Undergraduate courses and subjects 2000 - Structure of the faculty

Structure of the faculty

The Faculty of Education operates across three campuses - Clayton, Gippsland and Peninsula. It functions as a single operating unit with the dean as the chief executive officer. Major responsibilities are delegated through the dean to the principal officers of the faculty.
In addition to the dean, the principal officers are:

· associate dean (International Initiatives)
· associate dean (Research)
· associate dean (Staff)
· associate dean (Teaching)
· three campus coordinators
· faculty registrar.

Students wishing to make appointments with any of these officers are able to do so at short notice, and inquiries should be directed to their offices.
Since its inception, the faculty has taken pride in the collegiate nature of the relationship between its staff and students. This special relationship has meant that only rarely do academic problems arise that cannot be handled at the source, between the individual student and the academic member of staff. Furthermore, the strong representation of students on most of the main boards and committees which operate within the structural organisation of the faculty also serves to enrich the bonds between staff and students.
The major business of the faculty is discussed by the faculty board. The faculty board consists of the dean as chair, professors of the faculty, academic staff representatives from each campus of the faculty, representatives from the external community, other faculties and the education alumni, and a student representative from each campus of the faculty. The board meets on five occasions throughout the year and receives recommendations from faculty level committees for the board's approval and referral to the university's Education Committee, Academic Board and Council.
Students can also gain representation on a number of faculty and campus-level committees. Faculty committees on which students are elected to represent the relevant student body include:

· the Research Degrees Committee, which considers a range of matters relating to masters by research and doctoral programs offered by the faculty and provides advice and recommendations to faculty board and the university's PhD and Scholarships Committee
· the Research Committee, which distributes funds for student research projects.

Students may also be appointed to represent the relevant student body on the various program committees which give advice to the following faculty-level committees:

· the Undergraduate and Preservice Committee, which advises the board on the undergraduate degrees of the faculty, especially new course and subject proposals, assessment procedures and policy and the selection of undergraduate students
· the Postgraduate Coursework Committee, which advises the board on the graduate programs of the faculty (principally masters and postgraduate certificates and diplomas) with particular reference to new graduate courses and subjects, assessment procedures and policy at the graduate level and selection of students.

This committee structure reflects the collegiate manner in which decisions are made throughout the Faculty of Education.