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FACULTY OF LIFE AND PHYSICAL SCIENCES  

MINUTES OF A MEETING OF THE  MARKETING AND INTERNATIONAL STRATEGIES COMMITTEE  

held in the Faculty Function Room 158, Physics Building  on Thursday 25th June at 2.00pm 

 PRESENT Jenny Gamble, Faculty Manager (Chair) George Stewart, Dean Shaun Wellbourne‐Wood, Overseas Development Manager Jenni Wallis, Marketing Manager  Representatives from Schools: Jennifer Stevenson (BBCS) Herb Jurkiewicz (Psychology) Ian McArthur (Physics) Jay Jay Jegathesan (Physics) Ron Kelly (SSEH) Bruce Elliot (SSEH) Heather Morton (ANHB) Mohamed Makha, Associate Dean (Middle East Research Initiatives)  Invitees: Christine Richardson, (Faculty Manager, FNAS) Chris Hale (Marketing Officer, FNAS)  Apologies:  Arun  Dharmarajan  (Associate  Dean  South  Asia  Research  Initiatives),  Kelly  Smith (International Centre)  1.  Minutes 

Minutes  of  the meeting  of  the Marketing  and  International  Strategy  Committee  held  on Thursday 19th March 2009 were accepted as a correct record.  

2  UWA Postgraduate Expo There was some discussion about  the value of participation at  the PG Expo  for  the Faculty. The Marketing Manager had surveyed a number of academics who gave presentations at the event, and the overwhelming feeling was that it was worthwhile due to the keen interest by some students to take up further study. The Faculty Manager commented that the FLPS desk had been busy for the whole afternoon, and that many enquiries were received by students regarding studying Honours.    It was agreed that the Faculty would participate  in the annual event in September /October, as proposed in the report. 

 3.  Guide for Research Students 

The  Overseas  Development  Manager  had  received  feedback  that  faculty  staff  were  not getting back  to prospective higher degree students. He tabled the draft document “A guide for  preparing  to  apply  for  a  PhD/Masters  by Research  in  the  sciences  at UWA”, which  he believed would streamline the process and provide early feedback to students.  The proposed guide has since been circulated by email to this committee for timely feedback. 

 ACTION‐1  Overseas Development Manager to develop a completed ‘best practice’ template     using Soil Science as the example. ACTION‐2  Overseas Development Manager to meet with the Business School to look at their     internal processes for managing postgraduate higher degree by research enquiries. ACTION‐3  Overseas Development Manager to develop a standard email response to      applicants. 

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ACTION‐4  Schools to provide a quick response to the Overseas Development Manager on the     proposed Guide. 

 4.  External Relations OPP    ERCE3 LPS: Continue professional development programs for Science teachers   The Head of School  for Sport Science, Exercise and Health provided  feedback on  the draft 

strategy ‘Enhance skills of science teachers’ and suggested that the Action ‘Director of CLT to encourage  science  teachers  to participate’ be expanded  to  include all  feeder  teachers, not just those involved in biological and physical sciences  

 ACTION‐5  Amend Actions to read ‘Director of CLT to encourage secondary school teachers to 

   participate’.  Amend Targets to read ‘Increase of 10% of secondary school teachers    enrolling in appropriate professional development programs within the Faculty.’ 

   ERCE2.1: Set targets for school to develop external relationships   The Dean had previously  stated  the University’s  long  term  strategy was  to align all of  the 

Faculty’s activities with member institutions of the World Universities Network and the Small is  Beautiful  group.  Special  funds  were  available  centrally  to  develop  linkages  with  these specific networks. 

 ACTION‐6  Develop a spreadsheet of these two groups to disseminate to Schools.  5.   VC’s International Reference Group – Enrolment update    The  Dean  provided  an  update  on  discussions  that  had  taken  place  at  the  last  VC’s 

International Reference Group meeting.  In Semester Two 2009 UWA was down on all areas of  international student enrolment, except postgraduate coursework.   The growth area was International  postgraduate  enrolments,  both  coursework  and  research  (PhD).  This  had bolstered  local  enrolments  which  were  done  down  by  10%.  A  summary  of  international commencements and enrolments as at 22 June is attached (Attachment A) 

   Members  again  expressed  concern  over  the  ongoing  issues  related  to  SIRF  scholarships 

commenting  that  they had not  seen  an  increase  in  research  enrolments because  School’s could not afford to pay living allowances required for these scholarships. 

 6.  Standard Operating Procedures for Agreements and MOUs.   The  Dean  tabled  the  final  draft  of  Standard  Operating  Process  for  New  Agreements  and 

Memoranda of Understanding for circulation (Attachment B).  7.  Middle East Research Initiatives update   The Associate Dean for Middle East Research Initiatives reported that 15 students from King 

Faisal had enrolled at CELT this year. A service contract hade been drafted with CELT last year – however there had been no progress on this contract.  There had also been some discussion with CELT regarding students doing work experience placements whilst studying their English Language course as this would give them further exposure to English. 

 8.  False Agreements between Australian Universities and Private Colleges in Singapore   The Overseas Development Manager informed members that it had been reported in the 

international media that some private colleges in Singapore had claimed to have agreements with Australian (and other International) universities and were producing fake degree certificates.  The Australian universities that are being falsely represented include RMIT, Curtin University of Technology and Ballarat University. 

 9.  Next Meeting   The next meeting of this committee will be held on Thursday 20th August 2:00‐3:00pm, in 

the Faculty Function Room, 1.58, Physics Building.  

