Note to Staff 8 May 2007

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eVALUate survey

As staff will be aware, Curtin is seeking to strengthen its outcomes in learning and teaching. The eVALUate survey assists us in identifying our areas of strength and those where there are opportunities for improvement.

Congratulations to the Graduate School of Business on achieving an outstanding eVALUate response rate of 57.5% in Trimester 1. This is a fantastic result and a credit to all the staff and students. eVALUate opens for Semester 1 from 14 May to 22 June. A record number of teaching evaluations (1,119) have been requested by just over 500 staff, and this bodes well for response rates (previous research on the system shows that unit surveys have a significantly higher response rate when students can complete a teacher evaluation as well). As you know, eVALUate is now our primary means of gathering student feedback on teaching and learning. We know that the eVALUate surveys are valid and reliable, and that student uptake is increasing steadily. Many units already register very high response rates, but a universal increase across the University would give us even greater confidence in interpreting the results. The data are crucial in assisting us to maximise student learning. I urge all staff to strongly encourage their students to use eVALUate this semester.

Further to my Note to Staff of 7 March, I am pleased to provide an update on the progress of our Curriculum 2010 project. As you are aware, the University has implemented this project to enhance our learning and teaching performance, improve staff workloads and ensure the University's sustainability.

The Curriculum 2010 project is making steady progress and I draw your attention to three of its major tasks here:

Course sustainability: We are aiming to have an agreed set of criteria to determine the sustainability of our courses. A comprehensive paper outlining these criteria has now been released for staff comment - over the next two months, staff are strongly encouraged to provide feedback either through email, or by posting their comments to a website for all to see. See the discussion website for more information.

Comprehensive Course Review: A robust five phase process, centering on curriculum mapping, has now been developed. Many staff have elected to use this service. Some 45 courses from across the University (including Pharmacy, Accounting, Social Work, Medical Imaging, Psychology and Applied Geology) are now engaging in this process. Download the guide for more information.

Annual Course Review: By July all Course Coordinators and Heads of School will have easy Web access to key performance data to monitor trends in their courses (data include first preferences, enrolments, retention and success rates, CEQ scores, graduate employment and eVALUate Course Summary Reports). These will be the basis of an annual check on trends, and used to report strategies to maintain or improve them. See the website for more information.

Strategic procurement proves its worth

Staff will also be aware of the Non-Academic Services Review undertaken by Deloitte last year through which the University sought to identify ways in which we could improve the efficiency of our administration and decrease the cost of operations across the University. Following the review we established the Strategic Procurement Group (SPG) as one of the recommendations made by Deloitte. It aims to save all areas of the University money through maximising our buying power and introducing procedural efficiencies. The SPG also seeks to capture improvements in the health, safety and environmental aspects of purchasing goods and services across Curtin.

Establishing the Group has a cost of $500,000 pa and Deloitte anticipated Curtin would save approximately $1 million in 12 months from the first wave of strategic procurement work in 2006/2007. This target has been exceeded in only eight months, with $1.1 million already saved in areas including stationery, paper, gases, specialist chemicals, laboratory consumables, business machines, photocopiers and printers. Curtin has also attracted $140,000 in government workplace productivity grants, because the work being conducted by the SPG has been recognised as being in line with the latest government parameters for cost reduction and improvements in the university sector in Australia.

Savings have been realised by reducing the number of suppliers the University deals with and contracting with suppliers on a fully commercial basis. This allows Curtin to leverage off its consolidated purchasing power and credit worthiness as well as locking in one price and delivery standard available to all across the entire organisation.

Based on the savings realised so far, and after all costs have been paid out, the Strategic Procurement Group expects to save approximately $2.4 million over two years on the first wave of targeted areas alone. If new categories are added as planned, such as Travel and IT, this will increase the level of savings still further.

The savings generated take pressure off the University's cost base, which unlike its revenues, are substantially fixed. This is a positive outcome for the continuing financial health of Curtin and assists in meeting the objectives of the Strategic Plan.

I would like to thank the staff of the Strategic Procurement Group and those they worked with across the University for their partnership in achieving this exceptional result. I look forward to even more progress as the project moves into other areas of procurement.

Find out more about the Group on the Procurement website.

