Academic Governance
The Academic Board is the principal academic body of the Institute responsible for approving academic proposals and for providing advice on academic policy, academic strategy and academic standards. The Board comprises TEN Members, including the Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Principal Executive Officer (PEO), General Manager (GM), Financial Controller (FC), External University Academic who is a Professor of Engineering, External Health Professional who is a current MBBS qualified doctor, External IT Professional, One academic staff member and one from the student body. Membership also includes ‘such other persons’ approved by the Chief Executive Officer. The Academic Board advises the CEO on matters relating to teaching, scholarship and research and takes decisions on delegation from CEO after consultation. Its purpose is to provide advice on academic policy; approve courses and programs; further and co-ordinate the work of the Faculties and other academic units; and support teaching, scholarship and research.
Academic Board Members for 2011-2016:
Dr. Dilshan Fernando, CEO,
B.Sc(Monash), Dip. Ed(Melb), Dip. Business,
Cert-4 Business, TAA, Cert-3(Auto) (POSITION ON-GOING)
- Recipient of Humanitarian Overseas Service Medal 2006, from the Prime Minister of Australia.
- Recipient of Multicultural Award for Excellence 2010, from the Premier of Victoria, Australia.
- Recipient of Hume City Council Honours 2010.
- Conferred title Deshamanya (Pride of the Nation) Archarriya (Hon. Doctor) from Sri Lanka 2011.
- Former Board of Studies VCE Assessor
- Former Head of Science, MacKillop College
- Former Head of Physics, Westbourne Grammar
- VIEU Union Representative at MacKillop College and Westbourne Grammar School
- 50% shareholder of Australian Education Academy.
Dip. Bus, Dip. Hairdressing, Dip. Management, TAA (POSITION ON-GOING)
- Director shareholder of Australian Education Academy Pty Ltd
- Holder of academic qualifications in Business, Management, Hairdressing and Workplace training.
- Manager of a retail business for five years.
- Manager of a Vocational Education Institute for eight years.
- 50% shareholder of Australian Education Academy Pty Ltd.
Dip Bus, Dip. Man, TAA (5-YEAR POSITION)
- Merchant Banker for ten years
- Manager of a Domestic Airline for five years
- Manager of a Vocational Education Institute for eight years
- Holder of academic qualifications in Business, Management, Workplace training.
B.Sc (Acc), Dip. Bus, Dip Man, TAA (5-YEAR POSITION)
- Senior Financial Controller, UAE (Eight Years)
- Chief Financial Controller, Australian Education Academy (Four Years)
BE(Hons/ Melb Uni), PhD(Melb Uni) (5-YEAR POSITION)
Deputy Head of Electrical, Electronic and Computer Systems Engineering Department, University of Western Australia
- Senior Lecturer, University of Western Australia
- International Conference Presenter
- Author of many International and Australian Journals
- Senior Member of IEEE Australia
- Honours Scholar, University of Melbourne
- Puriton Benett Scholar from University of Melbourne
MBBS (5-YEAR POSITION) Medical Practitioner
- MBBS Medical Practitioner, Victoria, Australia
- Best Academic Performer, Marist Stella College, Negombo
- Third Best Academic Performer (GCE A/L), Gampaha District, Sri-Lanka
- Member of AMC
B.Sc (IT) (5-YEAR POSITION) IT Manager
- DST Globle Solutions, Technical Architect
- B.Sc (IT) qualification holder
- Best Final Year Academic Performer, Moratuwa University, Sri-Lanka.
- Best Academic Performer (GCE A/L), Gampaha District, Sri-Lanka
- Currently studying Cert-3 (Auto Electrical), Dip. Bus and Dip. Man at Australian Education Academy
ACADEMIC BOARD STANDING ORDERS AND RULES OF PROCEDURE
Standing Orders
The Board shall conduct its meetings and other business in accordance with its own rules of procedure and customary practice, subject to the Institute By-laws, allowing all reasonable discretion to its CEO. Customary practice here refers to the process by which the Board's business is conducted through a presiding member (normally the CEO) and proceeds on the basis of resolution. Members should note that in the conduct of Board meetings, all reasonable discretion is allowed to the presiding member.
Rules of Procedure of Meetings of the Academic Board
The following Rules of Procedure shall be implemented by the Board to facilitate the conduct of its business and may be varied by the Board from time to time, as appropriate.
- Schedule of Meetings of the Board
- Duration of Meetings
- Adjournment of Meetings and Maintenance of the Quorum
- Adjourned Meetings of the Board
- Method of Voting at Meetings
- Absence from Meetings of the Board or its Committees
- of the CEO
- of elected members of the Board
- The Board record absences and apologies lodged by a member who is unable to attend a meeting.
