the University;

o Better forward planning for infrastructure needs in alignment with and supporting research recruitment strategies.

6 0

Joondalup science labs are non-compliant for standard required for research, teaching and learning;

3 0

Facilities for hosting industry partners, donors and benefactors. 0 0

Other

Branding on infrastructure needs improvement. 0 0

People


Reward and manage performance across the University (60)

Creating a genuine culture of meritocracy, with a structure that rewards and recognises high achievement;

11 0

Make it easier to get rid of poor performers;

o Perhaps rephrased to ‘improve unsatisfactory performance processes’;

o Better at managing poor performance and poor performers into great performers. "Getting rid" is a last resort;

o Agree that "getting rid of" someone should be a last resort. We need better

11 0


HR support for managing poor performance - we shouldn't be cowering in fear of the union when trying to do the right thing for the University;

o I don't agree. Some people are a poor job fit, and retention of people in roles not suited to them or with poor attitudes toward the University need to go. We have quite a few people who have been here too long and are bitter;

Improve performance processes both for performers and non-performers; move from a public sector to a commercial model;

o Whilst recognising that we receive public money.

9 0

Affordable Collective Agreement that includes the capacity to reward excellence and simpler processes for dealing with poor performance;

6 0

More flexibility in staff management and performance related incentives; 6 0 Focus on outputs with real

performance indicators whilst making sure that what we measure is creating impact. Being more accountable and focused on the right things. Having a process to make sure we're doing the right thing not the busy thing;

o Motherhood rubbish. 5 1

Mandating quality expectations and dealing more effectively with poor performance (consequences);

3 0

Cultural change required to achieve, for example, gender equality. Increased accountability and more effective collaboration.

o Accountability would be good. How can we do this? Many managers don't hold their staff accountable because it is uncomfortable for them.

3 0

Manage performance with clear outcomes, not a bunch of motherhood statements, and manage poor performers out;

2 0

Accountability framework; o Do not agree. 2 1 Performance equals rewards; 1 0 Link performance to

remuneration.o Should be cultural;o Everyone thinks they are a high performer

but they aren't. We need to be able to identify what a high performer actually looks like and reward those people as a way of incentivising the ‘right behaviour’.

1 1

Greater culture of empowerment to innovate (33)

Creating a real culture for change and embracing innovation; 8 0 Technology to enable front line staff to better service customers (internal and

external) through electronic forms, devolved authority, better systems and more 6 0


empowerment; Providing support for innovation across the University; 6 0 More empowerment and accountability; 5 0 People on the front line are not necessarily encouraged to liaise directly with staff

who can sort out an issue, especially for a customer;4 0

People at the front line are not empowered or educated to make clear decisions that will help the customer;

2 0

Varying degrees of flexibility for different areas, and different areas of support. 2 1

Better integration and development of staff across the University (28)

Breaking down silos as ECU is the employer not the service centre; supporting staff development across the organisation;

11 0

More effective succession planning for professional and academic staff; 8 0 New people for new roles in new niche areas and allowing existing staff to job-mold

to their strengths and interests;5 0

Understand the impact on resources (building, lab space, staff requirements) of increasing the academic profile.

4 0

Increase investment in the professional development of staff (14)

Better development opportunities for lower levels of professional staff as we are educators, we should be educating our own people for better careers;

4 0

Initiatives to grow our own leaders; 2 0 Building our current staff by enabling staff to be responsible for their own

professional development; encouraging, supporting and empowering staff with the development of their own career path;

2 0

More transparency and flexibility for professional staff career pathways; 2 0 University wide supported incentives for staff to study; 2 0 Building capability across all domains(eg: leadership, administration,

collaboration);1 0

Staff development opportunities within the University and opportunities for staff to enroll in ECU degrees.

1 0

Other

Rigorously pursue Athena Swan aspirations;

o Everyone needs to get behind this to achieve the cultural change needed;

5 0

Improving research capacity, workload allowance and publication output. 3 0


Services


Review processes to remove duplication (28)

Review of processes and eliminate processes that do not add value;

o Add value or obstruct / slow-down decision making processes;

o Would be great to apply continuous improvement techniques to all of our processes.