ATTACHMENT A A brief guide for preparing to apply for a PhD/ Masters by Research in the sciences at UWA /Application for research supervision to support a PhD/ Masters by Research application Shaun Wellbourne-Wood One of the key concerns related to prospective international students identified in FLPS and FNAS, relates to prospective research students. My office, the faculty offices, school offices and academics field a large quantity of enquiries that vary dramatically in quality from ‘spam like’ to exceptionally good. The processes that are used for dealing with these enquiries are likewise varied and inconsistent. At the last faculty International Marketing and Strategies Committee meeting, I tabled a draft proposal for possibly addressing this issue. The proposal contains two parts

A brief guide for preparing to apply for a PhD / Masters by Research in the sciences at UWA Application for research supervision to support a PhD / Masters by Research application

The goal of this proposal is simple.

Alleviate the burden on academics ploughing through enquiries Provide a common avenue to direct all research enquires Give prospective international students with some guidance and advice in the process of seeking

a research supervisor Provide international education agents, particularly those who deal extensively with government

sponsored PhD students some clear advice to assist their clients with their application To provide prospective research supervisors with quality structured information that will allow

them to determine their capacity to accept the candidate or not. To provide a clear avenue for directing ambiguous enquiries.

I have attached the proposal for your department / school to review and should point out that this is simply a draft and starting point to get the ball rolling. There is strong support so far for this to proceed and it is certainly something that I need to implement to deal with the burden of enquiries, particularly after events. The process now.

Distribute the document for discussion and comment to ensure that the information we are requesting generally satisfies the requirements of prospective research supervisors

Develop some quality exemplars for prospective students (Prof Tony O’Donnell uses an excellent soil science example in one of his presentations, perhaps adapt and use this with permission and develop other examples)

Discuss any issues with the Graduate Research School and International Centre Determine how to use it (where to publish, how to disseminate, who to receive and process

applications etc)

Faculty of Life and Physical Sciences Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Sciences

A guide for preparing to apply for a PhD/ Masters by Research in the sciences at UWA The purpose of this document is to assist prospective international research students in the process of applying to study for a Masters or PhD by research at UWA. Before you begin

1. Read all the relevant general information about Doctoral studies on the UWA graduate research school website http://www.studyat.uwa.edu.au/postgrad/doctorates

2. Review the academic and English language admission requirements http://www.studyat.uwa.edu.au/postgrad/doctorates/admission

3. If you intend to apply for a scholarship, thoroughly read the information concerning the

scholarships that are available and their eligibility requirements http://www.scholarships.uwa.edu.au/home/postgrad/international

Preparing to contact a prospective research supervisor To ensure that you have every success in your studies, the university must ensure that we have the adequate resources and qualified research supervision to facilitate your proposed study. Before you can actually lodge a formal application to undertake a PhD at UWA, we require that you identify an appropriate supervisor, who agrees to supervise your research. This section will assist you with this process. Remember that your initial contact with a prospective supervisor is very important. Their first impression of you will influence how interested they may be in supervising your research project. UWA has a comprehensive searchable database of research specialists. Search this database to

ascertain if your area of proposed research is something that we also have resources and expertise in. It can be located at: http://www.directory.uwa.edu.au/#research

If you locate an area of interest, follow the link of the researchers listed to their ‘research profile and publications’ page and you can research their work further and read any relevant publications

Don’t send generic email correspondence that appears like it has been sent ‘on mass’ to many universities, with just the recipients name altered, these emails are less likely to be responded to.

Personalise your correspondence and let the prospective supervisor see that you have taken the time to investigate their research and publications.

Don’t be excessively flattering in your correspondence. It is not necessary in Australian culture to discuss how esteemed the university or the professor is. Most academics within Australian universities are more comfortable with a professional collegial relationship between a research student and a supervisor.

Use the ‘Application for Research Supervision’ template that we have prepared for you. This will ensure that any prospective supervisor has the relevant information required to ascertain if they can supervise your research if your application is successful.

Faculty of Life and Physical Sciences and the Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Sciences Application for research supervision to support a PhD/ Masters by Research application Please Note: This is NOT an application for admission to a PhD at The University of Western Australia, this application will enable us to assess whether we have the appropriate resources and supervision that are needed to support of your application. Name Nationality Academic qualifications Please list you academic qualifications, including the full name of the institution and your GPA

Research experience Outline your research experience, for example, a Masters research project or dissertation.

Publications Please indicate if you have had any previous work published

Anticipated funding source I will be a self-funded applicant I am a recipient of a scholarship or sponsorship from my home country I am intending to apply for a UWA scholarship Has a prospective supervisor been recommended to you, or have you had initial contact with a prospective supervisor? Please provide details An outline of your proposed research Title of proposed project A short statement of the topic you would like to investigate What are you setting out to do? Describe briefly what you would propose to do in the research Why are you attempting to do this? Explain why you think it is important to conduct this particular research project Are you aware of previous research in this area? Give a brief statement of what other research you know has been done in this area with reference to key works. It also helps if you can draw on any of your previous work (eg a Masters dissertation) in the research proposal. Particularly important if you have published

Why do you think that it is appropriate to undertake this research at UWA? Outline any academics or research groups at UWA that you feel are relevant to your research Bibliography A brief bibliography should demonstrate your familiarity with literature in the field you wish research

What data will you need for the research? Briefly outline the data you need and the sources you will use indicating whether the data comes from published sources or if new experimental work is needed What techniques are you proposing to use to do the research? Say how you would go about doing the research in terms of the methods that you would use for example to collect data and analyse it Why do you think that these techniques are appropriate? Say why you think it is appropriate to use these methods Are you familiar with these techniques or would you need further training? Briefly summarise your experience in using these techniques and identify any areas where you think that you would benefit from further training What problems might you encounter in the course of the research? Think of any problems that you might encounter during the research project and how you might go about overcoming them