- The Board consider granting leave of absence only when a member
- has missed two consecutive meetings, and
- seeks leave (in writing) to miss a third meeting (whether before or after the meeting) giving reasons for each absence.
- The Board may grant leave for one or more meetings, at its discretion. Except in unusual circumstances.
- Preparation of Agendas
- Items for Inclusion on the Agenda
- The order in which Agenda items shall be considered by the Board
- Confidentiality
General Manager shall recommend which items on the agenda are to be presented as confidential and identify any item within a report as confidential, ensuring that the agenda and relevant documentation is clearly marked to that effect, as appropriate.
At the beginning of the Academic Board meeting the agreement of the members shall be sought for the recommendations of the General Manager on which items are confidential.
Confidential items shall be dealt with at the beginning of the meeting, after which Observers will be admitted.
If a confidential item emerges in the course of discussion, after Observers have been admitted, then those Observers shall be requested to leave for the duration of that discussion. Any member who intended to bring before the Board a matter which might be ruled as confidential shall inform the CEO of this intention before the Board meeting.
Members of the Board should be aware that there are limits to the degree of protection they may claim in relation to defamation and maintenance of confidentiality in discussion of Board matters.
- Tabling of Reports at Meetings of the Board
- Motions without Notice
- Notice of Motion
- The rights of members of the Board to place motions on notice on Board agenda.
- Procedures in cases where a Notice of Motion impinges on the subject matter of another item on the same agenda.
- Membership of Academic Board Committees
- Standing Committees
The Academic Board shall normally meet four times per annum. Meetings of the Board shall be held at 10.00am on the first Tuesday of each quarter.
Meetings of the Academic Board shall terminate at the end of two hours unless the members present vote for a continuation of not more than one hour.
The CEO may adjourn an ordinary, an adjourned or a special meeting of the Academic Board in appropriate circumstances, for example, if it was clear that it was unlikely that a quorum would be maintained, a long contentious item of business was about to be discussed, and it seemed advisable that the CEO should adjourn the meeting before commencing discussion on that item rather than cutting off discussion in mid-stream.
The CEO shall not adjourn a meeting to prevent a motion or amendment being put save with the approval of two thirds of the meeting present. This discretion shall not limit any other powers of the CEO to adjourn a meeting.
If a meeting of the Board is adjourned, the CEO shall re-convene the meeting at 10.00am on the Tuesday following the adjourned meeting.
At all meetings of the Board, voting shall be on the voices or, at the discretion of the CEO or on the request of any two members of the Board, by a show of hands.
A ballot may be used only when it is required by an existing resolution of the Board, or at the discretion of the CEO or when the Board is electing members to a committee or office where more than one nomination has been received. When a ballot is taken, it shall be conducted in such form as the CEO may direct provided its secrecy is preserved. The CEO would exercise discretion to take the secret ballot not only on the CEO's own initiative but also if the CEO discerned feeling in the meeting that such a measure was desirable.
A PEO or General Manager shall take the Chair at meetings of the Board in the absence of the CEO. In the case of a meeting of the Board where both CEO and Deputy’s were absent, then the members of the Board shall elect a presiding member from among their number.
At any meeting of a Board Committee, in the absence of the presiding member the members present shall elect a presiding member.
The Academic Board adopted the following policy and procedures for Leave of Absence from meetings of the Academic Board for elected members:
All papers concerning items for consideration for inclusion on the agenda shall be received by the Committee Officer of the Board by the Thursday which falls twelve days before the next meeting of the Board.
The draft agenda and accompanying documents shall be considered and finalised, including determination of agenda items to be starred for discussion and of confidential items, by the General Manager
The finalised agenda and attachments shall be dispatched by the General Manager of the Board on the Wednesday which falls six days before the next meeting of the Board.
In general, agenda items which touch upon significantly common subject matter will be grouped together on an agenda to avoid the possibility of the Board's adopting conflicting resolutions.
The agenda shall include a "Committees" Section to be presented in two parts: Part A to include only those resolutions of its Committees which require action by the Board; Part B to include, by means of subject headings, items for information of the Board.
In exceptional circumstances, the Board may give consideration to a recommendation for the re-ordering of an agenda in order to ensure that major items are considered at a time when it is likely that attendance at the meeting is such that any resolution would reasonably represent the views of a significant proportion of the membership of the Board. Such items would normally be included on the agenda in such a position as to ensure that they were considered early in meetings.
