VOLUME 6
No. 1
PP324494/0062
The Australasian
The Australasian
Adbourne PUBLISHING
www.adbourne.com 18/69 Acacia Road Ferntree Gully, VIC 3156 PO Box 735, Belgrave, VIC 3160
Contents
Melbourne Office Neil Muir Ph: (03) 9758 1433 Fax: (03) 9758 1432 Email: neil@adbourne.com
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Message from AACUHO
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AACUHO 2011 Conference Program
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Adelaide Office Robert Spowart Ph: 0488 390 039 Email: robert@adbourne.com
Message from AHAUCHI / University Colleges Australia
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Vision and the Universals
Production Claire Henry Tel: (03) 9758 1436 Email: production@adbourne.com
Cyber bullying: a contemporary challenge for colleges
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Change and Continuity on Campus
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Administration Robyn Fantin Tel: (03) 9758 1431 Email: admin@adbourne.com Marketing Tania Lamanna Tel: (03) 9500 0285 Email: tlamanna@bigpond.net.au
Transformation From a Volunteer Residential Assistants Team to an Effective Housing Assistants University Staff Team
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The Best Practice Boardroom
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The Internet Is Leaving Students Wanting More – But are you prepared to deliver it?
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Cyber Age Residences
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Growing through grief
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The Australasian Student Residences Management Journal is published by Adbourne Publishing in conjunction with AACUHO, the Australasian Association of College and University Housing Officers Inc., and UCA, University Colleges Australia.
Front cover: Image courtesy of Campus Living Villages showcasing their new student accommodation constructed on Edith Cowan University’s Mount Lawley Campus.
Matthew Stanley Foundation – A fun night out can turn dangerous and violent in a single breath
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Taking a cultural audit
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So What’s In The Mix For Advancement/ Development?
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Product News
DISCLAIMER Adbourne Publishing cannot ensure that the advertisers appearing in The Australasian Student Residences Management Journal comply absolutely with the Trades Practices Act and other consumer legislation. The responsibility is therefore on the person, company or advertising agency submitting the advertisement(s) for publication. Adbourne Publishing and The Australasian Student Residences Management Journal reserve the right to refuse any advertisement without stating the reason. No responsibility is accepted for incorrect information contained in advertisements or editorial. The editor reserves the right to edit, abridge or otherwise alter articles for publication.
AACUHO
All original material produced in this magazine remains the property of the publisher and cannot be reproduced without authority. The views of the contributors and all submitted editorial are the author’s views and are not necessarily those of the Australasian Association of College and University Housing Officers, or the publisher.
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Message from AACUHO
I
t is with a sense of great anticipation that I write this article as we are only a few weeks out from our Annual Conference to be held this year at the Amora Hotel in Wellington, New Zealand. A little extra challenge there, having the hotel change its name part way through our organisational
process. We have an outstanding program in place for the delegates and we know it will be both professionally and personally rewarding for all those who attend. I would like to express my sincere thanks once again to the corporate business partners who have signed up in support of our association once again. We have many long standing partners who have stood the test of time and we really do appreciate their dedication and we look forward to being able to support them in their business endeavours in the future. It would be remiss of me not to mention Starnet Starez at this point who are, once again, our Platinum Sponsors. I know many of us enjoy particularly the presence of Adele and Con at our conferences, your generosity and support of our association has been second to none, and we thank you sincerely for this. The AACUHO Committee has met numerous times since our last conference in Brisbane and we continue to address issues of relevance to our members. In 2010 we undertook an externally facilitated strategic planning day at Queens College in Melbourne. The say was an outstanding success and gave us significant direction in where we wanted concentrate our energies for the future of AACUHO. One of the most significant changes to come out of this session was to move away from a Secretariat position into a formalised Executive Officer Role. I am please to say that as of early this year AACUHO has employed Julia Wilson in this role. Julia comes to us with many years experience in the higher education sector of NSW including working with a Faculty Alumni Association not dissimilar to our membership style association. Julia will be attending the conference and we hope that as many of you as possible are able to meet with her during this event. Julia is going to be a wonderful resource for our association and has already begun her work in earnest. It is with some sadness that I approach this conference as it will be an end of an era for myself. I have served on the AACUHO Committee since 2004 in various roles including the last two years as President. I have found this time to be extremely challenging at times and always professionally rewarding. The aspect that will remain in my mind the longest however are the “relationships and conversations� I have had and built up with so many people over the last eight years and I trust that will continue well into the future. I wish the new office bearers, committee members and the association a fond farewell and all the best in your future aspirations. In closing I would like to thank all of those people who have made our Trans Tasman Conference a reality in particular, Michelle Kane (PCO) Colin Marshall, Edwina Ellicott, Simon Roughton, Nick Merrett, Christine Jones and the AACUHO Committee for their constant support and encouragement. Look forward to catching up with you all very soon.
Warm regards, Simon Scott B.A. MLM Ed
AACUHO
AACUHO President Head Halls of Residence, UQ Gatton
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The Australasian Student Residences Management Journal
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Message from AHAUCHI / University Colleges Australia
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eld in Sydney in September 2010, the annual AHAUCHI Conference and Annual General Meeting were occasions for considerable constructive discussion about the future role and purpose of the Association.
Keen to project a clear, positive and proactive image, members of the Association voted to change the name of the Association to University Colleges Australia, to accept a new website and to create a new membership category of Associate Members for which senior members of college administrations would be eligible. Members of the Executive of University Colleges Australia meet monthly and in their December 2010 meeting agreed that their work in 2011 would focus on four main themes:
• • • •
National Collegiality National Advocacy National Identity College Leadership
In addressing these themes, members of the Executive will visit and meet with colleagues around Australia, continue to compile data relevant to the experience of college residents and which can be used to showcase and promote the role of colleges, publish a marketing magazine which can be used for marketing purposes and communicate regularly with members through newsletters and the website. Of course, the Association will also continue to provide professional support to its members, particularly those who are new to their role. The Association also continues to make submissions to various government departments on behalf of members. The new website was launched earlier this year and has significant potential as a source of information for members. It is our hope that members will not only turn to the website for information, but will also actively contribute to its content through the submission of articles, news items and photos. Moving forward, University Colleges Australia needs to develop greater certainty around the issue of conference organisation. The formation of a conference organising committee and the establishment of a conference schedule are being considered by the Executive which will communicate with members as proposals take shape. I am delighted to be attending the 2011 AACUHO Conference in Wellington as the representative of University Colleges Australia and wish the conference organisers all the very best for a successful conference.
Barbara Green President, University Colleges Australia
Vision and the Universals Dr. Philip Dutton
When we think of vision we normally think of the future. We think of the possibilities in the short and medium terms and, if possible, more far reaching terms in both time and integrity of vision. What is meant by integrity here is a view of our raison d’etre that may extend but still fit our nature and purpose. However, there is an indisputable link between our past and our future when defining vision. Those who were able forty years ago to envisage key elements of life today – in multiculturalism, globalism, information technology and telecommunications – had vision. At unprecedented rates of change in all these things, vision as such speed must become more blurry. Equally important, therefore, are the constant values – the universals – that may underpin our vision and provide a viewing platform for future endeavours.
Arising from the Past The past, the history of your hall and university colleges generally is critically important in informing vision. From your foundation vision to your current initiatives, the College has already pursued a course of development and a set of ideals that gives shape to our vision. We belong to a history that dates back to the very first university college in our tradition, to 1260AD and the establishment of Merton College at Oxford
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University, and further back in the spirit of Shared Learning to ancient times, to the story of Mentor in Homer’s Odyssey and even earlier to the way we learned before we learned. In short, Colleges have within their deep roots an intrinsic connection to a universal and timeless understanding that learning is handed up from one generation to another, generations of families, generations of communities, cultures and generations of students. This is the informal learning, freely shared, that takes place outside the lecture theatre amongst university students and especially those who live together in college, sharing time, sharing notes, sharing ideas and sharing direct experience. This is fundamentally what it means to be collegiate. Whether in college or not, it means simply to share our learning and to appreciate in any academic context that sharing is a process of exchange, of reciprocation, of mutual support. This key attribute, shared learning, also defines a college as a learning community. as distinct from a community where students learn. Students in college are not just seen as receivers but also as givers in a collegiate community that is all about learning, learning from each other, learning about life, about leading and leadership and ultimately about the betterment of mankind. Therefore, what are some universal characteristics of such a learning community?
1. Engagement in active learning and inquiry This is characterized by healthy, robust and lively discussion and debate. A collegiate learning community is tolerant of ambiguity and respectful of disagreement in its vigorous pursuit of knowledge and understanding both independently and collaboratively. Such a community seeks the highest standards of academic excellence through co-operation and intellectual honesty and celebrates creativity through art, performance and appreciation.
2. Challenge and growth A residential learning community brings together young adults with purpose who are in their youthful prime to prepare themselves for an independent professional life of higher learning and leadership. It brings together people with varying experiences from a variety of cultures and perspectives to experience the creative friction and the www.adbourne.com
benevolent reflective pressure created in contact with difference. Opportunities for leadership and the exploration of leadership for the future abound for individuals in such a powerful community environment of freedom, equality and responsibility.
3. Freedom of expression Without harming others, a learning community encourages free expression of widely varying views and challenges assumptions and values.
4. Mutual respect and civility In a learning community, differences are prized and celebrated and differences are never seen as personal affronts.
5. Concern for others In a true learning community, where learning experiences are shared, members care about their fellows, encourage their achievements, support each other when assistance is needed and emphasize co-operation above competition.
6. Shared responsibility for the community A learning community requires honesty, high integrity and personal responsibility and expects that all members will be equally accountable to one another for living up to these values especially by collaborating in order to solve community problems.
7. Friendship and fun In a learning community members make close and lifelong friendships arising from the experience of shared living and learning. The opportunities to meet new people, relax and to both enjoy each other’s company and celebrate achievements represent the hallmarks and memory making moments of college life.
8. Connection to the larger community A learning community may at times seem steeped in the academic requirements of the day but cannot accomplish its mission without meaningful links with the broader community which it serves, locally, nationally and globally and ultimately the future of the one world in which we all live together. The Australasian Student Residences Management Journal
9. Affirmation of collegiate values In a learning community, members come together through Convocation, Commencement, annual events and activities as well as alumni interaction to attest to these values and to remind all members, past and present, of their connections with the College, with each other and the continued realization of their own potential as leaders in their field, their family and the future.
10. Shared learning Above all, in a learning community predominantly made up of full time students in higher education, knowing that the challenges of learning are best faced together as a shared experience brings the greatest benefits of learning itself. To communicate one’s own learning to or with others helps aligns and confirms learning at deeper levels. Genuine interest and active support in the learning of others serves best of all the learning experience of the one who shares and supports fellows.
Conclusion In conclusion, learning happens best in communities as a convivial activity despite the need at necessary times to study hard in isolation simply to engage a study load and deadlines. It is best seen as a shared activity in a collegial, communal and convivial setting. This goes to the very heart of what it means to be collegiate because the word collegium refers not so much to places, institutions or even houses but to societies and communities where learning is more likely to best take place. The Burgmann College Vision Statement is set out below:
To create a highly sustainable College environment where students can come to know themselves and their strengths academically and in a range of creative and shared residential experiences as a memorable prelude to a full and satisfying life professionally and personally as leaders in their field and as lasting contributors to the lives of their fellow human beings.
Dr. Philip Dutton is the Principal of Burgmann College - ANU.
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Cyber bullying:
a contemporary challenge for colleges LISA OLDHAM | Solicitor, McInnes Wilson Lawyers
T
he notion of cyber bullying is typically associated with school aged children and teenagers. However the rise of technology, and its increasing misuse by young people, has shone a light on the response by administrators of colleges and student residences to this problem. Where the law is inadequate, responsibility has fallen on these administrators to carry out the dual functions of one, addressing cyber bullying and protecting their residents and two, taking action to avoid liability and protect the interests of the college. This is no easy task.
What is a College’s Duty of Care? Cyber bullying is a multidimensional problem and colleges owe a similarly complex duty of care. A college owes a duty of care to various parties, including:
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To residents: To provide a place of accommodation which maintains the health, safety, welfare and best interests of residents.