10 0

Removing duplication in roles; 5 0 Make services simpler and easier for the customer; 4 0 Review services in the context of investment vs satisfaction; 4 0 Cohesive approach to reporting requirements (eg: dashboard) that provides

benefit to services;3 0

We need a restructure of the support areas of the University to better align them with academic and student needs in a segmented way, so that Schools can get their specific requirements met;Customisation does not cost more or take more effort, it just requires better technology and will give us a better result.

2 1

Improve service centre culture and delivery (27)

Culture of service to everyone, including your colleagues across the organisation; 12 0 Enhanced connection, communication and cooperation between service centres

and Schools;10 0

Service Centre must service customer needs; requires considerable improvement; 3 0 Prioritise service delivery elements focused on values; 1 0 Understanding across the organisation about what service centres do and don't do,

so that we can work together to create comprehensive support for students;1 0

Providing the best possible service for students. 0 0

More strategic approach to engagement with our customers (22)

University wide engagement capacity; 8 1 Broader overarching long

term strategy on engagement with the community and industry for the University;

o Make sure it is understood by all internal stakeholders.

7 0

More coordinated approach to contact with our customers (industry, community and service providers).

7 0


Enhance the branding of ECU (15)

Identify a limited number of high profile international initiatives that have a whole-of-University approach and branding potential;

8 0

Improving brand awareness in targeted countries to increase student numbers and attract high quality professorial candidates;

3 0

ECU has achieved some amazing outcomes and yet some prospective students still choose it last; need to address this reluctance by bombarding the market with good news stories;

o That’s not how PR works. 2 1

Branding needs to be understood by all staff; 2 0 Reputation and widening

participation, and civic and social responsibility to maintain social standing.

o Make sure this is not marginalised in any new strategic plan.

0 0

Improve career and graduate readiness services (12)

We need a Career service that is more engaged with industry;

o The Careers service also needs to better engage with areas of study to promote development opportunities for students;

o Careers need more resources, including more staff;

o Industry wants to engage with Careers however we need to have a more unified approach across ECU towards industry;

o Careers should service more students in a day and have analytics on their efforts that they can share with the rest of the University as graduate outcomes affect all of us.

7 0

Students currently do not feel prepared for employment at the end of their degree. Improvements need to be made in workplace engagement, work placements, career advice, skilled staff advice and utilising student portfolios.

o This is particularly true for younger undergrads;

o Working to provide development within courses, services and through extracurricular activities is essential.

5 0

More collaborative teams across functional areas (11)

More collaborative teams and less formal committees; collaborative teams should include academic and professional staff across functional areas.

11 0


Better student support and mentoring (7)

Better support for students in relation to technology.Plus use students to mentor other students as skill sharing, employment, and a low cost option for the University.

2 0

Effective retention strategies. 2 0 Develop student mentors early in their course so they can grow to be an

experienced and valuable resource.1 0

Improve capacity for counselling for at risk students (health and academic related) at earlier stages.

1 0

Initiative to identify students at risk of not completing.

o Do we not have this? Data may be useful for broader analysis.

o Collaboration between central services and academic area to support, rather than just refer to counselling for example.

o Responsiveness to international students and recognising the cultural sensitivities;

1 0

Providing School based student development opportunities and additional support for ECU Daily and Props networking for PR students;Enabling the students to engage more in their Schools and disciplines areas.

o This should be done through SSC student life section.

0 0

Other Initiatives


Teaching and learning issue; can we look at the core units of courses and reassess whether they are needed (eg: basic technology units are not always required for each student);

1 0

We should use this system for every ECU planning day!; 0 0 Improve the status and engagement of the Guild so that more students connect

with the Guild and participate and develop connections with each other, which will in turn improve the culture and vibrancy of life on campus.

0 1


Session Three: Interfaces with other Strategic Goals

Part One: Strategic Themes

Prof Cobie Rudd introduced the areas of partnerships, collaboration and diversity and outlined three strategic imperatives for the University.

