Research at SPH

Strategic Plan Implementation

Governance Structure

Head of School Colleen.fisher@uwa.edu.au 13 October 2015Prof Colleen Fisher

• Background • What did we want to find out• Process • Findings - School processes

• Fostering interaction & Collaboration• Supporting PhD & ECRs• Particular Issues for T&R Staff• Raising the Profile of SPH Research & Researchers

• Findings – School organisation• Findings – School incentive scheme• Findings – School research governance structure• Findings – Other actions• Strategic Plan Implementation - Governance

Outline

3

Number of committees involved in pre discussions

4

Number of Weeks for consultation

16

hours face to face consultations

20

individual consultations (plus1 Group Consultation (Thank you Tom)

28

Action Items arising from process

Infinite

The possibilities

At A Glance

• Changes in course structure at UWA

• Increasingly competitive research funding environment

• School Strategic Plan 2014-2018 – Research & Research Training Objectives

• Research discussed at last WoS meeting – invited staff to be involved in ‘reinvigorating’ research

Background

• Fostering researchers to feel connected, develop and grow their research programmes and supporting HDR students to engage collegially.

• Optimal School governance structure and administrative processes to support this.

• Role of workload model to support this • Is the current suite of incentives appropriate to support and

grow research within the School?

 

Consultation Addressed the following:

Process

Discipline Employment Type Employment Level FTE

Social Work 2 T&R 10 Level A/B/C * 16 Full time 11

Public Health 18 Research 10 Level D/E * 4 Part time 8

  Other 1

Total 20   20   20   20

* Or professional staff level approximate equivalent

Findings – School Processes

Actions:• A 6 monthly collaboration event be organized to foster

collaboration within the School through activity/ies that enable staff to engage with each other on topics relevant to research interests/plans/expertise/ideas.

• The Head of School develop and run OST session to enable researchers to have greater understanding of the research interests/expertise of others

• Staff be encouraged to keep ‘keywords’ reflecting their research interest/methodological expertise up-to-date on the UWA website.

• The research committee assumes responsibility for overseeing, monitoring, enhancing and progressing research collaboration within the School

1. Fostering Interaction & Collaboration

Actions:• The Research Committee keeps abreast of visiting scholars to WA

and investigates the potential for their participation in a school presentation or similar activity or deeper engagement.

• The Research Committee work with researchers who show interest in bringing collaborators to UWA to facilitate the process.

• The Research Committee will include an advisory group of (3?)successful researchers who hold an adjunct appointment with SPH and, potentially, representatives from research institutes (eg, TKI) and/or members representing the research interests of the School research groups. The role of the advisory group is to provide strategic advice and direction to the Research Committee on enhancing collaboration, partnerships and networks nationally and internationally. The Advisory Group would join Research Committee meetings quarterly.

1. Fostering Interaction & Collaboration

Actions:• A standing ‘Capacity Building’ Sub-Committee of the Research

Committee be formed

• The Research Committee to form a working party to examine the appetite for, and benefits and merits of, a more formal mentoring scheme within the School. If identified that such a scheme was favoured, the research committee should make recommendations about the model and potential for a ‘mentor award’ – similar to our current citizenship prize.

• The Post-Doctoral/ECR Coordinator will have membership on the Research Committee

2. Supporting PhD Students & ECRs

Actions:• The Head of School to form a Working Party

to examine current workload model for continued relevance and, if deemed necessary, propose alternate model. This should include consideration of a structure whereby academic staff have support for administrative functions related to their teaching freeing up time for research related activities.

• Individual Teaching and Research academics encouraged to explore buy-out options (including marking buy-out and, potentially teaching buy-out should suitable and equivalent arrangements be available) that would free up time for research activities.

3. Particular Issues for T&R Staff

Actions:• Staff should be encouraged to nominate for membership of GRPs

and RCs of funding bodies

• Enhance reputation of School and individual researcher

• Strategic for School

4. Raising the Profile of SPH Research & Researchers

Findings – School Organisation

Actions:• The School to adopt a research group structure where

researchers are encouraged to affiliate with one or more research groups within the School. A review should be undertaken after a relevant period (eg 1-2 years) to ascertain whether or not it is meeting the needs of researchers and facilitating research activity within the School and facilitating engagement and collaboration/networks nationally and internationally

• The Research Committee will have a ‘watching brief’ over collaboration within the School (and beyond) in an attempt to mitigate against research silos and, if it is apparent that a trend is developing in this regard, develop and submit a case for the implementation of strategies/activities etc to the Head of School.