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To fee payers: To ensure the accommodation provided, and the administration of same, is to a standard measurable to the fees paid.
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To staff members: To honour an employer’s duty of care to provide a workplace free of discrimination, harassment and bullying.
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To the wider community: To accommodate and develop young people in an environment that satisfies community expectations and which does not detrimentally impact on the wider community.
What is Cyber Bullying? At a primary level, cyber bullying is one person causing harm to another using technology. This may be by the computer, internet or mobile phones. Cyber bullying may cause physical or psychological harm to a victim; extreme situations have resulted in victims of cyber bullying taking their own lives. Cyber bullying may be perpetrated by one student against another, between members of staff, by a student against a member of staff (and vice versa) or by a student, staff member or third party against the college or institution itself. A college may become a victim of cyber bullying through acts of defamation or computer hacking. Cyber bullying may be a continuation of harassment or may be an isolated attack in itself. An extension on traditional face-to-face bullying or harassment, cyber bullying presents a unique challenge to administrators due to issues of jurisdiction, anonymity of offenders, the prevalence of technology, a lack of targeted legal responses and the rapid growth and exposure of technology particularly to tertiary students. As quickly as responses are developed the technology presents a new challenge. The Australasian Student Residences Management Journal
A college may be negligent if they breach a duty of care. Unlike schools, whose duty of care is generally restricted to between 9am and 3pm, a college owes an extended duty of care given the 24 hour responsibility owed to residents. This effectively reduces the distinction between “school time” and “home time” which may be claimed by a school to reduce their liability. The circumstances of student residences also raises further questions of duty of care. In particular, technology use in common areas (including bedrooms and bathrooms) and unmonitored or unrestricted use of college provided resources. Another unique situation facing some college administrators are the two hats they must wear.
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The first is to provide residents with a modern, functional and maintained residential facility; it is commonly accepted nowadays that this includes the provision of internet services.
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The second is to fulfil the statutory obligations as a “controller” of internet services and to ensure that use of the internet services is appropriate. >
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Cyber bullying:
a contemporary challenge for colleges (cont’d) < It is the second function that leaves administrators vulnerable to computer hacking, misuse and other unauthorised, harmful manipulation of their internet services. The conundrum for administrators is balancing the expectation to provide internet services with avoiding unnecessary risks to students, administrators and the entity itself.
What is the Legal Response? Given the serious harm which may be caused to a victim of cyber bullying, the courts have shown a willingness to apply general criminal and civil laws to cyber bullying. These include application of assault, stalking, defamation, misuse of mobile phones and child pornography laws to cyber bullying complaints. There are a number of problems with the law’s response to cyber bullying.
1. One, the law has not developed new responses targeted to cyber bullying and has therefore been plagued by problems in applying general legal principles to technology situations.
2. Two, it is often inappropriate for the general criminal and civil law to be applied to cyber bullying behaviours; for example, teenagers who send and receive explicit content by mobile phones may be caught by child pornography laws and consequently registered as child sex offenders.
3. Three, pursuing an offender through the legal system is a timely and costly exercise and can cause undue stress for everyone involved. Despite this, persons pursuing a legal claim for cyber bullying are not guaranteed a favourable outcome. Cyber bullying is not a strictly legal problem and a wholistic approach is necessary. This requires all members of the college community to become involved and for practical responses to substantiate legal avenues. While the law is slowly acting on technology misuse, a blend of social, psychological and practical measures are being applied by stakeholders, particularly administrators of schools, colleges and student residences.
What can Colleges Do? Where the law fails to address cyber bullying, administrators and housing officers must accept responsibility for identifying, addressing and preventing these behaviours. This action is not only required to exercise the duty of care owed but to address the tangible problems colleges face from cyber bullying. This can include low resident morale, poor interpersonal relationships, an unhealthy culture, damage to brand and reputation, high turnover and low enrolment numbers. These are only some of the impacts that may be felt as a result of cyber
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bullying among students; the effects to staff and the college itself are equally widespread and damaging. Steps that an administrator or housing officer may take include:
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Educating all members of the college community about appropriate online behaviour;
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Devising, reviewing and updating the college’s technology policies;
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Ensuring the college has robust firewalls, software and procedures to protect the veracity of the internet services provided;
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Impartially and consistently applying technology policies in all relevant circumstances;
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Monitoring technology use to detect problems and encourage early reporting of incidents;
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Counselling all members of the college community in appropriate behaviour, college policy and legal ramifications;
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Clarifying circumstances in which referral to external parties, including the police, should be made regarding cyber bullying incidents;
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Ensuring reporting of cyber bullying is made to the college, university or other hierarchy, including details of action taken and recommendations made.
There is no easy response to cyber bullying. Technology is an unavoidable phenomenon and residential colleges can not compete if they do not provide internet services for their residents; similarly, given the wider technological community colleges operate in, technology impacts on all aspects of their operation. Despite these obstacles, administrators and officers can take steps to reduce their liability. Through a combination of practical and common sense steps, cyber bullying can be minimised and risks to students, staff, administrators and the residential entity avoided.
Conclusion Technology is an integral part of a student’s tertiary and college experience. Removing or restricting technology use will not address the inherent problems in cyber bullying for either victims or colleges. In short, cyber bullying cannot be avoided and the law does not provide an adequate response. Responsibility falls to administrators and officers to protect their students and the college’s interest. This does not require arduous or oppressive action, but practical and common sense steps taken in a reasonable way. This will provide the basis for a college avoiding a claim of failing to address cyber bullying in their residence. Addressing cyber bullying will also maintain the morale, brand, reputation and identity of the college and progress the college in today’s technological climate. n
This article is adapted from Lisa’s paper entitled “Teenagers and Technology: A Contemporary Threat Confronting Our Schools”. Lisa will be presenting on cyber bullying and liability issues for administrators of colleges and student residences at the upcoming AACUHO Annual Conference to be held in Wellington and scheduled for 28 – 30 April 2011.
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Change and Continuity on Campus Dr. IVAN HEAD
The other day I was sent a YouTube link to a video used by Sony Executives at an annual training session. It stressed the extraordinarily rapid rate of change in the realm of information technology. It implied that everything was out of date as soon as it was invented or learned! It did assert that a student would find by year 4 of their degree program that what they had learned in year 1 was already was out of date and that the world had changed and moved on. On that basis one wonders why one would begin.
octopus?) to manually plug and unplug a maze of connecting cables on a “switchboard” that led to a few phones scattered around the college.
S
In the mid-90s, sport, however passionately pursued, tended towards a certain anarchic volatility. While always vigorous, and an entirely student-driven program, it often led to the politicisation of contested points and tribunals, and the competition was subject to varying level of professionalism in terms of venue and amenity hire. Many things would vary from year to year, depending on the different ability levels of student convenors. When it was good, it was very very good and when it was average, it was appalling. A number of venues became off limits to the competition and one head of college from those days used to use the phrase “K grade in the cow paddock” to express his frustration with what was awry.
ony’s slant may be extreme but I thought I would comment on changes in the College and the oncampus world since I began as a Head of College 21 years ago. I took up my present position at St Paul’s College in 1995 after four years at Christ College in Tasmania. When I came to St Paul’s there were a few primitive Macs at the end of a phone line in what was called a computer room. I’m pretty sure that the Macs did not connect to anything called a world-wide web and were mainly used for a fairly sedate kind of word processing. While Colleges and Halls are very much actual places, they are also virtual spaces. Very few college residents had a mobile phone twenty years ago. Good colleges had a “modern” PABX system with an analogue phone in each room. One would hear stories about ‘the old days’ when “fresher vestibule” would be on phone duty and expected to answer the one or two student extensions scattered around the college and then take a message to seniors. I remember seeing a PABX in my previous college that required a fresher on duty (fresher The Australasian Student Residences Management Journal
Today any student can upload anything digitally based from a mobile phone to the world wide web anywhere and the technology of 15-20 years ago does appear to be primitive. Wireless is as much in demand as cabled IT. A universe ranging from the sublime to the ridiculous, the benign to the corrupt; an external, virtual, globalised imagination is a couple of clicks away, and screen driven. When I came to Sydney in 1995 the College system here was uniformly single-sex based with one co-residential college (Wesley). Wesley had made the ‘utopian’ change to co-residence in the early 1970s. Since 1995 two of the three colleges for men have embraced co-residence with a passion. St Andrew’s and St John’s now regard co-residence as normative and I think they would see their new arrangements as transformative. Their changes have left a system in which there are three co-residential colleges, two colleges for women, and one college for men.
Fifteen years later there is a tremendous professional synergy with Sydney University Sport and Fitness in which mutual empowerment between SUSF and the Intercoll student body sees a professional standard competition run non-contentiously for men (Rawson Cup) and for women (Rosebowl). A similar standard of professional empowerment exists in the newer Palladian Cup Arts Eisteddfod in which competition across eight cultural, artistic or performance events parallels the sporting program. Both competitions are equally valued. >
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Change and Continuity on Campus (continued)
< In 1995 a website (if invented) was at best marginal or peripheral to a college. It is now unthinkable that a college would not have a highly developed and professional website and this has become principle means of connection between a college and its constituents – prospective, present and past. In 1995 very few colleges were expanding and there was a considered sense that non-collegiate alternatives on the rental market were readily available. Since then, three colleges at Sydney have had significant building projects (St Paul’s, St Andrew’s, St John’s) and a university village has been built. In addition virtually all the colleges have significant growth plan on the drawing board. The new plans are themselves mostly transformational and will add significant new ventures to what is offered on campus, whereas former developments were more incremental or driven by the change to admit women to formerly men’s colleges. For a variety of reasons, mostly pleasant, I find that I am still a head of college in my 21st year as such, but I am also not unchanged for all that. Perhaps in ways that I do not understand fully. I do note, however, that on the Sydney scene, most colleges have changed heads three, four or more times in the time that I have stayed here. Perhaps my sense of the gravitational field is overwhelming. I am also caused to reflect on the fact that a senior student whom I first encountered in his early 20s in 1995 now approaches the 40 year old mark and lives in a world of greatly changed responsibility. I think about an intake of say 60 freshmen a year accumulating to a total of say 1,000 persons entering college on my watch. ‘Warden’ is of course a word based on an old Germanic verb meaning “to watch” and perhaps there is an old Germanic verb meaning ‘to act’ as well. Generational change is also a fact in the internal life of a College, for if one stays long enough, then the children of your students start to enrol, and I have always had a cohort of the sons of Council members in residence, and a strong suit of sons and grandsons of College members from decade to decade. Well it’s all about genes and memes, and genetic studies reminds us that even siblings can inherit widely differing traits due to that old chromosomal shuffle.
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It is also possible to see consistent incremental change in the academic life and achievements of a College, and to measure that in terms of Results, Prizes and Awards. A culture of achievement can emerge and be sustained, and some of this may be both Darwinian, in the sense of an evolving tendency influenced by natural selection and the invitation of the interviewer, a considered scholarship program, and the sense that the ‘edges’ as growth points, or, points of liminal troubles are being watched. For all that, ‘elite’ is just such an ‘edge’ word, and nothing is quite so bad as a faux elite, or an attitude of elitism where the reality may be more naïve arrogance or lack of achievement to date. Not every bright man is a good man, and some men are far better contributors and achievers, happier, more engaged and balanced because of different measures of ‘achievement’. Finally, there has been great change in the area of policy development and implementation. Colleges “in the old days” used to depend rather more on the personal discretion, intervention and initiative of a head of college, perhaps supplemented by a few guidelines and a great deal of common sense. Now, thank goodness, and for the good of all, there is a policy and a procedure fully documented and for almost all thinkable circumstances – and even the unthinkable. The reference to Sony with which I began made me think about the extraordinary and exponential increase in information and demand in the digital age. However, my mind also turned to the indelible nineteenth century parable-like story written by Leo Tolstoy How Much Land Does A Man Need? Those who know that story will understand the imperative to keep things simple, to keep things personal, to retain a measure of space and time with nothing in it, and to concentrate on finding those things that do not change from year to year and remain of enduring value. n
Dr Ivan Head is Warden of St Paul’s College Sydney and has written for us before on gender issues. He was head of Christ College for four years and has been head of St Paul’s for sixteen.
