Executive Director's Report

New report

I am delighted to be writing a report to the school in my second week as Interim Executive Director, in what will be a regular feature in MGSE News. I appreciate the warm support I have received from staff as I’ve taken up the role, and the different ways of working together with you that I’m already experiencing.

New MGSE Governance Structure

I am pleased to announce a revised formal Governance structure for the Graduate School, which is published on our staff intranet. The structure refreshes our existing committee terms of reference and membership, and adds important forums including a Graduate Student Advisory Committee and an External Advisory Group, which expands our dialogue with our student body and with key business and government leaders. The structure also formalises the Research Centre Directors as a formal Sub-Committee, and a Faculty Board including all members of the Professoriate. Some operational groups and committees are not articulated in the formal governance structure, but will continue to meet as important forums for ongoing collaboration.

MGSE Budget Update

Jim’s report advises of his attendance at the annual Planning and Budget Conference (PBC) on Wednesday. This critical forum sets the MGSE budget envelope for 2019, which will be matched to the substantial body of work conducted by Alan Whitley and the finance team to provide a detailed view of available resourcing for next year. We await formalisation of outcomes from PBC, and will then confirm manageable resourcing targets across the wide range of school activities. The School’s financial outlook has benefited from numerous changes over the past two years, and whilst there are challenges ahead, the financial outlook is significantly improved from recent years.

With regards to 2018 financial performance, I am delighted to advise that the school is on track to meet our budget target, which is a goal that has not been achieved for over a decade. This provides a solid foundation for the execution of our emerging strategy as we look towards 2019, and is a reflection of the hard work of all colleagues across the School.

New MGSE Staff Travel Policy

MGSE's Executive Committee has recently approved a new travel policy, which applies to all future travel for MGSE staff (including honorary staff). The policy clarifies responsibilities under the University’s travel policy as interpreted in the school context, and includes a handy flow chart for the process of making a commitment to travel. The new policy can be found on our staff intranet.

Roland