School Manager's Report

Published in the RSAA Lunations
Vol1 Issue15 1–30 April 2021

Community transmission of COVID-19 cases is increasing in Queensland. There was some inconsiderate behaviour from people diagnosed with COVID-19 that amplified the situation. Many Easter holiday plans have been disrupted due to this. I urge all of you to keep informed about the rapidly changing environment and to follow the health advice. Please ensure you are adhering to the MSO/SSO Return to Campus protocols. If you have any symptoms of COVID-19, please stay home and notify me or Matthew Colless. 

As explained in the All School Meeting, before the pandemic RSAA was on a growth trajectory.  Our student load had increased 50% relative to 2017 levels (from a low base) and continues to grow. We are offering new courses in non-traditional teaching periods and other initiatives are being worked through to increase student load even more. Our HERDC income for 2020 is anticipated to be more than $10M, which will be a new milestone achievement for RSAA. We are using our infrastructure more efficiently and enhancing our engagement with industry effectively, yielding good results. Although our operating budget has been cut significantly from 2019 and 2020, the revenue generated from these initiatives is still coming to the University. This is helping ANU address its financial problems, which are fundamentally caused by the contraction of revenue from international students.  A new ANU budget model will soon be released (hopefully for consultation), which will dictate our future strategies based on the incentives to support the impressive work we are doing. We should take a moment to pat ourselves on the back, as collectively we are making a big impact for the School and the University.

We have also looked inwards and announced the “RSAA Strategic Initiatives Funding”. This program is designed to bring together ideas from all areas of the School. The best ideas will be funded by the RSAA Executive to improve our effectiveness, competitiveness and financial security. We have also invested in grant-writing support by engaging specialist companies. We are hopeful that this assistance will help the emerging academic staff to be successful in their grant proposals.

Finally, I would like to thank everyone at RSAA for working together to improve the situation of the School and University every way we can.

Rafat Alam