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The Australasian
Image courtesy of Campus Living Villages showcasing their new student accommodation constructed on Edith Cowan University’s Mount Lawley Campus.
Transformation From a Volunteer Residential Assistants Team to an Effective Housing Assistants University Staff Team ANDRE’ T. Lee | Associate Director, Housing, Recreation, and Childcare, Curtin University
For presentation at the 2011 AACUHO Conference, Wellington, New Zealand
T
he Residential Assistant (RA) program which commenced in the student residences at Curtin University in 1991 was very similar to those across university housing in Australia. Each year a team of enthusiastic volunteers were selected from current residents to provide peer support as part of the overall pastoral care program. RAs received a reduction in their residence fees as part of their remuneration package. There was always considerable interest in the comparison of different RA programs across the many residences and colleges in Australia. From the perspective of Curtin University’s Housing Services the question was raised and explored of whether there was an employment relationship with the RA program and whether it met with appropriate legislative requirements. There was an examination of the roles, responsibilities, and remuneration of Residential Assistants presented at the annual conference of the Australasian Association of College and University Housing Officers (AACUHO) held in 2005. Some residences / colleges had moved to paid employment in a variety of forms including a fixed weekly rate with on call payments, stipends, etc. to provide a fairer system of remuneration. The following year, at a regional seminar of AACUHO held in Perth, Western Australia, in 2006 this issue was further explored in detail. In addition there had been questions raised at other Australian residences
The Australasian Student Residences Management Journal
on the whether RAs were covered by worker’s compensation and also on the appropriateness of the level of remuneration for the hours of duties undertaken. By this time Curtin’s Housing Services had resolved to undertake a major change to the RA system by establishing paid positions with the benefits and standards of employment enjoyed by all general staff of the University. It was decided to commit time and staff resource to determine a suitable process. At the time this encompassed a major change to a well established system and there was apprehension as to how a new system would be implemented yet there was a determination and enthusiasm to ensure its success. By 2007 the RA program at Curtin had grown to 40 RA’s and 4 Senior RA’s for the 1,175 residents in on-campus student housing. Curtin University’s environment also provided a challenge. International Students comprised some 25% of the campus population. The priority in the residences was provided to ‘New to Perth’ students, being those from outer metropolitan / rural areas and International students. This was reflected in the residence with 75% of residents being International students. In addition Curtin had, and still has, a very extensive range of private off-campus rental accommodation directly adjacent to the main Bentley campus. Therefore the on-campus residences were seen as ‘transitional’ housing with only 30% to 40% of current residents being returned for each following year. >
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Transformation From a Volunteer Residential Assistants Team to an Effective Housing Assistants University Staff Team (continued)
< In 2007 and 2008 considerable time was spent in an assessment of the existing RA program. It was important to ensure a continuity of the peer support role to enhance residence life, to encourage interaction and understanding between students of differing cultural backgrounds, and the program of social and sporting activities. Those participating in the RA program had gained valuable leadership, life, and interpersonal skills, and unique experiences that enhanced their future employment prospects. Firstly in order to make a complete break from the RA system it was necessary to also make a change to the position title. Therefore a simple switch from the title of ‘Residential Assistant’ to ‘Housing Assistant’ (HA) was made. This was not such a significant change that the internationally well know role of the ‘Residential Assistant’ would be lost. Coverage of the existing RA duty hours was considered to be critical so that there would not be a loss of service for residents. Previously the RA program comprised four teams, each of 10 RA’s and a Senior RA. In order for the role to be substantially attractive in terms of remuneration additional duty hours were allocated resulting in four teams each with 5 HA’s and 2 Senior HA’s. The financial viability of the change had a direct correlation with the size of the new HA team. The duty hours for each HA are approx 10 to 12 hours a week and 20 hours for each Senior HA. With the significantly high proportion of International Students in residence this continues to be reflected in the new HA teams comprising Australian and International students.
For students, the work experience provided by the HA role has greater significance and relevance than the previous RA role. We are now receiving an even greater number of applications throughout the year for the HA role. 20
In relation to International students they are only able to work a maximum of 20 hours a week during semester. In order not to prevent International students from undertaking a HA role it was decided to maintain the Senior HA role at a maximum of 20 hours a week. In order for there to be connectivity between the ‘daytime’ residence management team and the HA team operating ‘afterhours’ it was decided that there be an overlap in the HA duty hours. This would provide a handover opportunity should
there be issues which needed following up. This technically meant on weekdays the residence office would be open from 8:30 am and up till 10/11pm. Position descriptions consistent with University requirements were developed. These were based on the existing RA duty statements. The Human Resources department was requested to evaluate them. However as these position were on casual contracts they are seen as Duty Statements. The benefit of linking the HA rate to the General Staff’s Enterprise Agreement meant that it would ensure a legal and appropriate level of pay. As the salary levels increase in the Enterprise Agreement this would also be reflected in the HA rate. The feedback from Human Resources was that this was a seen very reasonable level of salary. In terms of relativity to paid employment outside of the university the salary for the HA role was seen as very attractive. However as the HA duties are principally during the evening periods and on weekends it was agreed with the Human Resources department that the levels would be on a ‘fixed rate’ per hour. The salary level also resulted in a much higher cost in establishing the HA program. This was partially offset as HA’s now paid their rent at the full rate, given they now had a real salary. However there was still a real shortfall which needed to be covered through rental income. It was decided that Housing Services would temporarily carry the increased salary costs in the initial years of the HA program and include a gradual component in the rental increases with the HA program being fully covered by the third year. A major benefit of the HA role is that being university staff they are able to apply for any relevant university position, with many being advertised internally only. For students, the work experience provided by the HA role has greater significance and relevance than the previous RA role. We are now receiving an even greater number of applications throughout the year for the HA role. The new HA system began in 2009 with the majority of new HA’s being former RA’s. The existing RA teams provided considerable www.adbourne.com
feedback throughout the development of the HA program. During the development of the new system there were concerns raised. A major concern was that applicants would loose the natural enthusiasm of volunteering because they had a natural desire to assist fellow students and that motivation of the HA program would purely be on the salary component.
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Administratively the HA program is more time consuming with official Human Resources requirements.
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As university staff the HA role requires strict compliance with the university’s IT policies.
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There have been situations where there has been the need to define ‘conflict of interest’ and the HA role.
There was concern that the new HA program did not require the participants to be current residents living in residence. On the positive side it allowed for a greater range of potential applicants for the HA role.
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The HA role now has greater health and safety obligations.
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As a staff member the consequences for a HA infringing residence rules is much more significant.
With the implementation of the HA program in 2009 it was decided to call it a ‘trial program’. In the period since 2009 there has been reflection on a number of issues and challenges and these include:
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The role now incorporates more University staff training requirements as well as HA training.
Housing Services conducts an extensive survey of all of Curtin’s student housing residences in Western Australia every two years. When the previous survey was undertaken the change had only been in place for less than a year. The satisfaction results for the new HA role was actually higher than that for the RA role in previous
surveys. In 2011 we will be conducting the survey again. We can now say that the ‘trial period’ is completed and the transformation has been incredibly successful as HA positions are in greater demand than ever before. The enthusiasm of participants is still clearly evident and the service and support provided has been enhanced. For the future we will continue to monitor the HA system and implementing new initiatives as the housing environment changes. n
Andre’ T Lee is the Associate Director of Housing Services, Recreation Services, and the Curtin Early Childhood Centre (Childcare) at Curtin University in Perth, Western Australia. He has managed student housing (1,175 residents) at the main Bentley campus since 2000. His portfolio also incorporates the new Curtin Stadium and the 130 place child care centre.
The Best Practice Boardroom David Bartlett | Partner, Resolve Consulting
The Board’s role should be primarily concerned with what the organisation is going to do to pursue the vision of the organisation (ie strategic organisational mission goals), and the development of governance policies to support this process. We contend that there is a widespread need to examine and overhaul a great deal of management reporting and policy in order to make some space on the agenda of the board for strategic planning and policy discussions.
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n this article we have summarised some of the successful strategies and tools used by effective boards around the area of board operations and reporting. These suggestions are aimed to stimulate the discussion within your management team and in your boardroom around whether your current reporting is standing up to these best practice processes, or do you need to make some changes in order to facilitate strong governance behaviour. We have found that quite often boards embrace the idea of governance but do not develop the necessary board policy and change in practices to implement governance effectively on the ground. Many times, after adopting governance, boards actually end up with the same board operating with the same behaviours, but now carrying greater risks involved as more responsibility is passed across to management. The board needs to do its job in reviewing its processes, policy and reporting in order to accommodate the changes that are a consequence of operating under a governance framework. Board policy should be developed in the areas of mission focus (strategic plan direction), management boundaries, board processes and the board/management relationship.
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Best practice board reporting A typical board meeting might contain the following key reporting components. Each of these will be explored below and some issues discussed and tips provided in order to assist in improving your board reporting and helping you move to operating a best practice boardroom:
• • • • • •
Agenda and Minutes Management operations report (each meeting) Compliance report (each meeting) Board committee minutes (each meeting) Finance report (monthly or quarterly) Strategic Plan progress reporting (quarterly)
The board agenda and minutes The board needs to adopt a clear agenda format that facilitates running an effective meeting. An agenda done on the fly at the meeting or one that is static from meeting to meeting with only headings to guide discussion will not cut it in a best practice boardroom. The Chair in conjunction with management should formulate a clear agenda ideally a week prior to the scheduled board meeting, go through planned items for board business, add any items forwarded to the Chair from other board members, and adjust the agenda to ensure that matters arising from previous minutes are either dealt with as an item in the agenda or noted as being held over to a future meeting. This process will minimise a great deal of time being spent on re reading the minutes from the last meeting to make sure everything has been picked up on the agenda, and generally improve the flow of the meeting. Some larger boards include suggested timing for agenda items and pre written proposed resolutions noted on the agenda to facilitate board process. Others will also add declarations from board members at the start of the meeting to ensure compliance with board conflict of interest and other fiduciary responsibilities. Best practice boards are also using an annual board agenda (and some a rolling three year agenda so as to match the organisations strategic planning cycle). This document includes the pre planning www.adbourne.com
of board agenda items for regular reports that appear on the annual meeting calendar, and allows the board and management to plan ahead effectively for things like specialist reporting that the board wants to see at the same time each year, board planning retreat times to be scheduled, policy review and board and CEO appraisal processes. Boards that do not use any kind of annual agenda planning tool will have a greater risk of ad hoc board business falling off the agenda. Minutes should be concise and contain clear resolutions. Adopting the practice of writing minutes where decisions are commenced in a new paragraph that starts “The Board RESOLVED that....” is best practice, and ensures that decisions are not only made but understood to have been made down the track. Minutes of significant decisions need to also contain a potted summary of the key issues discussed, not a blow by blow account of whom said what to whom. Best practice boards produce written clear resolutions and keep concise minutes, but don’t get hung up on recording who moved and seconded motions.
The management operations report Management operations reports will come in all shapes and sizes. The best practice report should however distinguish in terms of content and priority between the following key items:
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Matters for decision – first up in the report with clear recommendations and proposed resolutions from management as to what they want to do
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Matters for discussion and advice – next in the operations report. Sometimes contained in an Issue report format (see below) but requiring discussion and specific feedback from the board to management on a particular issue
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Matters for information – the last part of the report. General operational updates and matters of interest to the board on the goings on in the organisation
In relation to operational performance reporting (matters for information), using key performance indicators (KPI’s) and benchmarking is best practice. Information should be presented both as visual graphs and numerical information where possible. Non financial KPI’s are a must have for the best practice boardroom – these should be pursued and developed over time to allow for monitoring of the key drivers of your organisation. The best practice CEO will also use issue papers for key decisions that are expected to take more than one meeting. An issue paper can be updated with additional information as more research is performed, or if the board is engaging with the item for decision over a longer timeframe than a single meeting. >
The Best Practice Boardroom (continued)
operational compliance and becomes a very useful tool for staff and board induction as well as it lists all areas of statutory and policy compliance. If you would like a copy of a free word template example compliance checklist this can be obtained by emailing the author at david@resolveconsulting.net
Board committee minutes
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Background to the issue – the journey so far summarised in relation to the issue. Some issues go back years in some complex cases so a background summary statement is useful to brief new and refresh existing board members.