Global Village for Future Leaders of Business and Industry

I recently met with two students who are the only Australians selected to participate in the Global Village for Future Leaders of Business and Industry, one of the most prestigious leadership and development programs in the world, held annually in the United States.

Nathan Low, a final-year software engineering student, and Tristan Haberley, a second year finance and marketing student, will participate in the intensive six-week program run by the Iacocca Institute at Lehigh University in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania and taking place from 23 June to 4 August.

Both are involved with the John Curtin Leadership Academy, which was launched at Curtin last month, and provides a year-long program for students in leadership roles. Nathan, a former Activities Vice-President for the Student Guild, developed the program while Tristan, who is on the cbsplus management team, is a participant.

Global Village brings together young business people and students from around the world, and international leaders from a range of fields, to develop future leaders capable of working ethically in a global business environment.

Many Curtin students have participated and have found the intensive learning and networking involved to be a life-changing experience. I congratulate Nathan and Tristan on this excellent achievement.

L to R: Elizabeth Prendergast Jones from CBS with Nathan, me and Tristan

2006 Curtin Annual Report

The University's 2006 Annual Report is available for viewing online.

John Curtin Medal Nominations

Each year, Curtin honours former Prime Minister John Curtin, by awarding the prestigious John Curtin Medal. This award is presented to members of the community who have made significant contributions in their field, either within Australia or internationally. These individuals personify John Curtin's outstanding attributes of vision, leadership and community service.

In the past nine years, 24 Medallists (including one joint award) have been chosen from a list of nominees. Last year's Medallists were:

• Boronia Pre-release Centre for Women - a project which is the first of its kind in Australia, the Department of Corrective Services has adopted a forward-looking model of imprisonment for women. Through improved health, work and education skills, the women are empowered to take responsibility for their life choices.
• Gerard Neesham - has pursued his vision of using football to encourage young Indigenous students to re-engage with education, through the establishment of the Clontarf Foundation Football Academy.
• Pieta O'Shaughnessy - has worked in community radio since 1976 and helped found 6NR, which today broadcasts as Curtin FM 100.1. Pieta was pivotal in the development of the station which is now a valued part of Curtin and the wider community. Pieta developed the idea for Santa's Workshop, which restores donated toys for underprivileged children.

Previous Medallists include:

• Ms Lynne Evans, a dedicated advocate for improving the quality of care and support for people with mental illness;
• Ajahn Brahm, a Buddhist Abbot, who has tirelessly worked with the Western Australian community and promoted religious harmony through regular encouragement and participation in interfaith activities;
• Ms May O'Brien, a leader in the field of education and in the Aboriginal community;
• Dr Eric Tan, a pioneer of endoscopic 'key hole' surgery in Australia, a campaigner against racism and a dedicated worker for Australia's youth;
• Dr George O'Neil, an obstetrician best known for his life-saving work in the treatment of drug addicts.

The John Curtin Medal is awarded annually as part of the October anniversary of John Curtin's swearing in as Prime Minister.

I invite you to nominate candidates for the John Curtin Medal by completing and returning the Nomination Form to the Public Relations Manager, Corporate Communications, Building 104. Nominations should be received by 5pm Friday 13 July 2007.

Further information can be seen on the John Curtin website or by contacting Julia Nicol, Public Relations Manager on x 7711.

Please note that nominations are strictly confidential and potential candidates should not be contacted to assist in completion of the Nomination Form.

Successes in the Sexology Programs

I am pleased to advise that the University's Sexology Program has recently been awarded the prestigious World Association for Sexual Health Award for Excellence & Innovation in Sexuality Education for 2007. This is only awarded every two years and is highly competitive with all programs world wide eligible to apply.

I take this opportunity to commend the past work of Professor Rosemary Coates in developing and running the program from 1979 to 2004 and the subsequent work that has been done revising the content and teaching by the team led by Dr Gareth Merriman since the course was more appropriately placed in the School of Public Health. We understand this is the first time the award has been given to any Australian program and reflects the scope of the program in educating students in general areas of sexuality education as well as tackling the more difficult areas such as forensic issues.

This is tremendous recognition for both the program and for the University.

Jeanette Hacket
Vice-Chancellor