Faculty Board

The Powers of the Board
The powers of Faculty Boards are defined in clause 23 of Statute 4.3 The Faculties, as approved by the Council. The Board shall

• contribute to the development of the academic policies of the University by providing advice to the Council through the Academic Senate;
• determine policies in areas of authority devolved to a Faculty;
• be responsible for the conduct of such academic programs and courses of study as may be determined by the Council from time to time;
• approve new courses and amendments to courses for which it is responsible and submit these for approval to the Academic Senate;
• determine the assessment methods and examination results for subjects or courses for which the Faculty is responsible;
• select students for admission to courses offered by the Faculty, with policy guidelines established from time to time by the Academic Senate;
• advise the Executive Dean on broad budgetary policies, Faculty planning and matters of University policy generally;
• inform the Council on matters concerning the operation of the Faculty which the Board considers require action by the Council;
• exercise the powers and functions conferred on it by the statutes of the University;
• perform such other functions as the Council may from time to time determine.

Membership

All members shall be eligible for reappointment; all shall have voting rights.

Electorates
Academic staff shall be all teaching staff of the Faculty holding appointments of 0.4 and above for twelve months or more, and all other persons whose contribution to the academic programs of the Faculty have been recognised by the award of academic status, and who are members of the Board of School concerned. General staff shall be all non-teaching staff of the Faculty who are employed for at least twelve months at 0.4 time and above. Students shall be all students, full-time or part-time, currently enrolled within a program in the Faculty. The Secretary of the Faculty Board shall be the Returning Officer for all elections to the Faculty Board.
Terms of Office
Elected staff members of the Faculty Board shall hold office for a period of two years. Elected student members shall hold office for a period of one year. All elected members shall be eligible for re-election.
Proxy Members
Elected student and general staff members are entitled to nominate from within their electorate, a proxy member who will have the full status and powers of the primary representative when acting on his or her behalf. Proxy members will be formally identified to the Board, will receive all agenda and minutes of the Faculty Board, and shall be entitled to attend meetings of the Board as observers. A person may be nominated as the proxy for more than one member of the Board.
Rights and Responsibilities
The role of members is to assist the Board to undertake its responsibilities as defined by the Council. In order to fulfil this role, members will need to attend meetings on a regular basis and will need to approach issues from the perspective of the Faculty as a whole. Members may also be required from time to time to serve on ad hoc committees and working parties. Members have the right to place items of business before the Board and to request additional meetings according to the procedures outlined below. They also have the right of access to information about the Faculty's business, which they need to enable them to carry out effectively their role as members of the Board.

Meetings
The Committee will meet on a regular basis, normally bimonthly. Additional special meetings of the Faculty Board may be called at any time by the Executive Dean, or on the request of one of the Schools through its Dean, or any five members of the Faculty Board itself. All meetings of the Faculty Board will be minuted and permanently recorded.

Agenda
The agenda for meetings of the Faculty Board and Faculty Executive will be prepared by the Secretary in consultation with the Executive Dean and will be subject to any guidelines that the Faculty may establish from time to time. Items for the agenda must normally be supported by a digest/discussion paper or other relevant documentation. Wherever possible, the agenda will be circulated to members at least five days prior to the meeting. To ensure that this is feasible, items or documents for the meeting must be submitted to the Secretary at least one full week preceding the meeting. Items submitted after that deadline may be included on the agenda under "Any Other Business". Agenda items for discussion will be starred. The Executive Dean will be responsible for determining which items are to be starred on the agenda as circulated. Members will be given the opportunity at the beginning of each meeting to ask that other items be starred for discussion.
Attendance of observers
Proxy members may attend any meeting of the Board as an observer. Any other staff member or enrolled student of the Faculty may attend a meeting of the Board as an observer, subject to the restrictions set out below with respect to confidential items. Persons intending to attend any meeting as an observer will be expected to give prior notice of their intention to the Secretary. Non-members of the Faculty may attend meetings as observers by invitation of the Executive Dean only. Observers will not normally have speaking rights but, with the approval of the meeting, may be invited to address the meeting.
Confidentiality
The Board will normally meet in open session. At the discretion of the Executive Dean, however, particular items may be treated as confidential. In such cases separate confidential meeting papers will be prepared which will be circulated only to members of the Board. Attendance at meetings during discussion of confidential items will be restricted.
Standing Orders
Motions may be put to the meeting by any member of the Board. Formal motions should be typed or handwritten and forwarded to the Secretary, preferably in advance. Unless agreed otherwise by the Board on any particular occasion, voting will be by show of hands, each member having one vote. The Chairperson will have a deliberative and not a casting vote. In the event of a tied vote, the motion will be deemed defeated.
Quorum
The quorum for any meeting of the Board will be half the members plus one. Decisions taken in the absence of a quorum will have no formal status.

2008 Meeting Dates
21 February
20 March
17 April
16 June
21 August
16 October
18 December

Contact
Michael McKay, Secretary
Phone: +61 8 8201 3913
Fax: +61 8 8201 3905
Email: michael.mckay@flinders.edu.au