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All Board committees should provide written minutes of their meetings, along with any recommendations for board decision and these should form part of the board meeting papers. The best practice board will use board committees sparingly, will give them a clear committee brief, and very specific and limited authority when authority for decision making is needed (which should be rare). Most board committees should be advisory in nature, making recommendations to the board and not taking the place of the board in terms of decision making. It is an important principle in best practice boardrooms that committees don’t make decisions but rather recommendations.
Current situation – impact of the issue, possible future consequences, where is the issue up to at the moment.
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Alternative options explored – at least two and ideally three (but not more than four) options should be presented along with the rationale for the options and how they were explored. This is a key part of the issue paper as it enables management to anticipate board questions and ideas for alternative options to the issue. If researched effectively management can summarise here a lot of work and thinking that will not then need to be repeated at the board meeting.
The finance report
< Generally speaking, the format of an issue paper will contain a tabular summary of the Issue at the top of the first page with information such as issue number, status of the issue, supporting documents that might be referenced relating to the issue, and a proposed recommendation. The issue paper is then structured with the following headings:
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Recommended option – what does management want to do? It’s not best practice to leave the board to decide without reference to managements thinking. The board may feel free to decide to go in a different direction to management, but should be asking for their opinion.
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Proposed resolution – if a clear decision is being sought – pre drafting a resolution gives clarity to the board what management actually wants to do as an outcome of the issue paper.
The Compliance report Governance and operational compliance is an important piece of the boardroom meeting puzzle and unfortunately it is being done on the whole quite poorly. A simple tool for the management of operational compliance is the compliance checklist, a tabular list of compliance tasks and policies organised into organisational areas vertically down a table, with the months of the year horizontally across the table. Matters of compliance are checked off this report as the year progresses by management, who sign the report and table it at each board meeting (with a copy included in board papers). Matters of non compliance are then identified immediately and reported by exception by management as well as the measures being taken to address the particular issue. The operational compliance checklist, when used by best practice boards, becomes an integral management tool for annual management and board planning. It lists in one place all areas of
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The finance report in the best practice boardroom will contain a profit and loss with actual results compared with budget as well as a full year forecast, a balance sheet and in some cases (where cash flow needs to be closely monitored) a statement of cash flows. In addition to the above reports, a financial dashboard is a useful tool as it visually shows trends and key performance indicators over an extended time period (usually the last three years). Dashboards are excellent for showing changes in major operational drivers such as student numbers over time for a school, cash flow, debtor and creditor management and general operational performance in key areas of income and expenditure.
Strategic Plan progress reporting A best practice board will also be receiving a quarterly progress report on the implementation of the strategic plan of the organisation, which we call an annual action plan. This is not an operational plan, but a strategic progress report arising from a multi year strategic plan. It will be a summary document showing progress of strategies being implemented throughout the organisation toward meeting the mission goals of the strategic plan. Remember – the report should be strategic areas of focus and not operational reporting.
Conclusion This article has covered a lot of complex areas in a short space – it represents a snapshot of the best practice boardroom from the perspective of a consulting firm that has worked exclusively in the Not for Profit sector for the last ten years with more than 400 organisations across Australia and internationally. n
If you would like some more information or assistance on how Resolve can assist your organisation move to best practice please do not hesitate to contact the author
www.adbourne.com
The Internet Is Leaving Students Wanting More But are you prepared to deliver it? Stefan Nikolic
“Please sir, I want some more!” “...You what?”
E
ven though Oliver Twist was written in the dark ages of England’s industrial revolution, wanting more echoes down to the Gen Y’ers we know today, especially when it comes to technology. Historically, students have always wanted more from technology. First it was the radio (which I hear is something you listened to without headphones and there are no pictures), then a public telephone, then a television and then a computer. But with the internet, this has all changed.
Figure 1: A student.
It used to be a communal experience sharing a TV or a public computer in a study area, but these days students want all of that at their fingertips, from the comfort of their rooms. If they need a pizza, they buy it with their phones. If they need the door fixed, they will tell you over Facebook while they are still in bed. One of the biggest needs students have today is access to the internet and it needs to be available for them, on multiple devices, in their rooms and all over your residence. After twominute noodles, internet is the lifeblood of students, whether it’s communicating, socialising or studying. Since the internet powers all of these functions it’s fair to assume that they want the best - all of the time. Add to this the mix of potential methods to deliver internet to students, e.g: wireless, wired, 4G, 3G, NBN. It can get confusing to figure out what’s best to enable a resident to enjoy the connection to their rooms. In fact there are so many students demanding more from an internet service now that it has become a business specialty that did not exist a decade ago.
Figure 2: A manager.
So exactly how much more do students want? > The Australasian Student Residences Management Journal
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The Internet Is Leaving Students Wanting More
But are you prepared to deliver it? (continued) Students want more fads and features. Students are the original early adopters, if you don’t keep up with them, you get left behind. Mobile phones are a great example of this. Five years ago you may have thought mobile phones only ever needed to make calls, but now you see students roaming around with smart phones that will do everything but make calls: internet, social media apps, video games, GPS, high-definition video and the kitchen sink. Before the iPhone led the smart-phone revolution, it was inconceivable to think that Facebook or Twitter were must-have features of a mobile device. Nokia at that time did not think it was prudent to market and design their phones around ease of access to social media. As a result, Nokia has been surpassed in growth by the iPhone and Android phones to younger consumers looking for those specific features in their phones. Because students are finding newer ways of doing things over the internet, it’s taking businesses on a wild ride to come up with technology that meets their demands. Take the rise in mobile broadband; it grew exponentially with the popularity of social media sites, Twitter and Facebook. The more students began using those sites, the more they realised that they needed it when they were out and about. So when you combine internet that can be used anywhere with the biggest communication medium for students since noticeboards, you’ve got yourself an overnight social revolution. But now you have to keep up with the litany of comments filling up your village’s fan page. So it’s wise to keep on top of these trends and provide access to new internet-based fads and features. Try to spot what services residents are using over the internet and see what options there are out there for providing this to them. If you find residents would rather read updates on their devices rather than the noticeboard perhaps a Facebook page or a Twitter feed for your residence may be what’s needed to attract them. If you don’t think it’s worthwhile, you may find residents will look for alternatives where they can get the latest and greatest: internet that makes your bed and stirs your coffee for you!
Students want more ways to communicate. This is rings true especially to international students. The first thing residents want to do when they arrive, whether interstate or international is to phone home. We used to think simple was dialling a multi-digit international code before the phone number, but now it is as simple as clicking on a name and waiting for the other person to answer – did I mention Skype is also free in most cases? Skype has evolved to become the most used utility for internet communication by students. It started out as a free voice chat
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solution over the web, gimmicky at the time since headsets and microphones were really only used by enterprises. Over the years as its popularity grew, so did the feature list. Now you can group video call multiple people around the world, in high-definition, using almost any device whether it’s a laptop, mobile phone or regular telephone. It has now reached a point where residents are arriving in Australia and jumping on Skype to contact everyone before they’ve even moved through customs. Skype’s ease of use and the fact that it is free or extremely cheap to call other people is quickly making telephones less relevant for students - even mobile phones are becoming less of a necessity for living away from home. So now the question is not whether the internet or telephone access is available to them anymore but can they get good quality access to Skype? The answer to that is to ensure that all the necessary technical requirements are met so that when a student opens up their laptops, they can instantly speak to their friends and relatives without the slightest difficulty. This is more complex than it sounds. You have to account for hundreds of students wanting to phone relatives using high-definition video who are in a location where internet quality may be at the same level of carrier pigeons. While there are so many variables that can affect quality between the student and who they are calling, it’s best to stay on the safe side and ensure that all your internet infrastructure can handle basic Skype functionality. For instance, does your network prioritise voice and video chat over the web so that at peak times, student can still hold a decent call? Is there someone students can go to for help when using Skype services? If any of those go unanswered, you may need to investigate into how you can make your residence more “Skype-friendly.”
Students want more convenience. If you thought just being able to plug in your computer into the wall was convenient, it’s not half as convenient in the eyes of a student. The crucial convenience for students now is wireless access. Where can I get it? How do I connect to it? Is it in my room? What do you mean “just turn your computer on?” It’s becoming clearer with each passing month that the internet is not as much about speed or data or availability, rather, mobility. Mobility is the new internet and it is fast becoming the most soughtafter feature for new residents moving in or for students currently using wired connections. It is essential now for students to have every conceivable way to connect to the net no matter where they are and what they are doing. Some won’t even consider a residence “student friendly” unless they can cook, watch TV and browse the web all at the same time with wireless internet allowing them the flexibility to do so. For all its popularity though there does exist a double-edged sword with getting wireless access to your residents as it can be quite pricey. For a site with 900 residents in apartment blocks it can cost up to $200,000 to fully cover all the rooms from scratch. Other factors like heritage status buildings or site limitations can also
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impinge the building of the infrastructure and ad to the overall cost. So if wireless is attractive to you and your residents it needs to be investigated in detail first to understand if it is feasible.
Students want more information. Students want everything to fit neatly inside their web news feeds, their Facebook walls, their Twitters, books and spaces. If you can’t squeeze what you want to tell them into their digital shelving, don’t be surprised if nobody turns up to the Mexican Night you have been planning for two weeks. A trend has now emerged where this is the first generation that gets more of their information delivered to them, rather than having to go find it. Instead of having to pick up a newspaper, media companies are competing for the right to display information on a student’s phone. Facebook is a great example of this. It is the essential the portal to a student’s daily interactions with everyone around them. This even extends to getting their news and planning out their whole university and social schedules. Because of this obsession with digitising their lives, you cannot expect students to contact you over conventional means that we used to think were easy. To keep up, it may be necessary to create
Mobility is the new internet and it is fast becoming the most sought-after feature for new residents moving in. your residencies own Facebook page and openly promote it to students in order get feedback, have them chat to you or deliver important news and updates. The internet today is allowing for an amazing variety of functionality and convenience to a student’s day to day. As a result, their expectations are much higher than what they were 20, 10 or even five years ago. Therefore to keep your residence “internet-friendly” it is necessary to ensure that what they are receiving from their current internet service is keeping up with their demands. Because if you are getting Oliver Twists visiting you often, smart-phone in hand, will you have enough internet porridge to keep them satisfied? n
Stefan Nikolic is the Student Relations Manager for AccessPlus, now a division of the BigAir Group, which provides managed internet services to 20,000 students in residencies Australia-wide. You can chat to Stefan at the AACUHO conference in Wellington, where the BigAir Group and AccessPlus are gold sponsors.
Cyber Age Residences DR. JOE MASSINGHAM
The increasing use of the internet for teaching, discussion and even examination purposes would seem to suggest that residences might be rapidly becoming outdated. This certainly has implications that AACUHO should be addressing! Some more progressive student bodies are already looking at the possibilities and problems.