Focus Question: “In each of the three imperatives:

Conceivable propositions for strategic trends;

Improving and growing partnerships with industry;

Building the right workforce;

what initiatives need to be developed and implemented?”

Overall Response

The preferred initiatives are:

Provide more flexible learning products to meet changing student needs; 45

More proactive opportunities and spaces to engage and innovate with industry;

29

Further invest in course and development for ECU’s home grown talent pool;

26

Increase flexibility in staffing profiles and working arrangements; 19

More co-ordinated structure for identifying and building industry partnerships;

16

Increase physical presence in strategic locations. 16


Detailed Input

Note – In this session, participants were able to use a ‘like, dislike and comment’ function.

Conceivable Propositions for Strategic Trends


Provide more flexible learning products to meet changing student needs (45)

Embrace life-long learning by offering flexible short courses that are run online and after hours (and during the day with partnering employers) that recognise people's existing skills;

o Integrate with MOOCs and micro-credentialism.

11 0

Recognise the changing definition of a ‘student’ and adapt ECU's learning products accordingly;

8 0

Recognise the potential with intra-University partnerships (eg: joint / dual degrees and online delivery between institutions);

o Industry designed specialisations.

7 1

Understand the characteristics of the future workforce and develop our teaching programs to provide graduates who meet those future needs;

7 0

We need to respond to the consumerisation of HE as students now have more choice and we need to cater to their needs;

6 0

One possible strategic trend is move to online to ensure flexible delivery;

o Moving to online is a bit of a catch-all, rather we need to encourage versatile integration of online and ‘real world studies’.

4 0

Consideration should be given to providing student driven learning and not restricted to semesters or exam periods (eg: allow student to complete a course in 6 weeks if they are capable, whether online or otherwise). This would appeal more to mature students or full time workers.

o Review teaching periods (trimesters and terms).

2 0

Increase physical presence in strategic locations (16)

Investigate a physical presence overseas in emerging markets; 8 0 Establish a CBD presence or space to facilitate engagement, offer industry focused

short courses and host development / other functions;6 1

Increase our presence overseas and in the CBD to improve brand visibility; 2 0 Have a presence of WAAPA for performance in Joondalup. 0 0


Support innovation projects across the University (9)

Funding available to support innovation projects across the University (academic and / or professional).

9 1

Identify and focus on areas of research strength (8)

Review areas of research so that we can focus on those where we're excellent and not so many where we're below world standard (identify strengths).

8 0

Better capitalise on our local geographical catchments in the northern metro area (7)

Maximize our attraction in geographical catchments in the northern metro area;

o Vulnerability and the need to protect catchments.

5 0

Some research into 'local' versus long distance, within WA? What makes a student pick ECU over UWA? Is it because they live north of river? If so can we do more to attract south of river students?

2 0

Other

We need to be more competitive within the international market on price, quality and reputation; growing T&L to support a growing research profile in order to improve global rankings;

4 0

Segmented approach to our internal and external customers; 1 0 Understand and align with the strategic directions of our key stakeholders and

community.1 0

Improving and Growing Industry Partnerships


More proactive opportunities and spaces to engage and innovate with industry (29)

More proactive engagement with industry for development of research and teaching partnerships (need to go out more and hear what they want);

10 0

Create opportunities for staff to second to industry partners and vice versa; 9 0 Create an opportunity for ‘think tanks’ within Schools; 6 7 Have a presence in the Perth CBD for

engagement with industry partners;o Front facing customer

presence.4 0

Take teaching and research to industry (eg: Osborne Park). 0 0


More coordinated structure for identifying and building industry partnerships (16)

Develop a whole-of-University engagement strategy; 7 0 Effective CRM to build the relationships holistically; 6 0 More holistic and transparent approach to building industry partnerships (like a

consultancy).3 0

Customise industry relevant research, degrees and courses (9)

Performance measures from the perspective of stakeholder groups; understand their expectations;

4 0

Building on the link between the classroom and what employers need by consulting industry on what they need from students;

3 0

Customise industry relevant degrees and courses. 2 0

Building the Right Workforce


Further invest in education and development for ECU’s home grown talent pool (26)

