From the Vice-Chancellor

Changing La Trobe: A Program for Renewal

We have great ambitions for La Trobe University. Our Strategic Plan identifies key targets for the development of teaching and learning, research and support activities; we need to attain these targets to ensure that we achieve our goal of being a successful, socially responsible, inclusive, relevant and radical university.

To turn our ambitions into achievements we have to implement change right across the University. The scale of change required was identified in last year's Green Paper which noted that 'we are currently living beyond our means' and that 'every member of staff in every part of the University will need to accept that "business as usual" is not an option for the future.'

The Strategic Plan has identified a large number of specific actions to promote the further development of the University, and this paper sets out a program for implementation of key initiatives in both the academic and non-academic parts of the University. The initiatives must be addressed with a sense of urgency in order to protect and improve the financial and operational capacity of La Trobe. With the two new Deputy Vice-Chancellor positions now filled we are in a position to act.

The financial imperative

The University reported an operating deficit of $7.4 million in 2006, and after implementing some short-run economies last year we achieved an operating surplus of $1.46 million in 2007. This level of surplus - a mere 0.3% of income - is an inadequate financial foundation for the academic and physical investments we need to undertake over the next decade. This is why the Strategic Plan sets a clear target of an operating surplus of 5% to support strategic investment.

The challenge of meeting this financial target is made all the more difficult by the University's current financial position. The indexation of Commonwealth income lags the rate of University price inflation by about 2%, so each year we need to find around $6 million of savings in order to stand still. Furthermore, the sector is about to enter into a new round of pay bargaining; for every 1% increase in salaries, La Trobe has to find an additional $3 million a year. The Victorian Auditor General's Office, in commenting on the University's 2007 financial results, has noted that 'insufficient revenue is being generated to fund operations and asset renewal.'

If we are to avoid a continuing cycle of cost-cutting we will need to increase revenue, and this can be done only by increasing tuition fee income and by increasing research income. As pre-figured in the Green paper, this will require a major rethink of how we design and deliver our core teaching and research activities.

We need to act now to reduce La Trobe's costs and to grow revenue. Planned expenditure in the 2008 and 2009 financial years will need to be reduced in order to produce budgetary balance, and resources will need to be focussed on activities which promote revenue growth. Teaching and research initiatives take time to come to fruition, but this makes rapid action all the more necessary. Change in the core academic activities of the University must be planned and implemented with a clear sense of urgency and of personal and collective responsibility.

Organisational change

The Strategic Plan requires that, by 2010, the University will 'review, and where appropriate, restructure all academic, administrative and committee structures' in order to increase the proportion of total revenue devoted to the core activities of teaching and learning and research. The financial pressures currently facing the University means that this process of review and restructure will have to be accelerated. The following actions will be taken:

University expenditure on all support activities will be reduced by at least 12% by the end of 2009.
All hiring into non-academic posts will be suspended in the short run while managers of major units formulate and commence the implementation of plans to achieve the necessary expenditure reductions. An appeal mechanism will be established to consider positions that require unique skills and that are essential for operational purposes.
The University will review all major administrative functions over the next 18 months in order to implement change which will improve the efficiency and effectiveness of service delivery.
The review process will run to a pre-determined timetable, commencing in June 2008, with support given to staff in each functional area to undertake a rigorous process of critical self-review.
The University will appoint a senior member of staff to co-ordinate the change management process.
The review process will be conducted in an open and transparent manner, and will be evidence-based.
As noted in the 2007 Green Paper, all staff in the University can expect changes to their roles - to what they do and how they do it. The University will focus on achieving cost savings by redeployment and retraining of existing staff.

Academic innovation and investment

In order to increase future revenue, the University will make a number of strategic academic investments.