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n an article in Weekend Professional (Weekend Australian, Feb 5-6, 2011) Alistair Jones reports on the development of a virtual hall of off-campus students. The hall he writes about, Griffin Hall, has been developed by the students’ association at ANU and claims to be Australia’s first virtual hall. Whilst the development is to be applauded and should be backed strongly by the university, the claim to be the first such hall must be challenged. All the benefits of a physical residence, including ‘academic support, social engagement and eligibility to participate in inter-hall events and competitions’ were being offered to external students at University of New England more than twenty years ago. Most, if not all of the colleges there reserved accommodation for those occasions on which external students needed to come to Armidale, provided access to the College library, opportunities to work with College academic tutors/advisers, access to guidance and advice from members of the college’s Senior Common Room, access to former residents of the college now in the workforce and willing to advise on career matters and to some seemingly the most important thing, the ability to participate in sporting, social and cultural activities. UNE was for many years easily the largest Australian provider of tertiary education for external students, that is students who studied from home, most often whilst they continued working. More recently its work has been built on by, for instance, USQ and CSU. The Australasian Student Residences Management Journal
Reverting for a moment to social activities, the ‘Griffin Hall’ article reports a member of the new virtual college as suggesting that it might organise get-togethers without ‘stuffy formalities’. I can only tell him that in all the contacts I have had with former residents, both internal and external, none of them has ever expressed any regret at the opportunites provided both for informal interaction and in listening to guest speakers at formal dinners. Where else, for example, would most of my residents ever have had the opportunity to listen to and then converse with a man who had just retraced the footsteps of Alexander the Great’s army as it marched into what is now China? I should like to suggest most vigorously that AACUHO take the lead in planning for greater interaction more with the increasing number of students who ‘attend’ university online. I believe there will be a need for more and more virtual halls/colleges/residences in the future. As the ANU report suggests, the provision of self, social development and sporting opportunities are areas of real need in a society where individuals are becoming more and more isolated because of their ties to the computer. >
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Cyber Age Residences (continued)
< This isolation is implicit in another article in The Australian’s Higher Education, 2 March, 2011, where there is comment on the future role of universities.The article reports, for instance, “criticism that [universities] aren’t engaged enough with the community issues, including the challenges faced by international students.” ‘Rural students’ or ‘students from disadvantaged backgrounds’ might be substituted for ‘international students’ without weakening the message. In fact, in the same edition of HES that carried the item about Griffin Hall, Julie Hare from CQU wrote of the need for student support programs addressing the attrition rate among both domestic and international students and suggested that universities should be
considering the establishment of support centres for distance students. A combination of physical support centres in regional centres and online support systems focusing on the traditional, including non-academic, support provided by residences may provide a blueprint for the university of the immediate future. As a simple example of how this new entity might work, a particular area of possible interest was suggested in the article as ‘the developmet of critical thinking and self-reflection’. The endless arguments and debates, serious or otherwise, that have traditionally gone on in residences would seem to be a fertile area for such development. The use of social media sites might provide a ‘location’ for such activites in an online world with, if it was thought worthwhile in terms of student retention, occasional live activities in regional support centres maintained by the university. More thought needs to be put into exactly how such a system may work in the future but if the world is moving into cyberspace residences must move with it or be morphed out of existence. n
Dr Joe Massingham is the former head of Wright College at the University of New England, and the founder of AACUHO in Australia.
About University Colleges Australia There are approximately 50,000 students living in Colleges or Halls of Residence which are owned or affiliated with Australian Universities. These Colleges and Halls of Residence are managed by Heads of the College or Hall, who are generally members of the Association of Heads of Australian University Colleges and Halls Incorporated (AHAUCHI) the purpose of which is to advance, enhance and promote collegiate residence in Australian Universities.
The objectives of UCA are to: • • • •
•
• •
Promote the benefits of collegiate residence in Australian universities; Promote residence as a means to a broad education, including academic, social, cultural and moral development; Enhance the quality of life and welfare of residents in Australian university residential collegesand halls; Promote the Association as the responsible advisory body on matters relating to the purpose and functioning of university residential colleges and halls; Recommend fair and equitable conditions of employment for members of the Association foster the continuing professional development of the Association’s members and their staff; To promote the mutual support of members of the Association; To do such other things as may be required to support the achievement of the forgoing objectives.
AACUHO Mission To contribute to the improvement and coordination of housing residence life and food service operation for students in post secondary education.
AACUHO
AACUHO Vision: To be the premier professional organisation for all who work on student accommodation in any capacity in Australia, New Zealand and South East Asia.
Benefits of AACUHO Membership A major benefit of being a member is the opportunity to come together and meet with others employed in the student accommodation industry at various conferences, workshops and other forums. Members attending these events share ideas and discuss latest developments and innovations, such as pastoral and technological, within the industry. There are opportunities to meet major equipment and service suppliers and to increase and broaden knowledge of the whole accommodation industry. Members obtain access through both individual network development and list serve facilities to assist them with any problems on which they may want advice.
For further details and membership application, please visit
For further details and membership application, please visit
www.ahauchi.edu.au
www.aacuho.edu.au
Energy Efficiency in Student Accommodation? The Need to be seen as Green The term Energy Efficiency was coined in the 1980’s. To most this referred to using the technology we have grown to expect, without incurring large energy bills. Today the focus has shifted to not only saving money, but also being environmentally friendly.
What does the future hold? There is a lot of discussion surrounding the need for accommodation facilities to become green. For new developments the requirement to comply with green building standards is becoming a must. In addition, owners are increasingly focused on implementing systems which are inexpensive to purchase, as well as maintain and operate. Many properties are planning for in-room intelligence, whereby energy and lighting can be controlled by the guest, and from a central point.
As this is not a feasible option for everyone, we are pleased to introduce the range of inexpensive measures available to achieve more realistic energy reductions than ever before;
Electronic Locks Electronic Locks traditionally relied on information encoded on magnetic stripe. The introduction of smart chips in the early 1990’s, allowing retention of data within the card, gave hotels greater flexibility of information management. A further step towards technological sophistication is the introduction of RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) contactless Proximity locks and cards. RFID cards retain an audit trail within the cards, allowing Management to track the movements of the card user, not only the activity of single locks. As RFID cards are presented to the reader, with no insertion of the keycard, the manufacturers of SAFLOK & ILCO can completely seal the readers, ensuring protection from harsh elements including dirt, salt water, and moisture build-up, thus providing additional cost benefit. Yet the biggest advantage of the MiFare RFID Proximity Card is that it is designed to carry information that can be used on multiple applications.
Messenger™ It’s Already in Australia In 2007 SAFLOK was the first to release a stand-alone electronic locking system operating on a wireless on-line platform known as the Messenger™ System - an extremely powerful tool capable of communicating directly with every door lock, delivering real time information to a central server through a wireless communication network. Few companies in Australia are licensed to deliver this innovative technology.
What does the Future hold? As electronic locks are considered to be an essential item for modern Student facilities, the next foreseeable step is Near Field Communication (NFC) - a short range high frequency wireless communication technology. NCS will enable hoteliers to give guests with NFC capable mobile phones access to their room by presenting their phone to the reader. While it is thought to be a few years before compatible mobile phones are released to the Australian Market, with the forward planning it is renowned for, Kaba’s Electronic Locks are already designed to be NFC capable. For the hotelier this means that there will be no need for upgrading should NFC be the system of choice in the future. n
Growing through grief CAROLINE DALE
Caroline Dale, research officer with Good Grief Ltd, describes the effect of grief on students and how colleges can help build students’ resilience through a peer-based grief and loss program.
A
s we know too well, our students experience loss in many forms. While the death of a loved one is the most painful and emotionally disturbing loss, it is important to realise that other significant changes and losses can have devastating effects on a young person’s wellbeing too. They can be left vulnerable to interruptions in social and emotional development, or start to question their role, control and connections in the world. The college community is ideally placed to nurture the resilience of students challenged by loss, not just in the early critical period but in a long-term and lasting way.
The impacts of loss Experiencing significant change or loss can turn a young person’s trust in and expectations of the world upside down. They may be left uncertain of what and whom they can rely upon, and doubtful that the world is a safe and stable place. As well as the more obvious and practical repercussions of losing a relationship or way of life, they may suffer the loss of a dream or ideal, a symbol or tradition, or familiar routines (Graham 2004). > Types of losses that may impact on young people Bereavement through illness, accident or suicide. Parents may separate or divorce. Mental illness in a family member. Drug or alcohol issues in the family. Imprisonment of a family member. Natural disaster – fire, flood, drought. Parental unemployment. Moving far from home for work or study One loss may set off a chain reaction of losses. The death of a parent may lead to financial difficulties, which may lead to selling the family home, leaving the student feeling as though their roots have been pulled up and that they have nowhere to return to during holidays.
The Australasian Student Residences Management Journal
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A young person’s grieving process can be vastly improved if they understand that loss is a natural and inevitable part of life, and something they can survive and even learn from. < The social and emotional repercussions of a significant loss will vary depending on the student’s maturity level, previous experiences of loss, baseline emotional wellbeing and social support. Bereavement may lead students to question the meaning of life, the existence of God and the mystery of life after death. Parental separation can lead to feelings of desertion, rejection and loneliness, perhaps causing students to lose faith in the very idea of love and commitment and to feel bleak about the prospect of their own long-term relationships. When significant change or loss occurs in life, a grief reaction is likely to follow.
What is grief? Grief refers to the spectrum of emotional responses to a significant loss. Grief is different for everyone: it is as unique as the person experiencing it and the loss they have gone through. It is unhelpful to think of grief as a linear journey with a distinct endpoint where you are ‘over it’; anyone who has grieved will probably agree that there were no distinct ‘stages’ to their grief. Rather, grief is cyclical in nature (Worden 2009). It peaks and subsides, seeming manageable on some days and much harder on others. Instead of expecting to ‘get over it’, we should work towards integrating it and finding ways to live with what has happened. There is no right or wrong way to grieve (McKissock & McKissock 1995). Different people will work through their grief by talking, writing, getting busy or through physical activity. The possibilities are as endless as the variation in our personalities. A young person’s grieving process can be vastly improved if they understand that loss is a natural and inevitable part of life, and Indicators that a student may be grieving Grief can act as a ‘fog’, meaning students are distracted and unable to concentrate in class, on homework, and in social interactions. Regression is a common reaction to grief, as people seek to return to an age where they felt safe and nurtured. A young person may become clingy or revert back to behaviours they had outgrown. Some students may act out uncharacteristically as they attempt to overpower distressing thoughts. Some students will become perfectionistic, striving to retain some control over aspects of their life and to garner approval and support. As each student’s reaction to their grief will be unique, be alert to any significant changes in behaviour that may indicate the presence of a greater issue.
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something they can survive and even learn from. While we can’t take away the pain of the grief, we can help provide strategies for dealing with their hurt.
Building resilience There are two key elements we can nurture in students in order to build their resilience for when they inevitably experience a loss. The first is the development of a good emotional vocabulary, which enables them to better recognise, understand and communicate their feelings (Park 1999). This helps students to make sense of their own lives so that they can better make sense of the world. The second is creating a community in which students feel interconnected, giving them a sense of belonging and self worth. The safety of knowing that there are people who care about and will listen to them provides a big boost to self esteem and self efficacy (Oliver et al 2006), and greatly reduces feelings of loneliness and isolation which can lead to depression or risk-taking. Peer-based support groups for young people who are coping with significant change or loss provide a safe space for students to tell their stories, and also have the effect of normalising each one’s experience. It can serve as a huge relief to realise that they are not the only one who has been through a big loss or who feels angry, hurt, guilty or lost.
A language for grieving One successful peer-based preventative program for young people is Seasons for Growth®. Developed by Good Grief, the program matches each of Worden’s (1991, 2009) Four Tasks of Grief to one of the four seasons, familiar images which illustrate the natural and cyclical nature of grief. The idea of ‘tasks’ rather than ‘stages’ makes a person active in their grief experience rather than passive. The “seasons” metaphor provides a shared language to assist in expressing emotions. This means that students who come together due to similar experiences of loss or change can develop not only an understanding of one another’s stories but a way of telling each other how they feel. When tragedy affects a college community, being able to speak about the loss in a language that staff and students all understand can make it easier to discuss and express things that can sometimes seem very hard. The “seasons” metaphor also allows for sad feelings to return: milestones or subsequent losses may bring back raw emotions, just as there are cold days in summer. The program draws on the tenets of narrative therapy, encouraging participants to tell and to own their story. It utilises and develops a range of intelligences, incorporating drawing, talking, writing, singing and movement. The program, which is offered at a number of different levels from childhood to adulthood, has been independently evaluated three times (Müller & Saulwick 1999; Jolley & Masters 2004; Frydenberg & Müller 2005, Graham ) and consistently found to remove participants’ sense of isolation, help participants express feelings without being ashamed of them, normalise their challenges and circumstances and build their trust in others. > www.adbourne.com
Growing through grief (continued)
Jolley, G. and Masters, S. (2004) Seasons for Growth: Evaluation report on the South Australian Primary Schools Project. Adelaide: South Australian Community Health Research Unit. McKissock, M. and McKissock, D. (1995) Coping with grief. Australia: Harper Collins. Muller, D. and Saulwick, I. (1999) An evaluation of the Seasons for Growth program. Consolidated report. Canberra: Commonwealth of Australia. Oliver, K.G., Collin, P., Burns, J. and Nicholas, J. (2006) Building resilience in young people through meaningful participation. Australian e-Journal for the Advancement of Mental Health, 5(1). Park, J. (1999) Emotional literacy: Education for meaning. International Journal of Children’s Spirituality, 4(1):19-28. Worden, J.W. (2009) Grief counselling and grief therapy: A handbook for the mental health practitioner. New York: Springer Publishing Company. First published 1991.
