Professor Brigid Heywood held the first Open VC’s Committee meeting for 2021 on Wednesday 10^th March. Open Committee meetings are held once a month and allow any member of the UNE community to observe the University Executive’s decision making processes in action.

Some key agenda items covered by the Committee on Wednesday were:

• Digital+ – presentation , the Portfolio Charter’ was approved (a portfolio of potential digital projects) required to deliver our Future Fit strategy. This charter will inform Executive prioritisation of funding and business cases related to our digital transformation.
• Graduations in 2021 – Graduations in April and May were cancelled, with a review to occur in the second half of 2021 to consider a variety of options.
• Research review – is underway as a part of Time for Change. The information gathering to underpin the potential changes that are needed to address UNE’s knowledge creation function will commence with a series of workshops across April and May.
• Boyden’s Recruitment are supporting the open recruitment process of executive positions, including new Deans for SABL and Medicine and Health. The contribution of the previous and currently acting office holders were acknowledged.
• There will be further rounds of the Bevington Review across the organisation to review business processes, starting with the UNE Legal office. This does not mean further workplace change, but a review to add value to how we work as an organisation.
• HEPPP projects are now approved and will be announced to the applicants this week.

All staff are encouraged to attend – one guest observer noted:

“Having listened to the description of the Digital+, I understood through a detailed example not only how Digital+ will operate at UNE, but also how Future Fit and the new way of working at UNE will operate. This is an exciting program that includes research in a whole of institution strategy that responds in a contemporary way to the engagement that UNE requires with our students, partner organisations and UNE profile into the future.”

To join the next meeting register here.