1 Policy Statement

The University may appoint an employee to a senior management or other nominated senior position for a specified period.

(Approved by Council June 1998, Amended by Council October 1998)

2 Procedures

2.1 Vice-Chancellor, Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Chief Operating Officer

Appointment to the positions of Vice-Chancellor, Deputy Vice-Chancellor, and Chief Operating Officer are for a specified period of up to five (5) years, as determined by Council.  An ad hoc committee of Council will be established for this purpose which will include the Chancellor (or nominee).

Conditions of employment for these positions will be incorporated into a comprehensive individual Employment Agreement.

Reappointment to the positions of Vice-Chancellor, Deputy Vice-Chancellor, and Chief Operating Officer may be approved by Council, subject to the ongoing need for the position and the incumbent receiving a satisfactory performance management and development review.  Reappointment to these positions will be for a specified period of up to five (5) years, as determined by Council.

2.2 Pro Vice-Chancellor, Dean, Executive Director (Human Resources)¹ and Chief Financial Officer¹

Appointment to these positions are for a specified period of up to five (5) years, as determined by the Vice-Chancellor.  The recruitment and selection process will be in accordance with the Recruitment and Selection policy and procedure. The Selection Panel for these positions will normally be chaired by the Vice-Chancellor (or nominee) and will include the Chancellor (or nominee).

Conditions of employment for these positions will be incorporated in a comprehensive individual Employment Agreement.

Reappointment to these positions may be approved by the Vice-Chancellor, subject to the ongoing need for the position and the incumbent receiving a satisfactory performance management and development review.  Reappointment to these positions will be for a specified period of up to five (5) years, as determined by the Vice-Chancellor.

The Vice-Chancellor will report appointments and reappointments of these positions to Council for information. 

¹  Whilst these positions continue as members of the University's Vice-Chancellor's Committee.

2.3 Head of School², Senior Contracted Executive

Appointment to positions at Head of School and Senior Contracted Executive are for a specified period of up to five (5) years, as determined by the Vice-Chancellor.  The recruitment and selection process will be in accordance with the Recruitment and Selection policy and procedure.  The Selection Panel for these positions will normally be chaired by the Vice-Chancellor (or nominee) and in instances where external representation is required on the Panel, Council members with appropriate expertise will be invited to participate as appropriate.

Conditions of appointment for positions at Head of School and Senior Contracted Executive will be incorporated in a comprehensive individual Employment Agreement.

Reappointment to positions at Head of School and Senior Contracted Executive may be approved by the Vice-Chancellor, subject to the ongoing need for the position and the incumbent receiving a satisfactory performance management and development review.  Reappointment to these positions will be for a specified period of up to five (5) years, as determined by the Vice-Chancellor.

The Vice-Chancellor will report appointments and reappointments at Head of School and Senior Contracted Executives to Council for information. 

²  A Head of School will normally be appointed in accordance with the procedures in D12.3.3, however in exceptional circumstances with the Vice-Chancellor's approval, an internal expression of interest may be called for interim appointments, in which case a non-superannuable allowance of between $8,000 and $15,000 per annum may be payable.

2.4 Associate Dean, Deputy Dean and Associate Director (Faculty, Campus)

Appointment to the positions of Associate Dean, Deputy Dean and Associate Director are for a specified period of up to three (3) years, as determined by the Vice-Chancellor. 

Academic employees at USQ Academic Level C or above will normally be eligible for Associate Dean, Deputy Dean and Associate Director positions.

A non-superannuable allowance of between $8000 and $15000 per annum depending on financial and staffing delegations may apply.  Refer to Appendix A for details of allowances. The allowance cannot be paid into a professional development fund.  On request by the incumbent, the allowance may form part of a salary sacrifice arrangement. 

Procedures for appointment to the positions of Associate Dean, Deputy Dean and Associate Director are as follows:

• Expressions of interest will be called for from eligible employees within the Faculty;

• A Selection Panel will normally be convened consisting of the Dean, a Faculty nominee and a representative from another faculty/section to consider the expressions of interest. In addition, for Associate Director positions, the relevant Campus head will form part of the Selection Panel;

• The Dean forwards the documentation to the Executive Director, Human Resources to ensure that the recommendation is in accordance with policy; and

• The recommendation is then forwarded to the Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Scholarship) for approval.

The Executive Director, Human Resources will inform the incumbent in writing of the conditions of the appointment including any allowance payable.

Reappointment to the positions of Associate Dean, Deputy Dean and Associate Director may be offered without an expression of interest process for one subsequent term for a specified period of up to three (3) years, subject to the ongoing need for the position and the incumbent receiving a satisfactory performance management and development review. Alternatively, reappointment may be conducted in accordance with the procedures outlined in 2.4 above.

