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Academic Board News  

Meeting 6/2021

30 November 2021

The ANU Academic Board's sixth and final meeting of the year took place on Tuesday 30 November 2021. 

Academic Board farewelled the Dean of Students Associate Professor Miriam Gani and the ANUSA representatives, Madhumitha Janagaraja and Benedict Chin.  Board thanked these members for their service and contribution to Academic Board.

Due to the continuing impact of COVID-19 and travel restrictions Academic Board once again met online to consider several significant matters, as follows:

Vice-Chancellor's Report
The Vice-Chancellor report focused on 'Covid and the campus', the financial health of the 51³Ô¹ÏÍø and government relations.

Dean of Students - Annual Report 2020
Academic Board discussed the annual report from the Dean of Students and noted the valuable independent role the Dean of Students takes in supporting students.  The 51³Ô¹ÏÍø Research Committee and its subcommittee, the Higher Degree Research Committee, have been asked to consider the recommendations made by the report concerning Intellectual Property and Authorship Attribution.

ANAO Performance Audit of the ANU - Update
Academic Board heard that the ANAO Performance Audit of the ANU had been presented to the Parliament and published on 29 November 2021.  The ANAO Performance Audit has made 6 recommendations all of which have been accepted by ANU. Recommendation 5 is of particular interest to Academic Board - Read more about the

Admissions Scholarship Accommodation (ASA) COVID Adjustments - Analysis of Success
Academic Board heard from the Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Academic), Professor Grady Venville, who discussed the analysis of students admitted under the adjustments made in 2020 in response to COVID.  Academic Board was reassured that students were performing well overall and in some areas of the analysis, better than expected.

2021 Self-Assessment Update and Working Group Presentations
The Academic Board heard from the self-assessment working groups that were established to specifically look at; 'diversity', 'transparency in decision making' and the 'Academic Board subcommittees'. The working groups presented key finding of the self-assessment survey that will be considered and brought back to Academic Board in 2022 in the form of recommendations for improvement.

Academic Data Governance Draft Principles
The Academic Board discussed the Academic Board Data Governance Working Group presentation on  draft principles for academic data governance.  The draft principles will be further discussed at AB sub-committees at their forthcoming meetings.

Policy
Academic Board approved the following policy documents;

• English Language for Admission policy  - revised
• Student refunds procedure - revised
• Student surveys and evaluations procedure - revised

Other Matters
Academic Board also considered other significant matters, including: CRS and CRN Grades Analysis Report, Semester 1 & 2 2020; Cohort analysis of Undergraduate and Postgraduate Coursework Progress Rates and Attrition Rates for 2015-2020; the TEQSA risk assessment and re-registration update; Accreditation approvals;  Academic Integrity Incident Report; ANU Graduate Attributes Consultation Paper; the establishment of a National Centre for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Wellbeing Research; the establishment of a Centre for RNA Innovation, and the forward meeting plan for Academic Board in 2022.

Next Meeting
Academic Board next meets on Tuesday 15 March 2022.

Professor Joan Leach
Chair, Academic Board