Provide fully funded courses for staff in order to home grow talent; 8 0 Strategy on utilising the talent pool we create effectively, our students, by offering

them career opportunities (eg: starting a graduate program);8 0

Potential pathways into full time employment for PhD students; 5 0 Encourage PhD students into sessional roles and provide mentoring from existing

staff;3 0

Clear academic career pathways with opportunities for growth and development; 1 0 Empowering people through better professional development. 1 0

Increase flexibility in staffing profiles and working arrangements (19)

Flexibility in our Collective Agreement; we need to be more agile in adjusting our staffing profiles;

o This is code for down-sizing;o Agree - when the agreement is

used to stop change, it makes it very difficult to improve or provide relevant service;

o There is nothing wrong with downsizing if it is linked to achieving the University's objectives. It is also not just about downsizing but also about having the right people with the right capability.

8 2

Understand the true definition of ‘flexibility’ for work / life balance and allow creativity, innovation and productivity to flourish; ECU should be a trend setter";

o Support for flexible work arrangements should not be left to the discretion of individual line managers as this leads to inconsistencies and inequities.

6 0

Offer genuine flexible working conditions. 5 0


Improve clarity for staff roles and accountabilities in delivering on ECU’s strategic directions (11)

Ensuring all staff understand their link to the strategic goals and how their day to day roles feed into the University's success. A more directive approach, less open to interpretation about ‘where you fit’. Give staff a genuine ‘why they are valid to the organisation’;

o This would get a lot more buy-in and engagement from staff.

6 0

Managers need to understand the University's strategy and aligning capability to the strategy and mission;

3 0

Introduce a valid framework for accountability and deliverables, so that staff that do not consistently deliver effectively can be managed appropriately; inclusion into the collective agreement;

1 0

Clearly defined accountability in all areas. 1 1

Other

Reversing the trend of casualisation; 6 1 Academics should be required to have

a PhD, research and relevant industry experience to meet twenty first century expectations from our customers and students;

o In some areas, experience is more relevant (eg: WAAPA, nursing).

6 3

Focus on engagement from primary School onwards to address equality and diversity issues;

4 0

Ensuring we value and embed recognition of teaching only academics by revising the ASPEO framework, fellowships and scholarships, etc;

3 0

Increased focus on widening participation initiatives to create diversity in student population and subsequent workforce.

3 0

Part Two: Integration with Strategic Goals

Focus Question: “In each of the following strategic goal areas, what needs to be in place to better integrate what ECU delivers?”:

Excellence in research and knowledge exchange;

Excellence in teaching and learning;

Advanced internationalisation;

Other if needed.


Overall Response

The most preferred initiatives across the strategic goals are:

Build greater flexibility into all course offerings; 17

Better support throughout the international student journey; 17

Grow the international student load sustainably; 16

Grow international partnerships and agreements strategically; 16

Strengthen options for research funding pathways and relationships; 14

Improve the website and information technology. 13

Detailed Input

Note – In this session, participants were able to use a ‘like, dislike and comment’ function.

Excellence in Research and Knowledge Exchange


Strengthen options for research funding pathways and relationships (14)

Building other pathways for stakeholder investments (philanthropic, industry and emerging industries);

4 0

Greater emphasis on building stronger relationships with research funding bodies; 4 0 Leveraging existing relationships and partnerships for research commercialisation; 2 0

Understand the drivers of research performance and model that impact in order to better allocate resources;

2 0

Growing sponsorships and philanthropic support; 1 0 High profile campaign to seek input from industry about their research needs that

ECU can partner on;1 0

Supporting relevant research through grants. 0 0

Increase opportunities for staff to collaborate on research (12)

Less formal committees but more opportunities to work together internally; 3 0 Offer professional staff

members opportunities to work on research;

o Many professional staff have higher degrees.

3 0

Research what we teach (stronger linkages needed); 2 0 Strengthen research governance, including quality; 2 0 Break down the silos; 1 0 More collaboration between centres and research centres; 1 0 Collaboration. 0 0


Other

Select areas of research and focus all Schools on that area;

o We want cross-disciplinary research not research silos.

