2007 Annual report (PDF 8.1 Mb) - University of Melbourne

BINDING THE
stRANDS TOGETHER
Key Project Funding
Strategic Priority
> Make at least major submissions to major
international philanthropic bodies for key
University projects
Achievements
Submissions for amounts of $1 million
each were made to six major philanthropic
foundations in Australian and abroad. In an
encouraging result, the Baker Foundation’s
Board of Trustees has announced that it
will provide $2.5 million to endow a Chair in
Physical Biosciences. Many other major gifts
will be acknowledged in the 2007 Report to
Donors, due for release in March 2008.
Increase Advancement Expertise
Strategic Priority
> Develop staff plan to embed advancement
expertise across the University
Achievements
Finding enough experienced staff for
the expanding advancement operations
across the campus has made ongoing staff
training a priority, and the Advancement
Office now regularly engages leading
international advancement specialists
to visit and run training sessions. The
former Chair of the Board of Governors at
the University of Toronto during its major
campaign, led advancement training at the
Heads and Deans Conference early in the
year. The Fund Raising School from the
Centre of Philanthropy, Indiana University,
again conducted intensive training for
advancement staff, while the President of
CASE, the world’s peak advancement body,
addressed deans and senior management.
Expert external counsel, including from the
leading fundraising consultants Marts &
Lundy, New York, contributed to mentoring
of advancement staff, and advancement
staff were sent to fund raising seminars in
Australia, the UK and USA.
Strengthen Alumni Relations
With the expanded Advancement Office,
considerable progress was made in 2007
to reconnect with our alumni around the
world. Contact increased through an active
program of events, new alumni branches,
and improved communications.
Maintaining Contact
Strategic Priorities
> Coordinate a ‘transitioning out’ process
for graduating students
> Develop, in conjunction with the
Marketing and Communications unit, a
communications program for alumni
> Develop two new alumni associations
in the USA and China and consolidate
existing associations
> Increase engagement with domestic
alumni through at least four alumni
functions and one new state branch
> Convene five meetings of decade-based
reference groups to advise on strategies
for effective engagement
Achievements
From March, every graduand attending a
graduation received the Alumni Resource
Guide and instructions on how to join the
Alumni Web Community, registering for
their lifelong @alumni.unimelb.edu.au email
address without charge. More than 4500
alumni are now registered.
In 2007 the audience for GradNet, the
email newsletter to alumni, was expanded
to over 40,000. Ways of transitioning
to more regular and chiefly paperless
communication with alumni were
developed for implementation in early
2008. This will involve a change to the
Melbourne University Magazine currently
provided to all graduates.
The University has continued to strengthen
its contact with international alumni. A new
alumni association was launched in China
following the visit of the Vice-Chancellor
and Deputy Vice-Chancellor (International)
to Beijing and events hosted by the
University in Shanghai and Beijing. A new
alumni committee was formed in the USA
in conjunction with events hosted by the
Pro Vice-Chancellor (University Relations)
in San Francisco and New York. A revived
Indonesian Alumni Association was also
formed with the support of the University’s
Jakarta office. Support for alumni in Asia
was further enhanced by the opening of
new international offices in Kuala Lumpur,
Singapore and Bangalore.
In the UK, events have now resumed
through the revived UK Alumni Association.
During the year the Chancellor and former
alumni chairs gathered for a twentieth
Anniversary Dinner for the Hong Kong
Alumni Association, while alumni in India
and Taiwan also reunited at Friends of the
University receptions.
Within Australia, highlights included a wellattended
forum hosted by the Provost on
the Melbourne Model, and an oration by the
Vice-Chancellor on the role of universities
in federal elections. Interstate alumni
functions with prominent alumni speakers
were held in Canberra, Sydney, Brisbane
and Melbourne. A new state branch is
forming in Queensland. Other local alumni
events were delivered in collaboration with
the Ian Potter Museum of Art, Asialink and
the Confucius Institute.
To help formulate strategies for effective
engagement in the future, alumni
participated in meetings of decade-based
alumni reference groups. A report on the
outcomes will inform plans for 2008.
Volunteers
StRAtegic Priority
> Increase number of alumni on University
boards and committees by 50 per cent
Achievements
An Alumni Volunteer Opportunities website
was launched in December to introduce
alumni to board and committee vacancies,
as well as to alert alumni to a much wider
range of volunteer opportunities available at
the University.
Resourcing
Achieve a student profile
and teaching revenue
position that best prepares
the University for the
launch of the Melbourne
Model in 2008
Strategic PrioRIties
> Support faculty transition to Growing
Esteem through student profile planning,
workplace, management and business
planning
> Ensure that funding exists in the
University budget for a comprehensive
scholarships scheme that promotes the
University’s aim to attract the best and
brightest students regardless of financial
disadvantage
> Implement changes to University budget
model to support the strategic priorities
of Growing Esteem
Continued pressure for self
reliance-fee income
Achievements
Financial self-reliance continues to be core
to achievement of the Growing Esteem
Strategy. Critical to this is the University’s
capacity to continue to recruit national and
international fee-paying undergraduate and
postgraduate students.
The University of Melbourne Annual Report 2007 65