Planning Forums

Timetable

The Executive of the College of Arts and Social Sciences believes that, if we are to achieve our full potential in teaching and research excellence, we must ensure that there is greater integration of the disciplines represented across the College.

This is particularly essential if we are to excel in the Excellence in Research for Australia assessment to be conducted from 2009 onwards.

We believe also that there needs to be greater collaboration across the College in the development of courses and programs and more integrated planning for new staffing appointments College areas.

To progress these matters, we will be conducting a series of planning forums with the disciplines that are represented across the College: for example, sociology, history, political science, philosophy, literary studies, curatorial studies.

The purpose of these forums will be to:

• Set the priorities for development of the discipline in the next three to five year period, and in particular identify those areas on which the discipline should focus to ensure its continuing research excellence and leadership, nationally and internationally;
  
• Consider the areas of current and potential excellence in the teaching, higher degree research supervision and research of the discipline;
  
• To determine how to position the discipline to be distinctive nationally;
  
• Recommend ways by which our education programs can be further developed within the discipline, including by collaborative teaching across the College, to take advantage of our research expertise;
  
• Develop proposals for postgraduate course work programs that will position the College as a leader in postgraduate education nationally;
  
• Recommend strategies for further enhancing research collaboration;
  
• Identify the staffing and other resources needed to achieve these goals.

All staff of the College will be invited to take part in these forums, which will also involve national and international scholars in the relevant field. Members of the Executive (or their nominees) will convene the forums. Recommendations that emerge from the forums will be considered by the College Executive, with the College Dean responsible for their incorporation into our Strategic Plan.

We look forward to your active engagement in this exciting planning which will help us set strategic directions for the future of the College.

Professor Toni Makkai
Dean & Chair, College Executive

June 2008