1 1

Elements of research support needs to be better articulated by the academy as it isn't a homogenous undertaking, there are many nuances in research that need to be explained better;

0 0

ECU develops its research profile from STEM to STEAM! 0 0

Excellence in Teaching & Learning


Build greater flexibility into all course offerings (17)

Reduce duplication (eg: management units in different Schools); 6 0 Using the flexibility in the teaching calendars to improve accessibility in terms of

student numbers, revenue streams and space utilisation;5 0

More inter-disciplinary working and recognising what a good thing it is for students to be able to take electives from other Schools;

3 0

Employability skills embedded in curriculum for all courses that are developed with industry (consultative committees).

3 0

Investigate different teaching models and approaches (7)

Re-invigorate intensive teaching; 2 0 Uni prep short courses for mature-age students; 2 0 Move to three semesters to even out academic staff workload; 2 1 Flexible approach to delivery of teaching (trimesters) in line with market

demands;1 1

Provide multiple streams and different types of online learning with same content (ie: produced lectures, courses, slides, etc.).

o This should also be in the international stream.

0 0

Closer relationship between research and teaching (2)

Delivering research informed teaching; 2 0 More developed relationship between research and T&L. 0 0

Other

Facilitate professional staff participation in academic activity; 1 0 Student success is a whole-of-University proposition; 1 0 Develop an understanding by professional staff of T&L; 0 0 Engage professional production companies to deliver recorded programs that can

be published online for distance and international students;0 0

Psychological care and self-care for T&L staff. 0 0


Advanced Internationalisation


Better support throughout the international student journey (17)

A more holistic approach to the international student journey with further development and resourcing of 'pre-support' (visas, buddy system, airport pick up), right through to careers advice and employment with industry links at the end;

11 0

Better support structure for incoming international students; 3 0 Further development of enabling courses and specific 'packages' as pre-cursors

for international students;2 0

Staff to spend time overseas teaching to be more sensitive to the needs of international students;

1 0

Support for international students across the University, before they get to the counselling stage;

o This is already in place. 0 1

Career service for intentional markets. University of Adelaide have a specific career advisor working with students from China on domestic and international employment opportunities;

o Can avoid apartheid. 0 1

Develop a globally mobile student community 0 0

Grow international partnerships and agreements strategically (16)

Identify and respond to changing international landscapes;

o Currently reactive and need to be more proactive.

5 1

Partnering with international institutions for staff and student exchanges; 4 0 Improve branding and image in

key markets;o Dedicated budget to support this

initiative.3 0

Increase offshore agreements with international partners;

o With tangible, measurable, trackable, outcomes including due diligence

o Quality of the business and support is the issue that needs consideration.

2 0

International partnerships that clearly add value to ECU; 2 0 Recognising the competitive environment internationally. 0 0


Grow the international student load sustainably (16)

Recruiting students internationally who have the best chance of success;

o Can we stop bottom dredging? 4 0

Sustainability in international student load growth to ensure that there is adequate academic and service centre support for additional students and to ensure long-term growth with a strategic focus on different niche global target areas and developing identity;

3 0

Striking the right balance between high academic standards and increasing the international student load;

2 0

Diversify student base to minimise risks; 2 0 Strengthen TNE governance and quality; 2 0 Clear understanding of the support that Schools need with Schools to lead the

process;1 0

Capture lessons learned from prior ventures; 1 0 Targets for certain percentages of the student body to be international; how can

the professional staff support that. How can this be relatively spread across the disciplines?

1 1

Other

Need Associate Deans International (8) to support intra-School coordination and communication;

o No / No / Nein. 1 1

Consideration of both front and back end delivery to support idea realisation; 1 0 Improve integration; 0 0 Easier, more accessible information on what courses are available including access

capability (ie: online, distance, on campus).0 0

Other Initiatives


Improve the website and information technology (13)

Complete revamp of the ECU website to make it easier to navigate, contain only direct and relevant information and is appropriately tracked and marketed;

o Who is defining what is relevant?;o Require adequately resourced team

to develop and support;o The University website should not be

seen solely as a marketing tool to attract prospective students - it is also a vital tool for current students and staff. Navigation and searching are currently too difficult to use;

o Portals need work - should be mobile responsive, like the rest of website;

o Need to have more qualified web officers in Schools and centres, not

7 0


just admin staff with some basic training in how to change text on the website.