< Programs like Seasons for Growth®, that aim to develop resilience and emotional literacy, enable communities which support students to successfully address issues of loss and grief in ways that sit within and augment their broader wellbeing programs. n
References Frydenberg, E. and Muller, D. (2005) Coping with loss: An evaluation of the Seasons for Growth program. Consolidated report. Melbourne: University of Melbourne. Glassock, G.T. and Rowling, L. (1994) Learning to grieve: Life skills for coping with losses. Sydney: Millenium Books.
This article was first published in Independence magazine.
Caroline Dale is currently studying towards a Masters of Clinical Psychology at Macquarie University, NSW. Prior to joining Good Grief in 2007, Caroline was involved in the development and facilitation of youth mentoring, educational and personal development programs with a number of Australian not-for-profits. Good Grief Ltd is a not-for-profit Australian organisation founded by the Sisters of St Joseph. Its program, Seasons for Growth®, was established in 1996 with funding from the Mary MacKillop Foundation. Further information is available at www.goodgrief.org.au.
Ever wanted to know the WHY, WHO, WHAT and HOW of governance and management of a healthy Nonprofit organisation? Have you ever come across terms like vision, mission, strategic planning, policy governance, core values, core purpose, accountability, management and governance and wondered not just what they are but how they fit together? If you are involved as a leader in a Nonprofit this book is for you. The Resolve Consulting Group Community Governance framework puts together the pieces of the healthy Nonprofit organisational governance puzzle in an easy to use visual framework that is designed for your organisation. Paul Campey and David Bartlett have more than 30 years combined experience in the governance and management of Nonprofits in Australia and internationally. They have responded to the call for a practical, hands on guide for Board members, management and leaders of Nonprofits and provided a framework that describes the key characteristics of a healthy Nonprofit organisation. The Community Governance framework is not a model of governance, rather it is a teaching tool that focuses on the key ingredient for effective, healthy Nonprofit organisations - relationships!
Order copies online for your Board at www.resolveconsulting.net
The Matthew Stanley Foundation A fun night out can turn dangerous and violent in a single breath NEVILLE COVENTRY
In 2006 Matthew Stanley had his life ripped away as a consequence of an unprovoked brutal bashing. Matthew’s popularity was obvious. In his all too short life he managed to touch others and make a difference in their lives. The horrendous violent theft of Matthew’s life triggered an outpouring of grief in Matthew’s local community and beyond. The community and Matthew’s family demanded action. Displaying amazing fortitude in the face of the horror that befell his Mother Kay, his Father Paul and surviving brother, Nic, the family rallied with other good people to establish the Matthew Stanley Foundation.
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ith Paul Stanley as the Founder, the Matthew Stanley Foundation is a community organisation dedicated to promoting non-violence among youths and those who impact on youths. Paul states “the Matthew Stanley Foundation hopes to give youth the opportunity to realise that there are ways to deal with confrontation that don’t involve violence”. The Australasian Student Residences Management Journal
To observe Paul and Kay at work is to remember that good leaders gain the respect of followers but superb leaders build self respect and respect for others. Mentoring by the more chronologically advantaged is more and more being balanced by peer support in the youth population. In the recently released Matthew Stanley documentary “One Punch Did Kill”, a number of Matthew’s young friends re-enacted scenes associated with his death in a vivid demonstration of respect and love for Matty as he was known to his friends. The documentary was telecast as a special program on Channel 9 and serves as a core component of the Foundation’s approach to the prevention of youth violence. Paul has now spoken with over 120,000 students in presentations across the State, and other locations delivering, many moments of truth. The Matthew Stanley Foundation Facebook site is awash with messages of appreciation. Paul has also been a guest speaker at multiple events including the Building Hope’ School Chaplaincy Dinner and the Burdekin Crime Prevention and Community Safety Conference. Whilst touring the Mackay District sharing his personal story of the loss of his son Matthew and giving students and parents tips on how to party safely. Paul commented, “He was a normal teenager who went to a party and got bashed to death. If I can stop one person from throwing a punch then I know Matt and I are doing a great job.” The Foundation whilst not government funded, works closely with Queensland Police visiting schools, churches and other community groups to alert young people of the risks involved with becoming violent. Recognising the risks involved with alcohol and a party charged environment the Foundation gives energy >
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Founder of the Mathew Staley Foundation, Paul Stanley with a touch football team of Matthew Stanley Foundation supporters which participated in the Matthew Stanley Memorial Shield at the 2010 CRYPAR Community Against Youth Violence Expo.
< to the Queensland Government “Party Safe” initiative. Party Safe is designed to ensure that safety measures are built into party arrangements. The Party Safe process suggests that parents:
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Speak with the party host and find out how many people will be attending the party, who and how many will be supervising the party, will alcohol be available, will food be served and what time the party is expected to finish.
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Get the phone number of the party venue and/or the mobile phone number of the host.
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Drop their child/teenager off at the party venue and arrange to pick them up at a certain time.
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Talk to their child about how to have a good time at a party without coming to harm.
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Make entrance to the party by invitation only (if you are the host) as this stops gatecrashers.
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Party activities (like dancing) are a good way of keeping guests entertained and doing things other than drinking.
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Participants are encouraged to register their party with the police at least two weeks in advance. Where youths are away from their home environment it is equally important that a responsible adult takes chare of the “Party Safe” process. The Queensland Party Safe registration and information can be accessed via the Foundation web site or from www.police.qld.gov. au/party . Similar schemes operate in other States. The Matthew Stanley Foundation also calls upon youths themselves to plan ahead, and remember that a night of fun can move to disaster in a single breath. Moves such as sending out hard-copy invites that can be checked upon arrival at the party rather than advertising the party on social networking sites such as facebook or via text messages are strongly advised. The Foundation also urges people to make sure that drinking water is available at every stage of the event. The Foundation has also conducted and attended many awareness events such as touch football carnivals and community festivals. The Matthew Stanley Foundation stand and merchandise, including logo-bearing footballs, are familiar sights at such events. Leigh www.adbourne.com
Drennan a friend of Matthew and a group of young people now honour Matthew and consistently remind other youths of the danger of violence through a touch football team, the RIPS which stands for “Rest in Peace Stanley” and a mixed touch football team, The Matthew Stanley Legends. In the Warwick area the High School, and football teams including the Redbacks (AFL), the Warwick Cowboys (Rugby League) and the Warwick Water Rats (Rugby Union) who adopted the One Punch Can Kill Campaign with support from local Police have taken their initiative further following a visit from Paul Stanley, stressing the reality of violence to their young sports people. The collective has created a logo and banner which is displayed at games featuring the important words “Violence is not our Game”. Significant penalties have been assigned to those who offend against this message on and off the field. It is relevant to note that after Matthew’s tragic death the Queensland Government announced the formation of the Youth Violence Taskforce to examine ways to reduce incidents of violent behaviour amongst young Queenslanders. Chaired by the then Minister for Police, Corrective Services and Sport, the Youth Violence Taskforce consisted of elected officials, public sector representatives, and community members, including Paul Stanley. To spread its important message within the wider community, the Matthew Stanley Foundation teamed up with the Queensland State Government and gave its support to the Ministerial Advisory Council on Youth Violence. The Foundation has also advocated for government commitment to the prevention of violence through submissions and public hearings conducted by the State Government, Law, Justice and Safety Committee Inquiry into Alcohol-Related Violence and the Federal House of Representatives Standing Committee on Family, Community, Housing and Youth, Inquiry into the Impact of Violence on Young Australians. The Foundation has also provided far reaching assistance to the “One Punch Can Kill” campaign working alongside of the Queensland Government and the Queensland Homicide Victims’ Support Group. In 2010 the Foundation representatives participated in the judging of the online competition to design the new face of the campaign. The Foundation has now taken the next step with the introduction of its new WACO, Walk Away Chill Out Campaign. The campaign aims to make it cool to walk away instead of sticking around for a fight to prove that you’re “tough” Paul says “it’s not cool to be the best fighter in the school. Kids don’t want fights or gangs acting like pork chops. A lot of young guys will get themselves into a situation so deep that the only way to get out is to get into a fight to save face. With Walk Away Chill Out, getting into a fight isn’t necessary.” It should also be noted that the graphics and the wording has the endorsement of its own target population – the youths of our community. East Leagues Club who lent their weight to the prevention of youth violence by funding the development of the “One Punch Did Kill” documentary have now backed up their commitment by funding The Australasian Student Residences Management Journal
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The Matthew Stanley Foundation A fun night out can turn dangerous and violent in a single breath (continued)
< the development and roll out of the WACO Program. This program provides an alternative to violence. The Foundation is particularly pleased that one of the joint winners of the One Punch Can Kill campaign, Stephanie Walsh subsequently accepted the opportunity to develop a screen saver and other electronic materials for the WACO program. The WACO campaign is currently entering a partnership with a number of schools who will monitor the progress of the approach amongst their students. The launch this weekend saw WACO unveiled at “The Alex” (Alexandra Hills Hotel) on Friday the 15th, at “the Pit”, as it is known. The sudden appearance of the WACO shirts, stickers, banners and screening of the WACO logo provided patrons with the reminder that in addition to the substantive hotel security provisions, personal responsibility is critical in ensuring that a good night out is remembered as a good night out and not for the destruction that comes from violence. Paul says, “On the first Friday night we outfitted bar staff with WACO t-shirts, put 500 WACO stickers up in the night club areas and on doors, mirrors, bathrooms, even the bar... WACO was everywhere. Later I got a phone call from management who said that on the 3rd night, for the first time ever, they had not had one single incident of a patron getting into a fight with security”. Sadly A night out can turn dangerous and violent in a single breath. The Foundation encourages young people to become aware of the warning signs that can precede violence and to learn how to avoid violence or diffuse violent confrontations. Paul’s words resonate well “teenagers just need to look out for their mates and help them to walk away when things become dangerous”. It is really all about CHOICES.
base on Facebook with people also being able to become a MySpace fan, donate to their cause, purchase merchandise, or become a volunteer and help with fundraisers and awareness activities. The Foundation models the responsible and safe use of e-communications and notes that its young members do not use e-technology to swarm parties or bully innocent victims. The WACO on Facebook can be found at http://www.facebook.com/ WalkAwayChillOut and the WACO web page is being rolled out at: http://walkawaychillout.com.au/. The Foundation has created WACO to offer both an attitudinal approach and a practical message that serves as a circuit breaker when violence threatens. When violence comes knocking the Foundation wants WALK AWAY, CHILL OUT to become the default response. Whether it is a bump or a reaction to a comment WACO becomes “Sorry” and life literally goes on. If each reader looks to adopt this practice, then the Stanley family and the Matthew Stanley Foundation can perhaps pause for a moment to gather its breath, a life somewhere will surely have been saved. n
The Matthew Stanley Foundation For further information or to get involved, visit the Foundation website. From there, you can check out the Matthew Stanley Foundation Gala Auction, become a Facebook or MySpace fan, donate to the cause, buy supporting merchandise, or become a volunteer. www.matthewstanleyfoundation.com.au info@Matthewstanleyfoundation.com.au PO Box 1696, Capalaba, Brisbane. Queensland 4157 Phone (07) 3821 6700 Fax (07) 3821 0070 PA to Paul Stanley/Event Bookings: Lynne Rice events@matthewstanleyfoundation.com.au Media: Neville Coventry 0458 412 212 covisions@ozemail.com.au www.matthewstanleyfoundation.com.au/gala
With the intent of being true to its commitment to young people the Foundation taps into the social networking arena of young members the Foundation and maintains a huge friends
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www.adbourne.com
Taking a cultural audit Education consultant Dennis Doherty of Pathways International describes the process of taking a cultural audit and argues that successful educational leaders must have cultural competence.
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very educational institution has its own unique ‘culture’, which can be apparent even to an outsider just from a walk through the grounds at lunch time.