Appointment to the positions of Associate Dean, Deputy Dean and Associate Director will normally be offered for two consecutive terms only.  At the conclusion of the second term, appointments will be conducted in accordance with the procedures outlined in 2.4 above, and may be approved for a specified period of up to three (3) years, subject to the ongoing need for the position.

2.5 Head of Department, Head of Discipline

Appointment to the positions of Head of Department and Head of Discipline are for a specified period of up to three (3) years, as determined by the Vice-Chancellor. 

Academic employees at USQ Academic Level C or above will normally be eligible for Head of Department and Head of Discipline positions.

A non-superannuable allowance of between $8000 and $15000 per annum depending on financial and staffing delegations may apply.  Refer to Appendix A for details of allowances. The allowance cannot be paid into a professional development fund.  The incumbent may request that the allowance form part of a salary sacrifice arrangement.

Procedures for appointment to the positions of Head of Department and Head of Discipline are as follows:

• Expressions of interest will be called for from eligible employees within the relevant department/discipline within the Faculty;

• A Selection Panel will normally be convened consisting of the Dean, a department/discipline nominee and a representative from another faculty/section to consider the expressions of interest;

• The Dean forwards the documentation to the Executive Director, Human Resources to ensure that the recommendation is in accordance with policy; and

• The recommendation is then forwarded to the Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Scholarship) for approval.

The Executive Director, Human Resources will inform the incumbent in writing of the conditions including any allowance payable.

Reappointment to the positions of Head of Department and Head of Discipline may be offered without an expression of interest process for one subsequent term for a specified period of up to three (3) years, subject to the ongoing need for the position and the incumbent receiving a satisfactory performance management and development review. Alternatively, reappointment may be conducted in accordance with the procedures outlined in 2.5 above.

Appointment to the positions of Head of Department and Head of Discipline will normally be offered for two consecutive terms only.  At the conclusion of the second term, appointments will be conducted in accordance with the procedures outlined in 2.5 above, and may be approved for a specified period of up to three (3) years, subject to the ongoing need for the position.

2.6 Other nominated senior positions

Appointment to other nominated senior positions (eg. Directors of Centres etc) will be for a specified period of up to three (3) years, as approved by the Category 2 Delegate.

A non-superannuable allowance of between $8000 and $15000 per annum may apply. Refer to Appendix A for details of allowances.  The allowance cannot be paid into a professional development fund.  The incumbent may request that the allowance form part of a salary sacrifice arrangement.

Reappointment to other nominated senior positions may be approved by the Category 2 Delegate for a specified period of up to three (3) years, subject to the ongoing need for the position and the incumbent receiving a satisfactory learning and development review. 

The Executive Director, Human Resources will inform the incumbent in writing of the conditions of the appointment including any allowance payable.

2.7 General Provisions

Initial appointment to all senior positions may include a substantive continuing appointment.  Where reappointment to a senior position is not offered, the incumbent will revert to her/his substantive continuing position as at the end date of the appointment.

Appointment and reappointment to senior positions is subject to the ongoing need for the position at USQ and the incumbent receiving a satisfactory learning and development review before reappointment is recommended, except in cases where reappointment is offered as a result of a competitive selection process.

3 Appendix A - Standard Academic Leadership Roles and Allowances

3.1 Faculty Senior Executive Structures

1. Associate Dean (Academic) – normally 50% fraction

2. Associate Dean (Learning and Teaching) – normally 40% fraction

3. Associate Dean (Research) – normally 40% fraction

4. Associate Dean (International) - normally 20% fraction (initially titled International Coordinator)

5. Deputy Dean - normally assigned to one of the Associate Deans, unless the total allocation to that one person (in a large faculty) made it operationally difficult.  Further, the normal expectation would be to appoint the Associate Dean (Academic) as Deputy Dean, with an additional 10% work allocation, bringing the total to 60%.

6. Associate Director (Faculty, Campus), eg Associate Director (Business, Springfield) – normally 40% fraction.

7. Program Coordinator – normally 10% fraction.

The percentage fractions represent the relativities between roles, and the norm for most faculties, but could be scaled according to size of faculty. It is feasible that a large faculty may have an Associate Dean (Academic) at 100%.

3.2 Allowances for Faculty Senior Executive Roles

A three-step ladder of allowances fixed by role fraction will be applied to the roles of Deputy Dean, Associate Dean, Associate Director (Faculty, Campus), Director and Heads of Department/Discipline or equivalent as indicated below. For contracted Heads of School, the appointee's salary package encompasses the role and no additional allowance is offered.

• For fractions between 25% - 40% - $8,000pa

• For fractions between 45% - 65% - $10,000pa

• For fractions between 70% - 80% - $12,000pa

4 Other Policy Information