 

Findings – School Organisation

Actions:• The Research Committee will form a working group to provide

direction and recommendations on how research groups will be defined/formed/named, parameters of potential benefits (if any) to flow to research groups and other related matters.

• Competitive research grant success be recognized at Whole of School meetings.

Findings – School Organisation (cont)

Findings – School Incentive Scheme

Actions:

The research committee• take responsibility for identifying conditions that more fully reflect

the ranking of a journal and make recommendations as to re-wording of the conditions whereby staff member first author has publication charges for manuscripts paid by the School.

• work with the School Manager/Finance Officer to calculate the financial cost of extending the $3,000 available for grant application support (maximum $5,000 per researcher in a calendar year as CIA) to include state-based and other competitive grants, to the provision of seeding funding for pilot projects and for the development of across-school partnerships where researchers are working with external agencies in the development of a grant that includes those external agencies as partners and make recommendations to the Head of School.

Findings – School Incentive Scheme

Actions:• The Research Committee to take responsibility for developing the

conditions for a prize $250 plus certificate for research that has greatest translation impact and consider whether this prize should have two winners – Level A/B academics and Level C/D academics.

• Prize for Publications prize (both levels A/B and C/D) conditions be changed to align with those developed for School payment of publication charges.

• The research committee will take responsibility for identifying conditions that more fully reflect the dissemination of peer reviewed research findings and amend the conditions for the Prize for Peer-reviewed SPH Publications (Level A/B and Level C/D) accordingly.

 

Findings – School Incentive Scheme

Actions:

 

Miscellaneous Incentive Scheme-Related Actions:• Remove the Travel and Conference (Safety Net) Award as it does

not encourage research activity

• Change “Participation in Public Health Associations” to be an incentive for committee level involvement across a range of National Level Professional Associations (eg, PHAA, AASW, AEA)

Findings – School Incentive Scheme

Findings – School Research Governance

Structure

Action:

• A single research committee will be formed within the School with

clear accountability and reporting to the Head of School through Finance and Strategic Planning. Executive support will be provided to the Research Committee which will meet monthly. The Research Committee Advisory Group will join research committee meetings quarterly.

Findings – School Research Governance Structure

Findings – School Research Governance Structure

• Identify strategic research priorities and form working parties to deliver time limited agreed outcomes

• Oversee and foster collaboration within the school/across the university and beyond (national and international)

• Build research capacity • Membership of working parties• Standing items:

• Reports from research groups• Progression of SPH Strategic Plan Implementation (R&RT

related goals)• Feedback from Faculty Research Committee Meetings

Findings – School Research Governance Structure

• Proposed Research Committee Membership• Chair, Research Coordinator (HoS Nominee)

(Prof Liz Geelhoed)• Head of School• Leader of each research group• PLUTUS Co-ordinator (Prof Angus Cook)• Graduate Research Coordinator (Assist Prof

Sue Young)• Post-Doc Coordinator (Assoc Prof Tom Briffa/

Lisa Wood)• Chair of any convened working party for its duration• Other staff nominated by the Chair co-opted for their special

expertise in research

• Administrative Officer (Executive Officer) (Ms Fiona Maley)

Findings – School Research Governance Structure

Findings – Other Actions

• Incorporate research across the school into teaching more effectively through a systematic approach of identifying research expertise through mapping ‘what we teach’ against ‘what we research’.

• Improve outcomes for coursework (undergraduate and postgraduate) students through mentoring research intensive staff regarding differences between lectures and conference presentations.

• Investigate the financial impact of the School providing a percentage top up for SPH staff who are CIA on a successful UWA research collaboration award

Findings – Other Actions

Thank you to all who participated in the consultation process

A special thank you to:

• Prof Matthew Knuimann – Chair Research Leaders’ Committee• Prof Angus Cook – Chair, Research Development Committee

Your contributions have been highly valued.

Don’t’ forget seminar next Tuesday:

Prof John Challis – WA HTN – a very

Important initiative we must be involved in.

Thank You

Strategic Plan Implementation -

Governance

Strategic Plan Implementation - Governance

PEOP PL AE R

T& N

ER RE SS HO IU PR SCES

Research & Research TrainingTeaching & Learning

Champions

SPH Strategic Plan 2014-2018

Marketing

Strategic Plan Working Party Finance & Strategic Planning

Head of School

Teaching Executive Committee/ TLG Research Committee Marketing Committee

Strategic Plan Implementation - Governance

Baseline Data New Activities/Initiatives in Support of Achievement Sources of Data to Indicate Achievement

1. Minutes of TEC/TLG (all)2. Teaching Plan (1.5)

Questions? Comments?