School Manager's Report

Published in the RSAA Lunations
Vol1 Issue16 1–31 May 2021

Last month we bid farewell to a few of our colleagues, who are all starting new chapters in their careers. We thank them for all that they have done for RSAA and wish them the very best in their future endeavours.

The outcomes of the “RSAA 2021 Strategic Initiatives” are published in the Director’s report in this edition of Lunations. It was great to see the variety of topics covered by the proposed initiatives. I would like to thank everyone who submitted an application. There was a good buzz around the School and hopefully the seed funds will propel growth and improve cultural awareness.

I am hoping by June/July you will all see the start of the installation of our solar panels. This will be the first step towards our aim of making RSAA carbon neutral by the end of 2025. This project was 7 months work in the making, and hopefully there will be more solar panels added to the initial 100kW in the coming months and years.

The School is performing better than expected in terms of its finances. RSAA may not be the direct recipient of this growth in funds, but it is helping ANU's recovery plan. We are utilising our infrastructure more effectively to generate more revenue for ANU. Our teaching income has risen and so have our HERDC earnings, endowment, and RTP income. I would like to thank everyone who has worked with me collaboratively over the last two years in achieving this. The results are significant in terms of the economy of the School and we should all be proud of our achievements in this regard.

Lastly, I would like to congratulate Lisa Kewley on being elected to the US National Academy of Sciences. She joins other heavyweights of RSAA in this honour and will raise the School’s global reputation even higher. A proud moment for RSAA!

Rafat Alam