Transition update: College of Medicine and Public HealthJune 2017Welcome to the second edition of the College of Medicine and Public Health (MPH) transition update. This newsletter is one of the ways of sharing information about the developments and transition processes associated with moving into our new College structure. It will also be an opportunity to provide you with information on:
I hope many of you attended or watched our initial College Forum. The next College Forum is scheduled for 20th July at 12pm. More information about these forums is provided below in this newsletter. I look forward to seeing you at these forums to update you on changes and answer your queries. College welcome eventAn informal College Afternoon Tea is being planned for mid-July. This will be an opportunity to get to know each other better and celebrate the beginnings of our College. An invitation will be sent to all College staff once arrangements are finalised. Recruitment updateThe following leadership positions and roles have now been filled in the College of Medicine and Public Health:
The process of recruiting our Vice-President and Executive Dean (VPED) is progressing. Until we have our new VPED on board, Professor Robert Saint will perform the duties of the VPED and continue as Chair of the Transition Team. The College Transition TeamWhat is our role?The role of the College Transition Team is to assist with the planning and implementation of the new college structure. This will involve working to the principles set by the College Implementation Steering Group and applying them in the context of our college. As part of this process, the Transition Team needs to understand any issues or concerns staff have that may impact on the successful transition to the new college structure. We are keen to hear from you and welcome your ideas and input on how we can do things differently or creatively that will enable us to stand out from other Universities. You are encouraged to talk to any member of the Transition team or you can email your ideas or suggestions to the Transition Team via the Executive Officer at vanessa.eig@flinders.edu.au What are we doing?The Transition Team has considered how to minimise impact to our students this year and prepare for next year. The DVCS has previously written to students with information about the new College structure and more information will be provided soon regarding College offices. Students in the College of Medicine and Public Health are being advised to continue contacting their course offices at the existing locations. This ensures that students at our multiple current locations can continue their year as usual. Each College will have an Education Committee, chaired by the Dean (Education) that will take over the functions of the following committees: Faculty Teaching and Learning Committee; Faculty Courses and Curricula Subcommittee; School Board of Studies; and Evaluation Reference Group. Terms of reference and membership are being developed. Feedback after the last College forum has led to the final Teaching Programs shown below. Based on current teaching allocations, work is underway connecting academic staff to a principal Teaching Program. While academic staff will have a principal teaching home, teaching in more than one Teaching Program will be fairly common in our College given the overlapping nature of our programs. Clinical Care Chronic Condition Management Biomedical Sciences Biotechnology Population Health Point of Care Testing Developing Researchers B Medical Science (Honours) Each Teaching Program (each of which is a collection of courses and topics) will have a Teaching Program Director who will work with course coordinators, topic coordinators and teaching staff. The University has developed a role description for Teaching Program Directors, and expressions of interest will be sought for those roles for each College. Each College will also have a Research Committee chaired by the Dean (Research). The research structure of the College will be built around two groupings. Research Sections will be configured primarily around common research interests, which might be discipline related or might revolve around shared access to research equipment, facilities, etc. Research Themes are research areas that are strategically important to the growth of the College and that are designed to achieve our ambitious vision for research as defined in the 2025 Agenda: Making a Difference. Research Themes are likely to run across Research Sections in order to bring together complementary research expertise to tackle complex challenges faced by the wider society. Research Themes may also cross College boundaries for the same reasons and these will often be agreed at a University level. The College will appoint an RHD Coordinator to provide academic support for RHD students and training within a College. The role description has been finalised and expressions of interest will shortly be sought. The Transition Team is now looking at operational details to ensure a smooth transition to the new college structure and at appropriate academic structures and committees within the College to support all education and research related activities. At future meetings, we will also look at possible research groupings for our College. College transition and supportWhile a few things are changing on July 3rd, much more is not changing at this point. The great majority of staff will perform the same activities when they come to work in July as they were doing in June. In general, it’s business as usual unless you are notified otherwise. Starting July, we will have a College of Medicine and Public Health phone number and a College office. Our College office will be collocated with the Medical Course Directorate near the library in FMC and our college phone number will be (08) 7221 8200. A College of Medicine and Public Health web site has been designed, which includes a succinct narrative on the new College and examples of who we are and what we do. Dean, Deputy Dean, Associate Dean and Assistant Dean positions officially finish on June 30, with the exception of Associate Dean, Flinders University Rural Clinical School and Associate Dean, Flinders Northern Territory. The roles of these finishing positions will be taken up by Dean, People and Resources, Head of College Services, Dean Education, and Dean Research. As a result, there will be changes to some reporting lines and approval authorities. For academic staff, all positions currently reporting directly to the School of Medicine Dean (other than Associate Dean, Flinders University Rural Clinical School and Associate Dean, Flinders Northern Territory) will instead report to the Dean, People and Resources from July 1. All other academic reporting lines will remain unchanged unless otherwise notified. Transitioning to our new College will occur progressively over the next six months. During this period, many of the people in the finishing roles have agreed to help out unofficially where required. To assist with practical information for transition and beyond, an online support guide in the form of a website has been developed. Now live, the website will frequently refresh and iterate based on staff feedback. From July 3, paper forms and online processes no longer require signatures from the finishing positions. Please use the translation guide on the college support website to determine who approves instead. Some forms and processes will now require less approvals as a result. For example, except for Rural Health SA and Flinders NT, approval by Associate Deans can be skipped. The College Support Guide also lists systems changes and outages as a result of the transition, key people for each college, including members of the college leadership and transition teams, and a staff services directory that provides a searchable guide to accessing the various professional services available to you as a staff member. Developments in the Professional Services ProjectProgress was advised in an all-staff town hall meeting earlier in June and more recently, Ian Smith, Head of College Services, has been holding weekly get-togethers for all professional staff in our College. Formal consultation has completed for the major change proposals in the areas of Finance and Procurement Services, People and Culture, and Information and Digital Services. The next step is to consider the feedback and this is currently underway. For more information, please visit The 2025 Agenda – Achieving our vision webpage. As previously advised, the target for Stage 2 changes is November this year. Please contribute your ideas relating to the support areas that you know about through Ian Smith, Head of College Services. This contribution is already happening through the weekly get-togethers. The University is identifying some interim roles for professional staff to ensure ongoing delivery of professional support services in the new Colleges from 3 July, particularly as further stages of the PSP are undertaken. The need for a position in each College to assist the Head of College Services in day-to-day operations and coordination of College professional staff has also been identified. Staff will be advised of opportunities for these and other positions or roles, as they are determined. Staying connectedThe next College Forum will be held on Thursday, 20th July at 12pm in Flinders Medical Centre Lecture Theatre 2. The Forum will be another opportunity for an update on progress towards the new College and for an open exchange of questions and answers. I will chair the Forum, with support from other members of the College Transition Team. College Forums will be held regularly to provide an opportunity to update staff on major issues affecting the University and for you to ask questions. Other senior staff from across the University may also be invited depending on the topics to be discussed. We hope that you can join us. As well as keeping up to date through college forums and communication with members of the College Transition Teams you can also keep up to date by visiting The 2025 Agenda – Achieving our vision webpage. At any time throughout this process you can ask questions or provide feedback to 2025@flinders.edu.au If you need further clarity on any of The 2025 Agenda initiatives, you are encouraged to speak with your or Senior HR Advisor (Heather Dawson-Howard). If you feel that you would benefit from talking to someone, Flinders University offers support via the University Employee Assistance Program. This service is entirely confidential.
Professor Robert Saint |