Faculty of Law Operational Plan 2005 - 2007

The Strategic View

The Monash Law School is a faculty of the highest quality, built upon long traditions of legal scholarship. We are known for our willingness to challenge orthodoxy, pursue innovative teaching and research and equip our students to thrive in a changing world.

Our undergraduate law degree is premised on the assumption that we must prepare all graduates to enter the profession of law even though a proportion of them may not seek to enter private practice in its traditional forms. Our law degree is also an excellent preparation for multiple career paths, whether or not they involve law directly.

Our range of postgraduate and continuing education programs serve the changing needs of legal professionals and others who need to understand law and the workings of the legal system.

We place priority on teaching and research in contemporary ethical issues. We also contribute to the betterment of our communities, for example through programs of clinical legal education and promotion of human rights. Our admissions policies are designed to attract the most talented, whatever their social, educational, ethnic or other backgrounds.

We are committed to an international orientation in all our major activities. We are an attractive law school for international students. We participate actively in Monash Centres overseas and we have strategic alliances with like-minded law schools, which enable a flow of students, staff, ideas, research collaboration and teaching. Our curriculum increasingly is based upon an awareness that law is becoming a transnational force.

The Faculty ‘s Strategic Directions Statement, covering the period 2003 to 2012, did not envisage a radical change in the current directions and in general the faculty will continue along the path that it set for us. However, in the light of current market knowledge and the probable impact of the Commonwealth’s Higher Education Support Act, we have modified some of our future student load projections. We are particularly concerned about the apparent lack of buoyancy in the market for Australian Fee Paying students (both undergraduate and postgraduate) and some uncertainties in international demand trends.

In relation to research the Faculty has set an objective to be one of the top three of the seven major law schools who participate in an annual benchmarking exercise. The Faculty is also looking ahead to the possibility that a research assessment exercise will be introduced whereby the quality of research by all or most academic staff members may be individually evaluated, and government funding allocated accordingly.

The Faculty needs to pay particular attention to the learning environment on the Clayton campus. The law building is no longer adequate for our teaching and research purposes. The teaching spaces are ill-equipped and the amenities for students at all levels are below modern standards. Generally, although we were once regarded as having good facilities, investment by our main competitors, and in particular the University of Melbourne, makes this claim nowhere near tenable today. To attract the best students in an increasingly competitive, and partially full-fee market, much will need to be done. The Faculty’s premises at 472 Bourke Street, Melbourne has opened as a postgraduate centre and has commenced operations but many improvements are still required if it is to deliver on student numbers and revenue from fees.

The Faculty is committed to a self-reliant future. We must have significant control over our own destiny if we are to attract resources that will support teaching and research of the highest quality and maintain a capacity to adapt to a fast-changing environment.

The Faculty is committed to quality in at least two senses. In terms of quality assurance, we plan to refine our internal practices and procedures designed to assure us of continuous improvement. In terms of positioning, the Faculty’s aim is to maintain its reputation as one of Australia’s top four law schools, with a distinctive mission and a growing international reputation.

We are also committed to equity in terms of access to the law school, our treatment of all staff and students, and social justice.

Review, Evaluation And Future Directions

The Planning Context

In January 2003 the Faculty’s Executive Committee agreed to adopt a three tier planning framework comprising: (i) a 10 year Strategic Directions Statement; (ii) an Operational Plan which will comply with the University’s requirements from time to time and cover the ensuing three calendar years; and (iii) an Annual Priority Statement, drawn from the Operational Plan.

In 2004, the Faculty Executive Committee has resolved that, broadly, we will retain this planning framework, focusing on program plans and budgets in key strategic areas as defined in Section B. In twelve months time we will be in a position to evaluate our performance specifically against the 2005 annual priorities approved by Council.