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From the President
I do hope that everyone has had a successful and positive O’Week and start of the Academic Year for 2015! It is such an important time for so many students, and especially those coming to university for the first time – transition from the familiarity of home and friends to the unfamiliarity of community living and so many new faces; from school, regional areas, inter-state, or from overseas. Our residences can make all the difference in helping young lives adjust to the whole new world of tertiary study and life!
National Census
Over the holiday period, Tertiary Balance brought together and finalised the National Census, with the draft reviewed by representatives of UCA (myself and Carla Tromans), the Commonwealth Department of Education and AACUHO. It is currently with the Department for discussion with the Minister prior to release, we hope, within the next month. There has been a number of sources referenced in the report bibliography, including past research papers and reports prepared by some past and current members, and we hope to have most if not all of these archived and available to members on our website as soon as possible.
Conferences
Preparation is underway for our Mini-Conference to be held this year at University House ANU from Wednesday 30 September to Friday 2 October. This will be ‘Floriade’ time in Canberra and there is for many a long weekend from 3-5 October. Some of our members attended the inaugural Collegiate Way Conference at Durham University last November, at which it was determined to have a second conference in 2016. ANU sought and has been given host responsibility for the Conference, most likely to be held around late June/early July. It will make sense for our Conference next year to be aligned with the CW Conference. This will be a wonderful opportunity to share our college experiences with colleagues from across the globe! More details to come.
Head changes
We welcome Professor Mark Harrison as Principal of Jane Franklin Hall, University of Tasmania, following the retirement and great work of Mr Michael Scanlan. Michael was originally Business Manager at Jane from 2000 before taking on the role as Principal in 2008. Mark is an international lawyer and a former diplomat. Ms Marion Stanton, Head of Bruce Hall ANU, leaves this month to take up a position in Canberra as Director of Government Relations with ‘Save the Children’. Marion has been a much loved Head of Bruce for the past 6 years; she is an alumna of the Hall and of the ANU, and was once Deputy to the late Bill Packard. She will be greatly missed. The University has appointed Dr Rochelle Wilkins Tate from Akron, Ohio USA, as the new Head. Deputy Head, Tim Mansfield, will be Acting Head of Bruce in the meantime.
We are keen to look at ways of further encouraging our Deputies and Deans in their work, and I hope we will soon have a proposal about some particular support for future leaders in our profession.
With warm best wishes,
(Dr) Ian Walker
Collegiate Way - a conference report
Colleges work! But why do they work? And how might they work better?
Held at the Durham University Colleges last November,the Collegiate Way 2014 conference was the first international conference of its kind to bring together in conversation representatives from the widest possible range of Colleges worldwide to promote best practice. Dr Mark Ryan's book A Collegiate Way of Living contributed much to the Conference's title and to its rationale. The major theme that permeated the keynote and discussion sessions was the college as a scholarly community and the way in which this can be embedded in the culture of colleges and the host university. Details of the Collegiate Way 2016 Conference, to be held at the ANU in Canberra will be forthcoming in future e-news.
Save the date
UCA Mini-Conference 2015: Wednesday 30 September - Friday 2 October, 2015. University House at ANU.
Member Advice & Resources:
Access to IAS Grants for Indigenous students
Advice from Peter McDonald, Tertiary Balance: Under the previous Australian Government Indigenous Tutorial Assistance Scheme (ITAS) program (an initiative of the former Federal Labor Government), affiliated residential colleges were not permitted to access funding to pay for tutors employed directly by the college to provide special tutorial (one to one) assistance to Indigenous and Torres Strait Islander students in residence. The ITAS program was replaced by the Abbott Government's Indigenous Advancement Strategy (IAS) and all future funding of this sort will be via IAS. A Senior Adviser from the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet has now confirmed that in any future IAS funding rounds the affiliated colleges will have the ability to put forward applications for grant funding for direct employment of tutors for this purpose.
Legal Employment Status of RA's
Peter McDonald's advice on the legal employment status of College RAs can be found here.
GST Tool and misreporting of student meals
UCA requested advice from Peter McDonald on the circumstances in which colleges and halls that have elected to use the ATO's Residential Colleges GST Tool to determine how much Goods and Services Tax (GST) to remit to the ATO, have a taxation liability if they fail to report bundled student meals to the Tool. Catered colleges potentially exposed to this issue are those that have elected to use the GST Tool and have answered 'No' to question 17 in the contracts worksheets in cases where students are subject to mandatory charges for meals. Find Peter McDonald's advice here, or contact the Executive Officer to request a copy of this advice by return email.
Member Benefits:
Conference and Research Paper Grants
A reminder that Members are invited to apply for a UCA grant of $500 to support attendance at a Conference or Workshop. Additionally, the Association will financially support a Member who is preparing a research paper or conducting research of relevance to UCA. See further details.
Should you have difficulty with the initial 'login' process at the Members Section of our website, please contact Deborah Pugh at Executive Officer who can set up the initial login for you.
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