More effective website that is easier to navigate;

o To search not navigate. 4 0

Better technology to support flexibility online delivery. 2 0

Capitalise on current catchment locations in the Northern Metro and SW WA (7)

Embed ECU as the 'University of the Northern Perth suburbs' and pursue opportunities with Yanchep and Alkimos satellite sites, and regional centres such as Geraldton;

o Awareness of increasing competition from Eastern States Universities expanding into WA regional centres;

o Consider expansion into South East Asia as well;

o And Bunbury! Building capacity and presence in SW WA;

o Make the most of our presence in the South West of WA.

6 0

We are the only University in the South West and we should take advantage of this.

1 0

Other

Invest in areas that are going to improve ECU KPI's (careers services, employability services);

1 0

Keeping the focus on accessibility and diversity, whilst recognising the changing focus of the University as a whole;

1 0

Mandated requirement for Schools to centrally collaborate on required deliverables (ie: applications);

1 0

Management of poor performance;

o Poor performance affects team morale and holds the University back.

1 1

Considering staff needs in terms of library structures; 0 0 Costing model to compensate academic staff for consultancies; 0 0 Improve employability prospects for students, whilst still keeping the five star

student experience;0 0

Making it easier for students from diversity areas to access support;

o And staff. 0 0

Develop a crowd funding capability for teaching, research and development; 0 1 Better vertical integration of different area’s planning documents (ie: capital

expenditure). Dissemination and involvement with Schools’ strategic plans and other planning documents amongst service centres to allow for long term support and planning of objectives.

0 0


Reflections

In a plenary session, the following reflections were highlighted by participants:

Opportunity to drive accountability;

Agility and flexibility are critical requirements;

One institution – not a federation of smaller institutions, need to think about what is good for ECU overall;

Cultural change needed – but everyone needs to take responsibility;

People capability (profile and skills) is the foundation;

Exist in a highly competitive environment, need to be more outwardly focused;

People – knowing what people we need from external sources, but also valuing and supporting the people currently here – through flexibility but also supporting infrastructure (ie: ITSC);

Importance of diversity both in student and staff population so we can respond better to communities and industry;

Surprised at the widespread concern over management of poor performers:

– Need further conversation on how we deal with this as a University,

– Comes up quite regularly in staff surveys, etc,

– Not sure if it is a criticism of managers, how they deal with staff,

– Strategic Plan is an opportunity to focus on high performance.


Session Four: Purpose, Vision and Values

Focus Question: “In light of your input on enabling systems, processes and structures, is there any major emphasis that you would change for ECU’s purpose, vision or values?”

Overall Response

The most preferred suggestions are:

Purpose:

– Further emphasise ECU’s global outlook; 6– Further focus on graduate readiness and industry relevance; 5– Changing lives; 4– World class. 2

Vision:

– Bold, new niche that reflects the values of Edith Cowan herself; 12– Global outlook. 2

Values:

– Courage and boldness; 3– Passion; 3– Current values are appropriate; 2– Grounded. 2

Detailed Input

Note – In this session, the ‘like and comment’ functions were used to give an idea of energy and enthusiasm for any suggested changes.