In general, all matters coming before the Board shall be considered first by the General Manager. In exceptional circumstances, reports may be tabled and considered without having first been considered by the General Manager in those cases where the CEO has determined a need for urgency.
The Board shall permit consideration of an item of business or a motion of which prior notice has not been given, provided that two thirds of the members present and voting at the meeting, and the Presiding Member, consent, such permission to be given at the commencement of the meeting at which the matter is to be considered.
Any members of the Board may give notice of a motion, the notice to be supported by such additional material as might be agreed to by the CEO. Members of the Board who might wish to give notice of a motion should, however, be aware of the time constraint involved, including the need to allow for possible consultation with the CEO about the form of the motion. Notices of motion should be included with the main agenda, which is finalised 8 days before the Board meeting. Advice of intention to give notice of a motion should therefore reach the Chief Executive Officer to the Board at least 12 days prior to the Board meeting. The precise wording of the motion, as it is to be put, need not be finalised at that time, although the substance of the intended motion must be clear; the final wording shall not introduce new material.
The CEO would rule a motion out of order and not allow it to be published with the agenda if, following discussion with the member wishing to put the motion on notice, the CEO was satisfied the motion was seriously in breach of confidence within the Institute or may be defamatory. In all other situations the CEO would permit a notice of motion to be published even though the CEO might consider a motion to be out of order. If the CEO considered a published notice of motion to be out of order the CEO could give notice on the agenda that a ruling to this effect would be made when the motion came up for discussion. Such a ruling could, of course, be challenged at the meeting in the normal way.
In all situations where the CEO declined to have a notice of motion circulated in advance of a meeting of the Board, the CEO would report the matter in CEO's Report, ie, the report would be in writing and distributed in advance of the meeting. The CEO's written report would of course be phrased in such a way as to eliminate confidential or possibly defamatory matter.
The question whether a motion on notice was in order, if contested, would in all cases be determined in the normal manner at the meeting of the Board, either at the commencement of the meeting or when the motion came up for discussion. This would include motions withheld from the agenda by the CEO, but such motions, if determined by the Board to be in order, would normally only be open to debate at a subsequent meeting, since the actual wording of such motions would not have been previously made available to the Board.
Where a published notice of motion involved material that was, in the CEO's opinion, defamatory (and legal advice might be sought on this prior to release of the agenda, if time permitted), the CEO might direct that part of the agenda be released only to members of the Board and that only members of the Board be present when the motion was discussed. The record of such discussion might be held, if necessary, in a special minute book, to which access would be restricted. It would be important to observe these procedures in order to be able to claim qualified privilege in the event of legal action being taken for defamation.
When a member of the Board submits a notice of motion, this action might well be taken without knowing what other matters were to be considered at the same meeting. Alternatively, a notice of motion might be intended to have a bearing on another matter on the same agenda. The fact that a motion on notice has a bearing on another matter on the same agenda is no reason for the motion to be declared out of order. The motion might be intended to broaden the scope for discussion on the common subject matter, or to be taken in lieu of an amendment to another motion, an amendment which would otherwise be ruled out of order because it went beyond the substance of the other motion.
Such a motion on notice in no way constrains normal procedures in relation to the other agenda item, either in relation to general conventions on procedure at meetings, or in relation to particular procedures of the Academic Board.
To the extent, however, that a Board resolution on one agenda item and a motion on notice, if carried, might conflict, there would generally be practical advantages in considering the two items as a sequence in the meeting.
The appointment of External Academic Board members to Academic Board Standing Committees occurs at the August Board meeting in every five years.
Nominations for appointment to Standing Committees, including student members and Board members occurs at the August Board meeting in every two years.
Where more nominations are received than there are positions available, an election will be conducted during the August Board and the results reported to the meeting. Ballots shall be conducted in such form as the CEO may direct, provided that the need for confidentiality is preserved.
The Executive Officer will liaise with Faculty Presiding Members and Head of Departments on filling the category of membership that provides for Faculty representation. Where there are insufficient student members of the Academic Board to serve on its Standing Committees, the Executive Officer will liaise with the student association on filling any gaps in representation.
The Standing Committees of the Academic Board are shown below. Invitation to attend Academic Board Meetings can be extended by the CEO to any of the committees below:
Academic Board Standing Committees:
Policy Advisory Committee
Committee on Education
Committee on Academic Research
Diploma and Undergraduate Studies Committee
Council Committees:
Finance Committee
Student Association Committee
Staff Association Committee
Senior Selection Committees:
Head of Department selection committees
Institute Promotion Committees
Campus Manager Selection Committee
General Manager Selection Committee
Other Committees including:
Alumni Scholarships Selection Committee
Academic Excellence Committee