As a visitor to many schools I am frequently in the situation where I am in the playground looking for a sign to tell me where to find reception (a scarce commodity in many schools!). In some schools the students literally knock you down as you walk past their playground activity. In others, when you ask for directions a student will attempt to give you a verbal description on where to go. I know I am in a school with a healthy culture when a student notices my lost look and approaches, asks what I am looking for and then volunteers to take me there.
Defining school culture The concept of organisational culture should not be confused with the fact that many university colleges have students from many different cultural backgrounds. While the presence of an ethnic mix in a university college might contribute to the nature of the college’s culture, it does not define it. Organisational culture is about ‘the way we do things around here’. This means in part the way people in the university college’s community deal with each other: the nature of the relationships between students and students, students and staff, staff and staff, staff and other key stakeholders. These relationships are – or should be – built on the beliefs and values which underpin the university college’s purpose (mission) and are thus represented in what is valued in the college. In other words a university college’s culture should represent how well the college ‘walks its talk’ as an organisation.
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Organisational culture and leadership ‘Cultural competence’ is the capacity of the university college’s leader to notice whether the college culture is true to what the college claims to be. Some university college leaders, especially some aspiring leaders, are not very good at recognising the importance of the culture of the college. Some university college leaders do it naturally; others keep themselves remote from the action and therefore the culture. A lack of cultural competence has been the undoing of many educational leaders. If the college doesn’t ‘walk its talk’ there is only one person responsible: the leader. As a Sister of Mercy who was, apart from being very Irish, a wise and experienced school Principal once told me, ‘The thing to remember about schools, Mr Doherty, is the fish stinks from the Head down’.
Measuring university college culture A cultural audit is a snapshot of how a university college is performing at the present moment. In the same way that a financial audit reveals strengths and gaps in financial procedures and practices compared with accepted financial practice, a cultural audit focuses on how well an organisation is operating compared with accepted practice, its own mission and beliefs and its current objectives. A cultural audit examines an organisation’s cultural characteristics (such as its assumptions, norms, philosophy and values) to determine whether they hinder or support its mission and vision. It measures and maps the beliefs and norms which dictate the way people approach their work and which have a direct impact on organisational effectiveness. A cultural audit starts with the use of a survey instrument (online or in hard copy form) that is distributed to all students, all staff members, board members or trustees and, in some cases, other stakeholders such as recent graduates. The survey contains questions which elicit both qualitative (open-ended) and quantitative (ranked) responses.
Validating measurement Providing response to the survey is statistically adequate, the data gives a reliable insight into stakeholders’ perceptions of the university college culture. The survey data should, however, be validated through a series of focus group activities designed to clarify stakeholders’ responses. www.adbourne.com
In one cultural audit which we conducted in a secondary college, in answer to the question: ‘which three words best describe the college now?’ the most used word by the students was ‘strict’. This surprised the Principal and the leadership team. Subsequent student focus groups established that the students saw ‘strict’ as a positive characteristic of the school and not the negative the adults assumed. Another validating exercise is to use benchmark data. For example, in our cultural audits, as well as questions to tease out collegespecific information we use some benchmark questions. The use of common questions in a range of settings makes it is possible to predict the responses in different types of colleges and to provide colleges with reliable comparisons. It can be helpful, if a college is surprised by the response of their stakeholders to a particular question, to compare this result with those of similar colleges. College leaders can also find it useful to see if their college is different from the ‘norm’.
The cultural audit report A cultural audit report should provide:
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A snapshot of key stakeholders’ perceptions of the university college as it is currently operating
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Information about any subcultures that deviate from the norm
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Identification of any issues which may be negatively impacting on the school culture
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Recommendations to address the issues raised
A contrast of the school responses with other high performance benchmark data
Organisational culture is about ‘the way we do things around here’. Strategic planning is the process of determining firstly, the current state of the university college; secondly, the future vision for the college; and, thirdly, how to take the college from current state to the preferred future state. The cultural audit is therefore a valuable tool to assist with strategic planning as it provides a snapshot of the current state of the college. There are at least 12 aspects of the university college culture that can be tested by the cultural audit in preparation for a planning project (see Figure 1).
Healthy cultures In the business of the everyday, university colleges with a healthy culture value the things that their mission dictates – that is, they ‘walk the talk’ – with enough flexibility in policy and practice to make residence, academic support and learning relevant and meaningful for all the students. University college leaders ignore their college’s culture at their peril. Just like healthy organisations have an audit of their finances regularly, and healthy people have a regular audit of their physical functioning, so should colleges regularly audit their culture in order to remain healthy. n
The cultural audit will also highlight:
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Key organisational issues
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Similarities and differences between the college and others of similar type (using benchmark data)
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The college’s current distinctiveness
Similarities and differences within the university college’s key stakeholder groups
Strengths which can be built upon Risk factors.
In effect, the process should tease out many cultural dimensions, including: values, attitudes and issues (internal or external); internal organisational relationships (vertical and horizontal); external relationships; and perceptions of the college’s effectiveness in key areas.
Cultural audit and strategic planning A cultural audit is an opportunity to test out whether the university college’s mission (what the college is commissioned to do) and values and beliefs (what underpins the college’s actions and relationships) need to be revived and/or renewed. It is certainly an important first step in the strategic planning process. The Australasian Student Residences Management Journal
Figure 1. Aspects of college culture that should be tested prior to undertaking a strategic planning process
Dennis Doherty is the Principal Consultant of Pathways International Consulting Pty Ltd. Pathways regularly conducts cultural audits in schools. For more information visit www.pathwaysic.com.au.
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ADVERTORIAL
Does Low Voltage Equal Low Power? The Great Downlight ‘Mythconception’ Dispelled
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ne of the greatest lighting “mythconceptions” is that low voltage halogen downlights equates to low power consumption. This cannot be further from the truth. Many homes built since the 1980s have used halogen downlights to enhance the architectural and aesthetic appeal of the home. What was once predominately used in jewellery store cabinet displays, was now finding its way into our lounge rooms. Until recently, people were unaware that each halogen downlight consumed 50 Watts plus transformer losses and were also not consciously trying to save electricity. Heat generated by the downlight and the fire risk from insulation getting too close was also downplayed. Current standards provide for clearances of 200mm from the downlight but as has been reported in the press recently we know accidents do happen. The only safe way to remove the risk is not to have the downlight there in the first place. However, the reason why downlights were installed in the first place is also the reason why people don’t want them taken out – they do look great! So what can we do?
for better insulation of the house. (See Figures 3 and 4 for examples of these types of alternatives). The advantages of this type of fitting is cost and light output. The main disadvantage is that the lamp requires a small period of time to warm up. Many of these fluorescent fittings do not provide for dimming although there are dimmable versions on the market. There is no doubt that the appeal of the halogen downlight is still there. However, people are now becoming more aware of not only the energy being consumed but also of the alternatives available. As long as consumers are happy to trade off some of the benefits of a 50W halogen, then big savings can be made. Who then would argue with against something that is not only good for our hip pocket but the environment as well? For more information contact ecoBright energy solutions on 03 9331 0027 or visit www.ecobright.com.au. n
There are a number of products today that can be used as non halogen alternatives including LEDs or Fluorescent equivalents. LEDs have the advantage of producing very little surface heat and their energy consumption is around 1/10th that of the halogen. The major disadvantage of LEDs is the light output may not be sufficient to replace the light that was there before. LED products come in different configurations, some are direct replacements that look exactly like the halogens they’re replacing and neatly fit into the existing fitting, whilst others are a complete new fitting – so the existing lamp and fitting needs to be removed.
Figure 1
Figure 2
Direct replacement LEDs tend to be cheaper but also less likely to produce the same light output as a 50 Watt halogen. Complete LED units are typically of a higher wattage and more capable of maintaining the existing light output. Whether the existing light level is required at all depends on what the primary use of the lighting is for – if it is used for a spotlighting effect (See figure 1 of a recent installation at the Melbourne Zoo) or as a secondary lighting source, a 6 Watt LED (See figure 2) would be sufficient for the task. Another advantage of LEDs is that they are typically able to be dimmed. The other alternative which is to use a fluorescent fitting. Two types of fluorescent light (CFL) halogen alternatives exist – those that require an electrician to fit them and those that can be fitted by the householder themselves. CFL solutions that need an electrician to fit them do not need transformers and therefore the spacing between the lamps and the insulation can be reduced – this allows The Australasian Student Residences Management Journal
Figures 3 and 4
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So What’s In The Mix For Advancement/Development? Alicia Watson CFRE CFRM EMFIA ADAPE | Director, What’sOn Consulting Pty Ltd & | NSW President FIA
Some of you will be at the dipping your toes in the water stage of working with your alumni and other friends to increase income and support. Others may be up to your knees with some good steps taken to develop a culture of philanthropy amongst them. Others will have well developed and thoroughly professional operations.
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firmly believe that Advancement, or if you prefer Development, today is a professional undertaking which must be treated with respect and given the resources it deserves. It must be embarked upon with the same level of research and planning that any other aspect of your management requires. If you are new, this will give you a brief outline of things to do. If you’re well in the water and swimming you may need to take stock of what you are doing and why. The saying “When you can’t see the woods for the trees” can be dated back 500 years. And some of you will recall song of the 60s sung by Peter, Paul and Mary which said “When will they ever learn, When will they ever learn?” Sometimes we don’t see the woods from the trees because we’re so involved with our daily tasks that we can’t see them. Either way it is our colleges and halls and, in particular, the students who will suffer. We must recognise that we may have become too close to what we are doing and need to take a step back. This article will look at ways to strategically plan our development program: whether it’s right or wrong, tired or tried and true - the ‘get me out of the trees so I can see the woods’. Strategic Planning is an essential tool for all advancement/ development. It is easy to just continue year after year doing the same things over and over again. It is also easy to get so caught up in the minutiae of the day to day tasks that you are liable to lose sight of the big picture. This might include the following:
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A sameness of your literature – donors becoming too familiar with the style and thus losing interest in what you send or worse still in those you are serving
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Too little time for stewardship and cultivation because of the busyness of day to day tasks – and we all know where that will lead us
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No time for professional development – not keeping up with the latest ideas and trends
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Not evaluating your programs adequately – so making assumptions about the real value of your efforts www.adbourne.com
So we must pull back from the trees from time to time to ensure we are getting the best ‘bang for the buck’ from all we are doing. But sometimes we are too close to the trees to see the woods in all their beauty. Sometimes it is worthwhile calling in a third person to undertake this role for us. I have done this for a number of organisations both large and small and will share with you some of the joy and pain this process can bring. However, as the father of US fundraising, Henry (Hank) A Russo, has said: “It is helpful to always remember that fundraising is not an end in itself, it is purposive i.e. it has its being in the ends it serves such as caring, helping, healing, nurturing, guiding, teaching, preventing, advancing a cause, etc.; it is values based and values must guide the process.” So we must have clear in our minds some principles before we begin to look at method. I should point out from the beginning, what fundraising is NOT. It is not begging, it is not self seeking and it is not deceiving.
Two Building Blocks Planning and Relationship Building are the two fundamental building blocks on which to base your advancement/development efforts. You can have a great cause, you can produce great material, but if people don’t feel connected with you, they will not give or if they do it will not be to the maximum of their potential. 1. Planning is the most basic tool for successful fundraising. Without it you are doomed to failure. It is not an easy fix but requires professionalism if it is going to work. You may start with a brain storming session with questions such as:
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Why do you exist? What is distinctive about your institution? Why does it merit support? What will others question and what will be your answers? How will you hold yourself accountable?