Purpose

Idea Comments Likes

Further emphasise ECU’s global outlook (6)

Western Australia focus, needs to be more globally focused; 4 No need to focus on WA, should be global; 1 ‘For the benefit of WA’ needs to be removed and refocused to global. 1


Further focus on graduate readiness and industry relevance (5)

To provide ‘world ready graduates’; 2 Create resilient and life ready graduates; 1 Focus on the employability of our students and create the roles of the future; 1 Industry relevance to be recognised as a provider of world class, relevant and applied

research and education;1

Greater linkage with graduate outcomes; 0 Theme around producing graduates that meet industry and society's needs and research

making an impact;0

Provide quality, relevant education. 0

Changing lives (4)

Changing lives through research, engagement, supporting aspirations, one student at a time;

3

To provide accessible learning opportunities to all. 1

World class (2)

We have world class teaching and research at ECU and need to celebrate this. 2

Partnerships and collaboration rather than engagement (1)

Engagement and partnerships are the same, perhaps substituted by collaboration?; 1 No mention of engaging with communities; 0 Use of the word ‘partnering’ rather than ‘engaging’ to allow mutually beneficial outcomes. 0

Innovation (1)

Don't incorporate buzzwords like 'innovation' because they will date quickly;

o If the national Innovation Agenda tanks, the word will become tainted.

1

Fostering the environment that encourages innovation and creativity; 0 Proactivity and innovation. 0

Alter ‘valued citizens’

Remove ‘citizens’ from statement (outdated and old fashioned); 0 Valuable rather than ‘valued’ citizen; 0 What is meant by ‘valued citizens’ and the Gotham City reference to citizens? 0

Other

Both Purpose and Vision need to be shorter and sharper; 1 Consider different audiences for all 3 statements (Purpose, Vision and Values) and can we

look at communicating what each means to the different audiences (ie: in language that they can relate to and incorporate this into the plan?);

0

Inspire to be the best; 0 Needs to better define how we are different from all the other higher education providers; 0 To have a culture of success you need to celebrate success. 0


Vision

Idea Comments Likes

Bold, new niche that reflects the values of Edith Cowan herself (12)

Be one of the best young Universities in the world; 4 Continue to be bold, ambitious and a

trailblazer in the memory of our namesake Edith Cowan;

o Embrace our links to history. 3

To be the first choice of University for the northern suburbs, catering to the wider masses in providing variable courses, accessible to all ages, stages and cultures;

2

Be succinct in statement and needs to differentiate ECU from other Universities. Excellence in collaboration, teaching and research to contribute in terms of what Edith Cowan did in her life and reflect that (needs further research);

1

Stake out a new niche area; 1 Statement needs to be more inspiring, confident and ambitious. 1

Global outlook (2)

Recognised as a global / international institution; 2 Create students that are global citizens. 0

Innovation and entrepreneurialism

Focus more on being entrepreneurial and graduates as leaders; 0 Focus on innovation and collaboration; 0 Integrity, respect, excellence, innovation; 0 Need to embrace innovation, integrity and courage. 0

Others

Find a way to make the vision relevant to the performance of the individual. How does this affect me? How do I contribute?;

1

Too long - it should be short and memorable; 1 ECU is a world class, student focused organisation, producing work ready, highly resilient

individuals;1

Needs to be a future goal (aren't our students already highly regarded?); 0 Good as it is! 0


Values

Idea Comments Likes

Courage and boldness (3)

Values need to be more emotive and aspirational to connect with people's hearts and minds;

2

Courage; 1 Boldness; 0 Inspire; 0 Our current values generally send a message of solidness and dependability, but we should

focus more on innovation and agility.0

Passion (3)

Passion. 3

Current values are appropriate (2)

Don't add too many values; 4 is a good number; 1 Don't change them!; 1 Generally good. 0

Grounded (2)

Grounded... we don't pursue impossible.

o We pursue the possible, not the impossible!

2

Other

Link back to our namesake; 1 Collaboration; 1 Ownership – staff, students and graduates owning their personal role in the success of

ECU;0

More emphasis on respect to value what each individual and part of the organisation brings to work towards our common mission and goals;

0

Could the order of the existing values be changed, as the first listed implies extra importance?, eg: whenever presented, it could be in a circle around the name of the University?;

0

Fairness with ambition; 0 From a student perspective, we should be encouraging our students to be leaders; 0 Rational enquiry should remain a value but the term needs to be more motivational and

inspiring;0

Repurpose and reword the value on personal excellence to address issues arising from the poor performers concern and the need for cultural change, something about institutional unity, maybe just 'excellence' and remove the personal;

0

Need to embrace reconciliation as a part of a culture of equality. 0


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