New academic leadership appointments

In 2008 La Trobe will invest in at least 17 new senior academic positions at Professor or Associate Professor level. These positions will include:

Faculty of Education

Professor of Educational Leadership and Management
Associate Professor in Special Needs Education

Faculty of Health Sciences

Professor and Associate Dean, Research
Associate Professor of Physiotherapy and Head of School

Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences

Chair in Development Studies/International Development
Chair in Media Studies

Faculty of Law and Management

Professor of Finance
Professor of Accounting
Professor of Law
Professor and Associate Dean, Research
Professor/Associate Professor, Finance
Professor/Associate Professor, Marketing

Faculty of Science, Technology and Engineering

Professor of Chemistry
Professor and Head of School of Computer Science and Engineering
3 Professors of Bioscience (linked to the BRC)

Curriculum, Teaching and Learning

The work on reviewing our courses outlined in the Strategic Plan will begin in earnest in second semester with the arrival of Professor Tom Angelo, Pro Vice-Chancellor Curriculum and Academic Planning. A curriculum taskforce will lead a process of consultation and debate to determine the principles of good curriculum design, teaching and assessment, as well as identifying any specific learning opportunities and/or outcomes that we agree should be part of the student experience at La Trobe.

Through this process we will also identify approaches to teaching which allow staff enough time to meet the University's research objectives while still improving student learning and which will ensure that our programs are not only 'high quality and relevant' but also sustainable. In other words, we will consider the best and most efficient deployment of resources for teaching.

The review of our academic programs against these principles will begin in earnest in 2009. Under the PVC CAP's leadership we will design a streamlined and well supported review process to assist faculties in this work. This review and development of La Trobe's academic programs will need to deliver innovative and attractive courses that can generate considerable growth in fee income over the next five years.

Research

The University will establish a small number of new research institutes, including:

Institute for Human Security
Institute for Social and Environmental Sustainability
Australian Institute for Molecular Medicine

The tender process for the public-private partnership for the Bioscience Research Centre has commenced on the basis of the $230 million partnership between the Victorian Department of Primary Industry and La Trobe University. Planning for the Centre is well advanced and joint operations will accelerate over the period to the end of 2010.

For University research centres and institutes - those which are recipients of special university support and not constrained by contracts with outside agencies - a new set of criteria for the financial and administrative support of University research institutes and centres will be established.

All existing University research institutes and centres will be reviewed before the end of 2009 against the new criteria, to ensure equal treatment of pre-existing and new research entities.

The vacant position of Dean of Graduate Studies will be replaced by a Pro-Vice Chancellor for Graduate Research. This position will focus on building higher degree research numbers and reviewing the University's policies and procedures for the supervision and training of research students. Another responsibility will be compliance in relation to human and animal research ethics.

The research division will continue to focus on supporting academic staff in their research, higher degree supervision and efforts to attract research income, whilst ensuring compliance with necessary policies and procedures. A review of divisional administrative activities will ensure maximal efficiency and effectiveness.

New planning and budget structure

The University needs a new planning and budget structure to underpin more efficient and effective internal operations. Work is already under way to devise an architecture for effective university planning, and for orderly construction and operation of the internal budget. The new structure will embrace the following principles:

The new planning structure will be built up from detailed student number and load projections for the next 3-5 years.
Planning and management data will be co-ordinated so that it is readily and transparently available to all major organisational units within the University.
The new budget model will focus on promoting the business and financial outcomes of each part of the University rather than - as at present - on imposing centralised control of the expenditure of each operational unit.
The new budget model will be framed around 3-year rolling budget projections, rather than annual budget allocations.
The new budget will establish a fixed proportion of total revenue to be devoted to non-Faculty expenditure.
The 2009 and subsequent budgets will be designed around these new principles.

Immediate economy measures

In order to help address the financial position of the University a number of immediate measures will be taken to reduce non-staffing expenditure. These include:

Reduction in the size of the University fleet of pool cars by 50 vehicles from 130 to 80. This is expected to generate a one-off capital saving of $940,000 and recurrent annual savings of $144,000. Consideration will also be given to contracting out the entire University fleet.
Suspension of overseas graduation ceremonies in 2009. In 2006/7 overseas graduation ceremonies cost the university $271,000 and 186 person-days of time.
All university travel within Australia for all staff, including senior executives and Vice-Chancellor, will be in economy class.

Paul Johnson
Vice-Chancellor
19 May 2008