So, with the answers to these questions you then must develop a strategic plan for philanthropy based on the organisation’s overall strategic, business and master plan. This advancement/ development strategic plan should include the following processes: Analyse Market requirements: how real are the needs you are addressing? Test the market place to ensure the needs are perceived as real. How well known are you by your stakeholders? You need a positive answer to these questions if advancement/development is to be effective. Your needs must reflect improvement in outcomes of your students so not just “to build another 50 rooms which will be more cost effective”. People are not interested in the institution per say but in what it will provide for current and future generations of students. Prepare a needs statement: this provides testimony to the organisation’s right to exist. Once it is validated it can be translated into program plans which can then be defined to give substance to the budget. Students often consider their The Australasian Student Residences Management Journal
fees should be sufficient for all your needs both recurrent and capital. You must be able to argue the case for additional funds. Define Objectives: these objectives are measurable and the specifics of how the goals will be accomplished e.g. providing scholarships for 20% of students might be readily accepted as a valid philosophical goal but a realistic objective that will be easily understood and quantified by a donor is to have an objective of providing 10 means based scholarships each year including 4 indigenous scholarships. Involve Alumni and other stakeholders: You cannot expect alumni to support you if you have not been in touch with them and continued the relationship once they move on. You must develop a program of involvement and inclusion beginning while they are residents and continuing beyond that time. At the recent ADAPE conference it was said that while many might think residential colleges and halls might have some increased loyalty, alumni have indicated their first loyalty is to the University with the residence second. So we need to work hard from the day they arrive at your door and then throughout their life to rust them on! We all like to be asked for our advice and for our opinion and so one immediate way in which they can be used is to validate the needs statement and seek feedback on the nature and conduct of each campaign. We can broaden our view of potential donors by looking at parents and grandparents who are often in a better position to give now or make a thoughtful bequest than are recent graduates. Select Fundraising ‘Vehicles’: analysis, planning, execution and control are annual steps that are required to review past campaigns to ensure the best elements are retained and the worst discarded; study the preceding two year’s performance and the effectiveness of each method used and identify strengths, weaknesses and potential for greater gifts. Don’t be afraid of change. Don’t just keep doing something because ‘that’s how we’ve always done it’. Review, research, check whether it is still the best option for today. You must be relevant and you must listen to your supporters and if results are decreasing ask yourselves why and what can we do to improve. We will look at different vehicles in detail in a minute. Solicit the Gift: all preparation, planning and presentation is useless if people are not asked for money! Receiving the gift is often seen as the end of the process but not so…this should mark the beginning of a continuing and important relationship with the donor! While it is great to acquire new donors, it is cheaper and indeed essential to renew their gift year after year and indeed develop them to their full potential which leads to the second building block: 2. Relationship building…an integral part of any Advancement/ Development program… And the lesson we need to learn is that a relationship must start somewhere. Previously many of you had not heard of me. But now here we are face to face in this magazine. This is but a step in the development of a relationship that may or may not continue depending on our need and our resources. But
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So What’s In The Mix For Advancement/ Development? (continued)
Let me now introduce you to the Donor Pyramid, which gives you a diagrammatic representation of where we are aiming to lead our donors:
It should always be remembered that people give to people. So therefore relationship building is of the essence in any advancement/ development program.
in Advancement/ Development developing relationships is probably the single most important element of your program. We must get beyond thinking of our alumni as just a list of names in a database, but as real people with some connection to us, a connection we must endeavour to build as much as we can. Today this can be done by a myriad of options all of which we must use if we are to engage our alumni. It will involve events; newsletters, e-newsletters; facebook; Linked-in; blogs; twitter; sms; and there’s probably something else they are using which I haven’t heard of yet!! (An interesting aside on communication tools: at the recent ADAPE conference it was noted that the old fashioned newsletter is read more by all generations and of course is an excellent PR tool when left lying around the home or office!) And as I said before, this can start while they are still in residence. Don’t wait until they have gone!
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People give to people: It should always be remembered that people give to people. So therefore relationship building is of the essence in any advancement/development program. You cannot just go cold to people and expect them to give (e.g. a colleague who received nothing from his alma mater for 30 years. The fist correspondence he received was a begging letter…you know what he did with it?? He filed it in the circular bin!)
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You must personalise and tailor the option(s) you choose to suit your constituency
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Linkage, Ability, Interest: this is an area where you have real benefits over other not-for-profits which have to find people and develop their linkage and interest. You know your constituency and so have the ability to forge strong relationships which will pay dividends.
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Genuine…you must be genuine and sincere in all your relationship building!
The donor pyramid then leads us to the tools we can use to develop this relationship with our donors.
Fundraising Options Advancement/development has many facets enabling donors the greatest amount of choice and flexibility for making the most significant gift. The following options are available for a fundraising program but you are in no way limited to these, nor are these methods necessarily all suitable for your needs. They do, however serve to outline possibilities to be considered. It is wise to use as many of these tools as are appropriate for the particular cause or institution. Some things are appropriate, others simply are NOT and you must decide what is right for you: ✔ Annual Campaign: Direct Mail; email; sms ✔ Web donations: Whatever you do must make it as easy as possible for a donation to be made. All new technology is essential especially with Gen X and Y if we want to engage them ✔ Payroll Deductions: young alumni in particular may prefer this as a means of giving regularly from their salary and receiving the tax deduction immediately ✔ Gift Clubs: Friends of “Your College or Hall” which promotes regular giving and belonging and may be named after a famous alumnus or former Head etc. ✔ Major Gifts: 3-5% of your database will be capable of giving a major gift if asked and asked for the right thing at the right time by the right person. Getting to know your alumni and following their careers is essential so you can be considered when they make good! www.adbourne.com
Advancement/development has many facets enabling donors the greatest amount of choice and flexibility for making the most significant gift.
✔ Trusts, Foundations and Corporate Gifts: It’s essential to be on the lookout for any of these especially the Private Ancillary Funds (PAFs) which many families are setting up these days as well as the major Trusts and Foundations and of course using the leverage of alumni in their businesses for corporate donations. ✔ Bequest Program/Planned Giving: As I suggested before this is particularly relevant for parents or grandparents of current students but of course as the years go by and some of your colleges and halls have been going for many, many years so the elderly single alumnus is an obvious source of funds if you look after them well.
The Australasian
✔ Events: While you may have a special event for a particular program e.g. The Indigenous Art Show year to fund The Shalom Gamarada Scholarship Program offering residence at Shalom College to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander medical students studying at UNSW. The program runs in partnership with the UNSW’s Nura Gili Indigenous Programs Unit and the Muru Marri Indigenous Health Unit. But you can make the most of your regular events such as Commencement dinners; matriculation dinners; sporting events; plays; musical events; lectures etc to invite alumni and keep them involved
✔ Capital Campaign: Like a Major Gift program a Capital Campaign which is usually conducted for Capital works or to develop an endowment e.g. for scholarships is based on oneto-one approaches to high net worth individuals so that 80 or even 90% of the money required comes from 10-20% of the people. So to conclude…the fundamentals of advancement/development in the 21st century are: Plan! Plan and Plan! Build, build and build more and strong relationships and ASK! ASK! ASK! (If you don’t ask you don’t get!) n
View it online now! Visit www.adbourne.com and click on ‘The Student Residences Management Journal’
ADVERTORIAL
Setting the benchmarks for direct debit payments Educational institutions, particularly those which offer residential services, are among Australia’s leading consumers of direct debit services.
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t is generally acknowledged to be a zero cost way of offering payment options to students or their families, while radically improving a college’s cash flow.
“That’s the big thing in the residential education industry,” explains Colin Walker, PaySmart’s National Sales Manager. “Our research shows clearly that the two biggest benefits client colleges get from using our services are reliable cash flow and reduced administration through not having to constantly chase outstanding payments.”
Colin Walker, PaySmart’s National Sales Manager
Colin says the recent enforcement of what are known as “merchant standards” by the Payment Card Industry (PCI), which represents credit card companies, provides another good reason for residential colleges to use an external provider to supply direct debit services.
The benchmarks are designed to benefit clients.
“The standards impose security levels for credit card data which are difficult for many businesses to meet, so this substantially increases risk for them,” Colin explains.
“In a nutshell that’s what a direct debit supplier must be. We are a finance sector industry and security and trustworthiness are absolutely, non-negotiably top of the heap.”
“Colleges that don’t comply risk huge fines. Using us to collect payments transfers that risk to us but, since security is at the heart of PaySmart does, it’s no big deal. We are fully PCI compliant.”
Colin says the third benchmark relates to the principal client benefit of direct debit services: secured, regular cash flow. “Basically, it has to be a minimum requirement. Payments to client companies have to be made as soon as practicable after a customer payment has been made.”
Colin says that during a recent review of the implications of the PCI’s standards, it became abundantly clear that the direct debit industry itself had no clear standards or benchmarks of its own. “We are a relatively new industry, so I guess the finance industry never got around to looking at this area. “However, our research was showing that direct debit companies have widely different practices and our management team agreed that clients and potential clients should be aware of these things.”
The first two relate to security – being a trustworthy provider and being totally secure and PCI compliant.
‘Structured to be no cost to your business’ is benchmark four. “We invented this practice many years ago and it has been widely copied. Direct debit works best when end use customers cover the cost of the service through an administration fee. Through structuring customer contracts to include this cost, our client businesses get the service free. It is an important benefit.”
“No one else was going to do it,” Colin laughs.
The remaining six benchmarks relate to the transparency of client costs and the ability to get on-line and IT support. “We live in a complex, changing world and clients and their customers inevitably need help from time to time. This is about ensuring that the process is smooth and hassle free.”
“As you might imagine, this was challenging because we were devising something that would make us change the way we do things. Eventually we came up with ten benchmarks which we believe go to the heart of the direct debit business.”
So, how does PaySmart match up to its own benchmarks? Colin laughs again: “Well, I said it would be challenging. No, we meet them. We are a motivated team and we enjoy our work. We are a friendly voice when you need help.” n
PaySmart extended its review to establish a set of benchmarks for direct debit companies.
The Australasian Student Residences Management Journal
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ADVERTORIAL
Specifying the Correct Entrance Mat Daniel RANTEN | Allway Matting
Selecting the correct matting for your student residence is absolutely critical.
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o put it simply, the placement of incorrect matting can be a total ‘pain in the neck’ not to mention the appearance, OH&S risk and costly compensation claims. You’ve probably heard the stories, or possibly seen it for yourself, occasions when potentially brilliant Entrance Matting creates a disaster area at your residence. Do you have a mat that slips? Curls? Or simply does not work effectively? Do I have to have a mat? These are common questions about matting for student residences. Research shows that about 70% of the dirt and dust in any building is brought in on shoes. This makes a quality and correctly specified mat essential. A correctly specified matting system will trap and hold dirt and dust whilst drying the shoe – therefore reducing the risk of stains or a potential slip. A potential slip can start with the mat moving on the floor surface causing a hump in the mat or an unsteady surface. For greater stability on carpeted surfaces, a cleated backing is advised. These are small rubber protrusions, approximately 35,000 per square meter, which are usually moulded to the rubber backing. These cleats coalesce with the carpet fibres and greatly reduce movement. For total stability on tiled or smooth surfaces a genuine rubber backed product with a smooth underside is recommended. Many Entrance Mats only have ‘PVC’(vinyl) backing which over time tends to go very hard, causing the mat to slip easily, especially if small grains of sand work their way under the mat. Genuine rubber backed mats tend to keep their softness and have a far greater slip resistance. Some Entrance Mats have a very thin edge, which is just a continuation of the backing. These mats are common offenders of curling or breaking. Constant foot traffic and trolleys cause the thin edge to slowly lift at the point where the edge meets the fibre. Eventually these mat edges curl or break. The exposed fibre is then subject to wear from the side often causing de-lamination from the backing and therefore a severe trip hazard. Products
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such as Entrano Premier #295 Entrance Matting (top picture) has a moulded bevelled edge which is ramped up to the height of the matting fibre, causing a much stronger construction. These mats are sold through some matting companies with a 3 Year Warranty against edge curling! Some residence managers suggest that when the mats get old they don’t remove much grit. This is a typical example of an incorrect matting choice. With so many hundreds of matting products available, how do I know which one will work? Most Entrance Mats will work reasonably well when brand new, but constant wear and heavy foot traffic pounds the fibres down, making the top surface lose its brush effect and removing the high and low pattern. The pattern or the ‘high’ & ‘low’ in the fibre of an Entrance Mat is what cleans the shoe. A mat that has gone very flat allows the dirt to sit on top of the mat’s fibre surface, only to get tracked on further by the next passing footsteps. Professional matting consultants are now recommending a re-enforced pattern for entrance mats that are placed in high traffic areas. Entrance Mats with a Reinforced pattern have rubber protruding from the backing up into the ‘High Parts’ of the pattern – but beneath the fibre. These mats do not flatten, and provide the longest life and the best shoe clean. Specifying the correct Entrance Mat can save residence owners a lot of the “pains in the neck” from both OH & S and appearance perspectives. n www.adbourne.com