Comparability of academic support

Sunway campus holds budget responsibility for all academic and non-academic units.  It holds line management responsibility for all staff of the campus.  However, Monash student and staff experiences need to be reasonably comparable across campuses, and this extends to the services of divisions and the library.  Mechanisms have been devised and implemented at Sunway campus to achieve comparable services.  These involve mentoring and providing oversight, and exclude control.  Detail follows.

1. Inter-campus partnerships
   
   • This is a mentoring arrangement between two staff in matching key areas, one at Sunway campus and one in the corresponding division.  The scheme is documented and a list of pairings is available here.
     
     
2. Representation on the relevant campus committee
   

   • Major campus administrative units each receive advice through a service unit committee.  This provides a collegial forum at which stakeholders may guide the unit (including staff, students, divisional directors, and Sunway group staff).

   • Shareholder staff members of campus committees may guide and advise, but may not control, support services.  Shareholder control of MUSCM in non-academic matters is appropriately exercised through shareholder meetings and via the Board.
   • To facilitate remote access and audit, committee terms of reference, membership, agenda and minutes are all on-line, and hardcopy is avoided.
     
     
3. Annual Development Plan (ADP) and Service Level  Statement (SLS)
   
   • Each campus unit annually develops an ADP and  SLS for consultation via the relevant campus committee.  These documents only concern the unit’s services provided to the campus community, not services provided by a division to the campus.
   • The ADP and SLS documents record the consultative process, and bear the signatures of the head of unit and group director.
   • Finalised ADP and SLS documents are to be published on units’ websites (internet).
   • There are no service level agreements between the campus and shareholder divisions, since externally-sourced services are specified in corporate-level agreements where appropriate.  This avoids time-consuming SLA negotiations. 

Professor Robin Pollard

Pro Vice-Chancellor and President, Malaysia

version date: 17 January 2011